Question Strange HDD 'Beeps' ?

[darkphoenix316]

Hey All,

I recently built a new system, not a first timer, but have run into a problem I can't seem to troubleshoot. I have an SSD that I use as my boot drive and 2 x 4 TB Seagate Green HDDs as extra storage. After a few minutes of activity I'll start to hear a couple of very noticeable beeps at a regular interval, and I believe they're coming from the two HDDs. I've run several tests on drive health for both of them and they both seem fine, no problem in reading or writing from them either.

I've opened them both, no stuck arms on the platters. I had originally thought that it was just one of them making the noise - until I went to replace one and realized that it's actually BOTH of them, and it happened with the new drive as well. They were originally both being run off the same SATA cable, I've since moved them to different cables but cannot for the life of me figure out what else to do. The noise is consistent and aggravating. Has anyone run into this before?

Edit: If I unplug the power from one of the drives, doesn't matter which, they stop beeping. Is it possible they're not getting enough power? They aren't having any read or write issues and the PSU should be more than enough for the system.

 

[Ralston18]

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

HDD's do not have speakers. Doublecheck the source/location of the beeps.

Look in Reliability History: there may be some error codes, warnings, or other informational events that match the times when "beeping" starts and/or stops.

Are the drives configured as RAID?

My first suspect would be a faulty cable or connection.

That said there is this:

"I've opened them both, no stuck arms on the platters."

Opening drives should only be done in special dust free environments, with proper tools and procedures. And only after full drive backups are made (if possible).

Those drives are both doomed and likely to completely fail at any time.

Plus, any drive warranties are now void.

 

[darkphoenix316]

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

HDD's do not have speakers. Doublecheck the source/location of the beeps.

Look in Reliability History: there may be some error codes, warnings, or other informational events that match the times when "beeping" starts and/or stops.

Are the drives configured as RAID?

My first suspect would be a faulty cable or connection.

That said there is this:

"I've opened them both, no stuck arms on the platters."

Opening drives should only be done in special dust free environments, with proper tools and procedures. And only after full drive backups are made (if possible).

Those drives are both doomed and likely to completely fail at any time.

Plus, any drive warranties are now void.

I'm aware that drives don't have speakers. It's clearly a mechanical noise that sounds like a beep. It's not scraping or grinding, it's a beep.

They are not in raid.

The faulty cable scenario is why I changed the SATA cable for one of the drives.

You're being very dramatic about opening the drives. We've all heard the spooky warnings. The drives are not any more doomed now than if they were previously.

I'm entirely unconcerned about a warranty. The new drive did it as well, meaning there's an explanation here that isn't "you opened the drives and now the world will end".

Thanks for the...help?

 

[punkncat]

You're being very dramatic about opening the drives. We've all heard the spooky warnings. The drives are not any more doomed now than if they were previously.

I'm entirely unconcerned about a warranty. The new drive did it as well, meaning there's an explanation here that isn't "you opened the drives and now the world will end".

Thanks for the...help?

Welcome (back) to the forum. Nothing like taking the advice a long time member, mod, and well versed individual and pooping on it.
If you are already so expert in the situation it doesn't really seem like you need advice. Good luck.

 

[darkphoenix316]

Welcome (back) to the forum. Nothing like taking the advice a long time member, mod, and well versed individual and pooping on it.
If you are already so expert in the situation it doesn't really seem like you need advice. Good luck.

That wasn't advice - it was a condescending gloom and doom piece, but thanks for the input.

 

[Rogue Leader]

You're being very dramatic about opening the drives. We've all heard the spooky warnings. The drives are not any more doomed now than if they were previously.

Drama is due to the fact you may well have ruined the drives for literally no reason

Please Don’t Pry Open Your Hard Drive (Unless You Don’t Need the Data) - Datarecovery.com

Opening a hard drive without specialized tools can lead to permanent data loss. Here's why every data recovery lab uses a cleanroom.

datarecovery.com

Its not a spooky warning, and coincidental evidence of you getting away with it once or twice is not proof that its in any way safe. So now you have drives beeping, and may cause data failure.

Anyway, so you stated the beep noise went away when the drives were powered down correct? Lack of power is unlikely, they don't use THAT much power to cause an issue with your PSU.

Just a question but you don't have another different hard drive to try do you? I see you tried different cables which didn't solve the issue, but I'm wondering if its your motherboard making the noise, which would show with a different drive. In the end it could also not be beeping but an inherent harmonic related to the specific drive. Of course now that you've opened them, warrantying them is likely out the window. Did you check whether its the mounts or mounting screws? Maybe the motion of the drives is causing a vibration?

Not to harp on it but these are all things that are easy to check and try before going to the unnecessary extreme of opening the drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Completely bypassing the whole opening up of the drive case thing....as you note, drives don't have "speakers".

I would posit that something else in the PC is making this noise.

 

[darkphoenix316]

For anyone that has this issue in the future. I got it, I'm here for you, kings. For some reason the internet wants to keep this one under wraps and 9/10 are either "your drive is dying/doesn't have enough power" or "something else is beeping no way your HDD is doing that". Even talking with Seagate the only thing they could come up with was insufficient power. At any rate the issue was only occurring during idle on either of the drives, which was weird. Tried a new seagate barracuda drive, same deal.

The real answer is that something is causing the drive to excessively park. This may be HWInfo constantly checking S.M.A.R.T. info if you have that enabled, but also apparently EXOS and barracuda drives sometimes just "do that". As I stated above, it was consistent. Every 11 seconds after 3 or so minutes of initiating the system when the drives went idle. So, for those looking for the answer my first advice would be to hunt down anything in your system that would cause your disk to check itself often. If you run out of runway on that then this has happened so often that people have written various scripts that just write a file and delete it at a set interval to keep the drive from hibernating. I'm sure there will be a crusade for the implication that you should use a convenient, if excessive, piece of software to save your sanity. But if you'd rather just live with it - it is apparently not a noise of failure. There it is, that's it. Thank you to me for providing my own answer, and I hope it helps some of you in the future. PS all drives have completely passed surface and sector tests and are fully operable. A true shame I spent all that time making my own clean room.

Edit: Someone asked where these scripts may be located - one of them was called KeepAliveHD not endorsing it, but it's one that I've seen thrown out there.

 

[USAFRet]

hmm....I guess we were thrown off by the "beep"
Sound from parking is not typically a "beep".

 

[punkncat]

Of no doubt, I applaud your ability, King, to solve your own issue and prove how unworthy the rest of us are in finding a solution to this complex troubleshoot. I also find it compelling that you just "heard somewhere" (else) that KeepAliveHD is a viable fix to this issue that none of the rest of us have EVER dealt with, apparently.

Astounding sleuthing.

/orpoorspamming

 

[Rogue Leader]

For anyone that has this issue in the future. I got it, I'm here for you, kings. For some reason the internet wants to keep this one under wraps and 9/10 are either "your drive is dying/doesn't have enough power" or "something else is beeping no way your HDD is doing that". Even talking with Seagate the only thing they could come up with was insufficient power. At any rate the issue was only occurring during idle on either of the drives, which was weird. Tried a new seagate barracuda drive, same deal.

The real answer is that something is causing the drive to excessively park. This may be HWInfo constantly checking S.M.A.R.T. info if you have that enabled, but also apparently EXOS and barracuda drives sometimes just "do that". As I stated above, it was consistent. Every 11 seconds after 3 or so minutes of initiating the system when the drives went idle. So, for those looking for the answer my first advice would be to hunt down anything in your system that would cause your disk to check itself often. If you run out of runway on that then this has happened so often that people have written various scripts that just write a file and delete it at a set interval to keep the drive from hibernating. I'm sure there will be a crusade for the implication that you should use a convenient, if excessive, piece of software to save your sanity. But if you'd rather just live with it - it is apparently not a noise of failure. There it is, that's it. Thank you to me for providing my own answer, and I hope it helps some of you in the future. PS all drives have completely passed surface and sector tests and are fully operable. A true shame I spent all that time making my own clean room.

Edit: Someone asked where these scripts may be located - one of them was called KeepAliveHD not endorsing it, but it's one that I've seen thrown out there.

Glad you figured it out. However if you're trying to criticize people trying to diagnose a "beep" coming from your drive based on YOUR description keep in mind we are NOT in front of your computer listening to the sound you hear. I know the sound you're saying, I wouldn't describe it as a beep.

And again, that your drives still function after opening them is pure dumb luck. You can feel free to believe what you like, empirical evidence suggests otherwise, but maybe making the rash decision of opening them first before further investigation wasn't your best move, king.