Seagate 1tb thumping twice a second

[Nicholas]

I have a new 1tb Seagate 3.5" drive that periodically is going into
some kind of access mode where something internally is pulsing twice a
second... yet watching the system via filemon shows that there are no
actual i/o being performed with this disk, so it seems to be some sort
of internal routine in the disk. The only reason I discovered this is
that the disk is currently just sitting in the bottom of the chassis
as I have yet to permanently mount it... so it has physical contact
with the case of the pc and the case is effectively amplifying the
internal disk noises. Every so often it starts up with this thump-
thump-thump-thump at the rate of twice a second.

Looking at the smart data doesn't indicate any problem but I'm
wondering if this is normal or does it indicate some kind of error or
other problem. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a new 1tb Seagate 3.5" drive that periodically is going into
some kind of access mode where something internally is pulsing twice a
second... yet watching the system via filemon shows that there are no
actual i/o being performed with this disk, so it seems to be some sort
of internal routine in the disk. The only reason I discovered this is
that the disk is currently just sitting in the bottom of the chassis
as I have yet to permanently mount it... so it has physical contact
with the case of the pc and the case is effectively amplifying the
internal disk noises. Every so often it starts up with this thump-
thump-thump-thump at the rate of twice a second.

Thats just the drive recalibrating. Perfectly normal and done as the drive warms up.

Looking at the smart data doesn't indicate any
problem but I'm wondering if this is normal

Yes, particularly if it does that more during warmup.

or does it indicate some kind of error or other problem. Anyone else notice this?

Yes, quite a few have done.

 

[Arno]

I have a new 1tb Seagate 3.5" drive that periodically is going into
some kind of access mode where something internally is pulsing twice a
second... yet watching the system via filemon shows that there are no
actual i/o being performed with this disk, so it seems to be some sort
of internal routine in the disk. The only reason I discovered this is
that the disk is currently just sitting in the bottom of the chassis
as I have yet to permanently mount it... so it has physical contact
with the case of the pc and the case is effectively amplifying the
internal disk noises. Every so often it starts up with this thump-
thump-thump-thump at the rate of twice a second.

Looking at the smart data doesn't indicate any problem but I'm
wondering if this is normal or does it indicate some kind of error or
other problem. Anyone else notice this?

Likely recalibration. Is it running relatively hot?

Arno

 

[wilby]

I have a new 1tb Seagate 3.5" drive that periodically is going into
some kind of access mode where something internally is pulsing twice a
second... yet watching the system via filemon shows that there are no
actual i/o being performed with this disk, so it seems to be some sort
of internal routine in the disk. The only reason I discovered this is
that the disk is currently just sitting in the bottom of the chassis
as I have yet to permanently mount it... so it has physical contact
with the case of the pc and the case is effectively amplifying the
internal disk noises. Every so often it starts up with this thump-
thump-thump-thump at the rate of twice a second.

Looking at the smart data doesn't indicate any problem but I'm
wondering if this is normal or does it indicate some kind of error or
other problem. Anyone else notice this?

Nicholas:

I don't know about your thumping sound but I can tell you this:

I have replaced more than a hundred hard drives during the last several
years and the biggest cause of failure was heat. Hard drives need air
flow on and around them. Not all cases provide the needed air flow.
Don't be afraid to add a fan or two as needed.

A much less often cause of failure was abuse such as dropping or tipping
the computer onto its side.

Rarely there will be a certain brand and model of a hard drive that
seems to fail much earlier than expected.

I'd mount your drive off the bottom of your computer, I'll bet you have
no air flow on the bottom if it right now.

Wilby

 

[Rod Speed]

wilby wrote

Nicholas wrote

I don't know about your thumping sound but I can tell you this:

I have replaced more than a hundred hard drives during the last several years and the biggest cause of failure was
heat. Hard drives need air flow on and around them.

Not necessarily.

Not all cases provide the needed air flow.

Not all drive configs need that.

Don't be afraid to add a fan or two as needed.

No thanks.

A much less often cause of failure was abuse such as dropping or
tipping the computer onto its side.

Rarely there will be a certain brand and model of a hard drive that
seems to fail much earlier than expected.

I'd mount your drive off the bottom of your computer, I'll bet you
have no air flow on the bottom if it right now.

What matters is the SMART temperature of the drive, not proclamations about airflow.

Plenty of drives do fine without anything special airflow wise, as measured by the SMART temp.

 

[Nicholas]

wilby wrote




Not necessarily.


Not all drive configs need that.


No thanks.


What matters is the SMART temperature of the drive, not proclamations about airflow.

Plenty of drives do fine without anything special airflow wise, as measured by the SMART temp.

Using a trial version of HD Tune Pro, it looks like this drive is
running around 35C which seems well within specs. It feels cool to
the touch as well.

Another odd thing is that it will do the thump-thump routine for a
minute or a few, and then it's quiet for maybe 10 minutes, and later
on it goes into the thump again for a bit. It seems to respond
immediately if I access it during the thumping, but as soon as the
data I request is delivered it goes back to thumping until at some
point it is 'happy' again for a while.

I just don't want to have a failure down the road if this is at all
odd or unusual behavior, and since I've read all manner of reports of
problems with these larger Seagates, I am a bit suspicious.

 

[Arno]

Using a trial version of HD Tune Pro, it looks like this drive is
running around 35C which seems well within specs. It feels cool to
the touch as well.

That is perfectly fine.

Another odd thing is that it will do the thump-thump routine for a
minute or a few, and then it's quiet for maybe 10 minutes, and later
on it goes into the thump again for a bit. It seems to respond
immediately if I access it during the thumping, but as soon as the
data I request is delivered it goes back to thumping until at some
point it is 'happy' again for a while.

That is typical for recalibration.

I just don't want to have a failure down the road if this is at all
odd or unusual behavior, and since I've read all manner of reports of
problems with these larger Seagates, I am a bit suspicious.

Well, I cannot be sure, but to me this sounds like mechanical
damage to the drive and it is hanging on by frequent recalibaration.
This assumes it does a recalibration after so-and-so many seek or
read errors.

If you can, run along SMART selftest and then post the full, raw SMART
data here, e.g. from the smartmontools.

You can also run the free version of HDDsentinel, it gives you
a drive life prediction which is at least somewhat reasonable.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

Nicholas wrote

Using a trial version of HD Tune Pro, it looks like this drive is running around
35C which seems well within specs. It feels cool to the touch as well.

Thats fine.

Another odd thing is that it will do the thump-thump routine for
a minute or a few, and then it's quiet for maybe 10 minutes,
and later on it goes into the thump again for a bit.

Looks even more like thermal recalibrating.

It seems to respond immediately if I access it during the thumping,
but as soon as the data I request is delivered it goes back to
thumping until at some point it is 'happy' again for a while.

I just don't want to have a failure down the road if this is at all odd
or unusual behavior, and since I've read all manner of reports of
problems with these larger Seagates, I am a bit suspicious.

The problems reported are in a different area entirely.

 

[Fereyle]

I know the thump thump, it happens after something like my plastic fan falling on the hardrive and causing a disk crash. I'm now trying my best for less than $500 to get my data back off of it. I would love some input to controlling this firmware because it's entering that mode after reading the scratch data and the only way to reboot that is to reboot it. If anyone finds anything on this please email me at (e-mail address removed)(e-mail address removed). Thanks.

 

[Fereyle]

And why do you guys keep copying everyones quotes.... I i i ddon't understand..