Question HDD constant croaking sound

[jhsu8888]

For some reason my HDD has been making this noise for a long time and I'm finally trying to figure it out.
https://clyp.it/dakrmnzp

The drive is an older data storage for my Windows 10 computer. It makes these subtle chugging noises no matter what I do. I've tested disconnecting it and the noise goes away so I'm sure it's the source.

I've checked the optimization settings and it says 0% fragmentation. I tried turning off scheduled optimization in the 'Defragment and Optimize Drives' settings, still no change.

When I check the disk performance in the Task Manager it shows 0% utilization.

I'm confident that the drive is working fine because there hasn't been any performance issues and the sound has been there forever. I always assumed it was defragging, but since disabling it and looking more closely, I have no idea why the constant chugging sound.

Is this just the natural idle sounds of an HDD? Or is there some other process going on I can't figure out?

 

[joeacejr15]

For some reason my HDD has been making this noise for a long time and I'm finally trying to figure it out.
https://clyp.it/dakrmnzp

The drive is an older data storage for my Windows 10 computer. It makes these subtle chugging noises no matter what I do. I've tested disconnecting it and the noise goes away so I'm sure it's the source.

I've checked the optimization settings and it says 0% fragmentation. I tried turning off scheduled optimization in the 'Defragment and Optimize Drives' settings, still no change.

When I check the disk performance in the Task Manager it shows 0% utilization.

I'm confident that the drive is working fine because there hasn't been any performance issues and the sound has been there forever. I always assumed it was defragging, but since disabling it and looking more closely, I have no idea why the constant chugging sound.

Is this just the natural idle sounds of an HDD? Or is there some other process going on I can't figure out?

Most clicking noises on hard drives is big trouble, I would replace the hard drive with a solid state drive IMMEDIATELY. I mean, hard drives do click very quietly but if its loud and obnoxious then replace it with an SSD.

 

[popatim]

Since this noise is regular at every 2 seconds, do you have some program to keep the drive from sleeping running?

 

[jhsu8888]

Since this noise is regular at every 2 seconds, do you have some program to keep the drive from sleeping running?

I don't recall having any kind of hard drive power utility installed.

I do have a hot swappable HDD bay that I tried running the hard drive through and when I do that the chugging sound disappears.

So I just tested a bunch of different configurations. The original drive is an HGST 4TB drive and I tested 2 other drives as well.

DRIVES:
HGST 4TB Primary Data
HGST 4TB Back-up Data
Seagate 3TB Old Data

CONNECTIONS:
SATA Port A
SATA Port B
Hot Swappable Bay (SATA Port B)

RESULTS:
HGST Primary + SATA A = Chugging
HGST Primary + Bay = No Noise
HGST Primary + SATA B = Chugging

HGST Backup + Bay = No Noise
HGST Backup + SATA A = Chugging

Seagate + Bay = No Noise
Seagate + SATA A = No Noise
--------------------------------------------


I double-checked the HGST drive in the hot swap bay and definitely no noise. So it seems like it has something to do specifically with the HGST drives connecting directly to the SATA ports.

I don't know if it might help to solve the mystery, but the HGST drives were originally shucked from Touro external drives many years ago.

As I said before, it's always made this chugging sound, I've only recently decided to try and figure it out so I'm pretty confident it's not a sign that the drives are bad.

 

[jhsu8888]

PS - I also checked the UEFI for any drive settings and didn't find anything related

 

[digitalgriffin]

It could be a head realignment. But i find this odd. I would run an extended smart test.

 

[jhsu8888]

It could be a head realignment. But i find this odd. I would run an extended smart test.

I'll try a an extended SMART test over night as it looks like they take >9hrs, but like I said I do't think it's a sign the drives are faulty as it's been this way as long as I can remember.

It's really odd how the noise will go away depending on how I connect the drive.

 

[digitalgriffin]

I'll try a an extended SMART test over night as it looks like they take >9hrs, but like I said I do't think it's a sign the drives are faulty as it's been this way as long as I can remember.

It's really odd how the noise will go away depending on how I connect the drive.

You could see if theres a firmware update.

 

[popatim]

What is your system configuration please?
Which mode is your Sata ports in?
OS? W10 I assume...

 

[jhsu8888]

The OS is Windows 10. I tried the HGST drive in the hot swap bay again and think I figured it out.

When the drive is in the hot swap bay it's dead quiet, but when it goes idle it takes a few seconds to spin-up, I can hear it start to whir.

When it's connected directly to SATA I get the regular access noise, but when I access the drive there's no spin-up time.

I vaguely remember in the past sitting through those spin-up times, and I think at some point Windows must have implemented some policy to constantly access the drive in order to circumvent power saving settings and reduce access times.

That's my best guess.