On 2020-08-20 04:39, Thomas Schmitt wrote:
Hi,
a while ago i asked about the periodic knocking noise after each 4 seconds
of my freshly bought 4 TB HDD WD4003FRYZ. We came to the conclusion that
this was a reason to return the disk to the seller. "Click of Death" et.al.
I did and got a replacement disk. That one knocks less loudly, more like
every 6 seconds, sometimes double-knocking, sometimes skipping a 6 seconds
cycle.
After more discussion with involved people, the term "Preventive Wear
Leveling" came up. This feature seems to be old, but to now have been
intensified with the excuse that nobody hears it knocking in a server room.
Some quite unhappy Western Digital users can be seen at
https://community.wd.com/t/periodic-noise-from-head-movement-wd-black-4tb/183096/2
One of those posts finally has a link to a company statement:
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16309
"Normal drive sounds include:
...
Occasional drive clicks occurring at 4 or 5 second intervals, and the
drive is functioning normally and passes diagnostics"
Now the discussion of my HDD tends towards giving it back for the reason
of neither warning of this feature and of the feature's effects being not
the same from individual drive to individual drive.
---
So my next question to recent HDD buyers:
What 4 TB HDD should i want for best reliability and no noises when idle ?
Any recent experiences ?
Have a nice day :)
Thomas
Thanks for posting the update. All the other drives I have diagnosed
with "The Click of Death" were otherwise silent for years before the
noise started. I will keep the "Preventive Wear Leveling" feature in
mind if and when I run into drives with similar symptoms.
I have been buying "revious-generation "Seagate Constellation ES2 3TB
7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB 3.5" Enterprise Hard Drive", model number
ST33000650NS, on eBay sold as "new". The drives came in sealed
electrostatic bags and the SMART reports indicated 0 hours of use. The
heads move only when disk activity is expected. I believe the largest
model in that series was 4 TB, and interface choices included SATA and
SAS. I am very happy with these drives.
Of 8 purchased over the past few years, one died after ~11 months --
SMART reports over-temperature, transfers are slow/
failing, and it smelled of burnt electronics. Fortunately, I was
careful to buy from a reputable seller who provided a 1 year warranty.
They provided an RMA, return shipping label, and full refund.
David
