Baraccuda is making strange noise.. :( *Edit:Sound file uploaded

[theplanb]

Ididn't notice when the computer was very noisy, but now I can hear clearly that my seagate baraccuda4 20GB HDD is making strange noise. No, it's not a seeking or reading noise.. it's more like.. screeching, scratching noise. Not too loud. But I can clearly hear it. Is this normal? It makes noise even when I'm not doing anything. It makes two noises. one is like.. umm.. flying mosquitoes.. and followed by kinda.. reading noise..and they are pretty regular.

Now I can see the patern.
It makes sound about 30seconds right after HDD is acessed then it stops. It starts when I use HDD again..like.. reading, accessing and writing..

I recorded the sound. The quality is not great and you have to up the volume and look for the mosquito-like sound.
First, go to my instant homepage (now.. don't be startled by pink "hello kitty" page I just had fun while doing it)

Then click on the link named "Seagate Baraccuda4 Sound file" It's in MP3 format...

Don't worry about the clicking noise.. I think i bumped the mic on to the case. or maybe it's seeking sound I don't know.
The mosquito sound is kinda louder than what you would hear from this file, and it's getting very annoying,,
Please tell me if this is usual sound. You wouldn't actually hear it if the case is pretty noisy.

 

[zephyrprime]

Could be bad. Try to find a SMART program for your hard drive. See if the seagate website has one. If it doesn't, try using CPUcool. It has smart abilities.

 

[Silver222]

That's not good at all. I have a 40 gig Cuda IV, and it is completely silent. It's probably going bad....you're sure the noise is coming from the hard drive and not from somewhere else, right?

 

[Rahminator]

Theplanb, were you overclocking fsb?

 

[mztykal]

I'd back-up everything important asap.

Noises like that aren't really good signs.

 

[Bozo Galora]

oh no, not these too!

 

[Silver222]

Also, go to Seagate and download the tools there. I know Discwizard 2000 has some diagnostic stuff in it, there are also some other things there. Good luck.

 

[BFG10K]

Yeah that doesn't sound too good. My 60 GB Barracude IV is completely silent. Even under heavy disk I/O the only way I can tell that it's doing anything is if I check the LED.

 

[theplanb]

Yup, I'm pretty sure that it's the HDD.
My PC is very quiet. First, I thought it was floppy drive, but it still makes the sound after I removed the floppy drive.
I did try the diagnostic tool, and came up with nothing..

So, I recorded the sound. You can find the link to the sound on my first post.

And no.. it's not overclocked at all. Everything at default including the volatege.
I'm using ATA100 cable (not rounded) on the HDD. (single master drive on first IDE channel)

 

[Bozo Galora]

that is the unmistakeable sound of a wand head scratching accross its platter. It would appear you lost or
damaged one of the "pontoons" that ride on a cushion of air that surround the head itself . I can duplicate
that noise exactly with one of my dead, taken apart, IBM's, by moving the wands manually.

(either that, or when they built the drive, they trapped a baby gerbil inside the encasement)

 

[Bozo Galora]

BTW: You have ruined my day.

 

[theplanb]

huh??!? How did I ruin your day?

 

[Bozo Galora]

I have 5 Seagate Barracuda IV's
I bought them because I was tired of IBM fails.

 

[MWink]

What?!? Everyone thinks the Barracuda IV's are as bad as the IBM's after a single person has ONE drive fail on him?!?!

Well, for the record, I have 3 Barracuda IV's and they have been working perfectly for at least a month. They are all completely silent. I don't think there is anything wrong with the Barracuda IV's.

My Samsung monitor seems to be dying but people are not saying their's is going to die just because mine is bad.

 

[Bozo Galora]

you are jumping to conclusions. Nobody said the IV's were as bad as the IBM's.
however, this is a relatively new drive, and the poster only had it a short while (like you)
and its DISHEARTENING to even hear about one this early in the game.
comprendo?

 

[theplanb]

:Q How do I rescue the baby gerbil iside?

 

[gsaldivar]

I'd guess that this is an early sign of bearing failure, or the servo that drives the read-write head is about to take a crap...

Either way - back that baby up and RMA it.

Nice Hello Hitty BTW lol

 

[Viper GTS]

Give me a while to find it, but a while back there was a file available for download. Apparently some 'Cuda IV's make noises, & there is a software fix for it.

I believe it was on Storage Review, & was also linked to from here.

OK, do a search in Storage Review's forums for "smscan", I'm trying to find you a link to the file itself. But it's for the exact issue (not really an issue, it's a feature that can be disabled) you're having, the search will give you more info.

Here's the file

Thread on Storage Review

Apparently it doesn't work on all systems, you may need to take the drive to another system to run it (ie different motherboard chipset). But definitely give it a shot, once you've done it it's permanent AFAIK.

Viper GTS

 

[BFG10K]

Nobody said the IV's were as bad as the IBM's. however, this is a relatively new drive, and the poster only had it a short while (like you)
and its DISHEARTENING to even hear about one this early in the game. comprendo?

Come on now, you're over-reacting. Even the best vendors do not have perfect records.

Besides, his drive is still working so he can transfer his stuff and RMA it. It would have been worse if it just fell over and corrupted all the data.

 

[Viper GTS]

The drive is most likely fine, check the links I posted.

I listened to his sound file, & it sounds like what people are describing in the thread(s) on Storage Review.

BTW, I just put my ear up to my 'Cuda & it does the exact same thing. I'll run the file myself & post with the results. I never noticed it before.

Viper GTS <-- So far happy Barracuda IV owner

 

[Bozo Galora]

Interesting
My drives don't make a peep

Viper GTS to the rescue

BTW: (Concerning the Gerbil) Call the Richard Gere Gerbil Removal Service. (1-800-MY-ANUS)

 

[theplanb]

Thanks!!!!
BTW, I don't have a floppy drive at the moment..sigh
But I ordered one last night.. so I should be getting it today or tommorow.
Shame I was getting used to the cool squeky sound (not..)

 

[ku]

this early? i've had my cuda iv 80 gig for like 3 months now with no problems. I'm sorry but for all you know, it could've been the users fault for maybe dropping it or something (sorry theplanb, i'm not trying to say ur stupid)

 

[Viper GTS]

Let us know if that fixes it for you.

I tried the file on my system, but it didn't do anything. Not terribly surprising, I didn't expect it to run (Tiger MP with dual TBirds). Sometime when I have time to waste & I feel like tearing things apart I'll take it out & try it in my BP6 system.

Viper GTS <-- Not annoyed by the noise, so it's not a high priority.

 

[theplanb]

Nah, I'm stupid, but I did not drop it.
Well, I didn't notice the sound before.. it's just that the noise is now just about the only sinificant noise I hear, and it is getting annoying.
I don't think I can RMA it even if it doesn't fix. It's just not faulty enough.. Maybe i should "accidentally drop it (just kidding., Just kidding.. )