HDD Noise

SpellowHouse · 17 Mar 2024 at 14:15

I have an 8TB WD Red Plus that is making a noise.
I am not quite sure when it started, I just suddenly noticed it.
The drive makes a noise like a normal drive motor, except a lot louder. I mean, I can hear it across the room. It is a smooth running motor noise.
I have several of the drives to compare it with and they make pretty much the same noise but a lot quieter.
I've never heard a drive make a "normal" noise that just gets louder and louder before. Any clues as to what it means?

Semple · 17 Mar 2024 at 14:36

Could be on its way out. Have you looked at the smart stats to see if there's any read errors, relocated sectors (+pending) and any other error metrics smart provides. Would also be useful to know how many power on hours its had.

wonko · 17 Mar 2024 at 15:00

SpellowHouse said:
Any clues as to what it means?

It's a clue to make sure you've got a good backup!
If you're sure it's the hard disk (and not a case or PSU fan) then I'd be assuming the worst.

SpellowHouse · 17 Mar 2024 at 15:17

No errors.
It has 5400 hours on it.

Definitely the drive. I replaced it with an identical drive and the noise went away.

It seems to be making a normal noise for that particular drive, except a lot louder. It doesn't sound bad. Rather like holding a fine piece of emery cloth against a spinning disk. I mean for all the world it sounds like one head is sitting on the disk, but I am pretty sure that would fail rather quickly if it was!!!

SpellowHouse · 17 Mar 2024 at 15:19

In passing, can anyone suggest a replacement? The only important criteria is noise. The must be as quiet as possible. Performance is really not important.

SpellowHouse · 17 Mar 2024 at 15:19

wonko said:
It's a clue to make sure you've got a good backup!
If you're sure it's the hard disk (and not a case or PSU fan) then I'd be assuming the worst.

Oh, and yes, I have a NAS that I use for a number of things, including a backup!!

For the moment I have swapped the drive out for an identical one that is younger. But I will have to work out what to do with it. Maybe I will just let it fail. I have weird system here, that is highly tailored to the way I use the PC's. The upshot is that everything is backed up not once but twice.

wonko · 17 Mar 2024 at 16:32

SpellowHouse said:
Oh, and yes, I have a NAS that I use for a number of things, including a backup!!

For the moment I have swapped the drive out for an identical one that is younger. But I will have to work out what to do with it. Maybe I will just let it fail. I have weird system here, that is highly tailored to the way I use the PC's. The upshot is that everything is backed up not once but twice.

Sorry for pointing out the obvious re backups - good to hear you've got it covered.
My first thought was that it could be the bearing making a noise, which could be benign or cause it to fail to spin up whenever it was least convenient. I'd expect the SMART spin-up time might start increasing if that was the cause.
I've no suggestions for the quietest available HDDs I'm afraid, but would expect one large disk will be quieter than two smaller disks, so maybe an opportune time to start looking at 16TB+?

SpellowHouse · 17 Mar 2024 at 16:56

It's depressing, it's not that old.
It's still under warranty, but my guess is that WD won't be in a mood to replace it just because it's louder than other ones! The guarantee runs out in three months, just in time for it to fail. The main problem is the noise. I would replace it with an SSD except an 8TB SSD is still too expensive.
The drives have gone up in price since I bought that one. Shame. I can see that I am just going to have to bite the bullet and replace it. For now it is sat in a PC that I rarely use. I will think about it!!
Storage prices have gone up, thanks to inflation, so maybe it is time to consider how to reduce sizes, not increase them?
They should do 6TB SSD's.

wonko · 17 Mar 2024 at 17:13

It might be worth a try to get it replaced under warranty, but if you are successful you might get a 'remanufactured' drive back (which from experience I wouldn't trust as much as a new one).

SpellowHouse · 17 Mar 2024 at 21:01

Do drives have have variable speed now? I have noticed that it will remain quiet until there is a data request, then it seems to instantly rev-up and then after a few seconds slow down again. It's during the "higher rev" state that it makes the significantly greater noise.
If' that's the case then I suppose it probably is a bearing.

SpellowHouse · 18 Mar 2024 at 10:09

Want to hear something really odd?

If I hold my hand an inch above the drive it gets noticeably louder. The closer my hand gets, the louder it gets. I can only assume the sound reflection is causing it to vibrate. Odd.

SpellowHouse · 18 Mar 2024 at 18:08

Well, WD have accepted an RMA.

I had the drive out in a docking station today, and I am pretty sure it is bearing noise. It gets worse as the drive warms up. So, best it goes to the HDD bin in the sky.

SpellowHouse · 20 Mar 2024 at 14:28

Very impressed with WD so far. Posted the drive back to them yesterday, 2:30pm, Royal Mail 24, just had an email saying they are processing the RMA and will advise soon.

Removed User 345456 · 20 Mar 2024 at 14:31

wonko said:
It's a clue to make sure you've got a good backup!
If you're sure it's the hard disk (and not a case or PSU fan) then I'd be assuming the worst.

This! I've had this happen many times. You're genuinely lucky it's letting you know it's about to commit suicide

Back that **** up now

SpellowHouse · 21 Mar 2024 at 06:09

Its been a few years since I have looked at mechanical drives and it's pretty alarming how prices have risen.

What is it? 20%? A lot. It has really made me wonder whether I can continue to use so many mechanical drives.

Unfortunately, SSD's have gone up too, and while the smaller ones are great value, the larger ones are not.