hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

Linux-Joker · 2015-11-23 11:55:28

Hello guys

I encrypted one of my 1 TB hdd's. To automount the harddrive I created a udev-rule and an a systemd-service and everything works great.

But something strange happens as soon as I mount (does not matter whether automatically or manually) the hdd: I hear strange noises which sounds like something works on the hdd.
But it is always periodic and it never ends until I unmount the disk. Then the sounds disappeared.

Has somebody a solution for that problem?

Thanks a lot!

brebs · 2015-11-23 12:18:34

Run a SMART test on the drive - it could be a sign of impending drive failure.

Now would be a good time to back up the drive

Linux-Joker · 2015-11-23 14:06:46

Okay i will do this as soon as i am home, but actually i checked my harddrive by running the

 badblocks

command and there were no error reported

Could it be something else? Because this strange noise happens always in a periodic time..

Last edited by Linux-Joker (2015-11-23 14:07:15)

R00KIE · 2015-11-23 14:20:16

It could be due to auto offline data collection. If it stops for a short while after there is some drive activity then it's probably that, otherwise your drive could be failing.

Check the smart parameters and to be on the safe side backup any important data before you stress the drive any further with badblocks or long smart tests.

Linux-Joker · 2015-11-23 14:29:50

R00KIE wrote:

It could be due to auto offline data collection. If it stops for a short while after there is some drive activity then it's probably that, otherwise your drive could be failing.
Check the smart parameters and to be on the safe side backup any important data before you stress the drive any further with badblocks or long smart tests.

Okay, the point is that there are these noises only if i mounted the drive. After dismounting it there is no noise anymore..

You have to imagine, that there is first a kind of click sound, than silent and then the click again. Like something want to have access to the drive..

phw · 2015-11-23 14:44:47

Definitly make sure to have a backup. I once had my drive starting to make strange noises, but everything else seemed to be fine including a SMART test. I told myself I would do a backup soon, but didn't and after a few days the disk just died Last backup was a few weeks old...

Linux-Joker · 2015-11-23 15:24:06

phw wrote:

Definitly make sure to have a backup. I once had my drive starting to make strange noises, but everything else seemed to be fine including a SMART test. I told myself I would do a backup soon, but didn't and after a few days the disk just died Last backup was a few weeks old...

Because I checked by disk with badblocks in rw-mode, I formate my hdd. Therefore I already have a backup of my disk.

But I am a bit confused. My disk is only 1 year old.

What could it be if the disk is healthy?

mich41 · 2015-11-23 16:12:08

I think you are hearing the sound of HDD parking its heads after inactivity and then unparking them back when something periodically reads or writes some data to the disk. You could check with blktrace, iostat or iotop if there are any operations on the disk when it happens, I bet there are and maybe you will even find out what performs them.

In some HDDs it's possible to disable head parking altogether with hdparm -B ("advanced power management", must be run on every boot), for some others there are specialized tools (e.g. wdidle for WD disks disables it permanently on some models).

BTW, the Load_Cycle_Count SMART attribute reports the count of head unpark/park cycles. Some people say it's a good idea to reduce head parking because it causes mechanical wear. FWIW, disks are typically guaranteed to work up to 100k-1M load cycles and it is possible to exceed this number in few years of 24/7 work.

Last edited by mich41 (2015-11-23 16:18:48)

ewaller · 2015-11-23 16:26:27

Here is a thought. Encrypted data are likely being processed through AES hardware. That same AES hardware is often used for decrypting video and audio on-the-fly. Any chance that you are hearing noise associated with the decryptor? The path into the audio system could either be through a cross point intended for the purpose, or could be coupled through either cross talk or noise induced on a power rail someplace. Note that I am just brainstorming. Try changing your audio volume and see if the volume of sound you are hearing tracks. Try turning off all of the inputs in your mixer. Plug in headphones and see if it stops. Listen and determine if the noise is in the headphones.

Last edited by ewaller (2015-11-23 16:49:13)

Linux-Joker · 2015-11-23 18:12:45

Okay, I am at my wit's end...

I tested my drive with smartctl-command. Thats the result:

smartctl 6.4 2015-06-04 r4109 [i686-linux-4.2.5-1-ARCH] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-15, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
Device Model:     ST31000528AS
Serial Number:    9VP5RG7K
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000c50 022546f1b
Firmware Version: CC66
User Capacity:    1,000,204,886,016 bytes [1.00 TB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    7200 rpm
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4
SATA Version is:  SATA 2.6, 3.0 Gb/s (current: 3.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Mon Nov 23 19:05:31 2015 CET

==> WARNING: A firmware update for this drive may be available,
see the following Seagate web pages:
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/207931en
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/213891en

SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Status not supported: Incomplete response, ATA output registers missing
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
Warning: This result is based on an Attribute check.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x82)	Offline data collection activity
					was completed without error.
					Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0)	The previous self-test routine completed
					without error or no self-test has ever 
					been run.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection: 		(  609) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: 			 (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
					Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
					Suspend Offline collection upon new
					command.
					Offline surface scan supported.
					Self-test supported.
					Conveyance Self-test supported.
					Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)	Saves SMART data before entering
					power-saving mode.
					Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01)	Error logging supported.
					General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time: 	 (   1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 ( 187) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 (   2) minutes.
SCT capabilities: 	       (0x103f)	SCT Status supported.
					SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
					SCT Feature Control supported.
					SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000f   117   099   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       121022147
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   096   095   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   092   092   020    Old_age   Always       -       8863
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       6
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   084   060   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       243341613
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   080   080   000    Old_age   Always       -       17848
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   096   096   020    Old_age   Always       -       4325
183 Runtime_Bad_Block       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
184 End-to-End_Error        0x0032   100   100   099    Old_age   Always       -       0
187 Reported_Uncorrect      0x0032   090   090   000    Old_age   Always       -       10
188 Command_Timeout         0x0032   100   093   000    Old_age   Always       -       1928
189 High_Fly_Writes         0x003a   095   095   000    Old_age   Always       -       5
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022   070   056   045    Old_age   Always       -       30 (Min/Max 21/30)
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   030   044   000    Old_age   Always       -       30 (0 15 0 0 0)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x001a   045   019   000    Old_age   Always       -       121022147
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0010   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x003e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
240 Head_Flying_Hours       0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       29196 (225 45 0)
241 Total_LBAs_Written      0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       1407234369
242 Total_LBAs_Read         0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       2469655825

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 10 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
	CR = Command Register [HEX]
	FR = Features Register [HEX]
	SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
	SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
	CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
	CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
	DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
	DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
	ER = Error register [HEX]
	ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 10 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 17776 hours (740 days + 16 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ff ff ff 0f  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+09:02:07.466  READ DMA EXT
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00   2d+09:02:07.450  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT [OBS-ACS-3]
  ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00   2d+09:02:07.442  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  ef 03 45 00 00 00 a0 00   2d+09:02:07.435  SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00   2d+09:02:07.410  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT [OBS-ACS-3]

Error 9 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 17776 hours (740 days + 16 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ff ff ff 0f  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+09:02:04.304  READ DMA EXT
  35 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+09:01:45.663  WRITE DMA EXT
  25 00 d8 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+08:59:39.912  READ DMA EXT
  25 00 20 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+08:59:39.904  READ DMA EXT
  25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+08:59:39.885  READ DMA EXT

Error 8 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 17771 hours (740 days + 11 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ff ff ff 0f  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:09.060  READ DMA EXT
  35 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:09.059  WRITE DMA EXT
  25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:09.059  READ DMA EXT
  35 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:09.059  WRITE DMA EXT
  25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:09.058  READ DMA EXT

Error 7 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 17771 hours (740 days + 11 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ff ff ff 0f  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:05.862  READ DMA EXT
  35 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:05.797  WRITE DMA EXT
  25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:05.790  READ DMA EXT
  35 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:05.788  WRITE DMA EXT
  25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00   2d+03:22:05.762  READ DMA EXT

Error 6 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 17658 hours (735 days + 18 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ff ff ff 0f  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00      03:22:47.951  READ DMA EXT
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      03:22:47.937  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT [OBS-ACS-3]
  ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00      03:22:47.930  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  ef 03 45 00 00 00 a0 00      03:22:47.926  SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      03:22:47.900  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT [OBS-ACS-3]

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Short offline       Completed: read failure       90%     17721         1780059185

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

But I really have no idea, what these output say..

The idea with the "heads-parking" sounds possible. There are only the "clack, clack .... clack, clack .... [...]"

I tried:

 sudo hdparm -B 250 /dev/sdb

and also

 sudo hdparm -B 250 /dev/sdb

but it does not matter:

/dev/sdb:
 setting Advanced Power Management level to 0xfa (250)
 APM_level	= not supported

Linux-Joker · 2015-11-23 18:14:17

ewaller wrote:

Here is a thought. Encrypted data are likely being processed through AES hardware. That same AES hardware is often used for decrypting video and audio on-the-fly. Any chance that you are hearing noise associated with the decryptor? The path into the audio system could either be through a cross point intended for the purpose, or could be coupled through either cross talk or noise induced on a power rail someplace. Note that I am just brainstorming. Try changing your audio volume and see if the volume of sound you are hearing tracks. Try turning off all of the inputs in your mixer. Plug in headphones and see if it stops. Listen and determine if the noise is in the headphones.

And that is very interesting idea!

I tested my speakers, mute the sound but it does not help.
I am very sure, that the sound comes from the harddrive-disk.

But thanks for that tip!

mich41 · 2015-11-23 18:41:12

OK, head parking is out because afaik Seagates 7200.12 don't do that.

However, Start_Stop_Count is half of Power_On_Hours. Do you really power this disk for only 2 hours at a time on average or does Start_Stop_Count grow fast when clicking happens?

I had two cases when a disk periodically restarted itself - once due to failing power cable and once due to failing PSU. So you know what to do

Ropid · 2015-11-23 18:49:56

I think you should prepare yourself for the worst. This drive might be dying. In the output of "smartctl -A /dev/sdb", look at the entries that have "count" in their name. For those entries, the "raw value" column is recording exactly what you would expect. The worrying entries in the output you have posted here are "Reallocated_Sector_Ct" and "Reported_Uncorrect". Look at the Wikipedia article named "S.M.A.R.T.". It has a long table with explanations and includes those two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

The clicks you hear fit with a drive that's slightly broken. The noise is perhaps the drive retrying to access certain spots on the surface or recalibrating the position of its arm or something along those lines (no idea really). I had those clicks that repeated every few seconds without reason on I think two different drives in the past, both were drives that died early.

I guess you should start looking up how the RMA process with Seagate works.

What you might want to do for fun is save the output of "smartctl -A /dev/sdb" daily and compare. If you see that the numbers increase, this drive is definitely dying. I once had a drive where the numbers increased for a while and then stopped, and then it still worked for years, but its end was still suspicious. When I moved it into an external USB HDD enclosure, it didn't want to work there. I threw it away at that point.

R00KIE · 2015-11-23 18:50:18

From your description it does look more probable that the problem is head parking, the manual[1] for that drive says aam and apm are not supported so you may be out of luck. This is a bit surprising, all the disks I have tested so far supported apm (aam is rare though).

Also keep an eye on smart attribute 5, if it continues increasing you should consider replacing that drive soon.

[1] http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/supp … 29369b.pdf

Arch Linux

#1 2015-11-23 11:55:28

hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#2 2015-11-23 12:18:34

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#3 2015-11-23 14:06:46

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#4 2015-11-23 14:20:16

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#5 2015-11-23 14:29:50

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#6 2015-11-23 14:44:47

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#7 2015-11-23 15:24:06

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#8 2015-11-23 16:12:08

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#9 2015-11-23 16:26:27

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#10 2015-11-23 18:12:45

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#11 2015-11-23 18:14:17

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#12 2015-11-23 18:41:12

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#13 2015-11-23 18:49:56

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

#14 2015-11-23 18:50:18

Re: hdd makes strange noises but everything seems to be fine..

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