[SOLVED] HDDs spinning when not in use

[rossoo]

I got a 3.5 and 2.5mm HDD and an ssd with OS, since I added the 2.5 which I took from an external hard drive the vibrations became a lot more intense because is as big as an ssd and by installing it where an ssd was supposed to be there isn't any rubber support for vibrations unlike the 3.5mm. Is there any way to change their idle rpm and turn off completely the 2.5mm cause i just have stuff on it and no program whatsoever. Both drives are always spinning, tried power saving options which I set on 1 minute but never stopped spinning. All the build is so silent and those hard drives are ruining it...

Mobo: gigabyte z97x-ud5h-bk
Cpu: i5-4690k
Gpu: zotac 1070 amp extreme something
Psu: corsair hx850
Ram: hyperx beast ddr3 2x8 gigs
A 250gb SSD , 2tb HDD and 1tb HDD
Case: Evolv X

 

[Ralston18]

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

If possible, take a couple of photographs featuring the HDDs and how they are installed.,

Post via imgur.

https://imgur.com/

 

[rossoo]

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

If possible, take a couple of photographs featuring the HDDs and how they are installed.,

Post via imgur.

https://imgur.com/

Specs and stuff added to my profile info idk if that's the same

3a8b8df494a915ac.jpg.dpg (560×560) (joybuy.com)
this is the storage thingy that my case has, I have the 3.5 on the bottom while the 2.5 sits upside down bolted to the 4 holes you see on the top.

 

[Ralston18]

Add the specs to your post.

Upside down should not be a problem but I would avoid doing so. Tilting is to be avoided.

Is it possible to set/rest the 2.5" drive on the top of the cage rather than, if I understand correctly, "hanging" upside down in the bay?

Two separate issues:

1) Drives always spinning

Use Task Manager and Resource Monitor to determine what is using the drives and causing them to continually spin.

2) Noise

Likely that you will be able to install some materials to help dampen the noise. Just tightening the screws holding the cages together and the cages to the case may help. You may also be able to tighten the screws holding drives to cage - but do not over tighten those screws. Just snug.

FYI:

https://bettersoundproofing.com/hard-drive-making-noise/

Focus on #1 first.

#2 may become moot.

 

[rossoo]

Add the specs to your post.

Upside down should not be a problem but I would avoid doing so. Tilting is to be avoided.

Is it possible to set/rest the 2.5" drive on the top of the cage rather than, if I understand correctly, "hanging" upside down in the bay?

Two separate issues:

1) Drives always spinning

Use Task Manager and Resource Monitor to determine what is using the drives and causing them to continually spin.

2) Noise

Likely that you will be able to install some materials to help dampen the noise. Just tightening the screws holding the cages together and the cages to the case may help. You may also be able to tighten the screws holding drives to cage - but do not over tighten those screws. Just snug.

FYI:

https://bettersoundproofing.com/hard-drive-making-noise/

Focus on #1 first.

#2 may become moot.

Thanks for your patience

I can't put it on top cause of the ledges. Btw it's not really hanging, it's firmly bolted. I know that's ok having it upside down because I once had a faulty psu that made my hdd stop randomly and that drove me crazy. So I tried installing it upside down and actually helped a bit, I also had it sitting on my desk for a while just to be able to check it and it was pretty quiet. The 2.5 as I said before comes from an external drive which had no label telling the orientation.

Now with this 2.5 I get a lot of vibrations that also trasmit to the side panel of the case, in fact if I want to lower the noise I have to put the 2 thumb screws which lock the panel but is not what I'm looking for cause I just want to find a way to make it stop instead of having it always spinning uselessly.

I just noticed that in the secure removal appears my ssd where I have the OS, wtf why, that's so tempting tbh

In the task manager says there's nothing using both of the HDDs, now I'm going to try have a look in the bios to see if there is any option to just make them stop instead of this useless spinning...

 

[Ralston18]

Start thinking about using small rubber washers, etc. to buffer out the vibrations and/or noise.

What about Resource Monitor? Any indication there about what may be requiring/causing the disks to keep spinning?

Disk drives: make, model, capacity, how full?

Any recent cleanings or defrags?

 

[rossoo]

Start thinking about using small rubber washers, etc. to buffer out the vibrations and/or noise.

What about Resource Monitor? Any indication there about what may be requiring/causing the disks to keep spinning?

Disk drives: make, model, capacity, how full?

Any recent cleanings or defrags?

https://imgur.com/3NgWT5w

View: https://imgur.com/3NgWT5w


both defragmentated, infos in the pic, do you see something odd? Oh and also sometimes my pc doesn't go in standby even if I set the timer, forgot it on this evening and never went asleep

some suggestions to make it spin lower or even make it stop manually? It's a vibrator compared to the 3.5mm, i just directly touched them both and I can tell, is not just a fact of vibration isolating thingys

 

[Ralston18]

You cannot slow the speeds. The drive is designed to perform at a specific RPM.

And simply stopping a drive, in some manner, will likely lead to data corruption at best and physical damage at worst.

Were you running a defrag when you took the screenshot?

If you take the drive out of the case, turn the drive upright, and let the drive rest on some flat surface - do the vibrations end?

(Even thought the drive being upside down is not necessarily harmful, that is one factor you can test/adjust to see if the vibrations change.)

What may be happening is resonance.

Try the following.

Power off the computer and disconnect drives D: and E:

Reboot: Neither D: or E: should start up and spin.

Then do the same thing but but reconnect just D:

Then, likewise, repeat but do so with D: again disconnected and only E: connected.

Pay attention to when the vibrations occur, start, and are most intense.

 

[geofelt]

If the drive is spinning, your i/o response time is in milliseconds.
If the drive is stopped, the response time will be more like a minute.
There may be a power setting that allows you to power down after x amount of inactive time.

Of more concern is why a 2.5" HDD is noisy.
Possibly it is failing.
You can reduce transmitted sound by using rubber bands to suspend the drive in a 3.5" drive cage.
https://lifehacker.com/silence-your-hard-drive-with-elastic-suspenders-378786

The only way to pure quiet would be to replace it with a ssd.

 

[rossoo]

You cannot slow the speeds. The drive is designed to perform at a specific RPM.

And simply stopping a drive, in some manner, will likely lead to data corruption at best and physical damage at worst.

Were you running a defrag when you took the screenshot?

If you take the drive out of the case, turn the drive upright, and let the drive rest on some flat surface - do the vibrations end?

(Even thought the drive being upside down is not necessarily harmful, that is one factor you can test/adjust to see if the vibrations change.)

What may be happening is resonance.

Try the following.

Power off the computer and disconnect drives D: and E:

Reboot: Neither D: or E: should start up and spin.

Then do the same thing but but reconnect just D:

Then, likewise, repeat but do so with D: again disconnected and only E: connected.

Pay attention to when the vibrations occur, start, and are most intense.

I just move gopro footage on it, nothing else, it just spins even if I set that it should stop after 1 minute of inactivity, for example when the monitor powers off I can still hear it. I added this drive recently so I know the difference in noise for sure.

And yea I had just finished defragmentating D, already did on E but it finished instantlty as it didn't need to.

Installing the drive upwards means I can only put it in other SSD slots that my case (phanteks evolv x) has that are kinda sideways.

 

[rossoo]

If the drive is spinning, your i/o response time is in milliseconds.
If the drive is stopped, the response time will be more like a minute.
There may be a power setting that allows you to power down after x amount of inactive time.

Of more concern is why a 2.5" HDD is noisy.
Possibly it is failing.
You can reduce transmitted sound by using rubber bands to suspend the drive in a 3.5" drive cage.
https://lifehacker.com/silence-your-hard-drive-with-elastic-suspenders-378786

The only way to pure quiet would be to replace it with a ssd.

Is not an issue hearing it, but I just want to make it stop spinning, I only use to store files, no program located on it, why does it continue spinning if it should stop after 1 min of inactivity??

 

[Ralston18]

Drives: make and model, capacity, how full?

Verify:

(Note - I rounded the MB values.)

C: drive (Physical disk 0) is the 250 GB SSD
Appears to have 172,000 MB available out of 228,000 MB total.

D: drive (Physical disk 1) is the 2 TB 2.5 " HDD.
Appears to have 451,000 MB available out of 1,908,000 MB
D: drive is the noisy drive

E: drive (Physical disk 2) is the 1 TB 3.5" HDD. Toshiba disk.
Appears to have 457,000 MB available out of 954,000 MB

In Task Manager capture and post the performance specs for Drive D: Disk 1.

It still appears to me that D: drive is running a defrag. And that is the drive to which you are moving GoPro footage - correct?

 

[rossoo]

Drives: make and model, capacity, how full?

Verify:

(Note - I rounded the MB values.)

C: drive (Physical disk 0) is the 250 GB SSD
Appears to have 172,000 MB available out of 228,000 MB total.

D: drive (Physical disk 1) is the 2 TB 2.5 " HDD.
Appears to have 451,000 MB available out of 1,908,000 MB
D: drive is the noisy drive

E: drive (Physical disk 2) is the 1 TB 3.5" HDD. Toshiba disk.
Appears to have 457,000 MB available out of 954,000 MB

In Task Manager capture and post the performance specs for Drive D: Disk 1.

It still appears to me that D: drive is running a defrag. And that is the drive to which you are moving GoPro footage - correct?

nonono the noisy one is E and it's 2.5'', is where I keep most of the footage.

C: drive (Physical disk 0) is the 240 GB SSD Kingston SHFS37A240G
Appears to have 171,000 MB available out of 228,000 MB total.

D: drive (Physical disk 1) is the 2 TB 3.5 " HDD Seagate ST2000DM006-2DM164
Appears to have 447,000 MB available out of 1,908,000 MB

E: drive (Physical disk 2) is the 1 TB 2.5" HDD Toshiba MQ01ABD100
Appears to have 457,000 MB available out of 954,000 MB

https://imgur.com/a/y4EZrvu

View: https://imgur.com/a/y4EZrvu

 

[Karadjgne]

Cheap Seagate drives use a parking mechanism when not in use, so don't spin. Because of that mechanisms unreliability, nobody else uses it, so drives will spin.

Windows uses a library system, all drives are tied into it, so any searches for any data will also check the drives. Just because you are not using it atm, doesn't mean windows isn't using it. Drives are going to spin, regardless of your wants/desires.

Quietening a drive is easy. However it's fastened, put a piece of rubber or rubber washer between it. Doesn't need to be special or fancy or even an exact fit, just has to seperate the frame from the drive.

 

[Ralston18]

Okay: Drive E: Physical disk 2 (Toshiba) is the noisy drive:

First, type "Create and format hard drive partitions" into the "Type here to search box".

A Disk Management window will open. Expand the window to show the full contents. Take a screenshot and post.

Second: in Resource Monitor focus on Drive E: to determine what processes are doing a lot of writes/reads to Disk E:

As near as I can tell it appears that there is defrag activity and some logging going on..

Remember to scroll down to view all of the Disk Activity listings. Note the small upward or downward point arrow in the Write column header. Clicking the header will change the sort order from ascending to descending. Or vice versa.

Objective is to discover why is the Drive E: spinning.

However, there should not always be writing/reading going on without some good reason(s) for that happening.

One more thing: In the "Type here to search" box type "Indexing Options". Then click the "Modify" button.

Be careful. We are not going to change anything - just look for now.

What locations are being indexed? Is Drive E: included?

My thought being is that you are constantly moving/changing data on Drive E and that Windows may be trying to continually index that data.

Yes, in full agreement with @Karadjgne - the drives will spin. And it may prove necessary to find means to quiet the drive(s) and/or host cage.

Still, I believe that something else is going on and that is what needs to be discovered.

 

[rossoo]

Okay: Drive E: Physical disk 2 (Toshiba) is the noisy drive:

First, type "Create and format hard drive partitions" into the "Type here to search box".

A Disk Management window will open. Expand the window to show the full contents. Take a screenshot and post.

Second: in Resource Monitor focus on Drive E: to determine what processes are doing a lot of writes/reads to Disk E:

As near as I can tell it appears that there is defrag activity and some logging going on..

Remember to scroll down to view all of the Disk Activity listings. Note the small upward or downward point arrow in the Write column header. Clicking the header will change the sort order from ascending to descending. Or vice versa.

Objective is to discover why is the Drive E: spinning.

However, there should not always be writing/reading going on without some good reason(s) for that happening.

One more thing: In the "Type here to search" box type "Indexing Options". Then click the "Modify" button.

Be careful. We are not going to change anything - just look for now.

What locations are being indexed? Is Drive E: included?

My thought being is that you are constantly moving/changing data on Drive E and that Windows may be trying to continually index that data.

Yes, in full agreement with @Karadjgne - the drives will spin. And it may prove necessary to find means to quiet the drive(s) and/or host cage.

Still, I believe that something else is going on and that is what needs to be discovered.

https://imgur.com/QW5dlpp

View: https://imgur.com/QW5dlpp


there's something going on,, in the bottom right of the picture you can see that there are C D and E, once every bit on the third column ''tempo di attività'' (activity time) it shows up very low values for E like 0.01 but also 0.04 and once I saw it pretty high, maybe around 7 something, or maybe I mistook it with D...

 

[Ralston18]

Focus on Drive D (Disk 1) and determine what Process/PID's are reading and/or writing to the drive.

Do realize (and I think you do) that I cannot move the windows shown in your images about.

So if different windows are showing different drives or drive information then comparing things (such as processes using a particular drive that drive's performance is not possible.

 

[rossoo]

Focus on Drive D (Disk 1) and determine what Process/PID's are reading and/or writing to the drive.

Do realize (and I think you do) that I cannot move the windows shown in your images about.

So if different windows are showing different drives or drive information then comparing things (such as processes using a particular drive that drive's performance is not possible.

I just took a screenshot of what you asked and decided to include the resource monitor as I realized that drive E was being used even if very low percentage.

If windows are on top of each other there is nothing hidden behind, I mean, I did leave Indexing Option on top of Disk management but nothing is hidden as you can see there is no partition at all for D and E.

How can I figure out which program is reading and writing to a specific drive?

 

[Ralston18]

Look at "Disk Activity"

Click the small upward or downward point arrow in the Write column header and set the results in descending order.

That is that whatever is doing the most writes is at the top of the list.

Then look at the Image, PID, and File columns to determine what is doing the writing.

Task Manager may be a more applicable way based on your situation. Still Resource Monitor and Process Explorer can be used as part of the diagnostic work.

Reference:

https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/program-constantly-writing-hard-disk-io/

The important thing to remember is to not be making lots of changes.

Allow "idle time" between changing views.

Minimize what is being launched at start up. Try to figure out every thing that is running and why it may be running.

Unrecognized or unidentified processes first. Recognized processes after that. Even though they may be recognized the process could be be buggy and/or should not be running at that time.

It will get easier as you become more comfortable with the tools.

 

[mdd1963]

I'm not sure it is possible to make a conventional spinning hard drive perform like an old CD-ROM drive, where it spins down to nothing very frequently within a minute or so after access..

 

[rossoo]

Ok yesterday I found out that it was Argus Monitor because it was always checking the temperature. Now both drives stop spinning and my pc is completely quiet. They just stopped and it's a pure pleasure, maybe I'll get an nvme so I can store programs on the ssd.

Is it bad for them to stop and spin all the time?

However thanks to all of you guys for helping me.