Why are Maxtor hard drives so loud?

[ShawnD1]

I have several Maxtor brand hard drives, and they all sound terrible. None of them have ever failed, but they always sound like they're just about ready to die.
The loudest one is currently in an external case connected via USB. Writing to it sounds like something is grinding. If the desk is bumped, it makes this KACHUNK sound and the LED on the enclosure flashes. Windows doesn't notice any problems with the drive, and it seems to write files correctly since they hash perfectly every time (the drive is used for temporary P2P files).

Why are Maxtor drives so loud? Is it a sign of drive failure, or is it a case of "lol maxtor drives just do that, dont worry about it"

 

[Auric]

Is it a genuine Maxtor or a Seagate re-brand?

All my genuine Maxtors have been uber quiet. Seagate have not had quiet models for many years.

The case could be amplifying what is already a loud drive and the bumping can't help

When in doubt, use the manufacturer's software utility to run a full diagnostics.

 

[konakona]

IMO Maxtor has always been the loudest of the bunch. I am aware that segate has taken them over, but their 7200.10 is still louder than competing models from Samsung, Hitachi and WD.

That being said, your drives sound somewhat beyond the normal loudness thresold. How many of your maxtors were doing that to be exact? I did have a super loud samsung in the past for your record (not a pre-spipoint 80, either)

 

[nordloewelabs]

before merging with Seagate, Maxtor's website had a small utility that could allow the user to quiet the drives. the utility was called AMSET. it seems that Maxtor no longer distributes the utility. below is an excerpt taken from the PDF that accompannied the prog.

This is an Advanced Utility and its use is recommended for Advanced Users only.

Overview: The AMSET.EXE utility enables, disables, and sets levels for the Acoustic Management (operating sound levels) for the following hard drive families (and newer) ONLY:

DiamondMax Plus 40
DiamondMax 60
DiamondMax VL 30
DiamondMax Plus 40
D540X D740X

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: Auric
Is it a genuine Maxtor or a Seagate re-brand?

I'm not really sure. When did Seagate take over? I have 3 Maxtor drives (all sound like this), two of them were 120gb models from maybe 2001, and the third one is a 200gb I got last year at the Best Buy boxing day sale.

Does that loudness program screw with the hard drive's performance in any way? I can't see how a drive could be made quiet without changing the physical properties, such as making it spin slower, write slower, read slower, etc.

 

[nordloewelabs]

Does that loudness program screw with the hard drive's performance in any way? I can't see how a drive could be made quiet without changing the physical properties, such as making it spin slower, write slower, read slower, etc.

didnt screw *my* driver.... but you should exercise caution when using it. especially given the fact that even the Maxtor site isnt listing it anymore.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: ShawnD1

Originally posted by: Auric
Is it a genuine Maxtor or a Seagate re-brand?

I'm not really sure. When did Seagate take over? I have 3 Maxtor drives (all sound like this), two of them were 120gb models from maybe 2001, and the third one is a 200gb I got last year at the Best Buy boxing day sale.

Does that loudness program screw with the hard drive's performance in any way? I can't see how a drive could be made quiet without changing the physical properties, such as making it spin slower, write slower, read slower, etc.

A couple years ago? The 200GB could be either as retail inventory of the genuine ones was worked through. I still run a couple Maxtor 250GB'ers from about two and a half years ago and they are as quiet as Samsung unless Automatic Acoustic Management is disabled then the seeks are noisy but the same generally goes for WDC and Hitachi. Samsung still remains quiet even with AAM disabled. AAM has not been possible on Seagate for many years. As for the idle motor noise, most drives of the last few years are low noise. Hitachi can reduce RPM for even lower noise while other desktop motors are either on or off.

SilentDrive is a handy AAM utility for Windows -as an alternative to Hitachi Feature Tool (which works with many drives) or Maxtor AMSET.

 

[nordloewelabs]

my PC has 2 Maxtor 250Gb....and both are quiet.
i remember using the AMSET utility in one of them.
the other has never made noise.

 

[jswjimmy]

ive had 2 loud maxtors, and one was a relabeled quantum fireball, the other was a rather bulky 40gb drive that clicked and vibrated, the drive only lasted maybe a year in a half. right now i have 2 160gb maxtors, a 80gb, and a 120gb in use and there all quiet. i was a big fan of the diamond max line.

 

[RebateMonger]

Seagate took over Maxtor less than two years ago. The drive manufacture has been slowly shifting since then to Seagate.