Comment 786 for bug 59695

If the intention is to enable a apm setting of 128 when on battery, where is the rationale and evidence explaining how
1. it actually protects the hdd from shocks
2. it actually saves power
3. evidence (even anecdotal) of drives overheating otherwise

my understanding and experience is that Ubuntu software polls the hdd too frequently and cancels out #1 and #2 above, because the hdd parks and unparks again almost immediately. thus, there is no real shock protection and no power saving (maybe even increased power consumption due to unnecessary activity?), and in the absence of any heating issues (not a problem on AC, by the way?), it makes no sense whatsoever to use an apm value of 128 until software can be written with the standard of reduced polling frequency while on battery mode.

cheers,
ethan