hard drive clicking but no errors

I've got a random clicking sound coming from my HDD (XPS m1330, 200 GB 7200 RPM drive) - so far only when running a certain torrent. Turning the torrent off stops the clicking, etc.

I called Dell who told me to run HDD diagnostics which found no errors whatsoever. Also, my system isn't freezing/slow at all. I reflashed the bios with the most updated one (A15) at the tech's suggestion but it made no difference... I prefer A09 since the fan runs less so unless anyone can confirm the bios might make a difference I'll revert it...

Should I be worried? What's going on here? It started totally randomly yesterday...

 

Sorry to bump, just really hoping for an answer...

thanks

 

I would say, back up all your data. Clicking sounds isn't good. I don't trust diagnostics tools I had some issues with them before.

 

If you are having clicks, freeze the drive. Yes, put the drive in a freezer, then take it out and let it boot up. I would recommend Spin Rite or any other recovery program and have it scan for errors. You may not get any errors, but back up your data as a crash maybe approaching.

 

Have you updated to the latest firmware ? Is your HDD seagate ?

 

Mind explaining what are the benefits of doing this cause I having the same issues with my 1340 ... but it does this like once a week and it does while it's sleep as well

 

Long story short: Physics say that metal, cold or frozen condenses or contracts. Hence putting more pressure on the drive. It would be better to heat the drive up., freeing up and friction because the platters and all the metal would expand. But then that could also add more problems to and already bad situation.

from: http://www.trap17.com/index.php/Hard-Drive-Freezer-Trick_t26193.html

 

I don't know why your hard drive is clicking (if it only clicks during the torrent.. maybe the torrent is causing the problem?). But for the BIOS, it turns on the fans more so the graphics card doesn't overheat. So it's better if you did update to the latest BIOS.

 

I'm fairly sure it's Seagate, yes - the entry in Device Manager starts with ST.

I didn't know there was hard drive firmware... is that with the rest of the drives on the Dell support website?

 

Its on the Dell website and it fixes the clicking problem.

By the way: Clicking was bad on previous HD series, but isn't anymore. Todays HDs use ramp load technology for the heads and may emit a clicking sound when the heads are parked or removed from the parking position.

 

Thanks... but I'm a bit confused - I'm assuming it's the download listed under SATA drive (Intel Driver for the Matrix Storage Manager)? As far as I know, the Matrix Storage Manager is just support for a RAID array...

Re clicking not being a problem: I can see how that would be true but I've never known my HDD to do this ever before in 2 years. plus, it seemed to be doing it when torrenting, i.e. writing/reading continuously at high speeds to the disk, so I'm not sure it counts as 'normal' unless it can start randomly?

 

You can run the HD test that seatools (provided from the Seagate homepage) offers.

You can find a firmware update for Seagate HDs on the Dell support site for the XPS 16 models. Just burn the image on a CD and boot it. If your model is not supported it will not be updated. Otherwise your HD will get a firmware that fixes the clicking issue.

If your HD starts making strange noises that have not been there before, it is the time backup all of your important data. Just in case....

 

hmm, ok I can try... I've got a m1330, so the HDD may be different since the XPS 16 are a newer model - I don't see my drive number listed either. But let's see. thanks!

 

if it is a seagate hard drive dont worry... i thought it was gonna die... new seagate hard drives comes with higher than normal seek error rate... doesnt mean is gonna fail ... i got mine for two years... eventually does that clicking noise of the needle repositioning.... but working great and fast! cool.... look here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

if u go to to Known ATA S.M.A.R.T. attributes in seek error rate it says

Note that Seagate drives often report a raw value that is very high, even on new drives, and this does not normally indicate a failure

u can verify with a smart reader utility... lower than 60 wouldnt be fine... but again... no catastrophic...! upgrade firmaware to DE17! and just live with the clicking! seagate runs cool and fast... way better that a lot of drives out there!!!

 

oh thanks... I'll remember that lol. sadly I think the DE17 update doesn't apply to my HDD model, but oh well...

btw... do you run your HDD in ATA or DHCI mode?

 

Go ahead and back up to be safe. My 1340 had clicking from the day I opened the box, just figured it was normal. No errors, freezes, passed diagnostics, etc. About a month and half later...it died. It was a WD though, the new one they sent me is a ST.

 

Wenn running a SATA HD you should always use the AHCI mode. It enables all the nice SATA features like NCQ and will speed up your drive a little bit. ATA mode is only emulated for SATA drives and is slower. However it keeps the SATA HDs compatible with some older operating systems.

When Windows Vista or 7 are installed on an ATA mode HD they won't start in AHCI mode. This results from the AHCI drivers not being loaded on startup. So before changing the mode in the Bios setup the Windows registry must be modified to load the driver.

 

Clicking noise is the read head parking itself on a safe zone. This happens when the HD has gone idle.

No need to put it on a fridge lol.

Was your notebook on sleep mode before it started happening?

 

Hmm... how exactly do I enable the registry to load the driver? Does installing the Intel Matrix Manager take care of it?

my laptop was in suspend for two weeks, I got back and started this torrent a few mins after powering up... but it keeps happening even when the computer has been running for a while - it's not a random click when the HDD is powering down, but it's like 3 clicks a second while this particular torrent (and ONLY this particular torrent) is running. Wonder if there's something badly encoded in the torrent file.