WD Blue makes grinding noises but passes all tests

[davidst95]

Hi, I have a WD Blue 3.5 4TB hard drive.   When it first starts to spin up it makes a loud grinding noise for a few seconds.   I ran multiple low-level tests and it did find any issues with the drive.   I also tried running it outside my desktop case with an adapter and it still creates the noise.   The S.M.A.R.T test says it passes too.  Should I just let it go or think about replacing the drive?   Any help would be great.   Thank you.

 

David

[The Sloth]

its dying prepare a backup

[ARikozuM]

What kind of grinding? Is the arm moving when it grinds or is it on the same track? Try writing a large file such as a movie to another drive and seeing what happens.

[kameshss]

Just to be safe. Take a back up and place it for RMA.

[davidst95]

Hi, thanks for the responses and advice.   I just checked and it's still under warranty so I'm going to call WD.   I tried moving a large file and it does not make any noise.   It does make noise when I open a large file like a movie.   Thanks again.

 

David

 

[ARikozuM]

Just now, davidst95 said:

Hi, thanks for the responses and advice.   I just checked and it's still under warranty so I'm going to call WD.   I tried moving a large file and it does not make any noise.   It does make noise when I open a large file like a movie.   Thanks again.

It's likely just the actuator arm moving into position from park. There wouldn't be any likelihood of damage to the disk, but feel free to call WD.

[davidst95]

30 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

It's likely just the actuator arm moving into position from park. There wouldn't be any likelihood of damage to the disk, but feel free to call WD.

Thanks for the info.   I do not know that much about hard drives.   I'll call them tomorrow and see what are my options.

 

David

[demonix00]

I'd have to side with @ARikozuM that it's just the actuator arm moving during the drives POST as I have a toshiba 2TB HDD that makes something that could be classed as grinding during the systems POST and it doesn't affect the drive at all (I could post a video of it starting up, but it isn't allowed here).

[ARikozuM]

20 minutes ago, demonix00 said:

I'd have to side with @ARikozuM that it's just the actuator arm moving during the drives POST as I have a toshiba 2TB HDD that makes something that could be classed as grinding during the systems POST and it doesn't affect the drive at all (I could post a video of it starting up, but it isn't allowed here).

It's allowed as it is beneficial to the thread and provides no advertising role. 

[demonix00]

23 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

It's allowed as it is beneficial to the thread and provides no advertising role. 

I just checked my original footage, and even though the camera was around a foot away the crappy mono microphone barely picked up anything (also, my voice might have masked the sound) so I'd have to make a new recording with the camera right nest to the computer and hope that it picks it up (which won't happen for 24 hours since I'll have to charge the camera, but at least processing of the footage won't take too long since youtube seems to like videos that come directly from this piece of junk).

[demonix00]

 

You might need headphones to hear it as some of the case vibration caused because it's complete garbage partly drowns it out even though the mic was barely 2cm away from the drive in question (this video is only staying up for 48 hours and I'll be removing as I don't want garbage cluttering up my channel).

[davidst95]

@demonix00 and @ARikozuM  thanks for the additional replies.   Unfortunately, when I called WDC they told me I have an OEM drive and it's no longer cover under warranty.   It works fine except for the initially loud grind so I think I'll keep using it for the time being.   I do not have anything critical on it.

 

David

[ARikozuM]

6 minutes ago, davidst95 said:

snip

That initial grind is present on every HDD to some degree. On power up, all HDD's receive their full required amperage to spin up. Same thing happens in a car or a light bulb. The energy required to reach full power/speed is much higher than the energy needed to maintain the process.

 

Keep an eye on the drive and don't be afraid to use it. Keep images of the disk on hand for later use.