Laptop HDD clicking/clunking - replacement recommendation

Edwoodjnr

Edwoodjnr

Edwoodjnr

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Joined
5 Nov 2003
Posts
60
Hi

I purchased a Vaio FE21M from another online reseller in May 2006 and was initially happy with it. After about 3 weeks it developed a very annoying and loud clicking noise from the harddrive that varied from once every 2 minutes to once every 10 seconds. It sounds like a mechanical sound although it varies when it begins, you can hear it here: http://gavin.benson.users.btopenworld.com/Downloads/knocking.zip.

Sony took a look at it and concluded it was ‘within specification’ and they closed the support case (they did this twice). My reseller won't have any further involvment they say it is still under the manufacturers warranty.

So I am left with putting up with it (really difficult as I use my laptop in a quiet room to study) or purchasing a replacement HDD.

Any recommendations as to what I should buy?
 
clicknig drives are never a good thing - everyone of mine that did that were on there way out - even my ipod hd died soon after it started that!
make sure all your data is backed up! - run some diagnostics and see what it reports. you can buy another drive but make sure that doesnt invalidate your warranty first.
 
I have previosly completed a HDD scan and it didn't see any errors, in terms of the warranty then I don't think it is actually worth anything as they seem reluctant to do anything with it other than respond it is 'within spceification'.

There is another bit to this story and the reason why I have now decided to look at replacing the disk. Since early August Sony had promised a bios upgrade that would fix the problem (although it is 'within specificaion' they still acknowledged there is a problem) via a bootable CD. This arrived last week which I applied and am now on version 0014. It didn't fix the problem and upon questioning Sony about it I was told by a supervisor that the update is only intended for HDD's bought in Japan! I have no idea why they thought it would fix the problem and why they even bothered to send out a CD to European customers.
 
Sorry I meant HDD firmware update.

I just used the standard Sony one that came with the VAIO. I also did a HD Tune one (Quick Scan option), is there a better one I should try?
 
I don't think it a bios problem either I'd be worried about a clicking drive too. 1st think is to make sure you have a backup of all your stuff. That done make sure from the manufacturer of the HD (not Sony) do they have any tweaks that you can do to make it quieter. On a laptop the HD shouldn't run that much if you've the power saving configured correctly. So check that aswell.

That said some drives are noisy and perhaps (unlikely) its a characteristic of that model of HD. Make sure you keep a paper trail of all communication between you and Sony and keep pushing the issue. Post the question on as many laptop and Sony forums as you can find.
 
If you look in device manager it should tell you the model of HDD that's used in the laptop - you'll probably have to google it to get the manufacturer although some are fairly obvious (WD... for Western Digital, HST.... for Hitachi). Then go and get the manufacturers diagnostics, links for which are in the sticky of this forum. Run the diags and if there's anything unusual in the diag report then wave it at Sony and see what they say.

The sounds in the file you posted are not those of a healthy drive, I'm convinced as is everyone else who's posting here. What we need to do now is help you convince Sony...
 
Nope it's 200Gb in one 2.5" SATA drive :eek:

It's only 4200rpm so it's not going to be a speed demon but 200Gb in a 2.5" drive, that's mental. It's got proper SATA power and data connections too so you could use these in a desktop easily.

Low power so low heat, probably quite quiet, small - Pinky are you pondering what I'm pondering?
 
Well I tried the quick and comprehensive scans on the drive using the Fujitsu drive utility from their UK site and both gave a 'Pass' result.

I am not sure there is anything else to do other than replacing the drive.
 
Edwoodjnr said:
Well I tried the quick and comprehensive scans on the drive using the Fujitsu drive utility from their UK site and both gave a 'Pass' result.

I am not sure there is anything else to do other than replacing the drive.
Click to expand...

that surpised me! i wonder if a hd tach will show poor perfomance on the drive - however you will need something to compare it to.
 
Well chkdsk didn't fix it.

I did take a look at the drive to make sure it was housed correctly in its cage and it appeared ok, I did notice that if gently shaked it makes a rattling sound, is this normal or should the heads be parked and it should be quiet?

After doing this and restarting it booted up ok but I am still left with the clunking sound. Any further advice on fixing or recommendations for a new HDD would be appreciated.
 
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