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PER3 · Oct 23, 2004, 01:34 PM

I don't know why, but recently, I noticed my PB HD making a hell of a lot of noise, as if it were hiccoughing or squeaking or chirping, especially on web-pages. Maybe it was because all summer, my window was open and the highway noise masked the HD, and now I have closed my window for Autumn. Maybe it was because I changed the HD at the end of last winter. Whatever, recently, the tweeting has been getting on my nerves.

In any case, today I remembered an application that shut up the HD on my old Pismo, and found it again in my Installers folder. I opened it, tweaked it, and now my AlBook HD is silent. My nerves are at peace.

The app is called APM Tuner - it adjusts the parameters of the PBook's Automatic Power Mangement so that the HD doesn't park so often. I can't find it anywhere on the Web now, except for Classic. (Asking Sys Prefs not to sleep the drive does not solve the problem.)

I have two questions:

If APM Tuner one day becomes incompatible with the current OS, is there a CLI instruction I could use in its place?

Does APM Tuner tweak the OS or the HD itself?

What does it actually do?

Do all PB owners suffer from this problem, or just those who have installed non-Apple HDs?

The writer of APM Tuner stated that his work was not to be distributed without permission. If his site is long dead, and he doesn't answer emails, do I have any right to send his fix to other sufferers?

Does anyone else have problems with the number "two"?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

PER3 · Oct 23, 2004, 01:43 PM

As a third question:

If this isn't a problem of installing non-Apple HDs, would it be reasonable to ask Apple to either provide a solution, or to add a knob to their Energy Saver panel in Sys Prefs that would deal with it?

xtremekinetix · Oct 24, 2004, 01:52 PM

The HD on my AlBook 15" clunks and snaps a lot. Last year, my wife's iBook made the same types of noises and it got worse before the HD completely crashed. I always thought that it was some type of defect or result of damage that I incurred to my laptop by jostling it or something (even though I have always been very careful with the computer).

At any rate, it's nice to know that this is not necessarily a sign of damage to the computer, and that it is even correctable. If you are able to track down a program that will solve the problem, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks for the post on the topic. Sorry I can't offer more help.

PER3 · Oct 25, 2004, 11:57 PM

Please PM me your address and I'll forward the tiny (50KB) file. It's been 2 years of silence from the author of APM Tuner, so I'll assume this is OK.

PER3 · Oct 29, 2004, 03:39 PM

Come on, fellas,

I've answered three PMs and sent out the programme via email to two of you.

If you didn't get it, then please let me know. Maybe, you haven't checked your mail. Maybe, you don't check this forum too often.

I'll leave it at that for now.

At least, let me know if you got my replies.

PER

burdendds · Oct 30, 2004, 08:31 AM

PER3 sent me the APM tuner program. It won't run on my Rev C 12" PB. The classic environment starts and then the program just quits. I have used programs like this on my PC desktops and notebooks in the past with great success. I too hope that someone makes an updated version of this software.

PER3 · Oct 30, 2004, 03:26 PM

Originally posted by burdendds:
PER3 sent me the APM tuner program. It won't run on my Rev C 12" PB. The classic environment starts and then the program just quits. I have used programs like this on my PC desktops and notebooks in the past with great success. I too hope that someone makes an updated version of this software.

Dear burdendds,

Thanks for your reply. As I am not the author of the application, I am of course not the one to answer for it.

A shame that it didn't work for you.

I use it on a recent AlBook 15" and it works fine. The only version I know that is otherwise freely available on the net is, indeed, the Classic version, but this is not the one I sent to you.

Given your response, all I can think of now is to ask Apple to provide an APM override in their Energy Saver panel, seeing that APM is built into the firmware of your HD.

Personally, the incessant hiccoughing of the HD, especially when I am on the net, is almost enough to drive me to the other side.

Do Windows users have the same problem?

burdendds · Oct 31, 2004, 10:04 PM

You sent me the OSX version of that file and it works just fine. My drive is not particularly noisy or slow, but I can tell a difference with this application.

I have had this same problem with both desktop and notebook PCs in the past. On desktops the seeking of the drive is often the cause of the majority of the noise. Enabling APM on desktop drives often reduces performance to quiet them down.

The incessant parking "chirp" on notebooks can be found on any machine. I have found that fujitsu drives are the quitest overall and have been using them for the past 2-3 years on notebooks that exhibit this problem.

RageAPC · Nov 1, 2004, 12:31 AM

I've just spent a bit of time tweaking the settings using this utility on my 1GHz. 15" AlBook. I've noticed a bit of a difference regarding noise coming from my HD so far, and I'm not completely sure, but the AlBook seems to be a bit snappier when retrieving information from the HD. Now this could just be wishful thinking on my part. Would a run of XBench determine if this is so?

himself · Dec 23, 2004, 01:35 PM

hey, uhh... anybody still have this "APM Tuner" doodad lying around?
TIA. And merry christmas!

Love Calm Quiet · Dec 23, 2004, 04:08 PM

Yes, it's a shame it's not been maintained (kept available). As is, it drops back to its default setting upon quitting, so I keep in in startup items and then reset it to maximum upon restart.

Sure seems like it should be part of Energy Saver, indeed.

himself · Dec 24, 2004, 03:25 PM

Originally posted by Love Calm Quiet:
Yes, it's a shame it's not been maintained (kept available). As is, it drops back to its default setting upon quitting, so I keep in in startup items and then reset it to maximum upon restart.

Sure seems like it should be part of Energy Saver, indeed.

Thanks, Love Calm Quiet. I noticed the difference right away. Now, I wonder if this is AppleScript-able...

EdipisReks · Dec 25, 2004, 06:53 PM

could someone please send me a copy of the program at jchesser at gmail dot com?

thanks.

paully dub · Dec 26, 2004, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by EdipisReks:
could someone please send me a copy of the program at jchesser at gmail dot com?

thanks.

No problemo.

EdipisReks · Dec 26, 2004, 02:01 PM

thanks to everyone who sent me the file! it seems to run properly on my powerbook, but when i try to set the APM value, i don't get a system beep and the slider is reset to 128 the next time i run the program. it properly detects my hard drive. any suggestions? thanks.

wondermac · Mar 6, 2006, 03:03 AM

Hi!

I've searched all over the web for APM Tuner X and nothing but dead links. Does anybody still have a copy of APM Tuner X that would be willing to email me a copy? Or, does anyone have any links that works? Thanks!

-wondermac-

wondermac · Mar 10, 2006, 08:42 AM

Hello,

I good friend of mine who was in town this past week just happened to have a copy of APM Tuner x and passed it on to me. How grateful I am to him. Since APM Tuner X is nowhere to be found on the web, I thought those that are interested in a copy could let me know and I would be more than happy to pass along a copy of APM Tuner X. Just let me know. My Pismo is completely silent now and that's very nice.

-wondermac-

crazyjohnson · Mar 13, 2006, 09:02 PM

Thank god someone else is having the same problems. My PB chirping turned a few heads today in class so I need to get this fixed. Can anyone throw the program up on .mac or something? Also, I don't have a classic environment.

wondermac · Mar 14, 2006, 09:26 AM

Hello,

I have provided my link here for all who are interested in APM Tuner X. http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4416dd2...WJuFEBK9KszSyr

Let me know if it works for you.

Enjoy!

-wondermac-

b1NARY73 · Mar 14, 2006, 12:46 PM

Link does not work.

wondermac · Mar 14, 2006, 02:59 PM

Hello,

Thanks for letting me know. The link is working for me. Could you try again and let me know. If not I'll try something else. Thanks!

-wondermac-

b1NARY73 · Mar 14, 2006, 03:04 PM

Thanks wondermac, when I click on it in Firefox, it takes to a dead page.... would you mind emailing it to me?

b1NARY73 · Mar 14, 2006, 03:11 PM

Thanks to mistermister, I have it. Thanks anyway wondermac.

wondermac · Mar 14, 2006, 03:21 PM

Your welcome! Yes, and I Thank you too mistermister. I'll try and get that link to work.

-wondermac-

mrmister · Mar 14, 2006, 10:12 PM

Welcome, all!

wondermac · Mar 15, 2006, 01:12 AM

Hello again,

Sorry about the link, I'm giving up on it for now. However, If anyone would still like a copy of Eiji Maekawa's APM Tuner X, I can email it to you; just send me a private message and I'll get it to you. It's only about 84kb.

-wondermac-

PER3 · Mar 16, 2006, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by mrmister

Welcome, all!

Thanks for the script- runs just fine!

Does anyone have any information as to why it was necessary for Eiji Maekawa to write APM Tuner in the first place?