Ubuntu - Hardware - hdparm

hdparm is a command-line utility to set and view ATA and SATA hard disk drive hardware parameters.

Show identification and feature info

sudo hdparm -I /dev/sdX

WARNING: Be sure that no other programs are stressing the drive at the time of testing!

sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sdX

sudo hdparm -d /dev/sdX

NOTE: This is not consistent.

for some features the current values can be found in the common info,
for other features hdparm must be called with the right parameters, but without any value, like -d.

Set features by putting the value directly behind the parameter (without space).

Example, to enable the DMA mode:

sudo hdparm -d1 /dev/sdX

WARNING: Changing the default values can harm the drive or freeze the system.

The following tables introduces the most common parameters.

For a complete list see the hdparm man page.

Parameter	Description
-B	Set the Advanced Power Management feature. The value 1 saves the most energy, the value 255 disables the feature. The values in-between are corresponding steps. Values of 127 and below allow the spin-down of the drive.
-B	Warning - Aggressive power management can wear the drive because of often spin-downs.
-d	Set the DMA feature for IDE and PATA drives. The value 1 enables the feature, 0 disables the feature.
-E	Set CD / DVD drive speed. Lower speeds can reduces the running noise.
-M	Set the Automatic Acoustic Management feature. The values 0 disables the feature, 128 sets the most quiet mode, 254 is the fastest mode.
-S	Set the standby (spin-down after idling) timeout. The value 0 disables the feature, the values from 1 to 240 specifies time steps of 5 seconds, 241 to 251 time steps of 30 minutes.