External Hdd making clicking sound when second USB port was connected to Android

[chaitanya singh]

Hey

Needed to transfer files from Ext. HDD to Android phone. As soon as I opened the Ext. Hdd window
clicking sound started coming. Never happened before. Anyway during copying clicking sound came now and then. After copying and ejecting Android. I decided to test the Ext Hdd using HD tune Pro. No clicking sound came during testing and Hdd just runs fine completely silent.
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HD Tune Pro: StoreJetTranscend Benchmark

Test capacity: full

Read transfer rate
Transfer Rate Minimum : 29.4 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum : 31.1 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average : 29.9 MB/s
Access Time : 16.9 ms
Burst Rate : 30.6 MB/s
CPU Usage : 10.3%
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Can anybody explain this strange behavior.

As seen the Hdd Curve is almost straight and rate is quiet low 30MBps.

Whereas my Internal Hdd curve is like this.

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HD Tune Pro: ST3500413AS Benchmark

Test capacity: full

Read transfer rate
Transfer Rate Minimum : 49.5 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum : 133.5 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average : 99.6 MB/s
Access Time : 14.9 ms
Burst Rate : 187.0 MB/s
CPU Usage : 10.0%
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Also my PC is using two USB ports for Mouse and Ext Hdd and third for Android Phone. Can excess of USB connections might be the problem. Please advise.

HDD Port front
Mouse Port Back
Android Port front

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, chaitanya singh.

This seems like a really bad performance indeed. It might be due to a faulty cable so go ahead and try out the HDD with a different USB cable and a different computer (if possible), but in order to be safe, I'd recommend that you backup all important data which you might have on that drive, just in case. After that go ahead and run a diagnostic test on that HDD, to see if any errors or bad sectors pop-up. You can find both 3rd party and brand related HDD/SSD diagnostic programs here. Run extended tests as well (they take longer but scan the drive sector by sector): http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/tophddiag.htm.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[chaitanya singh]

Sorry been out for a few days, couldn't test the hdd. Here the tests mainly sector tests tried to do SeaTools it first told "Only Seagate or Maxtor drives may be repaired" then gave error at beginning of test

"Unfortunately, your Seagate product has failed an important diagnostic test, possibly caused by problem sectors which are difficult to read. Now is a good time to make sure that you have a current backup of your important data. If you have not done so already, please consider running the Long Generic test on your external drive. This test has the ability to repair problem sectors that are difficult to read. For more information on this subject, see the Help file topic "Bad Sector Found"
These are the test results
SeaTools Test Code: 6C9AC2A4
Fix All Long - Started 3/29/2016 10:57:18 AM
Fix All Long - FAIL 3/29/2016 11:00:09 AM
SeaTools Test Code: 6C9AC2A4
Identify - Started 3/29/2016 11:04:39 AM
Short Generic - Started 3/29/2016 11:06:07 AM
Short Generic - FAIL 3/29/2016 11:06:44 AM
SeaTools Test Code: 6C9AC2A4

Here are the other tests

SECTOR TESTS

It seems HD Tune Pro is showing only one error @LBA6123808 while EASIS is showing two @6123776 and @1953525120. The sector positions don't match for two tests by diff s/w.


Here are the other tests results

Disk Info

 

[hang-the-9]

Phones/Tablets don't have enough power to run many external hard drives, if that is what you were doing, the lower power causes clicking in the drive. Don't know if it can cause damage, but I have run into many external drives that clicked when you ran them on too low power.

 

[chaitanya singh]

Phones/Tablets don't have enough power to run many external hard drives, if that is what you were doing, the lower power causes clicking in the drive. Don't know if it can cause damage, but I have run into many external drives that clicked when you ran them on too low power.

Used Desktop PC with front USB port to connect to hdd. Total two front ports, while back USB port is connected to small USB mouse.
I have Seasonic Eco 430 Watt PSU bought recently. If there is a problem with my PSU is there any way to check the proper functioning of it through any software.

 

[chaitanya singh]

Also can someone please tell me why the sectors positions error found don't match for two tests.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well you might get different reading sometimes from two different tools. That's why it's always recommended that you check with the drive manufacturer's tool first and it's not a bad idea to double-check things with a 3rd party tool if you're having doubts that the information you're getting might not be accurate. It really looks like there's something wrong and if the drive is failing the tests, perhaps you should contact its manufacturer's customer support and ask about RMA, if it's still under warranty.

Actually there's something else you could try if you are having just a single bad sector or a few of them. You could try low level formatting the HDD and re-test it to see if everything is fine afterwards. Note that low level format will make your data irretrievable.

 

[madmatt30]

If it only happens when all 3 devices are connected to the PC & that droce is USB powered it honestly sounds like a lack of USB power to me.

If your phone is also charging when connected as an external drive then its sucking up probably 2amps & leaving little USB power for other devices.

There should be an option on your phone to disable charging while connected as a flash drive - it may sort your problem.

 

[chaitanya singh]

If it only happens when all 3 devices are connected to the PC & that droce is USB powered it honestly sounds like a lack of USB power to me.

If your phone is also charging when connected as an external drive then its sucking up probably 2amps & leaving little USB power for other devices.

There should be an option on your phone to disable charging while connected as a flash drive - it may sort your problem.

Actually this is how click sound came for first time. Connected the phone to front USB then opened the window of already connected hdd which I guess was building the index or whatever the drive does when opened. Don't know how can I test it without risking the clicking.