Regular/patterned seeking noises on hard drive when not in use

[kami]

A couple of weeks ago I got a new hard drive for some mass storage (Seagate archive 8TB). It worked perfectly fine -- speeds were normal and it passed any test I ran it through. However, with total regularity it made a seeking/clicking noise every 5 seconds. And the pattern of noise is the same every time: DOOT--- DOOT-DOOT (wait 5 seconds) DOOT--- DOOT-DOOT (repeat)

This only happened when it was idling. When I copied files to and from the drive it stopped making those noises. I read that regular noises like that could be a sign of imminent failure, so I figured it was a bad drive.

I returned it, got a new different drive (HGST 6TB), and now this one does the same damned thing! A regular noise every 5 seconds when idle, except the pattern of noise is different -- it's just a single DOOT every 5 sec.

I have 5 other drives in the system (3 SSD and 2 mechanical) and the other mechanical drives don't exhibit this behavior. It's all running on the 6 SATA ports on my Asus Z-170A motherboard.

It even makes these noises when sitting in the bios, so I don't think it's anything in Windows 10 causing it. I've tried moving the drive to a different SATA port with the same results.

Am I that unlucky that I got 2 different drives with the exact same problem? Or could something else be causing it to do this?

 

[C1]

Na, if you look on the networks then you will see all kinds of reports about periodic noise issues with this drive. (It is massively high density, uses specialty recording technology & requires regular frequent calibration for alignment. (Such density drives are more like for some kind of server application in which noise wouldnt be an issue in a server closet.)

The drive in all liklehood is fine (test it), it's probably doing a periodic calibration.

There is a possibility that there is a utility that can access the drive firmware and disable some automation responsible for the periodic sounds.

 

[UsandThem]

Sounds like normal sounds on newer hard drives:

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/174571en?language=en_US

Normal sounds include:

1. Whining noise during drive spin-up.
2. Regular clicking or tapping sounds during drive access.
3. Hard clicks when the drive heads park during power saving modes like Standby or Hibernation.

It could also be related to APM:

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/manual-en/AamApm.htmlhttp://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/manual-en/AamApm.html

https://www.tenforums.com/performan...-spinning-down-clicking-every-30-seconds.html

 

[C1]

Whilst the recording is not very clear, I suspect that the issue is down to the read/write heads parking frequently when the disk is idle. Most modern drives support a feature called Advanced Power Management and when enabled this can cause the heads to be retracted when possible in order to save power and reduce the chances of platters being damaged if the computer is knocked or suffers power issues. It's more useful on laptops than desktops.

You can test whether APM is indeed causing the noises by disabling it. There is a tool called hdparm which can do this, but bear in mind that the affect is only temporary and it will be re-enabled if you restart the PC. Once it is installed it should show up in the Start Menu with shortcuts to change the APM mode.

It's possible that you have some tool like the Intel Rapid Storage Technology installed which is enabling APM. Also, make sure that your Windows power plan is based on High Performance.

 

[kami]

Na, if you look on the networks then you will see all kinds of reports about periodic noise issues with this drive. (It is massively high density, uses specialty recording technology & requires regular frequent calibration for alignment. (Such density drives are more like for some kind of server application in which noise wouldnt be an issue in a server closet.)

The drive in all liklehood is fine (test it), it's probably doing a periodic calibration.

There is a possibility that there is a utility that can access the drive firmware and disable some automation responsible for the periodic sounds.

Do you mean the Seagate or the HGST I have now? Because I already had one of the Seagate 8TB drives for over a year and it has never made any of the noises the new one made. Both drives are the same model, but probably different firmware since they're manufactured over a year apart.

As for testing, like I said it performed normally and passed anything in any disk utility I tried. I just found the regular noise it made tremendously annoying. It was by far the noisest part of the PC. And every 5 seconds on the nose. The HGST noise isn't as annoying, but I just found it odd that it also happens every 5 seconds exactly.

Sounds like normal sounds on newer hard drives:

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/174571en?language=en_US



It could also be related to APM:

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/manual-en/AamApm.htmlhttp://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/manual-en/AamApm.html

https://www.tenforums.com/performan...-spinning-down-clicking-every-30-seconds.html

On that Seagate article it says regular noises are abnormal though? That's why I was concerned.

I'll look into APM, the HGST drive supports it but the Seagate does not according to crystaldiskinfo.

 

[kami]

Whilst the recording is not very clear, I suspect that the issue is down to the read/write heads parking frequently when the disk is idle. Most modern drives support a feature called Advanced Power Management and when enabled this can cause the heads to be retracted when possible in order to save power and reduce the chances of platters being damaged if the computer is knocked or suffers power issues. It's more useful on laptops than desktops.

You can test whether APM is indeed causing the noises by disabling it. There is a tool called hdparm which can do this, but bear in mind that the affect is only temporary and it will be re-enabled if you restart the PC. Once it is installed it should show up in the Start Menu with shortcuts to change the APM mode.

It's possible that you have some tool like the Intel Rapid Storage Technology installed which is enabling APM. Also, make sure that your Windows power plan is based on High Performance.

Thanks, I will try this hdparm app and see what happens.

 

[Ketchup]

Are you running any software that would be managing data on that drive (media server, file server, etc)?

Is there data on this drive? A lot?

 

[kami]

I tried the hdparm app, and it definitely does disable APM (I can see the difference in crystaldiskinfo), but the regular click still happens. Maybe I have to accept this is how the drive operates. At least it's nowhere near as loud as the Seagate was.

Are you running any software that would be managing data on that drive (media server, file server, etc)?

Is there data on this drive? A lot?

It happens even on the freshly formatted drive, and when I'm not even in Windows -- just with the PC powered on and sitting in the bios.

 

[Ketchup]

Ok. If you unplug the other mechanicals, do you still detect this behavior?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Could be "pre-emptive wear leveling" or "seek to improve reliability". Google those, should give you some ideas.