Tick tick tick tick - Maxtor HDD

[diggingforgold]

I've experienced the deathstar crash myself, it doesn't sound like the CoD. But rather like a quiet tick (like the noise static electricity makes when you discharge on something). This is a Maxtor 6E040L0 7200RPM 40GB PATA that I bought here on the forums classifieds a while ago. It clicked ever since I got it, but never crashed yet. When it clicks, the drive will freeze reading/writing until it stops clicking, and then it will perform just as you would expect.

So I brought out the Maxtor PowerMax (drive diagnostic) floppy and gave it a quick scan. It said there were errors and it required a full scan. Errors turned up in the full scan, and PowerMax attempted to fix them. But the ticking still continued and performance was still horrible.

I did another quick scan. No errors found. Did a full scan. No errors found. I backed up all my stuff, and then did a full low-level format, and then did a burn in test. Maxtors utility said that a drive is guaranteed to be in working order if it can pass a burn in test. So I performed a burn in test- with it ticking almost the whole time. Result: Passed.

If Maxtors utility says the drive is fully functional, what could be wrong? It seems the problem is getting progressivly worse, but Maxtors utility seems to think there's nothing wrong with the drive. Any thoughts?

[Biermann]

check the power connector. I had an intermittent tick, and the problem was some of the female connectors were not making proper contact with the male pins.

[depthad]

I have a maxtor it did this also. The drive would cause complete freezes. I had to place it in a plastic baggy suck the air outa the bag as much as possible and show it in the freezer over night. Hasn't clicked since, no idea how it helps but thats what I read on these forums and my drive work to this date. (started doing that crap 6-12 months ago)

[el]

amset can help too

[Kendan]

you should have RMA'd it after it reported errors in the diagnostics. I still would if I were you.

[Mr.Guvernment]

As said - RMA it - try differnet molex plug on it.