Why is my hard drive loud?

gf10gf10
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have a Pismo Powerbook that I bought off ebay and have had it for about 3 months. Everything has worked flawlessly except the hard drive is loud and has been that way since I opened it up. It's the original Apple Fujitsu 12GB hard drive. Is it getting to the point of crapping out? I haven't had a single problem with it except it is loud. I can't even take it to the library. \

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    Well, if it's that loud then yes, its days are numbered. Noise equals friction and friction equals wear; something that's spinning at 4200rpm and is making loud noise is on its way out.



    Fortunately for you, you can't even buy 12GB drives any more. Get a 20GB replacement for about a hundred bucks (eshop.macsales.com), and use a faster, quiter, smaller and lighter hard drive.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    gf10gf10 Posts: 27member
    Thanks for the information, muchly appreciated. I should hurry and replace it with that 20GB before I lose everything.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,563member
    Is it a constant high-pitched whine? That is typical of laptop hard drives which do not have fluid bearings.



    I'm not sure that this foretells an imminent crash. I have had drives like that that worked for a long time. I usually swapped the drive out just because I didn't like the noise. If you get a drive with fluid bearings it remain silent. I installed one in my Pismo a year ago June and it is still silent.



    Different companies give them slightly different names but it is usually "fluid xxxx".
  • Reply 4 of 8
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    I got a hard drive from a Pismo once, which I installed in my Wallstreet. It was very loud but it worked fine for quite a while. It wasn't the loud whine but the occasional squeaking that got me worried. A number of people I asked said that the squeaking was a sign of imminent failure. I ended up salvaging my data and selling the drive for really cheap "as-is" after I sold the Wallstreet, but it never actually died on me. However, some of the Pismo hard drives (mine was a 12 GB as well) were very loud. Don't worry about it too much but you should always make backups anyway.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    gf10gf10 Posts: 27member
    Yes it is a constant high pitched sound and I have backed up everything onto my desktop. Too bad Pismo didn't come with a CD-RW it would have completed my needs.



    So what if the hard drive has some kind of problem like friction, would it cause unnecessary heat or stress on the motherboard?
  • Reply 6 of 8
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by gf10

    Yes it is a constant high pitched sound and I have backed up everything onto my desktop. Too bad Pismo didn't come with a CD-RW it would have completed my needs.



    So what if the hard drive has some kind of problem like friction, would it cause unnecessary heat or stress on the motherboard?



    It would increase the temp inside the whole computer, that causes problems for everything. The biggest issue however would be that the HD would eventually be unable to take the heat and friction. The motor would burn out and the drive would fail. Since you have already backed up, you can go on using it for a while, but the drive will eventually fail if not repaired. Do yourself a favor and get a new HD soon.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    seriously. You'll thanks us. $100 for a bigger, faster, very quiet, lighter, smaller drive is well worth it IMHO. And it's a snap to replace on a Pismo.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    gf10gf10 Posts: 27member
    I thank you all.
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