HDD noises

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bxf

My replacement 7K60 laptop drive, which is only four months old and was
silent until this week, suddenly produces spinning (not seeking) noise
along the lines of whirr-whirr-whirr, at a frequency of (roughly, from
memory) between 1/Sec or 2/sec.


Is this something to be expected as the drive reaches a "not new"
status, or should I expect the thing to completely fail soon?


Thanks in advance for any info.
 
My replacement 7K60 laptop drive, which is only four months old and was
silent until this week, suddenly produces spinning (not seeking) noise
along the lines of whirr-whirr-whirr, at a frequency of (roughly, from
memory) between 1/Sec or 2/sec.


Is this something to be expected as the drive reaches a "not new"
status, or should I expect the thing to completely fail soon?
Click to expand...

I guess you run frequent backups and know how to restore system when you get
a replacement hard disk.
 
Peter said:
I guess you run frequent backups and know how to restore system when you get
a replacement hard disk.
Click to expand...

Come out with it, boy, don't be shy! I can take it :-)

Yeah, I'm all set. Thanks, I think.
 
I guess you run frequent backups and know how to restore system when you
get
Come out with it, boy, don't be shy! I can take it :-)

Yeah, I'm all set. Thanks, I think.
Click to expand...

Then run disk busy (or continuous diagnostics) for a couple of nights and
check it's SMART info, if survives. If it is still good, it might live for
another few months, no guarantees though.
 
Peter said:
Then run disk busy (or continuous diagnostics) for a couple of nights and
check it's SMART info, if survives.
Click to expand...

I'll give it a go. Don't know if I have any control oven SMART in the
BIOS, as it is a laptop with almost nothing useful that can be changed.

If it is still good, it might live for
another few months, no guarantees though.
Click to expand...

If it's going to fail, let's do it now, while it's still under
guarantee.
 
I'll give it a go. Don't know if I have any control oven

You don't have to put it in the OVEN, just run it at normal room
temperature. Leave oven approach to MTBF scientists.
SMART in the
BIOS, as it is a laptop with almost nothing useful that can be changed.



If it's going to fail, let's do it now, while it's still under
guarantee.
Click to expand...

That seems to be good plan.
 
Peter said:
You don't have to put it in the OVEN, just run it at normal room
temperature. Leave oven approach to MTBF scientists.
Click to expand...

Had me going there for a minute - I didn't see my typo, which is quite
forgivable, given that there is only one key (G) between the N and the
R.
 
bxf said:
My replacement 7K60 laptop drive, which is only four months
old and was silent until this week, suddenly produces spinning
(not seeking) noise along the lines of whirr-whirr-whirr, at a
frequency of (roughly, from memory) between 1/Sec or 2/sec.
Click to expand...

You sure its the hard drive ? It isnt hard to get confused about
where the noise is coming from and its actually one of the fans.

The obvious test for that is to unplug the power to the hard drive for a test.

Its also likely its a resonance/beat with another drive since
its got that 1-2/sec frequency. Hard drives in isolation dont
normally do that unless its actually a very quiet recalibrate.
Is this something to be expected as the drive reaches a "not new" status,
Nope.

or should I expect the thing to completely fail soon?
Click to expand...

You should with any drive, but if its actually a bearing noise,
that normally doesnt cause failure, its just a pain in the arse/ears.

See what the SMART data says, if its a
very quiet recal it should show up there.
 
Rod said:
You sure its the hard drive ? It isnt hard to get confused about
where the noise is coming from and its actually one of the fans.
Click to expand...

Possible, but I don't think so. The sound is coming from the area of
the drive, plus my fan is not on all the time and is quite quiet when
it does come on.

BTW, shouldn't you be sleeping at this time, Rod? :-)
The obvious test for that is to unplug the power to the hard drive for a test.
Click to expand...

Oh, you are sleeping :-) It's a laptop, Rod.
Its also likely its a resonance/beat with another drive since
its got that 1-2/sec frequency.
Click to expand...

Laptop. One drive, one fan, etc.
Hard drives in isolation dont
normally do that unless its actually a very quiet recalibrate.
Click to expand...

What does this mean?
You should with any drive, but if its actually a bearing noise,
that normally doesnt cause failure, its just a pain in the arse/ears.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my ears aren't the best part of my anatomy, but even I can hear
the drive now. No, actually, it's not THAT loud, but certainly audible
after all the sane people go to sleep.
See what the SMART data says, if its a
very quiet recal it should show up there.
Click to expand...

I doubt I can control SMART on my laptop's BIOS. There are virtually no
useful options to change, and I don't recall seeing SMART. I'll have a
look.
 
bxf said:
Rod Speed wrote
Click to expand...
Possible, but I don't think so. The sound is coming
from the area of the drive, plus my fan is not on all
the time and is quite quiet when it does come on.
Click to expand...

Surely there is more than just one fan ?
BTW, shouldn't you be sleeping at this time, Rod? :-)
Click to expand...

Nope. I used to think that 9:30am meetings at work
were an absolute obscenity. I'm always up long before
that now, and now bitch about the post office not
opening before 9am when I choose to walk down
to it while its cool on stinking hot summer days |-)
Oh, you are sleeping :-) It's a laptop, Rod.
Click to expand...

Smart move not saying that previously.
Laptop. One drive, one fan, etc.
Click to expand...

Very unusual for a hard drive to have
a 1-2/sec cycle in the bearing noise.
What does this mean?
Click to expand...

What does what mean ? Drives recalibrate when they
cant read the data properly, basically move the heads
back to the home region and then back out to the track
that its trying to read. They dont do that for hours tho.
Yeah, my ears aren't the best part of my anatomy, but even
I can hear the drive now. No, actually, it's not THAT loud, but
certainly audible after all the sane people go to sleep.
Click to expand...

Surely the laptop is spinning the drive down when its not being used ?
I doubt I can control SMART on my laptop's BIOS.
There are virtually no useful options to change, and
I don't recall seeing SMART. I'll have a look.
Click to expand...

I meant get the data with something like Everest.
http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en
 
Rod said:
Nope. I used to think that 9:30am meetings at work
were an absolute obscenity. I'm always up long before
that now, and now bitch about the post office not
opening before 9am when I choose to walk down
to it while its cool on stinking hot summer days |-)
Click to expand...

98% of all meetings are obscene. A dozen or two people wasting hours,
with everybody with a mouth having something to "contribute", and
finally coming to indecision, whereas a few relevant souls could finish
off the necessities in a fraction of the time. And, given the fact that
my blood stops somewhere around my knees (when it decides to move at
all) and I'm almost perpetually cold, I'll take your stinking hot days
over Canadian or European cold anyday.
Smart move not saying that previously.
Click to expand...

See first line of post.
Very unusual for a hard drive to have
a 1-2/sec cycle in the bearing noise.



What does what mean ? Drives recalibrate when they
cant read the data properly, basically move the heads
back to the home region and then back out to the track
that its trying to read. They dont do that for hours tho.
Click to expand...

I didn't understand "quiet recalibrate". Thanks for the explanation.
Surely the laptop is spinning the drive down when its not being used ?
Click to expand...

Sure, and there is really no doubt at this point that the noise is from
the drive.
I meant get the data with something like Everest.
http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en
Click to expand...

OK, I'll check this out.
 
Folkert said:
You'd think...?
Click to expand...

I'm the judge here, OK? :-)
Not on my keyboard.
Click to expand...

No? What, you're using an AZERTY keyboard? On my QWERTY, there is a
diagonal line that runs, from bottom to top, N-G-R. So there is only
one letter intervening between the N and the R. True, there are several
centimeters between these keys, but only one key in the actual
straight-line path.
I'll guess that your name is not Bill.
Click to expand...

Ah, but it is, and it comes out as "B-I-L-L" regardless of which
keyboard one uses, as long as one hits the correct keys :-)
 
bxf said:
Rod Speed wrote
Click to expand...
98% of all meetings are obscene.
Click to expand...

Sure, but that's an entirely different issue.
A dozen or two people wasting hours, with everybody with
a mouth having something to "contribute", and finally coming
to indecision, whereas a few relevant souls could finish off
the necessities in a fraction of the time. And, given the fact that
my blood stops somewhere around my knees (when it decides
to move at all) and I'm almost perpetually cold, I'll take your
stinking hot days over Canadian or European cold anyday.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I much prefer the hot over the cold, and if it was
possible to pull the plug on one season, I'd kill off winter.
See first line of post.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my brain fart.
I didn't understand "quiet recalibrate". Thanks for the explanation.
Click to expand...
 
Everest SMART info says all OK.

I noticed a couple of things over the weekend. First, After I power up
the machine, the drive is quiet for a bit of time, perhaps a minute or
so, before the aforementioned noises start. Second, if I'm doing
something that uses the disk sequentially for some time (like video
encoding to a file), the noise is either diminished or changed to a
uniform pattern, rather than the rhythmic cycles I indicated in the
original post. And, FWIW, Everest reports the drive temperature as
about 43°C.
 
bxf said:
Everest SMART info says all OK.
Click to expand...

Post the actual data. The OK is just what the drive manufacturer
specifys, what matters more is reallocated bad sectors etc.
I noticed a couple of things over the weekend. First, After
I power up the machine, the drive is quiet for a bit of time,
perhaps a minute or so, before the aforementioned noises start.
Click to expand...

You sure its actually the hard drive ? Not easy to check with a laptop.
Second, if I'm doing something that uses the disk sequentially
for some time (like video encoding to a file), the noise is either
diminished or changed to a uniform pattern, rather than the
rhythmic cycles I indicated in the original post.
Click to expand...

Not clear what that last means.
And, FWIW, Everest reports the drive temperature as about 43°C.
Click to expand...

OK, that's fine.
 
Rod said:
Post the actual data. The OK is just what the drive manufacturer
specifys, what matters more is reallocated bad sectors etc.
Click to expand...

I'll bring it with me tomorrow (I (usuallly) have the internet only in
the office).
You sure its actually the hard drive ? Not easy to check with a laptop.
Click to expand...

Well, I can hear and feel the fan when it comes on, so it ain't that.
What else could it be? Also, the sound is certainly louder when I put
my ear to the surface of the laptop in the area just above the location
of the drive.
Not clear what that last means.
Click to expand...

Do you mean you aren't clear on what I'm saying or what the symptoms
mean? In case it's the former, I suppose I'm saying that when the drive
is constantly writing, as opposed to being idle or doing things that
would cause the heads to move back and forth while seeking, the noise
seems subdued, or at least constant, rather than whirr-whirr-whirr at 1
second intervals.
 
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