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forkies · Mar 12, 2006, 12:16 PM

one of my hard drives has recently started to scare the hell out of me, so i'm backing everything up & will not keep anything at all important on it. after researching hard drive failures a bit i came across this page. i think the sound clips will trigger greatly increased heart rate in any nerd.

is it possible the hard drive was acting weird because of corruption not necessarily because it will physically fail? recently, the drive has been getting a lot of stress (stupid i know) because it fills up with downloads, i burn them, then download more stuff. on top of that, it's my boot drive.

before, i sometimes got a kachunk sound (maybe #1). then i began getting all my **** off the drive & it was doing that a ton. i shut down & installed an os on a different drive. i'm doing a zero now & there don't seem to be any problems. i booted from the other drive then copied all my stuff over. since starting off another disk, i haven't heard the sounds. also, smart hasn't ever said a thing about this drive failing. opinions? (other than railing me about keeping the drive full)

mduell · Mar 12, 2006, 12:27 PM

What are the S.M.A.R.T. parameter values? (use SMARTReporter from VersionTracker)
If the bad block count is climbing up there, it could be corruption.

CharlesS · Mar 12, 2006, 12:51 PM

Uh, if the drive is making clicking noises, it's gonna die.

Zero it all you want - I wouldn't leave important data on that drive again. I'd replace it ASAP if it were me...

forkies · Mar 12, 2006, 01:00 PM

re: mduell i had been using SMARTReporter
re: CharlesS i know, i don't plan on keeping anything important on it, as i said.

now i should probably think about finding a replacement drive. i have an ibook g4, any suggestions?

euphras · Mar 12, 2006, 01:57 PM

What about posting this in the appropriate forum? Sorry, don´t wanna be impolite, but this "i wanna have quick replies, so i´m gonna posting in the lounge" gets a li´ll bit annoying these days.

CharlesS · Mar 12, 2006, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by forkies

now i should probably think about finding a replacement drive. i have an ibook g4, any suggestions?

I think the Fujitsu laptop drives are pretty good. At any rate, they're pretty much silent in terms of noise, which is nice.

Chuckit · Mar 12, 2006, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by euphras

What about posting this in the appropriate forum? Sorry, don´t wanna be impolite, but this "i wanna have quick replies, so i´m gonna posting in the lounge" gets a li´ll bit annoying these days.

I don't see a hard drive forum.

euphras · Mar 12, 2006, 04:36 PM

so why don´t just posting it in the Power Mac/iBook/iMac/Peripherals section???

Chuckit · Mar 12, 2006, 04:41 PM

Because it's not specifically related to the Power Mac, iBook or iMac and is not in any way related to a peripheral? This isn't an exact science. Any of the forums you mentioned are too specific and this forum is too general, so I'm OK with having this here, personally.

wdlove · Mar 12, 2006, 04:54 PM

Backups are very important. Certainly don;t want anyone to have a hard drive heart attack.

forkies · Mar 12, 2006, 11:50 PM

i called apple support today & the guy said because i have seemingly fixed the problem they would check the computer & deem it as functioning normally. however, there is obvious need for concern. so, be careful using it, & before my apple care expires later this year give them another call. i think he was suggesting that they'll just swap it out for me as long as i call sometime before then.

i'm much more relieved today, as i got all my photos saved & have the os reinstalled on the drive. it hasn't been acting strange at all since. weasily little bastard!

Corpse of Chewbacca · Mar 12, 2006, 11:51 PM

this is all nice, but

WRONG FORUM

forkies · Nov 25, 2006, 03:34 PM

so i got the drive replaced about a month ago, because the drive made the sound more and more often. i thought maybe it was related to the drive getting hot, but as it became autumn it never went away. it would make the sound, be unable to read from the drive, and spinny rainbow.

i have been using the new drive for about 1 month, and the new one is being nuts now too! what's the deal? about every minute, the drive will make a sound like it's turning off, become quiet, i get spinny rainbow, then it will make a sound like it's turning on/spinning up. it every now and then makes a grindy sound! geez. thank gods i started to make regular backups since this whole thing started. time to call apple again.

IceEnclosure · Nov 25, 2006, 06:03 PM

Who calls Apple about a HD? : \

Just get a cheap_huge freakin' drive from BestBuy and fuggedaboudit.

What size HD is it that you're making a fuss about? Couldn't be too big if it's Apple installed.

CharlesS · Nov 25, 2006, 06:32 PM

Uh, if the drive is only a month old and it's already making noises, that's definitely reason enough to get it replaced under warranty. Sure, you can buy a new drive, but if you can get it replaced for free, why pay money for it? It's not your fault you were given a defective drive.

11011001 · Nov 25, 2006, 07:37 PM

I had an HD that I thought was dying (similar sounds). It turned out to be a bad cable. Checked your connections?

imitchellg5 · Nov 25, 2006, 07:47 PM

The slow spindle motor sounds like a Ferrari.

imitchellg5 · Nov 25, 2006, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by Corpse of Chewbacca

this is all nice, but

WRONG FORUM

Oh poor you.

Blasphemy · Nov 25, 2006, 07:59 PM

Wrong forum

IceEnclosure · Nov 25, 2006, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Uh, if the drive is only a month old and it's already making noises, that's definitely reason enough to get it replaced under warranty. Sure, you can buy a new drive, but if you can get it replaced for free, why pay money for it? It's not your fault you were given a defective drive.

He was having the same exact problem 8 months ago.

Checking the cables may be a good idea as 101100101101 stated.

forkies · Nov 25, 2006, 08:11 PM

it's the internal drive. a problem with the cables did come to mind, considering there's now a problem with the new drive, but wouldn't the people at apple have thought of that too?

RAILhead · Nov 25, 2006, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by euphras

so why don´t just posting it in the Power Mac/iBook/iMac/Peripherals section???

Why don't you use apostrophes correctly? It's -- ' -- not -- ´ --

IceEnclosure · Nov 25, 2006, 08:39 PM

Originally Posted by forkies

it's the internal drive. a problem with the cables did come to mind, considering there's now a problem with the new drive, but wouldn't the people at apple have thought of that too?

I don't think they think so much as just do the job they're instructed to do. (swap clackity hard drive)