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Premium member in staff
       posts: 2298 since: 12 Jan, 2001
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1. Clicking Sounds? |
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I think the hard drive on my Thinkpad T23 is making clicking type sounds when it assesses it. Is this a sign that is going bad? I bought the T23 factory refurbished.
BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2-eCS.org Director of Communications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - supporting the past OS/2 user and the future eCS user http://www.os2ecs.org
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| Date: 08 Aug, 2006 on 19:56 |
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Premium member in user
     posts: 115 since: 14 Aug, 2003 |
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BigWarpGuy (08 Aug, 2006 19:56): I think the hard drive on my Thinkpad T23 is making clicking type sounds when it assesses it. Is this a sign that is going bad? I bought the T23 factory refurbished.
Hi BigWarpGuy Sorry to say this but, Yes, there is a good chance the clicking noise indicates the hd is close to dying. I suggest that you make regular backups while awaiting the event and also have a replacement disk handy. Regards Pete |
| Date: 09 Aug, 2006 on 01:29 |
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Premium member in staff
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3. Re:Clicking Sounds? |
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Thanks. I will look for a replacement drive.
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BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2-eCS.org Director of Communications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - supporting the past OS/2 user and the future eCS user http://www.os2ecs.org
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| Date: 09 Aug, 2006 on 02:31 |
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Premium member in staff
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4. Re:Clicking Sounds? |
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I found a 40 gigabye hard drive for my T23. It was about $50 plus $15 for shipping and handling.
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BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2-eCS.org Director of Communications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - supporting the past OS/2 user and the future eCS user http://www.os2ecs.org
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| Date: 10 Aug, 2006 on 18:16 |
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Premium member in user
       posts: 198 since: 10 Apr, 2001
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BigWarpGuy (08 Aug, 2006 19:56): I think the hard drive on my Thinkpad T23 is making clicking type sounds when it assesses it. Is this a sign that is going bad? I bought the T23 factory refurbished.
Very good chance that it is going bad, on the other hand IBM drives do make clicking noises.. especially if they are in high performance mode. There is utility which allows you to change the mode the drive is in (silent, perfomance, mix) |
| Date: 26 Aug, 2006 on 05:35 |
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Premium member in user
     posts: 152 since: 16 Aug, 2004 |
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last updated at 26 Aug, 2006 17:26 (2 times) Hi BigWarpedGuy,In addition to Sebadoh's excellent points, just so you know, IBM/Hitachi TravelStar drives also sound like there is something broken in them when they are off and you shake them lightly. (It sounds like something is rattling inside the drive). That too, is normal (and is somewhere in the drive's documentation). Another suggestion that might be helpful is to download IBM/Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test Utility - it is currently at version 4.08 if memory serves. It can test all IDE capabilities on any IDE drive and a lot of things on SCSI drives. On an IBM or Hitachi drive it can also fix media errors and "recertify" media (it refuses to do any of the repair features on any non-IBM/Hitachi drive - but at least can tell you of the error). v4.06 (and v4.08 should as well) comes with a list of the error codes (on the website, and I *think* on the download as well) that will tell you what each error means. The return code you want of course is 0x00 (meaning all is well). You can find it here: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm (NOTE: Be careful which method you select to fix media errors if you have data on the drive that's important to you - the better of the method erases the whole drive, while one tries to move data and thus save it from bad areas. And ALWAYS re-run the whole "Advanced Test" suite once you have completed using the repair function to verify it was successful). Also, SMARTDRV from hobbes is a great tool for any system already running OS/2 or eCS as it will report not just the SMART status of an IDE drive, but also each parameter supported by the drive, including temperature, spin-up and spin-down counts, etc (assuming your drive supports returning that data). Spin-up and spin-down counts may produce warnings (which it should indicate as non-critical) - those particular two values may be high on a laptop drive, or for that matter on any desktop drive where the power saving scheme spins the drive down during system inactivity - that in and of itself isnt an issue - just a normal function of the power management scheme selected. It DOES point out an interesting thing though - excessive spin-up/spin-down cycles may be as bad for the drive as not spinning it down at all. At least that's how I've been interpretting the values since the SMART software seems to think such is bad. It does make sense on a mechanical aspect after all, as keeping the platters spinning is far easier for a drive motor that continuously having to spin them up (overcoming inertia to spin the platters puts more strain on the motor than keeping it spinning). I think the key is to have power management set at some sort of a realistic balance so the drive isnt running continuously, yet isnt being spun down and up every 5 minutes (as I have seen configured). What's the good balance point? Got me... I guess a lot of that would depend on the type of usage the machine (and its drives) get. For instance, if you have a tendency to use the machine for 30 minutes straight, then walk away for 5 hours where the machine wont generate any disk activity, maybe 5 minute spindown is perfect for you - but if you are the type who uses it for 30 minutes and walks away for 5 hours and the machine keeps doing it's own stuff at odd intervals (ie: mail checks, background software running, etc) that will keep spinning up the drive, then you probably want a higher drive spin-down time so it doesnt spin up and down a dozen times while you are away. HTH, -Robert |
| Date: 26 Aug, 2006 on 17:23 |
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Premium member in user
     posts: 152 since: 16 Aug, 2004 |
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7. Re:Clicking Sounds? |
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| Oh - there is a utility on the Drive Fitness Test page which will allow you to easily change the acoustic settings of your drive as well (scroll down the page and you will see it), which will help you verify if your drive is just making extra noise because of the mode it is in (as per Seb's post) or it is failing (in conjunction with using DFT to determine why). Clicking can be an indication of a high speed non-quiet mode as per Seb's post or excessive re-seeks/head-repositioning if memory serves (which could be head tracking errors or media issues). You can find it here: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm Bottom of page - Feature Tool -Robert |
| Date: 26 Aug, 2006 on 17:31 |
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Premium member in staff
       posts: 2298 since: 12 Jan, 2001
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Sebadoh (26 Aug, 2006 05:35):
BigWarpGuy (08 Aug, 2006 19:56): I think the hard drive on my Thinkpad T23 is making clicking type sounds when it assesses it. Is this a sign that is going bad? I bought the T23 factory refurbished.
Very good chance that it is going bad, on the other hand IBM drives do make clicking noises.. especially if they are in high performance mode. There is utility which allows you to change the mode the drive is in (silent, perfomance, mix)
The computer would slow or seem to stop while the clicking sound occured. Would the high performance mode pause the computer while making clicking sounds?
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BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2-eCS.org Director of Communications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - supporting the past OS/2 user and the future eCS user http://www.os2ecs.org
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| Date: 27 Aug, 2006 on 01:25 |
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Premium member in user
     posts: 152 since: 16 Aug, 2004 |
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| Unlikely... sounds like head re-alignment or media read errors. Download and try Drive Fitness Test. U can download an ISO and burn it from any machine (eCS/WinXP/etc) that has CD burning software that supports burning an ISO to a CD, boot off the CD and run the advanced test. -Robet BigWarpGuy (27 Aug, 2006 01:25):
Sebadoh (26 Aug, 2006 05:35):
BigWarpGuy (08 Aug, 2006 19:56): I think the hard drive on my Thinkpad T23 is making clicking type sounds when it assesses it. Is this a sign that is going bad? I bought the T23 factory refurbished.
Very good chance that it is going bad, on the other hand IBM drives do make clicking noises.. especially if they are in high performance mode. There is utility which allows you to change the mode the drive is in (silent, perfomance, mix)
The computer would slow or seem to stop while the clicking sound occured. Would the high performance mode pause the computer while making clicking sounds?
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| Date: 27 Aug, 2006 on 05:27 |
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Normal member in user
       posts: 49 since: 23 Jan, 2004 |
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BigWarpGuy (27 Aug, 2006 01:25):
Sebadoh (26 Aug, 2006 05:35):
BigWarpGuy (08 Aug, 2006 19:56): I think the hard drive on my Thinkpad T23 is making clicking type sounds when it assesses it. Is this a sign that is going bad? I bought the T23 factory refurbished.
Very good chance that it is going bad, on the other hand IBM drives do make clicking noises.. especially if they are in high performance mode. There is utility which allows you to change the mode the drive is in (silent, perfomance, mix)
The computer would slow or seem to stop while the clicking sound occured. Would the high performance mode pause the computer while making clicking sounds?
In that case, I would vote for the failing drive. I've been through a couple of Thinkpads (only! that's how good the are!) through the years, all with Travelstar drives. The newer ones do make this small, regular ticking sound normally. But if you're experiencing the system slow or hang, I think your drive is about to go.
I've been through 2 drive deaths so far, the Drive Fitness Test doesn't seem to always catch it. I'd backup NOW.... |
| Date: 27 Aug, 2006 on 19:56 |
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Normal member in user
     posts: 46 since: 09 Dec, 2004 |
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| Question: Do you know about the Duck Test? Answer: If it looks like a duck & walks like a duck & quacks like a duck => It must be a duck! Eight years ago, I had a new Iomega 1 Gig Jaz Drive that was an absolute back-up joy, and within 30 days the clicking noises came with a soon failed hard drive. How did I know that wasn't a fluke? The same thing happened with another replacement hard drive within 30 days. |
| Date: 27 Aug, 2006 on 22:16 |
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