iBook G4 Hard drive click

[adcx64]

hi,
i recently bought an ibook g4. when i am using it, from time to time i hear a slight click from the hard drive. the S.M.A.R.T status is "verified". so is the drive up to no good?

 

[cyberghoser1]

hi,
i recently bought an ibook g4. when i am using it, from time to time i hear a slight click from the hard drive. the S.M.A.R.T status is "verified". so is the drive up to no good?

You can try that: http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm/ im not sure if it supports PowerPC.

 

[DrakkenWar]

A click is usually a click of death

Hate to say it, but with older IDE drives, some clicks are nothing to be concerned about. However, if the click is is followed with kernel panics and things of that nature? I would agree the drive might be going south. www.ifixit.com has a great guide on a tear down, and replacement drives are easily sourced and cheap. www.geeks.com and www.newegg.com are great places to start.

~Drake
--
Sent from Equinox Dual G5/1.8/3gb/10.5.8

 

[Satori]

If it is a short series of clicks (a 'tick, tick, tick' sound) this is fairly common. The click sound is caused by the drive parking its head. There are multiple causes for this, including power management and shock detection. If it is harmless, it will tend to happen when the HDD is idle.

If it is a louder knocking sound... You are more likely to have a problem.

Whichever the case, don't be complacent.... Download a copy of 'SMART reporter' (it's free) which will warn you of impending HDD failure in many cases. Also make sure that you keep everything backed up.

I might also be worth considering replacing your HDD as others have suggested, just to be safe.