anonymo

From time to time, very occasionaly, my western digital 120 gig hard drive makes a obviously hearable big CLICK/CLACK and the system hangs for a sex, then everything is back to normal...

Anyone care to explain if this is a defect of some kind ? Or simple hardware funtionning ?

Also, could this come from the fact that my motherboard is UDMA 66 ?

also could that come fromthe S.M.A.R.T option enabled in the AMI BIOS in my MSI MOBO ?

thanks for your insight ...

Nick M

My old WD very often made click clack noises, a few days later it died. I very much hope this may not be the case for you, and this is something just happened to me and only me Dude, back up your files. Hopefully someone here can provide a bit more help then I did.

onebyside

check the Western Digital website, they have some tools. I would imagine u have done this already.

Calvus

anonymo


Does it kinda sound like a spring carching and letting loose ?

It very well may be the heads catching on the platters and then letting loose.

My son had the same problem with his WD and lost it twice.

Back your data up.

If you are running XP WD does not have any software on their site yet that works with XP The version 2.8 says it will but it will not work. I just tried it this morning trying to recover a hard drive.

They say it is coming soon ? Do not know how long that has been there ?

Calvus

Zedric

Sounds like the wailing cry of a dying drive to me! Sorry dude.

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anonymo

Well... Fellas... This problem is really weird and I am getting a good feedback from all of you. So here is a bit more details...

Actually, I am very concerned... Western Digital is a good brand, and I still want to beleive that... But I had problems with two discs...

Now the first one I had, 60gigs, did the same noises.. .Click, system hang, clack, system release... Everything is normal...

Now with the 120 gig, the same happens, but 10 times less frequently then the 60 gigs...

I scanned, norton systemworks, defraged, nothing changed, but no errors appeared...

The 60 gig hard disk did that for 9 months !!!!! At the end, the click clacks started coming more frequently, but still no bad sectors and no defect...

Basically, this can't be a mecanisme click/clack noise, because the heads on the hard disk are not supposed to lift or to land on the disc... just micromovements...

And personally, I have a 20 gig hard disk, with absolutely NO Click/clack... Also western digital...

So ? Any enlighting... ???

Skwowwy

Try contacting Western Digital via phone or e-mail. Tell everything about your HD history. They might know the answer. After all, they made the HDs, so they are supposed to know what's going on.

By the way, what position is the HD set at? Like this:

|¨|
|_|

or this:

|__| (I can't draw the top layer, heh. )

If it's the first one, change it and make it like the second one. Maybe it'll disappear... With the needle, or something (the one that reads the HD) at the top layer. It'd be really awkward for the HD to be upside down.

anonymo

I don't really understand what you mean with that positioning...

When I installed my hard drive ? Well, I screwed it with the "power source and IDE cable on the bottom" is this an upside down position ?

Should I put the Power cable on the top position ? Well, In my humble opinion, it should be just like the CD-rom drives...

Taurus

your positioning is fine, anonymo. but it might be worth trying it in different positions like upside-down, standing up on it's end, on it's side, etc. as to how you would get it to mount in your case like that is beyond me }:> but there's a small chance it might solve your problem.

stuy_b

Is your system overclocked at-all? upping the FSB can cause serious problems with harddisks.

How hot does the drive get.. it could be overheating, if your case is small or jammed with cables, try making some space, wrapping cables together, a fan wouldnt go a miss either, blowing over the harddisk drive esp. if its a 7200rpm model.

Just afew ideas

anonymo

I'm a computer fanatic.. My computers are treated better than the Dog of Miss Elizabeth the Second of holy england...

Is I where A computer, I would come to my home, it's the AMERICA of computers...

now the problem is elsewhere... Tried all of the above...

dave holbon

I know this might sound stupid but the noise you describe sounds like the drive has gone into "sleep mode" or is powering itself down for some reason. This would produce the noise as described when it re-initialises. The manufactures diks utilities should let you alter this paramiter. Well it's worth a try.

anonymo

I turned all these power stuff off...

besides... Sleep mode while watching a divx movie ? I don't think so...

gonaads

try this:

Question:
My drive is making clicking sounds. What is wrong with it?

Answer:
There are several potential problems that can cause clicking sounds. First, the drive itself could be failing, or has failed. However, other reasons could include a faulty data cable, virus infection, data corruption, or incorrect BIOS settings.

There is a definite test you can easily perform to determine if the drive has failed. Power the system down and disconnect the IDE ribbon cable to the drive that is making the noise, but leave the power cable attached. Turn the system on. If the drive makes the noise without the ribbon cable attached, then it has definitely failed and needs to be replaced. If it does not make the noise with just power, there may be other issues. In this case, you should first try a different ribbon cable.

This came from here:
http://www.harddiskinfo.com/Sections...Drive%20Sounds

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anonymo

No, this actually comes from www.wdc.com (support center)... Which is where I went to check out the problem for the western digital drive...


this text is for the "constant clicking noise" that you get with your drive... not the "one time frequently enough anoying clickclacks you get with mine"...

What is S.M.A.R.T ? in the ami bios setting ?

gonaads

HERE... SEE FOR YOURSELF WHAT IT IS:

http://www.pcmech.com/show/harddrive/158/

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gonaads

BTW... Just out of curiosity, Did you switch the Ribbon Cable connected to the HD rite now, with another one? Just to check?

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anonymo

Thanks man... And yes, I changed the cable.. not NOW NOW but this morning... no improvement...

I get these clicks about once every hour or two...

gonaads

How old is this HD?

You never mentioned that.

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Trinity

Here's my suggestions for you to try, first make sure the drive is properly aligned in the bay and the screws are holding it securely. Next try running WD's Lifeguard Tools http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp after you get into the program go to diagnostics and run the extended test, I've had really good luck with this program fixing hard drive errors, maybe there's a spot on the drive that keeps hanging the pc as it tries to read it. Also be sure to backup any crucial data to be on the safe side and good luck...if the program can't fix the problem it should give you a code you can use to get an RMA from WD.