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WD My Book
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My 4tb WD My book HD I use for Time Machine has at times been making a noise. Got me a bit concerned. It's only 16 months old. Thankfully husband has found its purchase docket and I inserted SN into WD support site and yes it is under warranty. It passed a check with a WD tool, but I don't know it ... shouldn't be clicking, and I don't feel it's acting like ?TM of old. I'm thinking of reformatting and setting it up again fresh. One reason being it was the TM for the previous iMac and when I reconnected as it had the same data it asked if I wanted to carry on and I said yes.... but thinking on that now.?
Jude |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýShort version. Extra noise is probably not itself an indication of impending drive failure, and for tedious reasons quite hard to fix. ?A better thing to monitor is whether you actually see problems with files you save not being subsequently readable - if you begin to experience read / write problems (for example macos reporting that it cannot open a file at all, or an application reporting that data in a file is corrupted), it is highly likely the drive is going to fail and you should replace it. Long version.
Some drives also make clicking noises when the drive is starting up from stop during the start up sequence, but these stop when the drive reaches operating speed (typically 5400rpm or 7200rpm). ?This does not sound like the issue you are describing. ?If it is, it is highly indicative of an impending failure and you should replace the drive. A more common cause for the ¡°clicking¡± noises drives emit are caused by movements of the arm that holds the heads that read data from the disk (the disk itself is run at constant speed). ? It is possible that something due to impending failure that is making movement of the pickup arm more noisy (most likely a bearing failure) but this is unlikely - mechanical hard disks are extraordinarily reliable. ?A cloud storage firm produces a report on reliability of drives in its disk-farms each year and typically just under 2% of their disks fail per year (more here -?). ?WD drives always have done OK in those listings. The other (more likely) cause for the noise is that when reading / writing data to the drive, the heads are just working harder - i.e. having to make more moves of the head to read / write data to the disk itself. ?When the drive is blank a file can be written by staring at a point and writing into the sectors one after the other - so all the read / write head has to do is move to the start point, and then as each sector is written make the small adjustment to the start of the next sector (which will be the nearest empty sector to the one being used). ?Over time, just due to how files get written / deleted, the ¡¯next nearest empty sector¡¯ gets further and further away - getting to the next nearest sector thus requires a bigger movement of the heads. ?This need to move all over the place to read / write a file gets worse over time and is called ¡®fragmentation¡¯. ? There are two ways to fix fragmentation - but unfortunately neither work reliably on USB drives
For USB drives probably the only reliable solutions are either to reset the drive with a manufacturer supplied utility (no idea if such exist for WD), or to write a myriad of very small files to the disk (each smaller than one sector) and then delete them again - this will implicitly reset the disk map and may (probably) will result in future large files being written to serial locations. ?But again this is quite complicated to do, and possibly won¡¯t help. So if noise is not a good indicators, what is¡? A much better predictor of impending drive failure is to look at the SMART data report most drives now produce - but only if the drive is giving problems (i.e. data you save is getting messed up or lost). ?In particular, if the drive is giving data problems and the ¡°Uncorrectable Sector Count¡± is going up (one of the many SMART numbers) there is a high probability the drive is going to fail soon. ? SMART stats on drives that otherwise are operating normally are not reliable indicators of impending drive failure. Getting hold of SMART data itself is not so easy - the disk utility in macos will report a composite number (look for ¡°SMART Status¡± ?in the panel that appears when you do ¡°get info¡± on a drive highlighted in disk utility¡) for mechanical drives that are directly connected to the mac (i.e. internal drives). ?For USB connected drives you need to get this data via a specific disk utility for USB drives - presumably there is some kind of utility software for WD drives provided by WD - but whether it will give this SMART info or not is dependent upon how they wrote the software. There is a Windows utility that might do the job - but I don¡¯t know how easy it is for you to plug your drive into a windows machine - if you can the software is here -? HTH Gavin
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There¡¯s no lights on this model indicating its alive, unlike previous ones. The only reason I might know if its had a hissy fit and not turned on is if the HD icon doesn¡¯t show up on my desktop.
Previous version of my book spat the dummy about 18 months ago ¡ª and after a lot of effort I took the drive out of the plastic case and popped it into a caddy I bought and lo and behold the drive was still working - just the bit busted that went to the power. But this current one can at times make so much noise its terribly distracting (particularly as we are in a very silent area) and I have had to say stop the back up for some peace. Not sure what is going on. Have poked its serial number into WD site and it is under warranty still and downloaded a utility off WD site and on the short program it reckoned its all ok. On exploration it looks like its only got the last two years of stuff in its brain. Which is why I am thinking on whether it has something to do with switching from old iMac to the new iMac Pro with different formatting and the message it put up when I did that. A clone with a sync system in place might be a thought. I have encountered the clicking noise before and it usually means its going to die at some point. Humming and ha-ing. I¡¯m probably going to go with making a clone or a disk image or something before I attempt anything. Jude |
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Dear Jude, you can never have too many back-ups. Lost my CV & internal HD & 2 flash drives. Don't suppose it matters as I can't see me working in chemistry again. I doubt even academia would take me on. I am going to be relocated, thank God! Don't know if I told you but I have compression fractures of T9, T12 & L2, but felt pain in nerve endings, first below left floating rib & now down my left leg. I think thaat's Sciatica. Apparently, it's called referred pain. Mac seems to be working better now. I was uploading OS to flash drive on attempt to get old iMac up. So I guess that slowed it down. Must dash, sorry John On Friday, 29 November 2019, 01:02:48 GMT, Judith Hall <glenidol@...> wrote: There¡¯s no lights on this model indicating its alive, unlike previous ones. The only reason I might know if its had a hissy fit and not turned on is if the HD icon doesn¡¯t show up on my desktop. Previous version of my book spat the dummy about 18 months ago ¡ª and after a lot of effort I took the drive out of the plastic case and popped it into a caddy I bought and lo and behold the drive was still working - just the bit busted that went to the power. But this current one can at times make so much noise its terribly distracting (particularly as we are in a very silent area) and I have had to say stop the back up for some peace. Not sure what is going on. Have poked its serial number into WD site and it is under warranty still and downloaded a utility off WD site and on the short program it reckoned its all ok. On exploration it looks like its only got the last two years of stuff in its brain.? Which is why I am thinking on whether it has something to do with switching from old iMac to the new iMac Pro with different formatting and the message it put up when I did that. A clone with a sync system in place might be a thought. I have encountered the clicking noise before and it usually means its going to die at some point. Humming and ha-ing.? I¡¯m probably going to go with making a clone or a disk image or something before I attempt anything. Jude |
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My plan right now is to go out buy a new SSD portable drive and do a Clone, then I might reformat the 4tb My book drive and start it again as a TM. I had a weird hitch with the WD My Book two days ago.
I hadn¡¯t backed up - said it couldn¡¯t back up - yet the icon was on the desktop as usual. It has no lights on the machine so the only way you can tell its alive is the icon on the desktop. I told it to back up and it said it was unable¡that raised my eyebrows. So I turned the thing off at the power ¡ª immediate protest I hadn¡¯t ejected properly ¡ª but restarted and told it to back up and it did. So whether this is another symptom of this drive not going right I don¡¯t know. Occasionally my previous one I would glance and no lights and know it had somehow turned itself off and had to be restarted. But this one is definitely doing something different. I feel my iMac Pro has slowed as I have added data to it ¡ª no doubt something to do with the different formatting of the old drive to this new SSD in the iMac Pro. Where it used to boot before I could drag the chair out I am now sitting waiting for it to finish booting. I have three old fractures in my spine and one in my hip joint ¡ª old horse riding injuries ¡ª which I ignore. There are exercises to overcome sciatica¡. what I find useful is I found a place that does reflexology ¡ª they put your feet in a wooden tub lined with a towel and do a soak then work on your feet and up to the knees basically¡. works wonders. Found a place that was really expert at it. I first thought no way it would work but it really does. Although the service is modest price I think I am able to claim it on my health insurance, though I hadn¡¯t looked into that. Jude |
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Dear Jude et al, Now they seem to have found more chronic fractures in my vertebrae, according to last consultants notes at least. Don't know how it can have happened. Main thing now is I have a limp on my left leg. Sciatica? who knows Regards Hop along Cassidy
On Tuesday, 3 December 2019, 00:58:25 GMT, Judith Hall <glenidol@...> wrote:
My plan right now is to go out buy a new SSD portable drive and do a Clone, then I might reformat the 4tb My book drive and start it again as a TM. I had a weird hitch with the WD My Book two days ago. I hadn¡¯t backed up - said it couldn¡¯t back up - yet the icon was on the desktop as usual. It has no lights on the machine so the only way you can tell its alive is the icon on the desktop.? I told it to back up and it said it was unable¡that raised my eyebrows. So I turned the thing off at the power ¡ª immediate protest I hadn¡¯t ejected properly ¡ª but restarted and told it to back up and it did. So whether this is another symptom of this drive not going right? I don¡¯t know. Occasionally my previous one I would glance and no lights and know it had somehow turned itself off and had to be restarted.? But this one is definitely doing something different. I feel my iMac Pro has slowed as I have added data to it ¡ª no doubt something to do with the different formatting of the old drive to this new SSD in the iMac Pro. Where it used to boot before I could drag the chair out I am now sitting waiting for it to finish booting. I have three old fractures in my spine and one in my hip joint ¡ª old horse riding injuries ¡ª which I ignore. There are exercises to overcome sciatica¡. what I find useful is I found a place that does reflexology ¡ª they put your feet in a wooden tub lined with a towel and do a soak then work on your feet and up to the knees basically¡. works wonders. Found a place that was really expert at it.? I first thought no way it would work but it really does. Although the service is modest price I think I am able to claim it on my health insurance, though I hadn¡¯t looked into that. Jude |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýDear John/Hopalong,Gosh that is not good at all. I hope you are not in a lot of pain, as sciatica or similar sounds pretty unpleasant to have. A limp will also put more of a strain on your spine, can¡¯t win sometimes, can you? :( Regards and hopes for improvement - or should that be ¡°limprovement¡±¡.. Apologies! Susan On 5 Dec 2019, at 13:03, John Miller via Groups.Io <johnmiller051118@...> wrote: Dear Jude et al, Now they seem to have found more chronic fractures in my vertebrae, according to last consultants notes at least. Don't know how it can have happened. Main thing now is I have a limp on my left leg. Sciatica? who knows Regards Hop along Cassidy
On Tuesday, 3 December 2019, 00:58:25 GMT, Judith Hall <glenidol@...> wrote:
My plan right now is to go out buy a new SSD portable drive and do a Clone, then I might reformat the 4tb My book drive and start it again as a TM. I had a weird hitch with the WD My Book two days ago. I hadn¡¯t backed up - said it couldn¡¯t back up - yet the icon was on the desktop as usual. It has no lights on the machine so the only way you can tell its alive is the icon on the desktop.? I told it to back up and it said it was unable¡that raised my eyebrows. So I turned the thing off at the power ¡ª immediate protest I hadn¡¯t ejected properly ¡ª but restarted and told it to back up and it did. So whether this is another symptom of this drive not going right? I don¡¯t know. Occasionally my previous one I would glance and no lights and know it had somehow turned itself off and had to be restarted.? But this one is definitely doing something different. I feel my iMac Pro has slowed as I have added data to it ¡ª no doubt something to do with the different formatting of the old drive to this new SSD in the iMac Pro. Where it used to boot before I could drag the chair out I am now sitting waiting for it to finish booting. I have three old fractures in my spine and one in my hip joint ¡ª old horse riding injuries ¡ª which I ignore. There are exercises to overcome sciatica¡. what I find useful is I found a place that does reflexology ¡ª they put your feet in a wooden tub lined with a towel and do a soak then work on your feet and up to the knees basically¡. works wonders. Found a place that was really expert at it.? I first thought no way it would work but it really does. Although the service is modest price I think I am able to claim it on my health insurance, though I hadn¡¯t looked into that. Jude |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýThe thing to do is have a bone scan of the hip to tell you what the state of your bone density is and that will tell you whether or not you need to do something about it.?Mine was pretty good last time I had that done. Only takes a minute or two and you don¡¯t even have to strip - just lie on a couch and they put a wedge under the knees and its all over very quick. Jude On 6 Dec 2019, at 1:12 am, Purler <susan.platter@...> wrote: Dear John/Hopalong,
Gosh that is not good at all. I hope you are not in a lot of pain, as sciatica or similar sounds pretty unpleasant to have. A limp will also put more of a strain on your spine, can¡¯t win sometimes, can you? :( Regards and hopes for improvement - or should that be ¡°limprovement¡±¡.. Apologies! Susan On 5 Dec 2019, at 13:03, John Miller via Groups.Io <johnmiller051118@...> wrote: Dear Jude et al, Now they seem to have found more chronic fractures in my vertebrae, according to last consultants notes at least. Don't know how it can have happened. Main thing now is I have a limp on my left leg. Sciatica? who knows Regards Hop along Cassidy
On Tuesday, 3 December 2019, 00:58:25 GMT, Judith Hall <glenidol@...> wrote:
My plan right now is to go out buy a new SSD portable drive and do a Clone, then I might reformat the 4tb My book drive and start it again as a TM. I had a weird hitch with the WD My Book two days ago. I hadn¡¯t backed up - said it couldn¡¯t back up - yet the icon was on the desktop as usual. It has no lights on the machine so the only way you can tell its alive is the icon on the desktop.? I told it to back up and it said it was unable¡that raised my eyebrows. So I turned the thing off at the power ¡ª immediate protest I hadn¡¯t ejected properly ¡ª but restarted and told it to back up and it did. So whether this is another symptom of this drive not going right? I don¡¯t know. Occasionally my previous one I would glance and no lights and know it had somehow turned itself off and had to be restarted.? But this one is definitely doing something different. I feel my iMac Pro has slowed as I have added data to it ¡ª no doubt something to do with the different formatting of the old drive to this new SSD in the iMac Pro. Where it used to boot before I could drag the chair out I am now sitting waiting for it to finish booting. I have three old fractures in my spine and one in my hip joint ¡ª old horse riding injuries ¡ª which I ignore. There are exercises to overcome sciatica¡. what I find useful is I found a place that does reflexology ¡ª they put your feet in a wooden tub lined with a towel and do a soak then work on your feet and up to the knees basically¡. works wonders. Found a place that was really expert at it.? I first thought no way it would work but it really does. Although the service is modest price I think I am able to claim it on my health insurance, though I hadn¡¯t looked into that. Jude |
Purler
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