THE Western Digital "Whine"

NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
edited February 2004 in Hardware
My WD800JB has been making a high-pitched whining noise for the past (who knows how long?) ... but recently it really started irritating me, I initially thought it was the fans, but finally noticed that it started right with the HDD spin-up.

I have been told that the heads have gone bad ... the drive is too hot... etc etc...

I already sent in an "Advanced RMA" request so I should be getting my new drive "soon?" (How long does it take usually, anyone?"

I am going to try to rig up a 3.5" bay bracket to mount a nice 80MM Fan onto so I can blow air up towards the bottom of my HDD. This should help cool it off some...

Can anyone really explain why the drives seem to whine after a short period of time? (I guess alot of them do this after about a 6 month period)

Thanks!

Comments

  • NebulousNebulous New York, The Empire State
    edited January 2004
    It took me about 10 days for my rma turnaround from WD. I had 2-100gb wd 2mb drives in raid and 1 died on me. Rma'ed it to wd and 10 days later I get a 120gb 8mb returned :rolleyes: It also whines a little, but it's constant. I may or maynot send it back, not 100% sure yet as the 120 is my main drive. Not using raid cuz i have 2 different drives; 1 is the other 100gb 2mb and the new one is the 120gb 8mb.

    In a way i'm happy, but in a way i'm not. I lost the raid performance for the cost of 20gb more and a bit more cache. Funny how neither 1 of the 100gb drives i had made a noise. They were both extremly silent.
  • verselloversello New
    edited January 2004
    Usually the cause of noises from the HD is the result of the bearings in the drive (that spin the platters) aren't good or are going bad.

    Also it could be some eletrical component is emitting some interference that's being picked up by some other component.

    I wouldn't say all drives whine after a short period of time however. I for one have a 13GB WD harddrive that's been working great for the last 8 years.
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited February 2004
    Yeah... I have 2 WD 20Gb drives that have been going great for... as long as I have had them, lol..

    I made a metal bracket to hold an 80mm Fan and it will cool off the bottom of my HDD...

    Hopefully my new drive will show up this week :D
  • OrgazmoOrgazmo CT
    edited February 2004
    time to start buying Seagate
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited February 2004
    lol... RMA'd my WD and got it back 3 days later :)

    This one is quiet (for a long time I hope). I got it nicely cooled now too so I should be set :D
  • acidbreezeacidbreeze
    edited February 2004
    is that whine almost like a beeping sound?
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited February 2004
    Kinda... but constant :P
  • septimusseptimus Toronto, Canada
    edited February 2004
    That sound is actually the "Idle noise" that the drive makes... its normal. I have two 120GB WD IDE drives and they also make that loud whine. If you think that is noisy, wait till you hear the idle noise from the raptors :O

    I bet the RMA drive that WD sent is going to make the same noise.

    For some reason WD has been slow to adopt Fluid Dynamic Bearings, which allow lower idle noise. Maxtor and Seagate use FDB in all their newer models and very quiet.

    Maybe you should sell the WD and get a drive from seagate or something. ;)
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited February 2004
    Nope, got my drive back within 3 days and it doesn't make that noise at all.... ALOT quieter!
  • NebulousNebulous New York, The Empire State
    edited February 2004
    Dang! Lucky you! I hope i'm that lucky too.
  • septimusseptimus Toronto, Canada
    edited February 2004
    NeoFX wrote:
    Nope, got my drive back within 3 days and it doesn't make that noise at all.... ALOT quieter!

    What is the model # on the one you got back?
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited February 2004
    No idea but it is the exact same WD800JB drive...
  • septimusseptimus Toronto, Canada
    edited February 2004
    NeoFX wrote:
    No idea but it is the exact same WD800JB drive...

    Well, if you look at the drive itself there will be a small boxed area of text above the big barcode in the middle of the label. In this box is a "MDL:" number... My 120GB reads: "MDL: WD1200JB-75CRA0"

    What I would like to see is what it says just before the hypen on your drive :D

    It could be that you have the new fluid bearing models that seem to have surfaced recently.
  • yaggayagga Havn't you heard? ... New
    edited February 2004
    Nebulous wrote:
    Dang! Lucky you! I hope i'm that lucky too.

    I can only hope , lolly

    By the way, I have 2 Wd's: 30gb come with Crappy Comcrap (7200rpm and name brand, wow I am impressed Crappy Comcrap!) and a 40 gig that was my first store bought harddrive, they seemed normal at first, but once oneself obtains a Maxtor ata 133 FDB (especially with 8mb cache and 250 gb size at 7200 rpm) oneself will never go back. Seagates have really found some good pricetags in my neighborhood as well, I've got 2 without trouble, though I believe Maxtors a whee bit quieter. But hey ~ $49.95 for 120 GB, now that is pretty dang good! :p

    My short troublesome nightmaric experience:
    2 Maxtor FDB's
    BEST HARD DRIVES EVER!
    Almost silent
    2 Seagate FDB's---- Definetly recommended
    Almost-Almost silent
    2 WD's
    I personally wouldn't buy, although they are only ones with lifetime warranty I think---noiseist

    *the 2 means I have had exact same experience with all 2 of that type I own
    *w/ no extra cooling, just case fans, can't wait 'till water cooling or HUGE heatsinks become more mainstream and cheaper, I sure am scared sometimes, heat, damn heat! I want cold!, hmm maybe I should build a vent to the outside, yes, ok now I am getting off topic :rolleyes:
    *by silent I mean on par with my other very quiet parts, someday these will HOPEFULLY all be considered loud, I can only hope :D:D:)





    I can only hope this makes sense... *yagga's head falls on desk sleeping, then jerks upward due to caffeine overdose
    Where the heck did I get the name yagga, I am starting to hate it! Okay, okay, time to STOP PROCRASTINATING YAGGA!
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited February 2004
    I hear ya on the "vent" idea... My computer is in the perfect spot to put a whole in the wall and do that :P
  • NebulousNebulous New York, The Empire State
    edited February 2004
    Well Got my new drive from Advance replacement RMA. Same WD 120GB 8MB, but the housing, sticker and name are slightly different:

    Instead of caviar, it's a Trailblazer 7200 and the drive housing is a bit sleeker. Rounded edges and not as beefy in height as the older one. A helluva lot quieter too. I don't even hear it all! :D
  • septimusseptimus Toronto, Canada
    edited February 2004
    Nebulous wrote:
    Well Got my new drive from Advance replacement RMA. Same WD 120GB 8MB, but the housing, sticker and name are slightly different:

    Instead of caviar, it's a Trailblazer 7200 and the drive housing is a bit sleeker. Rounded edges and not as beefy in height as the older one. A helluva lot quieter too. I don't even hear it all! :D

    PICS!?!?!


    I wonder if I would have the same luck if I RMAed mine. Its a noisy one. :eek:
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited February 2004
    Wow... Mine was still a Caviar... Hmm :D
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