Hard drive grinding noise?

[johngaspar]

Hi, I just installed my new 2TB WD Black HDD and while I was transferring files over it started making a grinding noise. It's not constant, but happens frequent for like a second whenever it does make the noise I was wondering if this was normal? My old WD Blue HDD never made that noise so I'm a bit worried. Thanks.

EDIT: This is what it sounds like when I'm playing

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1SnmIAphU81

When I'm not

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1caX3RC9aEe

 

[Onus]

Is it truly a grinding or more of a whirring noise? If it were truly grinding, in a manner that might indicate a head crash, the drive would most likely throw lots of errors or not even be usable.

 

[johngaspar]

Is it truly a grinding or more of a whirring noise? If it were truly grinding, in a manner that might indicate a head crash, the drive would most likely throw lots of errors or not even be usable.

It's definitely like a churning/grinding noise. Like I said it's not constant, happens every few seconds and only lasts for a moment.

 

[Onus]

See if S.M.A.R.T. and/or Chkdsk report any errors or bad sectors.

 

[johngaspar]

See if S.M.A.R.T. and/or Chkdsk report any errors or bad sectors.

No errors or anything. I just finished copying all the files and now the hard drive is quiet, not making the noise anymore.

 

[Onus]

Well, the drive has a five-year warranty. See how it is in normal operation. Of course, maintaining data backups is always a good idea.

 

[johngaspar]

Well, the drive has a five-year warranty. See how it is in normal operation. Of course, maintaining data backups is always a good idea.

I did some of my own tests to see when the hard drive does make the noise. I played a game, installed a program and ran a program from the hard drive and it seems like it makes the noise whenever I do any of those things, but when I don't use it at all, no noise.

 

[Onus]

It is probably just the head-actuator, and may be normal, especially if you're not seeing errors or bad sectors.

 

[nukemaster]

The seek noise on the 2tb black can be fairly loud. That is the cost of better seek performance

 

[johngaspar]

The seek noise on the 2tb black can be fairly loud. That is the cost of better seek performance

Yeah I understand that but is it supposed to make like a grinding noise?

 

[nukemaster]

Can you record it by any chance? I would not call it grinding, but it is louder than my other drives.

 

[johngaspar]

Can you record it by any chance? I would not call it grinding, but it is louder than my other drives.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1SnmIAphU81

 

[Onus]

I could not hear anything on the recording.

 

[johngaspar]

I could not hear anything on the recording.

Maybe it's normal then? There is the grinding noise in the recording. It only makes that noise when I'm playing games, this is what it sounds like when I'm not

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1caX3RC9aEe

 

[tom thumb]

Listening to your recording it sounds pretty bad, although I did go through 2 2TB seagate green drives that made a similar noise specifically while NOT in use (which is weird, and why I got another identical drive to see if that was the case). The drives functioned perfectly otherwise, and passed all drive tests. I replaced them anyway.

I would say that this kind of noise is just a part of using HDDs, but taking a guess I'd say that even if your drive was otherwise working perfectly, the noise alone disqualifies it, as you've noticed it as 'grinding' - kind of unpleasant to hear.

Run a SMART test and/or try an identical drive to see if it's defective - it might have a firmware issue. Does the noise go away when the drive is idle?

As far as I remember, the Black-edition drives are acoustically the loudest.

 

[johngaspar]

Listening to your recording it sounds pretty bad, although I did go through 2 2TB seagate green drives that made a similar noise specifically while NOT in use (which is weird, and why I got another identical drive to see if that was the case). The drives functioned perfectly otherwise, and passed all drive tests. I replaced them anyway.

I would say that this kind of noise is just a part of using HDDs, but taking a guess I'd say that even if your drive was otherwise working perfectly, the noise alone disqualifies it, as you've noticed it as 'grinding' - kind of unpleasant to hear.

Run a SMART test and/or try an identical drive to see if it's defective - it might have a firmware issue. Does the noise go away when the drive is idle?

As far as I remember, the Black-edition drives are acoustically the loudest.

I ran the SMART test, no errors or bad sectors at all. At first I thought I messed up screwing it in so I fixed it. It only happens when I'm playing a game, on idle it happens for a split second every once in a while

 

[tom thumb]

I messed up screwing it in

That reminds me, another cause for noise could be resonance in your case. Before I put my drives into a sealed drive enclosure (which is IMO the best option), I had them elastically suspended (which removes noise from vibration) Try pulling the drive out and resting it on something soft.

The noise is occurring when the drive is active, but I don't know enough about the caviar Blacks to know if THAT much noise is ok or not. You can always try getting another identical drive just to see if yours is specifically at fault.

You could also try running some intense read/write tests while the drive is under warranty or store-return policy, before you use it for anything important.

I can't stand that kind of hard drive noise and I would return it just for that... but that's a personal preference.

 

[nukemaster]

The first file almost sounds like a cd drive seeking. The second had not much to hear, just lots of wall shaking bass.

The simple problem is that BLACKS have a very aggressive seek(the older 640gigabyte model was near silent on seeks). I will try to record a WDC black 2tb(from when they first released them) see if yours sounds the same.

Here is the sound file.

Please note this was not in case and the drive was standing on its end(not ideal i know, but my e-sata cable is short).

The mic(Creative ZEN) was only 1cm from the drive, but it sure lets you hear the seek sound. In a system this sound would be deeper sounding.
WDC Black 2TB(WD2002FAEX) random seek uploaded to tinypic.com

 

[johngaspar]

The first file almost sounds like a cd drive seeking. The second had not much to hear, just lots of wall shaking bass.

The simple problem is that BLACKS have a very aggressive seek(the older 640gigabyte model was near silent on seeks). I will try to record a WDC black 2tb(from when they first released them) see if yours sounds the same.

Here is the sound file.

Please note this was not in case and the drive was standing on its end(not ideal i know, but my e-sata cable is short).

The mic(Creative ZEN) was only 1cm from the drive, but it sure lets you hear the seek sound. In a system this sound would be deeper sounding.
WDC Black 2TB(WD2002FAEX) random seek uploaded to tinypic.com

Yeah mine sounds like that when it was out of the case too. I got another one for reference and it was the same noise. I'm guessing blacks are just like that.

 

[nukemaster]

Yup, but they do have great seeks times

You make be able to use third party software to enable AAM that would reduce the noise at the cost of seek times.

I have not personally tried it, but CrystalDiskInfo has some options(Functions -> Advanced Feature -> AAM/APM. If AAM is greyed out, then I guess you can not change it[I would test, but I have already put the drive away.].) like that for sending ATA commands to the drive(the ones from CDI are temporary and do not stick power down and power back up).

 

[Anjan James]

The seek noise on the 2tb black can be fairly loud. That is the cost of better seek performance

Yeah I understand that but is it supposed to make like a grinding noise?

I need your help... My WD caviar black is emanating the same type of noises, and no error is being detected by any software.. I got it as a replacement for a faulty drive only day before yesterday... Do I need to worry??

 

[nukemaster]

Was it a replacement for the exact same drive or another model.

I found the WDC Black 2TB to be MUCH louder than the older 640 gigabyte models.

The sound file I had uploaded is normal for my drive(the 2TB one) when it is performing random seeks. It is also very loud to spinup(but has not caused any issues).

 

[Anjan James]

Was it a replacement for the exact same drive or another model.

I found the WDC Black 2TB to be MUCH louder than the older 640 gigabyte models.

The sound file I had uploaded is normal for my drive(the 2TB one) when it is performing random seeks. It is also very loud to spinup(but has not caused any issues).

Yes, it was a replacement. And the sound is almost exactly as u had uploaded. So it won't crash or something after a few days? Its normal? Mine is 3TB.

 

[nukemaster]

It should be ok.

If you are worried run a few full drive scans at the least that should ensure the full drive is reading and writing properly.

 

[Anjan James]

It should be ok.

If you are worried run a few full drive scans at the least that should ensure the full drive is reading and writing properly.

Thanks for the replies... Did full scans by HD Pro and HD sentinel... Apart from a few darker green areas, everything is fine... Apart from the sound... I guess I have to just get on with it..