Beeping = Dead Hard Drive?

[nschwall]

I have a 17-inch, Mid 2009 MacBook Pro, running on OS X 10.8.3. This past christmas my dad took out my disk drive for me and installed a solid state, that I run my operating system off of.

I kept my old hard drive and mostly use it to store files and such since it's bigger - important files. I was using it today to browse the internet and work on an Indesign document when it started making a weird beeping noise from inside the computer, not from the audio or the speakers (I tried turning the sound on and off, and increasing the volume but it made no difference, it also sounded like it was coming from about my "Command" key, rather than the speakers on either side). The sound is a little like a truck backing up, but softer, with each beep coming 2 seconds apart. After that it restarted and my hard drive was gone. I can still open the computer and run it off my solid state, but as far as the computer seems to be concerned there is no other hard drive installed. The beeping noise is ongoing.

Can anyone tell me what happened, where my hard drive went, and how likely it is that all my files are gone or not (I do have backups, but it was from a couple weeks ago, and my Solid State is simply not big enough to hold everything, I really liked having both hard drives)? Also, what is with this weird beeping noise?

 

[negativzero]

I have a 17-inch, Mid 2009 MacBook Pro, running on OS X 10.8.3. This past christmas my dad took out my disk drive for me and installed a solid state, that I run my operating system off of.

I kept my old hard drive and mostly use it to store files and such since it's bigger - important files. I was using it today to browse the internet and work on an Indesign document when it started making a weird beeping noise from inside the computer, not from the audio or the speakers (I tried turning the sound on and off, and increasing the volume but it made no difference, it also sounded like it was coming from about my "Command" key, rather than the speakers on either side). The sound is a little like a truck backing up, but softer, with each beep coming 2 seconds apart. After that it restarted and my hard drive was gone. I can still open the computer and run it off my solid state, but as far as the computer seems to be concerned there is no other hard drive installed. The beeping noise is ongoing.

Can anyone tell me what happened, where my hard drive went, and how likely it is that all my files are gone or not (I do have backups, but it was from a couple weeks ago, and my Solid State is simply not big enough to hold everything, I really liked having both hard drives)? Also, what is with this weird beeping noise?

Don't think I've heard of that. The only beeping sound you get from the MacBook is when the ram is faulty or not fixed properly. If it is a harddrive dying, you would hear a clicking sound instead of a beep.

If you could record what you heard and upload it here I think some others can help you.

 

[nschwall]

Thanks, here's a vid (linked below) that has the sound of the beeping in it. I've been trying to find something online explaining the beeping, but most everything I can find refers to 1-5 beeps. This is, however, a pretty constant beeping sound at consistent intervals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LrayXYW5k&feature=youtu.be

 

[danishguy]

MacBook Pro 2009

Hi,

For some reason I can't see the YouTube video you've linked. Can you tell me if it sounds the same way as this video?

Thanks.

 

[duervo]

That's not a beeping noise ... it's a very, very high-pitched grinding noise. In the simplest terms, it's the arms of your drive heads trying to seek across the drive platters, and failing.

Get a new hard drive. Install it. Restore from backup.

 

[DMC-12]

That's not a beeping noise ... it's a very, very high-pitched grinding noise. In the simplest terms, it's the arms of your drive heads trying to seek across the drive platters, and failing.

Get a new hard drive. Install it. Restore from backup.

Agreed. Sounds very similar to the many failing HDDs I've replaced at work. The less you use or attempt to access the failing drive, the greater chance you have of recovering data from it.