[SOLVED] Computer beeping, followed by hard drive whirring

[skarvika]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkZsD1GHsXQ

UPDATE 2: Turns out it was indeed the hard drive. The thing crashed just minutes after my previous post and was unable boot to windows even after running startup repair. Luckily I had a replacement hard drive on hand. It's safe to say that this is more or less a sign of something being very very wrong with the hard drive. If you're having this problem, please try to back up your data IMMEDIATELY. If you're unable to do so for whatever reason, please use this following method: Create Live Peppermint CD/DVD/USB to Backup Data when Windows 7 Will Not Boot
I was thankfully able to restore all my data by following the guide.

UPDATE 1: Some observations: The beeping is coming from the hard drive itself. Also, it seems that when this occurs, everything on my computer will freeze up for a few seconds. It doesn't beep at startup; it's completely random. It does it more regularly when under load, especially when playing a game.

Last night I got a blue screen of death while playing Dragon Age Inquisition (Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a crash log) and ever since, my computer will occasionally make one short beep, and when it does, my hard drive starts to make a whirring noise for a couple seconds before returning to normal.
The Dr Debug code says "AA", which from my understanding means that everything's running on the mobo fine. I've read that some computers will randomly make a short beep when fan speed is low, however my fans are all running at a healthy speed. I've also read that this can happen if the RAM isn't seated correctly, but my RAM is seated properly.
I'm guessing it has something to do with the hard drive, but I'm not entirely sure. Any ideas on what the cause of this could be and how to fix it? Is it time to replace the hard drive?

Specs:
CPU: Intel i7-4790
GPU: MSI GTX 970 4GB Gaming Edition
RAM: 8GB DDR3 16000MHz
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme4
HDD: Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB

 

[tsnor]

If the beeping is part of the system hanging without actually booting then the beeping is a "beep code" with the MB BIOS telling you the problem it detected by the series of beeps it issues. The beep codes are unique to a bios maker, and are documented in the diagnosis/troubleshooting part of your MB manual.

If the beeping is happening at other times it's likely a bad driver or memory corruption.

Each hard drive maker has a set of diagnostics you can download. Windows device manager will give you the actual manufacturer / model number of your drive. Google will give you the OEM manufacturer from the model number. Then go to their website and download their tools & run them. They will tell you if they have recorded any errors.

 

[skarvika]

If the beeping is part of the system hanging without actually booting then the beeping is a "beep code" with the MB BIOS telling you the problem it detected by the series of beeps it issues. The beep codes are unique to a bios maker, and are documented in the diagnosis/troubleshooting part of your MB manual.

If the beeping is happening at other times it's likely a bad driver or memory corruption.

Each hard drive maker has a set of diagnostics you can download. Windows device manager will give you the actual manufacturer / model number of your drive. Google will give you the OEM manufacturer from the model number. Then go to their website and download their tools & run them. They will tell you if they have recorded any errors.

I downloaded Seatools, the results are as follows:

- SMART Check: Pass
- Short Generic: Pass
- Short drive self test: Failure with the test code 9CF2D6E5; Seagate doesn't have this code in their list of test codes and Google yields literally 0 results about this code.

I'm not sure what to make of these results. According to Seagate, the fact that it passed the SMART check means that the hard drive is in no immediate danger of failure. However, the conflicting results of the short generic and short self test have me a bit confused. I'm performing a long generic test at the moment, will update with the results of that when it's done.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there skarvika,

In case the beep comes from the drive, my suggestion would be to back up the data stored on it, until you sort this out.
After that, you can check it's health status with some of these: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility
Some of these tools provide RAW data, while the one that you've used provides PASS/FAIL grades.

I believe it will not hurt to attach the drive with different cables to another port.

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

 

[skarvika]

Hi there skarvika,

In case the beep comes from the drive, my suggestion would be to back up the data stored on it, until you sort this out.
After that, you can check it's health status with some of these: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility
Some of these tools provide RAW data, while the one that you've used provides PASS/FAIL grades.

I believe it will not hurt to attach the drive with different cables to another port.

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

I'll give those programs a look and will check the cables tomorrow when I have more time and report if that changes anything. Luckily if it is indeed an issue with the hard drive, I've already got a replacement handy if it comes to that. From what I can gather, it seems like Seagate hard drives are fairly prone to inexplicable issues, but I've still to find anyone with my particular problem.

 

[tsnor]

Drives often have long warranties. some 3 years, some 5 years. Contact Seagate, report the failed test, see if they will send you a new one.

Swapping disk drives is trivial. You hook the second drive up, run free cloning software provided by seagate, unhook the old drive, use the new ones. Takes a few hours.

I would not continue to use a drive that failed self test. Losing all the data is brutal.

Now might be the time to consider moving to an SSD. Prices for good drives are really low compared to 2 years ago. 500GB is now $150 or less. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147373&cm_re=samsung_evo-_-20-147-373-_-Product

 

[D_Know_WD]

Well, no matter the brand or the model, mechanical drives could fail. So, you should always keep the data you can't afford to loose, stored on at least two places.
If the drive turns out to be a faulty one, you can RMA it as tsnor suggested.(if under warranty)

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[skarvika]

Drives often have long warranties. some 3 years, some 5 years. Contact Seagate, report the failed test, see if they will send you a new one.

Swapping disk drives is trivial. You hook the second drive up, run free cloning software provided by seagate, unhook the old drive, use the new ones. Takes a few hours.

I would not continue to use a drive that failed self test. Losing all the data is brutal.

Now might be the time to consider moving to an SSD. Prices for good drives are really low compared to 2 years ago. 500GB is now $150 or less. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147373&cm_re=samsung_evo-_-20-147-373-_-Product

Well, no matter the brand or the model, mechanical drives could fail. So, you should always keep the data you can't afford to loose, stored on at least two places.
If the drive turns out to be a faulty one, you can RMA it as tsnor suggested.(if under warranty)

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to the data transfer mainly due to the time it takes.
I've already got a backup drive so we're fine for a replacement. Saves me the cost of shipping the thing back to Seagate anyways. Haven't used SSDs mainly due to the cost of the things.
I'll begin the backup process ASAP. Also booted up to a crash dump notification:

Spoiler

Crash Dump Analysis provided by OSR Open Systems Resources, Inc. (http://www.osr.com)
Online Crash Dump Analysis Service
See http://www.osronline.com for more information
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (8 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Built by: 7601.23391.amd64fre.win7sp1_ldr.160316-0600
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`02a0d000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`02c4f730
Debug session time: Wed May 11 04:36:12.760 2016 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 9:59:34.697
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
An attempt was made to access a pageable (or completely invalid) address at an interrupt request level (IRQL) that is too high. This is usually caused by drivers using improper addresses.
If a kernel debugger is available get the stack backtrace.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa802b86e010, memory referenced
Arg2: 0000000000000002, IRQL
Arg3: 0000000000000001, bitfield :
bit 0 : value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation
bit 3 : value 0 = not an execute operation, 1 = execute operation (only on chips which support this level of status)
Arg4: fffff80002b3d3c6, address which referenced memory

Debugging Details:
------------------

TRIAGER: Could not open triage file : e:\dump_analysis\program\triage\modclass.ini, error 2

WRITE_ADDRESS: GetPointerFromAddress: unable to read from fffff80002cb9100
GetUlongFromAddress: unable to read from fffff80002cb91c8
fffffa802b86e010 Nonpaged pool

CURRENT_IRQL: 2

FAULTING_IP:
nt!MiReleaseConfirmedPageFileSpace+86
fffff800`02b3d3c6 480fb328 btr qword ptr [rax],rbp

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: WIN7_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0xA

PROCESS_NAME: GWX.exe

TRAP_FRAME: fffff8800a0d02f0 -- (.trap 0xfffff8800a0d02f0)
NOTE: The trap frame does not contain all registers.
Some register values may be zeroed or incorrect.
rax=fffffa800ba6e010 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=0000000000000000
rdx=0000000000000000 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffff80002b3d3c6 rsp=fffff8800a0d0480 rbp=00000000ff000000
r8=fffff8800a0d04b0 r9=fffffa800d516560 r10=0000000000000000
r11=0000000000000000 r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000
r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000
iopl=0 nv up ei pl zr na po nc
nt!MiReleaseConfirmedPageFileSpace+0x86:
fffff800`02b3d3c6 480fb328 btr qword ptr [rax],rbp ds:fffffa80`0ba6e010=03611d78af4e7c4b
Resetting default scope

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from fffff80002a7c929 to fffff80002a7d380

STACK_TEXT:
fffff880`0a0d01a8 fffff800`02a7c929 : 00000000`0000000a fffffa80`2b86e010 00000000`00000002 00000000`00000001 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`0a0d01b0 fffff800`02a7b5a0 : fffff880`00000240 fffffa80`0ba6e138 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiBugCheckDispatch+0x69
fffff880`0a0d02f0 fffff800`02b3d3c6 : 00000000`00000202 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`0af2d900 fffffa80`0af2d900 : nt!KiPageFault+0x260
fffff880`0a0d0480 fffff800`02af046a : 00000000`01ffbf68 000007fe`fd8ba000 000007fe`fdaf0000 00000000`00000000 : nt!MiReleaseConfirmedPageFileSpace+0x86
fffff880`0a0d0500 fffff800`02ab0a59 : fffffa80`00000000 000007fe`fdcf2fff 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`09c3da78 : nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+0x2f706
fffff880`0a0d06c0 fffff800`02a4eead : ffffffff`ffffffff fffffa80`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!MiRemoveMappedView+0xd9
fffff880`0a0d07e0 fffff800`02d523a4 : fffff8a0`0ddda5e0 fffff880`0a0d0ae0 fffffa80`06781940 fffffa80`06781940 : nt!MmCleanProcessAddressSpace+0x231
fffff880`0a0d0830 fffff800`02d3732d : fffffa80`c0000005 00000000`c0000001 000007ff`fffdd000 00000000`00000000 : nt!PspExitThread+0x944
fffff880`0a0d08f0 fffff800`02a70574 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000001 fffffa80`06781940 fffff800`02a72fbd : nt!PsExitSpecialApc+0x1d
fffff880`0a0d0920 fffff800`02a708c0 : 00000000`000001f0 fffff880`0a0d09a0 fffff800`02d372a0 00000000`00000001 : nt!KiDeliverApc+0x2e4
fffff880`0a0d09a0 fffff800`02a7c6b7 : fffffa80`06781940 00000000`000001f0 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`0d423500 : nt!KiInitiateUserApc+0x70
fffff880`0a0d0ae0 00000000`76e1bb7a : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceExit+0x9c
00000000`0026ef58 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x76e1bb7a


STACK_COMMAND: kb

FOLLOWUP_IP:
nt!MiReleaseConfirmedPageFileSpace+86
fffff800`02b3d3c6 480fb328 btr qword ptr [rax],rbp

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 3

SYMBOL_NAME: nt!MiReleaseConfirmedPageFileSpace+86

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nt

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 56e99a48

IMAGE_NAME: memory_corruption

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0xA_nt!MiReleaseConfirmedPageFileSpace+86

BUCKET_ID: X64_0xA_nt!MiReleaseConfirmedPageFileSpace+86

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

 

[skarvika]

UPDATE: Turns out it was indeed the hard drive. The thing crashed just minutes after my previous post and was unable boot to windows even after running startup repair. Luckily I had a replacement hard drive on hand. It's safe to say that this is more or less a sign of something being very very wrong with the hard drive. If you're having this problem, please try to back up your data IMMEDIATELY. If you're unable to do so for whatever reason, please use this following method: Create Live Peppermint CD/DVD/USB to Backup Data when Windows 7 Will Not Boot
I was thankfully able to restore all my data by following the guide.