SSD clicking and whirring

Swi1ch

Swi1ch

Swi1ch

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19 Nov 2008
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I have a Crucial MX500 that has stopped being recognised by Windows - it's making a clicking and whirring sound like it's trying to spin up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E6RY5JFNAQ - Might need to turn volume up to hear the whirring.

It's definitely an SSD, and the noise is definitely coming from this drive. If I remove the drive the noise goes away.

I have another MX500 with no issues and I've tested the sata & power cables on this drive with no success.

Is the drive dead? Any ideas why it sounds like a clock trying to spin up?
 
Oblivion007 said:
This is very interesting - this has just happened to my MX500 just a few days ago.

I'm wondering now if its a software fault rather than hardware. Or just a weird coincidence.
Click to expand...

This drive was also my "games" drive. IIRC the only things on there were expanded Steam library, possible a couple of standalone games, and Shadowplay recordings.

Biggest difference I guess is the noise.

I'm going to order an external enclosure tonight and try power cycling it tomorrow.
 
Swi1ch said:
This drive was also my "games" drive. IIRC the only things on there were expanded Steam library, possible a couple of standalone games, and Shadowplay recordings.

Biggest difference I guess is the noise.

I'm going to order an external enclosure tonight and try power cycling it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Let me know how you get on. I'm trying more power cycling tonight. I read that some people it can take 6-7 attempts. Fun evening!

Mine hasn't been making any strange noises. But it was tucked away at the back of my case.
 
Is the drive out of warranty? If so, I would be tempted to open the drive up and try and pinpoint where that clicking is coming from. I personally suspect a dud capacitor.
 
darael said:
Is the drive out of warranty? If so, I would be tempted to open the drive up and try and pinpoint where that clicking is coming from. I personally suspect a dud capacitor.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the warranty is but I reckon the drive is a good 3+ years old minimum.

Is a dud capacitor going to be obvious to the untrained eye? Is it reparable?

Ultimately i'm not overly fussed about either the drive or the data but it did have my modded Witcher 3 setup on there and it'll probably be quicker and easier to repair the drive than sort that out again.
 
Swi1ch said:
I don't know what the warranty is but I reckon the drive is a good 3+ years old minimum.

Is a dud capacitor going to be obvious to the untrained eye? Is it reparable?

Ultimately i'm not overly fussed about either the drive or the data but it did have my modded Witcher 3 setup on there and it'll probably be quicker and easier to repair the drive than sort that out again.
Click to expand...
You probably won't see the dud capacitor if there is one, but you could hold the PCB to your ear to help you home in on a more specific location on the PCB.
 
I just realised, this isn't my older drive - it's the newer one. I only got this in April 2020. According to the place I got it from it's got 2 year coverage so at least I can replace the drive (I think)
 
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