Seagate Barracuda 2TB Clicking

fezster · 17 Sep 2010 at 18:19

I bought a Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST32000542AS) in Jan of this year. Today it is making a clicking noise constantly, though the drive seems to be working ok (albeit with a lot of pauses).

I am running SeaTools on it now, and it seems to have passed the short DST, but running the long DST on it.

How can I check for sure it is this drive that is the problem, and not the other drives in my system - I know it sounds a little silly, but not sure exactly which it is, though I suspect it is this one.

And if it continues to click, but passes all the tests, can I still RMA it ?

If it needs RMAing, would I contact overclockers, or Seagate themselves.

Thanks.

Firegod · 17 Sep 2010 at 18:21

I would most likely say contact OCUK first and see what they recommend with regards to an RMA. I know most manufacturers say, if it's within 12 months, return to the place where you purchased the item from.

kmufc77 · 17 Sep 2010 at 18:54

Every seagate ive bought well 3 drives i think have failed on me.

Five_Star · 17 Sep 2010 at 20:52

What firmware is on the disk? If its CC34 you should update to CC35 to help try and fix the issue. I followed the advice here

Jordw · 17 Sep 2010 at 21:29

Havn't had any of my Seagates fail but I've never had a problem RMAing to manufacturers.

fezster · 17 Sep 2010 at 22:59

Long DST failed.

Will have a go at updating the firmware.

fezster · 18 Sep 2010 at 00:07

Upgraded the firmware, and the clicking has stopped (thanks for that !).

However, the Long DST is still failing. The drive *seems* to be working ok. Should I RMA ? Or anything else I can do ?

I'd rather not have to RMA as I have a lot of data on the drive and nowhere to back it up really, but if the drive is going to fail on me in a few months time, I'd obviously rather sort it out now.

Any advice ?

Broken Hope · 18 Sep 2010 at 00:11

I personally wouldn't be able to trust a drive that is failing tests like that. I'd RMA it.

fezster · 18 Sep 2010 at 09:45

Followed the advice in SeaTools, which was to run the DOS version. And it passed the Long - DST

So hopefully it'll be ok.

Thanks again Five_Star for the firmware upgrade advice. Never would have thought that could have solved the clicking issue.

fezster · 18 Sep 2010 at 09:46

Broken Hope said:
I personally wouldn't be able to trust a drive that is failing tests like that. I'd RMA it.

I'm guessing the windows version of SeaTools isnt very reliable, which is why they recommend running the DOS version. At least I hope that's the case (!).

sunama · 18 Sep 2010 at 14:45

If possible, I would start backing up your important stuff from that drive. It may be on its last legs (you never know).

If it does go, I wouldnt bother RMA'ing to OCUK. I would go straight to manufacturer.