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100% HDD activity (WD Green 3TB)


Ryvaeus

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Hi, I use a WD Green drive to store all my games and it seems that Project Zomboid in particular doesn't play well with it. I experience heavy stuttering 5-10 minutes into gameplay, and according to Task Manager, it's because my HDD is stuck processing read/write requests - literally stuck on 100% activity while PZ is running, particularly when I'm loading unexplored areas of the map.

 

I moved the PZ installation to my Samsung Evo 830 SSD, but that didn't help; my WD was still bottlenecking, presumably because the game is constantly writing to the save file in Users/<user>/Zomboid which is also on my WD Green.

 

The temporary solution appears to be to not use a "green" drive, which is known to cause issues with games and gaming. However, I would appreciate it if in a future update you gave players the option to change the location of their savegame data, or if you could find a way to reduce the amount of small read/writes needed to eliminate the issue entirely.

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Edit: Solved, see last line

 

Yes, I'm using Windows 8.1.

I remotely installed Hard Disk Sentinel and ran it just now. Here is more detailed information about my drive's health.

  -- General Information --    Application Information   -------------------------    Installed Version  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hard Disk Sentinel 4.50 PRO    Registered To  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unregistered version, please register.    Current Date And Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1/13/2015 11:14:10 AM    Health Calculation Method  . . . . . . . . . . . : Analyse data field (default)    Computer Information   ----------------------    Computer Name  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SUGO    User Name  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Ryvaeus    Computer Type  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Desktop    IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101    MAC Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 50-46-5D-4F-21-FB    System Uptime  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1 days, 15 hours, 15 minutes, 44 seconds    System Up Since  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1/11/2015 7:58:26 PM    CPU Usage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : CPU #1: 16 %, CPU #2: 25 %, CPU #3: 28 %, CPU #4: 10 %    Virtual Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 18760 MB, Used: 5685 MB (30 %)    System Information   --------------------    Windows Version  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Windows 8.1 Pro     CPU Type & Speed #1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3410 MHz    CPU Type & Speed #2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3410 MHz    CPU Type & Speed #3  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3410 MHz    CPU Type & Speed #4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3410 MHz    BIOS Manufacturer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ALASKA - 1072009 BIOS Date: 10/28/13 10:42:45 Ver: 11.03      Physical Memory Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16329 MB, Used: 4266 MB (26 %)    Display Adapter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670    Display Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1920 x 1080 (32 bit)    Printer #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Adobe PDF    Printer #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : EPSON058493 (L355 Series)    Printer #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Fax    Printer #4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft XPS Document Writer    Printer #5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Send To OneNote 2013    Network Controller #1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter    Network Controller #2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82579V Gigabit Network Connection    Optical Drive  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : F: MATSHITA BD-MLT UJ240AS / 1.02 (BD-RE, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, CD-RW)    PCI Device Information   ------------------------    PCI Bus 0; Device 1; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port - 0151    PCI Bus 0; Device 20; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : %1 USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - %2 (Microsoft);(Intel(R),0100)    PCI Bus 0; Device 22; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Management Engine Interface     PCI Bus 0; Device 25; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82579V Gigabit Network Connection    PCI Bus 0; Device 26; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 1E2D    PCI Bus 0; Device 27; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : High Definition Audio Controller    PCI Bus 0; Device 28; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 1E10    PCI Bus 0; Device 28; Function 6 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 7 - 1E1C    PCI Bus 0; Device 28; Function 7 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 8 - 1E1E    PCI Bus 0; Device 29; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 1E26    PCI Bus 0; Device 31; Function 2 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller    PCI Bus 1; Device 0; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670    PCI Bus 1; Device 0; Function 1  . . . . . . . . : High Definition Audio Controller    PCI Bus 3; Device 0; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter    PCI Bus 4; Device 0; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : %1 USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - %2 (Microsoft);(ASMedia,0096)  -- Physical Disk Information - Disk: #2: WDC WD30EZRX-00DC0B0 --    Hard Disk Summary   -------------------    Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2    Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3, 6 Gbps    Disk Controller  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller (AHCI) [VEN: 8086, DEV: 1E02]    Disk Location  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bus Number 2, Target Id 0, LUN 0    Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : WDC WD30EZRX-00DC0B0    Firmware Revision  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.00A80    Hard Disk Serial Number  . . . . . . . . . . . . : WD-WMC1T0******    Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2861585 MB    Power State  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Active    Logical Drive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : E: [WD Green]     Current Temperature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 37 °C    Power On Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 494 days, 19 hours    Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : 10 days    Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #------------------- 9 % (Critical)    Performance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)    The drive found 1545 bad sectors during its self test.    There are 2154 weak sectors found on the disk surface. They may be remapped any time in the later use of the disk.    It is recommended to examine the log of the disk regularly. All new problems found will be logged there.      It is recommended to backup immediately to prevent data loss.    ATA Information   -----------------    Hard Disk Cylinders  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5814021    Hard Disk Heads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16    Hard Disk Sectors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63    ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ATA8-ACS    Transport Version  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SATA Rev 2.6    Total Sectors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 732566646    Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4096 [Advanced Format]    Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16    Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0    Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2861588 MB    Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4    Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2    Maximum UDMA Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6 Gbps (6)    Active UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6 Gbps (6)    Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time  . . . . . . : 120 ns    Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time  . . . . : 120 ns    Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY  . . . . : 120 ns    Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns    ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid    ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid    Acoustic Management Configuration   -----------------------------------    Acoustic Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Acoustic Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Disabled    Current Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Default (00h)    Recommended Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . : Default (00h)    ATA Features   --------------    Read Ahead Buffer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled    DMA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Ultra DMA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    S.M.A.R.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Write Cache  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Host Protected Area  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Advanced Power Management  . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Extended Power Management  . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Power Up In Standby  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    48-Bit LBA Addressing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Device Configuration Overlay . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    IORDY Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Read/Write DMA Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    NOP Command  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Trusted Computing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    64-Bit World Wide ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0150E04E1EAEB1DF    Streaming  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Media Card Pass Through  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    General Purpose Logging  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Error Logging  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    CFA Feature Set  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    CFast Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Long Physical Sectors (8)  . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Long Logical Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Write-Read-Verify  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    NV Cache Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    NV Cache Power Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    NV Cache Size  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Free-fall Control  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Free-fall Control Sensitivity  . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    SSD Features   --------------    Data Set Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    TRIM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Deterministic Read After TRIM  . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    S.M.A.R.T. Details   --------------------    Off-line Data Collection Status  . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed    Self Test Execution Status . . . . . . . . . . . : Test Failed By Read Element    Total Time To Complete Off-line Data Collection  : 41160 seconds    Execute Off-line Immediate . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Abort/restart Off-line By Host . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Off-line Read Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Short Self-test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Extended Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Conveyance Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Selective Self-Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Save Data Before/After Power Saving Mode . . . . : Supported    Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave  . . . . . . . : Supported    Error Logging Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Short Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . . . : 2 minutes    Extended Self-test Estimated Time  . . . . . . . : 413 minutes    Conveyance Self-test Estimated Time  . . . . . . : 5 minutes    Last Short Self-test Result  . . . . . . . . . . : Test Failed By Read Element    Last Short Self-test Date  . . . . . . . . . . . : 1/13/2015 11:09:46 AM    Last Short Self-test Duration  . . . . . . . . . : 1 minutes    Last Extended Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . : Never Started    Last Extended Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started    Last Conveyance Self-test Result . . . . . . . . : Never Started    Last Conveyance Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . : Never Started    Security Mode   ---------------    Security Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Security Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Security Erase Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 436 minutes    Security Enhanced Erase Feature  . . . . . . . . : Supported    Security Enhanced Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . : 436 minutes    Security Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No    Security Locked  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No    Security Frozen  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes    Security Counter Expired . . . . . . . . . . . . : No    Security Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : High    Serial ATA Features   ---------------------    S-ATA Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes    S-ATA I Signaling Speed (1.5 Gps)  . . . . . . . : Supported    S-ATA II Signaling Speed (3 Gps) . . . . . . . . : Supported    S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps) . . . . . . . : Supported    Receipt Of Power Management Requests From Host . : Supported    PHY Event Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Non-Zero Buffer Offsets In DMA Setup FIS . . . . : Not supported    DMA Setup Auto-Activate Optimization . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled    Device Initiating Interface Power Management . . : Supported, Enabled    In-Order Data Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Asynchronous Notification  . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported    Software Settings Preservation . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled    Native Command Queuing (NCQ) . . . . . . . . . . : Supported    Queue Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32    Disk Information   ------------------    Disk Family  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Caviar Green    Form Factor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3.5"     Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3000 GB (3000 x 1,000,000,000 bytes)    Number Of Disks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4    Number Of Heads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8    Disk Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Serial-ATA/600    Buffer-Host Max. Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 600 MB/seconds    Buffer Size  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 65536 KB    Drive Ready Time (Typical) . . . . . . . . . . . : ? seconds    Average Seek Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms    Track To Track Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms    Full Stroke Seek Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms    Width  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 101.6 mm (4.0 inch)    Depth  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 147.0 mm (5.8 inch)    Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 26.1 mm (1.0 inch)    Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 640 grams (1.4 pounds)    Acoustic (Idle)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2.4 Bel    Acoustic (Min Performance And Volume)  . . . . . : 2.5 Bel    Acoustic (Max Performance And Volume)  . . . . . : 2.9 Bel    Required Power For Spinup  . . . . . . . . . . . : 1,780 mA    Power Required (Seek)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6.0 W    Power Required (Idle)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5.5 W    Power Required (Standby) . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.8 W    Manufacturer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Western Digital Corporation    Manufacturer Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products    S.M.A.R.T.   ------------No.  Attribute                Thre.. Value  Worst  Data                Status                   Flags                                                  1    Raw Read Error Rate      51     200    200    0000000003AA        OK                       Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Performance, Statistica.. 3    Spin Up Time             21     216    178    000000001046        OK                       Self Preserving, Performance, Statistical, Critical    4    Start/Stop Count         0      100    100    0000000002B7        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              5    Reallocated Sectors Co.. 140    200    200    000000000000        OK                       Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical, Critical    7    Seek Error Rate          0      200    200    000000000000        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Performance, Statistical  9    Power On Time Count      0      84     84     000000002E63        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              10   Spin Retry Count         0      100    100    000000000000        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              11   Drive Calibration Retr.. 0      100    100    000000000000        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              12   Drive Power Cycle Count  0      100    100    0000000000EE        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              192  Power off Retract Cycl.. 0      200    200    000000000059        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              193  Load/Unload Cycle Count  0      103    103    0000000475DB        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              194  Disk Temperature         0      113    84     000000000025        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Statistical                           196  Reallocation Event Count 0      200    200    000000000000        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              197  Current Pending Sector.. 0      196    196    00000000086A        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              198  Off-Line Uncorrectable.. 0      197    196    000000000609        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count                           199  Ultra ATA CRC Error Co.. 0      200    200    000000000000        OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              200  Write Error Rate         0      86     61     00000000B397        OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate                                                 Transfer Rate Information   ---------------------------    Total Data Read  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2 MB,  2 MB since installation  (1/13/2015)    Total Data Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3 MB,  3 MB since installation    Average Reads Per Day  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2.00 MB    Average Writes Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3.00 MB    Current Transfer Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s    Maximum Transfer Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 848 KB/s    Current Read Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s    Current Write Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s    Current Disk Activity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 %  -- Partition Information --Logical Drive                           Total Space         Free Space          Free Space               Used SpaceC: (Disk: #0)                           55.6 GB             0.9 GB                2 % (Low)              ###################-D: Samsung SSD (Disk: #1)               119.2 GB            80.7 GB              68 %                    ######--------------E: WD Green (Disk: #2)                  2794.4 GB           1207.5 GB            43 %                    ###########--------- 

The "The drive found 1545 bad sectors during its self test. There are 2154 weak sectors found on the disk surface. They may be remapped any time in the later use of the disk" warning is known, I've had those bad sectors since first installing the drive. They haven't increased or decreased since installation, so I'm guessing it's a manufacturing issue that hasn't caused any additional problems.

Solved: I moved the Zomboid folder from /user/Zomboid to my SSD, created a symlink from it to the original location, and the game now works without stuttering or lag. This is only a stopgap solution until I replace my dying hard drive.

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Mine is from 2012 as well, November specifically. I use HDD Scan to run SMART tests. Here's the result from my latest scan:

 

QWIdu59.png

 

I'm not sure how much of an issue those two yellow triangles are, but aside from PZ and a couple of other games (Gauntlet, 7 Days to Die) the hard drive functions just fine.

 

This is the specific hard drive I'm using. It seems to be a cause for several other cases of 100% disk usage based on my Google-fu. For the record, I have attempted some popular recommendations known to alleviate spontaneous 100% disk usage including disabling Windows indexing and superfetch. Those efforts were in vain.

 

However, further searching led me to this post on WD's official forum which suggests the issue is that the drive drops from DMA mode to PIO mode for reasons. I'll try this out when I get back home and respond with the results.

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