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Anyone here using an OWC Thunderbay enclosure?

H

hqo201

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2014
6
0
Thanks for the quick replies guys.

I've just been on to OWC's live chat support, and they hadn't heard of this happening before either. They've agreed that I should get it replaced (I'm in the UK so didn't get it direct from OWC).

@WilliamG I've just tried connecting it to a different power outlet on its own (it was connected to a six-way trailing socket earlier), but it hasn't made any difference. Also, it wasn't a case of hearing it over the fan, as the fan isn't operational when the unit is in standby. The noise itself isn't that obtrusive - I'm more concerned that it could indicate a potential electrical fault which could at some point trash my disks or burn the house down! :eek:
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,926
3,800
Seattle
hqo201 said:
Thanks for the quick replies guys.

I've just been on to OWC's live chat support, and they hadn't heard of this happening before either. They've agreed that I should get it replaced (I'm in the UK so didn't get it direct from OWC).

@WilliamG I've just tried connecting it to a different power outlet on its own (it was connected to a six-way trailing socket earlier), but it hasn't made any difference. Also, it wasn't a case of hearing it over the fan, as the fan isn't operational when the unit is in standby. The noise itself isn't that obtrusive - I'm more concerned that it could indicate a potential electrical fault which could at some point trash my disks or burn the house down! :eek:
Click to expand...

.... and if the house burns down, then the neighbor's house could burn down, too, and then if the dogs get out, they might get run over by a car, or the car might swerve to avoid poor Fido and run over some school children!!! :eek::eek:

:D

All jokes aside, I'd just get a replacement. I know some people have very sensitive hearing, but if you're hearing that noise in general, that doesn't sound right. My Thunderbay 4 is in standby 90% of the time in my living room (as part of my HTPC setup), and I'm REALLY sensitive to all noises, so I know mine doesn't do it. It's shockingly quiet with the Noctua fan.

*edit...*

So... you're in the UK (my home, *sniff*). I wonder if the different voltage there is causing some coil whine on the circuit board. I suspect most of us here are living in the US (I am, at the moment - though London is my home), so it's quite possible the Thunderbay 4 on UK voltage is the issue. Whether it's an *actual* issue is another matter. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to try another. If the second unit exhibits the same noise, then you can start asking more questions. :) Keep us updated!
 
H

hqo201

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2014
6
0
Haha, a few less dogs and kids in the neighbourhood would be no bad thing! ;)

Yes, I have been wondering whether it's the high UK voltage which is causing the noise, although surely there must be a few other UK owners with OWC enclosures. The sound is barely noticeable to be honest - you have to be right next to the unit to hear it, but as I say, I'm more concerned about whether it's a portent for a failure further down the line.

I'll get it replaced, see how that one is, and report back.
 
S

spiritlevel

macrumors 6502
Nov 5, 2007
378
60
hqo201 said:
Haha, a few less dogs and kids in the neighbourhood would be no bad thing! ;)

Yes, I have been wondering whether it's the high UK voltage which is causing the noise, although surely there must be a few other UK owners with OWC enclosures. The sound is barely noticeable to be honest - you have to be right next to the unit to hear it, but as I say, I'm more concerned about whether it's a portent for a failure further down the line.

I'll get it replaced, see how that one is, and report back.
Click to expand...

Im in the UK and have a Thunderbay 4 - mine is completely silent in Standby mode - certainly no "fizzing" at all.
 
J

Jmullane1217

macrumors newbie
Dec 4, 2014
2
0
hqo201 said:
Hi Jim

Yes, you'll need an adapter for 2.5" drives like those Crucial SSDs if you want to put them in a Thunderbay. OWC recommend this one-

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADPTADRV/

Alternatively, if you're only putting 2.5" SSDs in there, OWC also do a Thunderbay Mini specifically for 2.5" drives -

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt/External-Drive/OWC/ThunderBay-4-mini
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I was not aware of the "mini" but unfortunately I already purchased the regular "4". I'm thinking about combining SSD with spinning now.

Jim
 
R

rmawyer

macrumors newbie
Dec 21, 2014
1
0
OWC TB4-SoftRaid Crash at Wakeup

Good thread, but looking for anyone have reboot issues.

Running OWCs TB4 with SoftRaid 5.05. 2GB Aperture library under Raid 5 with three drives and fourth as boot drive clone. (iMac 27/OS 10.10.1)

Still troubleshooting but when going to sleep or most often when waking from sleep, the system will do a hard shut-down/crash and auto-reboot. If Aperture is running this pretty much requires the DB to be rebuilt, which at a minimum is tedious.

System was highly stable prior to TB4 and SoftRaid is not throwing any errors, so looking for anyone else have similar issues as I continue to troubleshoot this.

Thanks...
 
matreya

matreya

macrumors 65816
Nov 14, 2009
1,286
127
Have you tried sleeping only the display and leaving the iMac running? Just to see if it's a wake from sleep problem alone...
 
H

hqo201

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2014
6
0
An update on my fizzing/crackling Thunderbay - I asked for a replacement and returned it by post. I heard nothing for a week or so, and after chasing it up, I was told I was getting a refund instead of the replacement I asked for. Oddly, the product is no longer available on their website (ballicom.co.uk).

So I thought I'd just order another one from someone else, but no-one else in the UK was selling it anywhere near the same price, so I ordered one directly from OWC. With shipping it worked out roughly the same price as I'd paid in the UK, although I may end up getting a bill from Revenue & Customs in the next few weeks.

Anyway, it's just arrived (within 2 days of ordering - impressive), and the good news is it's completely silent when switched off.

Interestingly though, it came with the Y.S.Tech FD129225LB-N fan, whereas my first unit had the Zalman fan. It is a bit noisy for my liking, so I'm going to try running it without the fan and see how hot the disks get. If they get a bit too warm, I'll get a Noctua fan.
 
B

Bryan Bowler

macrumors 601
Sep 27, 2008
4,024
4,347
hqo201 said:
Interestingly though, it came with the Y.S.Tech FD129225LB-N fan, whereas my first unit had the Zalman fan. It is a bit noisy for my liking, so I'm going to try running it without the fan and see how hot the disks get. If they get a bit too warm, I'll get a Noctua fan.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't run it without a fan. You should definitely go ahead and order the Noctua fan.

Bryan
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,926
3,800
Seattle
Bryan Bowler said:
I wouldn't run it without a fan. You should definitely go ahead and order the Noctua fan.

Bryan
Click to expand...

Second that notion. The Noctua is absolutely silent in the ULN (ultra-low noise) mode with the correct cable provided in the box.

FYI, I just ordered my second OWC Thunderbay 4. I love the darn thing. Works without missing a beat. :) :)

----------
rmawyer said:
Good thread, but looking for anyone have reboot issues.

Running OWCs TB4 with SoftRaid 5.05. 2GB Aperture library under Raid 5 with three drives and fourth as boot drive clone. (iMac 27/OS 10.10.1)

Still troubleshooting but when going to sleep or most often when waking from sleep, the system will do a hard shut-down/crash and auto-reboot. If Aperture is running this pretty much requires the DB to be rebuilt, which at a minimum is tedious.

System was highly stable prior to TB4 and SoftRaid is not throwing any errors, so looking for anyone else have similar issues as I continue to troubleshoot this.

Thanks...
Click to expand...

Can you post the crash log?
 
UncleGuido

UncleGuido

macrumors member
Oct 12, 2013
51
30
Ditto the warning about running without a fan. If you are using spinning disks (as opposed to SSDs), it's not worth the risk. They might run cool for a while, but sometime later they could overheat.

As noted in my earlier posts, I've compared the Zalman against the YS Tech fan and did not find a significant difference in noise. I now have the ThunderBay off my desk, on the floor and behind a modesty panel - the fan and disk noise is not noticeable.

HOWEVER... sometimes when the disks are spinning, their vibration triggers the enclosure into a resonance. This is an irritating buzzing noise that is audible throughout a largish (~400 sq ft) room. It's the removable door vibrating. If I press on it a certain way, the noise stops. Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions? I'm thinking of ways to apply damping material to the door without restricting ventilation. Maybe jamming rubber bands into the crack between the door and the case?

Somewhere on the OWC website, they claim that the ThunderBay case features vibration isolation for the drives. That's a crock. It's all metal to metal construction. My Mac Pro used rubber grommets to isolate the HDs from the sleds that they attached to. Very effective. That thing was dead quiet.
 
B

burnsranch

macrumors member
Jun 19, 2013
81
5
Mine just showed up today, 20tb Toshiba drives. The heads seeking make a lot more noise then my other drives. Low rumble. I was sort of surprised by the noise level.
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,926
3,800
Seattle
UncleGuido said:
Ditto the warning about running without a fan. If you are using spinning disks (as opposed to SSDs), it's not worth the risk. They might run cool for a while, but sometime later they could overheat.

As noted in my earlier posts, I've compared the Zalman against the YS Tech fan and did not find a significant difference in noise. I now have the ThunderBay off my desk, on the floor and behind a modesty panel - the fan and disk noise is not noticeable.

HOWEVER... sometimes when the disks are spinning, their vibration triggers the enclosure into a resonance. This is an irritating buzzing noise that is audible throughout a largish (~400 sq ft) room. It's the removable door vibrating. If I press on it a certain way, the noise stops. Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions? I'm thinking of ways to apply damping material to the door without restricting ventilation. Maybe jamming rubber bands into the crack between the door and the case?

Somewhere on the OWC website, they claim that the ThunderBay case features vibration isolation for the drives. That's a crock. It's all metal to metal construction. My Mac Pro used rubber grommets to isolate the HDs from the sleds that they attached to. Very effective. That thing was dead quiet.
Click to expand...

I'm going to guess that's drive dependent. My 4x Seagate 5TB disks don't shake the casing at all. Your issue is easily solved, though. Just get any kind of material - even a paper towel shred, and stick in the lock of the door.

burnsranch said:
Mine just showed up today, 20tb Toshiba drives. The heads seeking make a lot more noise then my other drives. Low rumble. I was sort of surprised by the noise level.
Click to expand...

Again, quite drive-dependent. Maybe the Toshibas are just noisier. Are you hearing head seeking, or head parking? You can disable the head parking constantly with HDAPM. That noise drove me nuts on my Seagates.
 
B

Bruno C

macrumors newbie
Jan 10, 2015
2
0
Portugal
Hey everyone, I'm new around here but since I'm also having a rather complex experience with my new ThunderBay enclosure and am craving for a little support I couldn't help but jump immediately into this thread as I can relate to a lot of the issues brought up in here.

This enclosure certainly does a great job and it's by far the best deal I found for what I could get, but as some have pointed out, the build is quite mediocre, and indeed I think my main problem is related to that. This is the first time I'm dealing with a storage device of this calibre so I know I might come off as a complete idiot with my situation, so please bear with me (and I apologise if this has already been discussed; I did my best to keep up with the thread).

As I was installing the first disk (I bought an empty enclosure), I noticed that the tray offered some resistance when I tried to insert it back into its slot. I took it out and noticed that one of the tiny metal spring-like plates on the sides of the tray was hanging by one side and about to come off; it also appeared to be quite bent and misshapen compared to the other metal pieces. I'm not quite sure what these tiny pieces are or what they do, but I suppose they help the tray slide in and out of the case. Anyway, I started to play around with it to see if I could put it back in place and, before I knew it, it was in my hand! — it had come off completely. I attempted to remove the remaining 3 trays to see how they were: 2 of them appeared to be just fine, the 3rd one displayed the same problem: this time an even more misshapen metal plate which actually came off the tray right as I slid it out of the enclosure!

Unsure if this was something to be worried about, I contacted OWC support and sent them pictures of the supposedly damaged trays. Here's what it looked like:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17341116/tray1.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17341116/tray2.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17341116/tray3.jpg

They took a long time to reply, so in the meantime, I eventually managed to place the metal pieces back in their holes; by using a screwdriver, I bent them back in shape and, apparently, you can easily detach that black piece of plastic that covers the whole side of the tray, thus unveiling the holes where the metal springs are lodged. This time, the trays slid back in with no fuss, and quickly enough my ThunderBay 4 was all set up and working like a charm. I have been using it as a RAID 5 array for almost 2 months now with absolutely no flaws.

So the thing is, should I really be concerned about those metal pieces? Everything seems to be working just fine, but will this be an obstacle to the stability of the enclosure? I may have to swap disks one day which means I may run into trouble with those pesky metal plates, but then again I managed to fix them once I guess, so I could easily fix them twice...

OWC ended up replying and gave no valuable input on my doubts; but they did offer me an RMA. Do you think it's worth the hassle? I mean, the TB has been working so well... Also, I don't live in the States either (bought it from a European retailer), so that'd make the process even harder... But then again...! The doubt is killing me as I'm still a newbie in these things!

Any suggestions? Thanks so much in advance!


Oh, might I also add: I, too, was a "victim" of those dreadful Y.S. Tech fans. I got the less-noisy LB-N, but it still sounded unacceptably noisy to me. Might as well switch to a Noctua from what I could read from the posts. :p
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,926
3,800
Seattle
Bruno C said:
Hey everyone, I'm new around here but since I'm also having a rather complex experience with my new ThunderBay enclosure and am craving for a little support I couldn't help but jump immediately into this thread as I can relate to a lot of the issues brought up in here.

This enclosure certainly does a great job and it's by far the best deal I found for what I could get, but as some have pointed out, the build is quite mediocre, and indeed I think my main problem is related to that. This is the first time I'm dealing with a storage device of this calibre so I know I might come off as a complete idiot with my situation, so please bear with me (and I apologise if this has already been discussed; I did my best to keep up with the thread).

As I was installing the first disk (I bought an empty enclosure), I noticed that the tray offered some resistance when I tried to insert it back into its slot. I took it out and noticed that one of the tiny metal spring-like plates on the sides of the tray was hanging by one side and about to come off; it also appeared to be quite bent and misshapen compared to the other metal pieces. I'm not quite sure what these tiny pieces are or what they do, but I suppose they help the tray slide in and out of the case. Anyway, I started to play around with it to see if I could put it back in place and, before I knew it, it was in my hand! — it had come off completely. I attempted to remove the remaining 3 trays to see how they were: 2 of them appeared to be just fine, the 3rd one displayed the same problem: this time an even more misshapen metal plate which actually came off the tray right as I slid it out of the enclosure!

Unsure if this was something to be worried about, I contacted OWC support and sent them pictures of the supposedly damaged trays. Here's what it looked like:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17341116/tray1.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17341116/tray2.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17341116/tray3.jpg

They took a long time to reply, so in the meantime, I eventually managed to place the metal pieces back in their holes; by using a screwdriver, I bent them back in shape and, apparently, you can easily detach that black piece of plastic that covers the whole side of the tray, thus unveiling the holes where the metal springs are lodged. This time, the trays slid back in with no fuss, and quickly enough my ThunderBay 4 was all set up and working like a charm. I have been using it as a RAID 5 array for almost 2 months now with absolutely no flaws.

So the thing is, should I really be concerned about those metal pieces? Everything seems to be working just fine, but will this be an obstacle to the stability of the enclosure? I may have to swap disks one day which means I may run into trouble with those pesky metal plates, but then again I managed to fix them once I guess, so I could easily fix them twice...

OWC ended up replying and gave no valuable input on my doubts; but they did offer me an RMA. Do you think it's worth the hassle? I mean, the TB has been working so well... Also, I don't live in the States either (bought it from a European retailer), so that'd make the process even harder... But then again...! The doubt is killing me as I'm still a newbie in these things!

Any suggestions? Thanks so much in advance!


Oh, might I also add: I, too, was a "victim" of those dreadful Y.S. Tech fans. I got the less-noisy LB-N, but it still sounded unacceptably noisy to me. Might as well switch to a Noctua from what I could read from the posts. :p
Click to expand...

I would just ask them for new trays! Seems a lot simpler!

FYI just received my second Thunderbay 4. Unlike my first noisy Y.S. Tech one this came with a Zalman fan, and I hate hate hate it! It makes this ghastly whiny noise that's audible from 12 feet away in a relative quiet room.

I must be patient while my second Noctua fan takes its sweet time being delivered. Other than that, the second array is set up and daisy-chained to my first Thunderbay 4. Yay!

Interestingly, I benched the new array (same brand 4x 5TB Seagate 5900rpm in RAID 5) connected to my 5K iMac over Thunderbolt 2 and I get higher speeds at 500MB/s read/write sequential, but on my Mac mini 2012 over Thunderbolt 1 it's the same 420MB/s read/write as my first benchmark of the first array.

Seems that Thunderbolt 2 is faster than Thunderbolt 1, despite the array not saturating either. Bizarre!
 
H

hkoster1

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2012
155
55
The Netherlands
What bothered me the most with my TB4 was not the fan but the clunking noise of the four Hitachi HDs. My solution was putting the TB4 out of earshot in my utility room, connecting with a 10m (30ft) Corning fibreglass Thunderbolt cable through a hole drilled near the baseboard. :)
 
matreya

matreya

macrumors 65816
Nov 14, 2009
1,286
127
hkoster1 said:
What bothered me the most with my TB4 was not the fan but the clunking noise of the four Hitachi HDs. My solution was putting the TB4 out of earshot in my utility room, connecting with a 10m (30ft) Corning fibreglass Thunderbolt cable through a hole drilled near the baseboard. :)
Click to expand...

How old are the Hitachi hard drives? I'm using a Thunderbay IV (TB1 version) with 4 x 4TB HGST Deskstar NAS drives, and they're quiet.
 
Last edited:
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
matreya said:
How old are the Hitachi hard drives? I'm using a Thunderbay IV (TB1 version) with 4 x 4TB HGST Desktar NAS drives, and they're quiet.
Click to expand...

I'm using HGST 3TB NAS drives (x 4) and the Noctura fan in a ThunderBay IV and it is totally quiet at a desktop distance. Very nice! :cool:
 
H

hkoster1

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2012
155
55
The Netherlands
matreya said:
How old are the Hitachi hard drives? I'm using a Thunderbay IV (TB1 version) with 4 x 4TB HGST Deskstar NAS drives, and they're quiet.
Click to expand...
They are 2TB 3.5-inch 7200 RPM HGST HUS724020ALE640 HDs, about 12 - 15 months old. Two of them were stripped from G-Tech USB-3.0 enclosures, the other two were bought bare to get a matching set. These are supposed to be "enterprise" quality with prices to match... The clunking noise sounds like it is magnified by the way the OWC TB4 enclosure is built.

Three of the HGST HDs form a 6TB RAID-0 set, backed up by two 3TB LaCie d2 enclosures (connected via USB-3.0) also configured as a 6TB RAID-0 set. These have cheaper Seagate Barracuda disks that are quiet. Go figure...
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,926
3,800
Seattle
hkoster1 said:
They are 2TB 3.5-inch 7200 RPM HGST HUS724020ALE640 HDs, about 12 - 15 months old. Two of them were stripped from G-Tech USB-3.0 enclosures, the other two were bought bare to get a matching set. These are supposed to be "enterprise" quality with prices to match... The clunking noise sounds like it is magnified by the way the OWC TB4 enclosure is built.

Three of the HGST HDs form a 6TB RAID-0 set, backed up by two 3TB LaCie d2 enclosures (connected via USB-3.0) also configured as a 6TB RAID-0 set. These have cheaper Seagate Barracuda disks that are quiet. Go figure...
Click to expand...

Is it head parking making the noises? i.e. are they quiet until they go thunk every now and then? If so, run the HDAMP tool to stop them doing that.

FYI, got my Noctua fan in today for the second Thunderbay 4, and ahhh... silence at last. :D
 
H

hkoster1

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2012
155
55
The Netherlands
WilliamG said:
Is it head parking making the noises? i.e. are they quiet until they go thunk every now and then? If so, run the HDAMP tool to stop them doing that. [snip]
Click to expand...
No, it's when my Trainz Simulator programme loads some route from the RAID-0 volume with hundreds of small files (10 kB, say). Clunking isn't the right word for it, more like rattling of the read heads in the three HDs. Anyway, I can't hear them now; that fibreglass cable is nice piece of kit (but rather expensive).
 
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