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Is my hard drive crapping out?

J

jondob

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 20, 2010
76
0
Hey I have a dual 1.8 g5. Had it for about a month now. It was quiet up until about 2 weeks ago. Now every 3 seconds or so There is a rumble coming from the hard drive like its loading something. Even at idle it rumbles every few seconds.

What should I do its pretty annoying. Is there any scan I can do, or do I need a new hd. Its working fine right now just kinda loud.
 
Well I know that unusual noises/ clicking from the hd can be a sign of failure along with slowdowns of the computer. If I were you I would make a clone of the drive as it is now in case it fails on you, you can restore it to another drive and stick that one in.
 
.............Run the Apple hardware test (extended mode) that should have come with the computer and see if it detects errors and check the SMART status in the disk utility.
 
I too would like to know the easiest way to clone the harddrive onto an external drive. I have a G5 1.6 that is slowing down and you can always hear the hardrive looking for stuff, even tho I do not have much on my machine. But, I do not want to take the chance on losing it.
 
BigDukeSix said:
I too would like to know the easiest way to clone the harddrive onto an external drive. I have a G5 1.6 that is slowing down and you can always hear the hardrive looking for stuff, even tho I do not have much on my machine. But, I do not want to take the chance on losing it.
Click to expand...

I hear a lot of people like to use Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper, though I have never used them myself so I can't tell you my opinion of them.

There are multiple threads on here discussing them:

http://snipurl.com/hdcloner
 
In addition to the Apple Hardware test, I'd also suggest booting into the open firmware (hold down command-option-o-f immediately after restarting), and at the prompt type: fsck -fy

If it does detect issues that it reports are repairable, run another fsck -fy until the check comes up clean. It does tend to find some disk errors the hardware test will not, although you can never really trust it to have fully repaired the volume until it comes up clean.

I'd suggest backing up your drive with one of the above mentioned utilities soon however, as excessive noise from the drive, even if its just seeking repeatedly is often a sound of imminent drive failure.
 
tpjunkie said:
In addition to the Apple Hardware test, I'd also suggest booting into the open firmware (hold down command-option-o-f immediately after restarting), and at the prompt type: fsck -fy

If it does detect issues that it reports are repairable, run another fsck -fy until the check comes up clean. It does tend to find some disk errors the hardware test will not, although you can never really trust it to have fully repaired the volume until it comes up clean.

I'd suggest backing up your drive with one of the above mentioned utilities soon however, as excessive noise from the drive, even if its just seeking repeatedly is often a sound of imminent drive failure.
Click to expand...

You don't run fsck from OF, you run it from single user mode.
 
I will be damned if I will ever use the same hard drive that has already crapped out on me.
 
raysfan81 said:
I hear a lot of people like to use Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper, though I have never used them myself so I can't tell you my opinion of them.

There are multiple threads on here discussing them:

http://snipurl.com/hdcloner
Click to expand...

I used Carbon Copy Cloner to make a copy of my drive when my computer was in for repairs a little while ago, and it worked well. For the OP, I would suggest backing up immediately if you haven't already and then running the hardware test.
 
Another vote for Carbon Copy Cloner here. I'm probably going to do the same thing (clone my current drive onto a new drive) rather soon--I'm still using the original drive from my 1.6GHz G5, and even though it's working, it has gotten a little noisy/slow, and a new drive is so cheap that it seems silly not to keep things fast/low risk. $50 or $60 bucks at Frys will get me speed and peace of mind. Well worth it. Besides, it's absurdly easy to swap drives in a G5, which is nice, too.
 
raysfan81 said:
.............Run the Apple hardware test (extended mode) that should have come with the computer and see if it detects errors and check the SMART status in the disk utility.
Click to expand...

How do i get into extended mode? And what is the disk utility. Sorry im new to mac And dont want this hd to fail lol.
 
wait nvm its back. Is there any way to make it quiet again?
 
Anyone?? This is starting to get really annoying. Test said passed, but its still making noise like its searching for something every 3 seconds or so. I just Want it to shutup.
 
jondob said:
Anyone?? This is starting to get really annoying. Test said passed, but its still making noise like its searching for something every 3 seconds or so. I just Want it to shutup.
Click to expand...
Dude, just clone the data on that drive and buy a new sata drive and install it and restore the disk. If you don't like the sound it makes just replace it....:cool:
 
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