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Harddisk trouble....humming in cycles - quiet to loud

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Ironmonkey

Registered
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
I am getting this annoying low base humming noise from my harddisks which cycles from quiet to loud every ~5 seconds.


It almost sound as if something is wrong with the motor suspension. There are no strange clicking noise or data loss.....yet :rain:


I have 3 harddisks and 2 of them are making this noise. The loudest one is a 200gb seagate and it causes my entire case to rattle. The second one is a 750GB hitachi which is quieter but still annoying.


I tried testing them with harddisk diagnostic tools and so far they have all checked out. I tried everything from cushioning the drives to surrounding it with sound proofing tiles, but the damn noise seems to penetrate everything.
Is this normal ?? Has anyone encountered this problem before ??


:eh?:
 
You might have a bearing going bad, though I doubt a hard disk that is unstable enough to hum would still be usable.

Could it be a case fan? Does the noise stop if you smack the case? Tighten up all your screws.
 
Well the hum stopped when I unplugged the power to the harddisks. And if I press my hand on the harddisks, the humming goes away but I can definitely feel the vibrations. The harddisks seemed to work fine, I can write and run programs without problems. Its just that damn humming noise and because it cycles from quiet to loud you will always hear it.
 
It could be the case vibrating at a low frequency because of the disc's spinning, try isolating them from the case and or running them outside the case to see if it stops.
 
yeah i mite jsut be how they are screwed into the case, happens on mine sometimes and i just moved it to another slot
if it keeps happening - might mean its going bad - !backup!
 
Are they10,000 rpm drives?
Because of the high rpm rate (7200-10,000 rpm) it can have a gyroscopic effect which makes it important to have your hdd either flat or vertical and not slanted as the drive would try to correct it's position.
Some people only put screws on one side of the hdd, which causes the drive to lean a bit and that can cause vibration.
Of course all the above is just my opinion, and you know how opinions go..

The vibration gives me a headache, but I like hearing the hdd "chatter" for some reason. :screwy:
 
See if the hum occurs with the HDDs out of the case. It could be the vibration of the HDD matches the harmonic frequency of your case. I had this happen once.
 
Those harddisks are normal 7200 rpm sata. I did try unscrewing them and changing slot positions, but it didn't do much. The seagate tool gave my drive the thumbs up, but I'm going to try the smartmon tool as well, thanks for the link.



This is what my case looks like. The insides are 100% identical but the outside has no nvidia logos etc.

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2909
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119199


The vibration gives me a headache, but I like hearing the hdd "chatter" for some reason.

Harddisks chatter are fine with me as well, but this is way different.


Currently, I have the 750 gb harddisk out of the slots and resting on some plastic bubble wraps at the bottom of the case. The noise is somewhat better and I can only hear the humming from certain angle. The 200gb is hopeless though, its too loud even on bubble wraps. This humming just plain sucks.


:bang head:bang head:bang head:bang head
 
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Sounds like you are a candidate for a good SSD. :)

It will be at least 6 months before I could get hold of one of those enterprise SSDs and even then I would still need other harddisks for storage.

I have wrapped a thick layer of bubble wraps around the 200gb harddisk and I think the noise has gone down 50%. It might overheat but well....let it burn.
 
bubble wrap really??! why dont you try zip ties around it with something in between it to simulate you pressing down on the hdd... should work fine and you wont have to have bubble wrap around it...
 
Finally, I found something that works even better than bubble wraps. Books.

One on top and one at the bottom. Voila, can bearly hear the humming now :clap:. Runs cooler as well 59/144 C/F.



EDIT: I just used speedfan on my 3rd harddisk which is not making any humming noise and this is the result.

harddisk500gb.jpg



Its only a month old. Is this result good or bad ?
 
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i would monitor the temps closely with the books on them. books are very dense (relatively) and aa good insulator....they will help keep the hdd cooler than normal for awhile, but once they heat up they will trap the heat in and make them run super hot.
 
Looks like it's bad! Is that a Seagate?

It is a Seagate 500 GB (7200.12, 16mb, ST3500418AS - CC37).

It is my C:, it runs much faster than the other 2 drives.......whats wrong with it :shock:??



i would monitor the temps closely with the books on them

I have an intake fan blowing towards it, the temperature has idled at around 59/144 C/F after 12 hours.
 
how long ago did you buy that drive ?? just asking because those drives are covered by segate for 3 years I've never delt with their customer service personally so i don't know if it would be a hassel to deal with them or not over this... no harm in trying though
 
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