HDD upside down orientation makes grinding noise

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

Hi guys!

 

I've been changing the HDD drives on a new, though used, computer that I bought. The HDD (with Win10) made a grinding noise so I put in my old HDD instead. I noticed that the HDD trey requires the HDD to be installed upside down (it's a Dell Optiflex 390). So now, my old HDD which never had any problems, is making that grinding sound. So... I back up everything, make a system image, buy a brand spanking new HDD, install it, apply system image, I open up a game which made the HDD go crazy and do the grinding sound, it's fine... until 2 minutes later when It starts making a bad sound! It's not yet grinding, but I can tell it's heading that way.

 

HELP, please!

[Streetguru]

6 minutes ago, Mayo_vs_Mayo said:

 

Just flip the case upside down?
 

It shouldn't matter what orientation a drive is in though for normal operation.

[Radium_Angel]

6 minutes ago, Mayo_vs_Mayo said:

HELP, please!

Can you post a pic of this? I've never run across a system in which the hard drives are mounted upside down. The google image search I just did shows the Optiplex 390 with the drives mounted in the correct orientation...

[Pixel5]

it does not matter in which orientation a drive is mounted, they are specified to operate in any orientation.

is the mounting for the drives all metal and everything is directly attached to the case with all metal parts?

 

it sounds more like what you hear is the vibration of the HDD being transferred to a part of the case that then makes this noise.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

I can't flip the entire thing or the DVD drive won't work.
I'll post pics in a few minutes, now that I've stopped tinkering with it, I need to eat something.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

Alright, so as you can see in the pics, the only way the trays fit is if the drive is upside down.

On my old HDD that was working fine until it went into this new chassis, I also tried running it... "upside up"... while connected and laying on a box next to the open chassis.

Still grinding.

Am I just SUPER unlucky?

Ok, so this system image deal doesn't recognize files like pictures or the contents of my phone. Alright.

Will reboot. Back in a minute.

[Razor Blade]

If the hard drive is grinding, it may just be worn or damaged. If it were my situation, I would extract the data then destroy and recycle the drive...my data integrity and up-time is worth more than the cost of a replacement drive.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

1 minute ago, Razor Blade said:

If the hard drive is grinding, it may just be worn or damaged. If it were my situation, I would extract the data then destroy and recycle the drive.

There are 3 different drives: 1 that came with the computer, one that was mine before and was fine until the transfer, and a brand new one I just bought yesterday. All with the same problem. That can't be coincidence.

[Streetguru]

6 minutes ago, Mayo_vs_Mayo said:

 

What happens when you put the drive in a different PC?

 

Could maybe be something odd with the PSU if it was fine before going into that PC, doubtful though.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

Here are the pics I had to send to myself by email. My phone isn't recognized by this new configuration, apparently.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

7 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

What happens when you put the drive in a different PC?

 

Could maybe be something odd with the PSU if it was fine before going into that PC, doubtful though.

I can no longer test this as I already sold my previous chassis.

[Boomwebsearch]

7 minutes ago, Razor Blade said:

If the hard drive is grinding, it may just be worn or damaged. If it were my situation, I would extract the data then destroy and recycle the drive...my data integrity and up-time is worth more than the cost of a replacement drive.

 

49 minutes ago, Pixel5 said:

it sounds more like what you hear is the vibration of the HDD being transferred to a part of the case that then makes this noise

These are both things which could be occurring to the hard drive which is causing it to make the noise although we want to isolate other noise factors, remove the drive from the system and put it on a flat and static-free surface and then plug the drive into power using a PSU or other source of power such as a testing for power draw bench known as a voltage tester. If the drive continues to make the sound then there could be damage done to the drive which is causing the sound. Use WD Data Lifeguard, SeaTools, or any other drive status testing utility to check the status of the drive and if it shows anything wrong then it would be time to expect that the drive will fail soon and you should immediately back up your data otherwise it would be something to look out and continue to use it with backing it up and having caution or replacing the drive for a different/new one but I would always recommend that your data is in more than one place.

[Razor Blade]

2 minutes ago, Mayo_vs_Mayo said:

There are 3 different drives: 1 that came with the computer, one that was mine before and was fine until the transfer, and a brand new one I just bought yesterday. All with the same problem. That can't be coincidence.

Hard drives do not care if you run them upside down, right side up, on their side, or any other orientation. The only thing they care about is that you don't move them around when they are spun up.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

3 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

 

These are both things which could be occurring to the hard drive which is causing it to make the noise although we want to isolate other noise factors, remove the drive from the system and put it on a flat and static-free surface and then plug the drive into power using a PSU or other source of power such as a testing for power draw bench known as a voltage tester. If the drive continues to make the sound then there could be damage done to the drive which is causing the sound. Use WD Data Lifeguard, SeaTools, or any other drive status testing utility to check the status of the drive and if it shows anything wrong then it would be time to expect that the drive will fail soon and you should immediately back up your data otherwise it would be something to look out and continue to use it with backing it up and having caution or replacing the drive for a different/new one but I would always recommend that your data is in more than one place.

Thank you for your input and help. It sounds like I should get the help of a professional. I don't have these tool and wouldn't know how to use them.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

Ok, I was going to film it so you guys would hear it, but the noise has stopped (this is the new drive). At least for now.

But a new problem arises. I'll make a new thread for the new unrelated problem.

Thank you, everyone.

[Boomwebsearch]

1 hour ago, Mayo_vs_Mayo said:

Ok, I was going to film it so you guys would hear it, but the noise has stopped (this is the new drive). At least for now.

But a new problem arises. I'll make a new thread for the new unrelated problem.

Thank you, everyone.

You are welcome, I am glad that I was able to help you in resolve your issue. If you have any other problems in the future which would be related to this post you could add it to this thread or create a new one depending on what would be the most appropriate and the category that the issue would fall within (out of the different sections of this forum).

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

Ok, the new HDD is still doing that. And I think I just realized why.

The HDD tray in this chassis is soft plastic AND has rubber grommets where there should be screws. Pixel, here (see quote below)...

On 2018-07-07 at 4:28 PM, Pixel5 said:

it does not matter in which orientation a drive is mounted, they are specified to operate in any orientation.

is the mounting for the drives all metal and everything is directly attached to the case with all metal parts?

 

it sounds more like what you hear is the vibration of the HDD being transferred to a part of the case that then makes this noise.

...made me realize that the problem may be that the HDD is too loose. It's not actually loose in the drawer, but the plastic and rubber, although normally vibration dampening, MAY be causing the HDD to not be afixed to the chassis solidly enough, causing the grinding. I'll try screwing it in place (though this chassis isn't made for this) and get back to you.

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

There are no screw hole anywhere, nor free space to liberally install the HDD somewhere no designed for it.

So unless someone tells me "Hey, I know this thing that would solve your problem...", I think I either need a new SET of SSDs (in parallel to equal 1 To), or I need a brand new computer that won't give me any more marginal trouble, and which I cannot afford.

 

Any ideas?

[Mayo_vs_Mayo]

Hey guys. I have some good news and some stupid news.

So I was filming the grinding sound and found the source.

The good: I fixed it.

The stupid: That sound was actually the fan on the video card grinding on the bent aluminium casing/shield/shell.

...
So I bent it back in place and now the grinding sound is no more. Sooooooo.... yeah.

Thanks everyone!