Screaming harddrive... any hope?

[Brax]

I have a hardrive that is making noise....... ALOT of noise.

Kind of a loud grinding hum. It used to happen once in a while for a few minutes. Then a little more often and longer. Sometimes if I reboot the computer a few times it would go away. Now its pretty much constant.

Is it a heat issue? It happens right at boot up now though. Sometimes after a while it goes away for a bit too.... Is the hardrive just junk? Is there any fixing it? Maybe its out of balance? Anyone have any insight? It only a little over a year old. (warranty is out though... of course) It a 20 gig Maxtor. 5400

[SNAAAKE]

probley something touching the motor inside..open up and take a look..

[mrhowell]

Most hard drives have a 3 year  warrenty.  Check Maxtors site before you open it up.  Opening it will probably not fix it.

[Thenasty]

open it up and you will have a nice SPINNER

[RandyT]

Whatever you do, DON'T OPEN IT!

A single human hair is the size of a boulder to the components inside your harddrive.  This is why these are assembled in a strict "clean room" environment.

It sounds like you have some premature bearing wear.  It'll just get worse at this point and there's not much you can do about it.  Oiling the bearing is NOT an option.

On the other hand, if you can deal with the noise, it could still last a very long time as long as you don't turn it off.  "Stiction" problems will likely follow later in it's life.


RandyT

[1UP]

Just a guess...but are you absolutely sure it's your drive?  The "hum" you're describing sounds more like a case fan to me.  This is a lot more common.  Most computers are put together with cheap fans.  Usually within the first year, the fans start to make noise (a grinding, sometimes pulsating hum) that often starts a few minutes after booting the computer.  Eventually, the fan will just stop, and you could end up overheating your system.  A simple $5 replacement fan will fix the problem.  Ball bearing fans will last longer, with less noise, than the cheaper sleeve bearing fans used in many cases.

Anyway, to make sure, try unplugging the hard drive (power and IDE cables) and starting your system for a few minutes to see if the noise occurs.  Your system won't boot, but it shouldn't be damaged by this.  I'll bet it's the fan!!

[Brax]

DAMN I HOPE YOU'RE RIGHT!

*noise starts up right this second*
*runs to grab a screwdriver!!!!*

[Brax]

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn

It's the videocard fan!

A geforce2 32mb. I dont have a dedicated system yet, this is just my home system....... I wonder if I can do a fan swap? Maybe a cpu fan? Anyone have experience in this?
Could it just be full of crud?

[Tiger-Heli]

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn

It's the videocard fan!

A geforce2 32mb. I dont have a dedicated system yet, this is just my home system....... I wonder if I can do a fan swap? Maybe a cpu fan? Anyone have experience in this?
Could it just be full of crud?

Ermmmn, yes it could just be full of crud, although more likely bearings are going bad.  It will either have two plastic push pins holding it on, or some type of adhesive.  If push-pins, you could carefully remove them and try to clean it.  If adhesive, you won't be able to re-install it easily.

You can swap it.  Not a CPU fan.  From newegg (or anyone else) http://www.newegg.com/app/listProduct.asp?submit=list&catalog=129&DEPA=1&sortby=11&order=0, you want the Thermaltake Blue or Crystal Orb, or one of the Vantec units.  (Read the reviews, as lots of people think the Crystal Orb is too loud).

If it doesn't use pins, you need some kind of heat conductive adhesive to attach it.  Arctic silver sells this, but I'm not sure where to buy it or how else to do it.  It could get expensive for a single fan.  (Reading the reviews, it looks like most of them come with thermal two-sided tape, so you could get by with this).

I've never done this personally either, anyone else?

[Lilwolf]

btw, good call 1up!  I was thinking a fan also (I just replaced one a few weeks ago).

BTW, if you need to order one, get 5 - 10 unless you need other items.  But do order a bunch of 486 fans if you can find them.  great for video cards and bios fans ect.

[Brax]

Its held on by two plastic pins... easy fix.

BUT..... I was monkying with it a 6:30am before work... kinda dopey, kinda rushed...

One of the times I removed the card I turned off the computer but i forgot to turn off the monitor. I pulled out the monitor cable and heard a small pop.... oh crap.

Fired up the card again, safe mode! Got it outta safe mode and theres all kinds of wierd scribbles and scrambled video. Hopefully I just fried my card and not the agp slot....

sheesh! It was a simple problem that we almost had licked too! A friend of mine has a video card i can borrow to make sure the slot is ok, if it is then it looks like I can pick up an ATI card with tv out for cheap... it also looks like this system will be tailor made for mame by the time I retire it into my cabinet hehe.

*bangs head on table*
I knew better too, but this computer stuff is so simple.... I can do it in my sleep right? Heh, apparently not.

[Brax]

We should start a list of hardware we fry. I bet it will be pretty impressive by the end of the year hehe

[Tiger-Heli]

Its held on by two plastic pins... easy fix.

BUT..... I was monkying with it a 6:30am before work... kinda dopey, kinda rushed...

One of the times I removed the card I turned off the computer but i forgot to turn off the monitor. I pulled out the monitor cable and heard a small pop.... oh crap.

Fired up the card again, safe mode! Got it outta safe mode and theres all kinds of wierd scribbles and scrambled video. Hopefully I just fried my card and not the agp slot....

sheesh! It was a simple problem that we almost had licked too! A friend of mine has a video card i can borrow to make sure the slot is ok, if it is then it looks like I can pick up an ATI card with tv out for cheap... it also looks like this system will be tailor made for mame by the time I retire it into my cabinet hehe.

*bangs head on table*
I knew better too, but this computer stuff is so simple.... I can do it in my sleep right? Heh, apparently not.

You might try reloading the drivers before you give up on the card altogether.

[_Iz-]

Monitors are hot swappable, I unplug them running all the time with no problems, make sure it's not some other problem, You are running the card with a fan right? No fan or improperly seated fan will cause the kind of corruption you have described. Effects generally aren't permanent and go back to normal with proper cooling.

[Brax]

we'll see how it goes, I'll play with it tonight. thanks for the help guys.

[Brax]

Well I got my video card working again after reinstalling the drivers *thank god since I'm broke*

I'll have to search for a replacement fan for the videocard this weekend..... its driving me NUTS!!!

Theres two plastic clips holding it onto the video chip...... think it will be hard to find a fan with matching mounting holes? and power plug for that matter? although i suppose I could go off the power supply.
I'll just glue an 80 mm fan on th heatsink! lol

[StephenH]

BACK UP ALL DATA ON IT, if you can.   If not, take it to a data recovery specialist.

[Brax]

Back up the data on a video card?!!?
We're tracked the problem to the video card fan, not the hard drive.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut, I can't a fan anywhere!!! Stupid Canada!
I really would like to find a TT Crystal Orb. I've seen them online for around 16-18 Cdn. Thats not so bad but then theres about 8 bucks shipping and then tax on top of that.... now you're starting to get close to the cost of a new card... I'd like to find it retail somewhere, I just don't know where. The must be a store in Toronto that carries them... I just haven't found it yet.