Dell XPS1530 Clicking Noise

allosunshine · 31 May 2008 at 21:22

Guys, I need your advice and help again.
I've got the above Dell and every now and again there will be a click which I can only guess is coming from the hard drive.
It doesn't happen when I'm doing anything in particular as it has happened when just sat there idleing.
Dell seem to think its Vista that might be causing the problem.

Any suggestions guys.

Cheers.

Datamonkey · 31 May 2008 at 21:56

Sure its not the hdd turning off?

You say its when your not doing anything much, it may be the case the hdd's powering down to save battery life.

Metalface Mark · 31 May 2008 at 21:58

I think its the DVD, i notice mine does it when it reboots and i think its the DVD its coming from.

Markus123 · 31 May 2008 at 22:12

Which HDD brand do you have? Seagate? I have a few Vostro 1500's with Seagate ST9160821AS HDDs and they all click like you described when it parks the HDD heads (once every few minutes). I find it really annoying and often set it to not park the heads at all by disabling apm on the drive (hdparm -B 254) which stops the noise completely.

I have others with the Samsung HM160HI instead which don't do it at all.

allosunshine · 31 May 2008 at 23:34

Its definately not the DVD as its coming from the HDD area.
I haven't checked to see what HDD is installed.
So its probably nothing to worry about then.

TheVoice · 1 Jun 2008 at 00:15

My first M1330 did that and was quite annoying, think it had a Samsung HDD. My second (and current) one has a Toshiba HDD I think, and doesn't click. It's a louder and slower drive overall though, ironically.

allosunshine · 1 Jun 2008 at 00:38

I've checked and my drive is a Samsung. It is a little annoying i must admint but if its nothing to worry about I can live with it as it only happens now and again.