kimiraikkonen wrote:
> On Nov 12, 10:21 pm, kony <s...@spam.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:11:25 -0800, kimiraikkonen
>>
>>
>>
>> <kimiraikkone...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Sudden deceleration of the motor may cause a beep-like
>>>> sound, if it only happens when you turn the system off then
>>>> I wouldn't worry about it. A more conservative answer might
>>>> be not to risk data when there is anything at all that draws
>>>> your attention but I've had a few drives that did make a
>>>> similar sound when powering off and none that I recall had
>>>> died shortly thereafter (though eventually, I can't recall
>>>> as the noise didn't seem to correspond to failure with one
>>>> exception which was a drive that made that sound because it
>>>> was failing while running and would keep cutting out it's
>>>> motor to cause the spin-down instead of it being
>>>> deliberately powered off).
>>
>>> Yes, it only comes when system / hdd powers down, comes completely
>>> from HDD, highly possible from motor. But i've been using that disk
>>> for more than 3 years and power-on hours is about 9 months(Smart
>>> value). Usually it comes, sometimes it doesn't(When there's no
>>> excessive read/write operation)
>>
>>> I also check integrity of drive with Seatools passed OK.
>>
>>> So what would be your final conclusion words?
>>
>> A drive can die at any time, even from another cause not
>> related to a beeping sound, so the safest answer is to back
>> up your data now and consider how valuable it is that the
>> system be as reliable as possible. If that highest
>> reliability level is really important then replace the
>> drive, and if not, keep using it after making a backup of
>> the data.
>>
>> 9 months of power-on hours isn't very long, the drive ought
>> to have a few more years of life at this period of use but
>> again a drive can fail at any time and the older it gets
>> past a couple years old, the more likely. Well actually
>> infant mortality is also bad for hard drives but it is past
>> this age.
>>
>> I wish I could predict if it's going to fail some month soon
>> but there's no way to know unless you see smart values
>> changing significantly, which you could choose to monitor if
>> there is software available for your OS. I don't know which
>> Smart monitoring utility is the best but Google searches
>> will find a few.
>
> I usually monitor:
>
> Some SMART values reached to a bit critical level but a lot of SMART
> softwares say it's OK?
>
> My SMART values which are in danger, said by HDTune:
>
> ID Attribute Description Threshold Value Worst Data Status
> 05 Reallocated Sector Count 36 98 98 98 OK: Value is normal
>
> ID Attribute Description Threshold Value Worst Data Status
> 0A Spin Retry Count 97 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
>
>
> But i was hearing that sound *only* when HDD powers off motor. Since
> the first day i purchased the drive, it never failed or stopped,
> there's some this-like threads on the net which are experienced when
> shutting down using Ubuntu/Linux OS, but i only used Windows XP and
> 2000 Pro with that drive.
>
> If it was about OS related, it must apply to all same-model drives
> around the world with the same OS (Windows).
>
> Is there a possibility for a faulty south-bridge IDE controller of
> Motherboard? Though i never had any controller error messages (event
> logs) or difficulties for that drive?...
>
> Meanwhile, have you checked (downloaded) the sound that i posted in my
> first message?
>
> Thanks.

It sounds to me like it could be the actuator mechanism that moves the
read/write heads, moving into a "parked" position. As this position is only
used when the drive is off it could be that the shaft has got a bit 'sticky'
in that position. I'd back up anything that's not easilly replaced and carry
on as usual.
--
TTFN,

Shaun.