using laptop-mode in conjunction with other hard disk monitoring software needs some attention in order to minimize disk’s spin-ups.

hddtemp so far queries the hard disk for temperature status every 60 seconds, thus wakening it from standby status that often.
Unless a workaround is found it would be a wise thing to remove it.

smartmontools (smartd) queries the hard disk for S.M.A.R.T. status every 30 minutes.
This can be configured in order to not query the disk if it is in standby or sleep mode.

edit /etc/smard.conf
and at line: DEVICESCAN -m root -M exec /usr/share/smartmontools/smartd-runner
add option: -n standby,q

note that the given option can be added to any line you have configured in this .conf file.

excerpt from ‘man smartd.conf’:

The ‘-n‘ (nocheck) Directive specifies if smartd’s periodic checks should still be carried out when the device is in a low-power mode. It may be used to prevent a disk from being spun-up by periodic smartd polling. The allowed values of POWERMODE are:

never - smartd will poll (check) the device regardless of its power mode. This may cause a disk which is spun-down to be spun-up when smartd checks it. This is the default behavior if the ‘-n’ Directive is not given.

sleep - check the device unless it is in SLEEP mode.

standby - check the device unless it is in SLEEP or STANDBY mode. In these modes most disks are not spinning, so if you want to prevent a laptop disk from spinning up each time that smartd polls, this is probably what you want.

idle - check the device unless it is in SLEEP, STANDBY or IDLE mode. In the IDLE state, most disks are still spinning, so this is probably not what you want.

When a self test is scheduled (see ‘-s’ Directive below), the ‘-n‘ Directive is ignored, and all tests are carried out.

When a periodic test is skipped, smartd normally writes an informal log message. The message can be suppressed by appending the option ‘,q’ to POWERMODE (like ‘-n standby,q’). This prevents a laptop disk from spinning up due to this message.