G-Tech external hard drive extremely loud scratching noises

[Nostromo]

My less than three year old G-Tech 1 Tb drive makes very loud scratching noises, particularly when starting up or sometimes just when idle.

Writing is still silent.

No clicking noises.

Will the hard drive fail soon?

 

[radiogoober]

Is there a fan in the case?

 

[BrianBaughn]

That might be the sound of a couple of "bad blocks" on the drive. You should back-up what's on there right away if you need to.

If you haven't already, verify the disk with Disk Utility and see if it checks out as OK. DU doesn't detect a lot of problems, however...bad blocks being one.

Being on USB, the S.M.A.R.T. status can't be determined.

Do you have access to a Windows computer? If so, you could run Seagate's free "SeaTools" to check the drive and even repair bad blocks. SeaTools will check and can attempt repairs on any drive formatted, I think, in any manner. I had one making unexplained "activity" noises. SeaTools found two bad blocks and "repaired" them...no more noises, although I'm not sure I trust it now!

You could buy a third party Mac app to check the drive, but that could cost as much as a replacement drive.

 

[Nostromo]

Is there a fan in the case?

No, it's a fanless design. So, a fan can't cause this by touching the casing.

That might be the sound of a couple of "bad blocks" on the drive. You should back-up what's on there right away if you need to.

If you haven't already, verify the disk with Disk Utility and see if it checks out as OK. DU doesn't detect a lot of problems, however...bad blocks being one.

Being on USB, the S.M.A.R.T. status can't be determined.

Do you have access to a Windows computer? If so, you could run Seagate's free "SeaTools" to check the drive and even repair bad blocks. SeaTools will check and can attempt repairs on any drive formatted, I think, in any manner. I had one making unexplained "activity" noises. SeaTools found two bad blocks and "repaired" them...no more noises, although I'm not sure I trust it now!

You could buy a third party Mac app to check the drive, but that could cost as much as a replacement drive.

I have Disc Warrior and will check it out.

Bad blocks, would this mean it's more a firmware problem than a hardware problem, and the heads would scrape around too much before finding the right spot - which could cause scratching and that there is no noise once the disc is being written on?