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Neo.cmg · Feb 1, 2008, 03:39 AM

I recently purchased and installed a 2nd Hard disk for my Mac Pro. I got one of the 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 SATA II drives and installed in in /dev/disk0. I moved the 250GB drive which came with the machine originally to /dev/disk1. I'm noticing every now and then a clicking sound followed by a whirring sound made by the disk as if the drive is spinning down.

It does this pretty frequently, and I'm wondering if others have experienced this at all? I find it kind of annoying for whatever reason. Is this normal? Does this have something to do with the setting in the Energy Saver System Preference? I was just curious, because I didn't notice this or hear the drive spinning down at all with my original 250GB drive, and didn't know if there was possibly something wrong.

Thanks.

OreoCookie · Feb 1, 2008, 06:08 AM

Clicking sounds indicate your harddrive is dying.
Buy a new harddrive now. Back up all your data! Now!

AppleGirl1990 · Feb 1, 2008, 09:02 AM

Not on my new MacPro (as it hasn't shipped)
but my old G5....i get a clicking sound while Mail is running. Only when Mail is running. I assume the Hard Drive is failing too, but why would it only click during Mail?

OreoCookie · Feb 1, 2008, 10:14 AM

Either that clicking sound is present all the time or not. If it's just present when you use a different app, then this does not necessarily imply your harddrive is failing. If it is, then it doesn't make any difference which app you're using.

Neo.cmg · Feb 1, 2008, 01:13 PM

I can't imagine the clicking sound would be a symptom of a hard drive dying, as this hard disk is only 4 days old at this point. I have a backup of all my files on the second hard disk that I moved to /dev/disk1 which use to be my primary drive.

There must be some other reason for this. It's actually only one click followed by a whirring sound like the drive is spinning down..

seanc · Feb 1, 2008, 01:42 PM

Sounds like it might be parking its heads and spinning down. Try downloading the SeaTools CD and running that to see if it turns up any problems.

AppleGirl1990 · Feb 2, 2008, 10:17 AM

One huge problem facing new computer owners is that TechTool Pro and DiskWarrior both don't support the new MacPro's released in January.

I wish apple would give these companies at least 1 computer to test their software on so that day 1, support is available.

mr. burns · Feb 2, 2008, 03:10 PM

haven't mac pros always had some issues with seagate drives? i remember similar reports back when the woodcrest MPs were relatively new.

OreoCookie · Feb 3, 2008, 07:37 AM

Neither TechTool nor DiskWarrior can fix hardware problems. Random clicking is what a dying harddrive sounds like. If you test the harddrive extensively, it will stress it -- not a good idea unless you have a backup.

Aegis · Feb 3, 2008, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by Neo.cmg

It's actually only one click followed by a whirring sound like the drive is spinning down..

If it only clicks once when you haven't used it for a bit, then it probably is just spinning down. Try using the drive after that happens. It should whirl up and click again.

However, if you hear it making clicks while it's in use or it sounds like grinding or scraping, it's trouble.

chris v · Feb 3, 2008, 02:48 PM

Have you unchecked the checkbox in System Preferences > Energy Saver... Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible? If not, the sound might be your drive waking back up when it needs to be accessed.

cgc · Feb 3, 2008, 05:36 PM

Check S.M.A.R.T. status.

mipes · Apr 19, 2008, 07:04 AM

hurry up with the back and don't use it anymore for important data. it's very likely to loose it soon.

EricTheRed · Apr 20, 2008, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by Neo.cmg

I recently purchased and installed a 2nd Hard disk for my Mac Pro. I got one of the 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 SATA II drives and installed in in /dev/disk0. I moved the 250GB drive which came with the machine originally to /dev/disk1. I'm noticing every now and then a clicking sound followed by a whirring sound made by the disk as if the drive is spinning down.

It does this pretty frequently, and I'm wondering if others have experienced this at all? I find it kind of annoying for whatever reason. Is this normal? Does this have something to do with the setting in the Energy Saver System Preference? I was just curious, because I didn't notice this or hear the drive spinning down at all with my original 250GB drive, and didn't know if there was possibly something wrong.

Thanks.

The Mac Pro will spin up and spin down your internal HDDs all day. Normal activity. Something to note: Your Mac Pro will not spin up your drives at once so you may experience a lag if you need something from one of the drives while your Mac spins up the drives.

ManxStef · May 13, 2008, 06:32 AM

Random loud clicking is usually a bad sign, but it's actually something else in a lot of modern Seagates. I've got one that does this and I found it a bit annoying; it's some sort of calibration that it does to extend the drive's life called STIR (Seek To Improve Reliability). I'm not sure if there's a way to disable this, perhaps e-mail Seagate's tech support and ask?

mduell · May 13, 2008, 06:40 PM

Why would you want to disable a reliability increasing feature?

Yawn · May 14, 2008, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

Why would you want to disable a reliability increasing feature?

Because as he already said...

Originally Posted by ManxStef

I've got one that does this and I found it a bit annoying

Yawn · May 14, 2008, 09:32 AM

dupe