[SOLVED] Beeping sound!


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Hello!

 

I recently noticed a feint beeping sound from my server. It is only one "BEEP" and it occurs randomly from time to time.

It sounds like the sound comes from my ICY BOX IB-555SSK and from one of the hard drives. But last i checked hard drives didn't have speakers so the sound may be something else..

I use two of the ICY BOX IB-555SSK; one is full with 5 Seagate 3TB hard drives. I recently bought the other one with one new WD RED 3TB. The new ICY BOX IB-555SSK is connected to a SATA controller card; Adaptec 1430SA.

 

Everything works, the drives are detected and Im able to access them.  Like I said the beeping sound is really short not followed by any other beeps. And it occurs from time to time. (REALLY ANNOYING! :P) the sound is kind of "feint"

 

I noticed that when i accessed the //tower and clicked on the main tab the sound BEEPED.

I don't know if there was a beep before I installed the new Icy Box IB-545SSK with the controller card. But I didn't notice it before after it was up and running.

Also the same sound comes when i shutdown the server, It sounds like it comes from each hard drive when they got shutdown..

 

I downloaded the syslog so maybe someone can see if there is any clues there.

 

also i tried to record the BEEP with a video : I will try to link it here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHJ_6A0VIA0&feature=youtu.be

 

The sound is really low so turn up the volume a little; it is at 1:10

 

EDIT: New video were you can hear the sound at 0:52-0:53

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MsRR_kupEo

 

 

If anybody has any ideas or clues to what causes this demonic BEEPING sound please let me know! :)

 

MY specs are;

 

-MB: ASRock 1155 B75 PRO3-M M-ATX (90-MXGLW0-A0UAYZ)

-CPU:INTEL 3rd Generation Core i3-3220 LGA1155 Boxed (BX80637I33220)

-PSU:CORSAIR HX 650W PSU ATX 12V V2.31, 80 Plus Gold, Modular (CP-9020030-EU)

-RAM:Corsair Dominator DHX DDR3 1600MHz 8GB

-Hard drives: Seagate 3TB (5) , WD RED 3TB (1)

-Backplane:ICY BOX IB-555SSK 5Bay Backplane

-Controller card: ADAPTEC SATA RAID AAR1430SA PCI KIT

 

-niv

syslog2.txt

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Hi niv

Check your power supply. You may have one of the HX650 PSU'S with the famous chirping problem. Google HX650 chirping to read all about it.

You just added more drives so the PSU is working harder and the fan is starting to run where as before the load wasn't great enough to run the fan.

 

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I've got 2 Seagate drives that occasionally make a strange beep noise. I posted about it here. It seems to happen during spinup and as write operations are starting. I did a bit of further digging and it seems the noise is the drive head un-parking (if that's a word  ???)

 

I've been running the drives for 18 months now and had no problems - I've just accepted that these drives make a weird noise.

 

Hope this helps you track down your beep.

 

John

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Thanks for the replies!

 

Do you think it could be a little heat sensor?

 

The Icy Boxes have an alarm setting for overheating: default set to 45*C But all of my drives stay cool at 27-34 *C. So I don't think it is the backplane alarm that makes the noise.

 

Hi niv

Check your power supply. You may have one of the HX650 PSU'S with the famous chirping problem. Google HX650 chirping to read all about it.

You just added more drives so the PSU is working harder and the fan is starting to run where as before the load wasn't great enough to run the fan.

 

I googled it and the sounds posted in the youtube videos is much more "brutal" than the little beep. So I can't say for sure that it is the PSU but i don't think so..

(Will check it further)

 

I've got 2 Seagate drives that occasionally make a strange beep noise. I posted about it here. It seems to happen during spinup and as write operations are starting. I did a bit of further digging and it seems the noise is the drive head un-parking (if that's a word  ???)

 

I've been running the drives for 18 months now and had no problems - I've just accepted that these drives make a weird noise.

 

Hope this helps you track down your beep.

 

John

 

The sounds more like what I'm experiencing... I red your post and watched the video that you posted it sounds kind of similar to the "BEEP" I hear.

Also im almost 85 % sure the sound comes from the backplanes/ hard drives. But again im not 100 % sure. I will start the server again today.. and listen so that i know were the sound comes from.

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Ok here is a new video, you can really hear the sound here. Again the beep came when i entered //mediatower and clicked on the main tab.. (no idea why)

Also the sounds on the end of the video is when i shutdown the server. It seems to come while the hard drives shutdown. The sound is the exact same as the one that appears randomly..

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MsRR_kupEo

 

The sounds are at : 0:11, / 0:52 - 0:53 /1:55 when the server shuts down.

 

Also in the video i noticed that the hard drive LED lights up red when the sound appears. So i think its coming from the hard drive...

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Sorry, I just don't hear it, but my hearing is not so great.  :'(

You might try using a "mechanics stethoscope." They're sold here in US by Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/mechanics-stethoscope-41966.html.

 

It may not be available where you live, but you could fashion one from a medical stethoscope. They're a great help finding a mechanical noise in an engine.

 

A stethoscope with even just a straight tube can really isolate a noise source. Unfortunately, your beep is intermittent.  Good luck!

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Now that I'm home from work I've got some speakers on my PC and can listen to the clips.

 

That's the exact same noise my two Seagate drives make.

 

It's just the drive arm operating - nothing to be concerned about and, unfortunately, nothing you can do about it. I've just learned to ignore it.

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Thanks for the replies

 

While i listened to the clip i noticed the sound i was concerned about at 0:52 -0:53 No HDD LED is displayed. Is this the same sound you have heard  cfmjohn?

 

Good tip about the stethoscope, if I don't figure it out maybe something like that could be nice to use.

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Good tip about the stethoscope, if I don't figure it out maybe something like that could be nice to use.

 

From what I've heard, "real" mechanics would forego the stethoscope and just use a long screwdriver placing the tip on the suspect engine part and the handle on their ear.  Crude but effective.  8)

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So I removed the one backplane and removed the SATA controller to the way it was before i installed the new things. It is still beeping....

I cant understand whats causing this  :'( Is it the hard drives or something that isn't connected properly? a fan that doesn't get enough power?.. i have no clue.

 

If anybody could check the video @ min 0:52-0:53 and figure out a theory or something that would be awesome. I have no ideas left...

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So again i popped the sidepanel open trying to identify the sound. I listened really really carefully and there is no doubt in my mind now; the sound comes from one of my Seagate Hard drives.

The question now is, why is it making that weird beep randomly? Is it the drive heads parking? or is it an error. I did 2 preclears on all of my Disks and all passed fine.

 

Also i noticed that one of the drives makes 3 small beeps in a row. I dont see any error readings from the drives when this happens. Really hard to determine which disk is making these sounds.

Rather find this out before i copy a bunch of data and it fails one month later...

 

Maybe i need to give Seagate a call  >:(

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Thanks!

 

I think I have found the solution to the weird sounds. When I found out that the source of the "beep" was coming from my Seagate drives i searched a lot to find similar problems.

Many other people had the same clicking/beeping problems from their Seagate drives.

 

The reason was the drive head parking like cfmjohn said. I had to disable Advanced Power Management  on all of my Seagate drives with  hdparm. Sat idly by and listen for the sound after i disabled the APM..

And there was SILENCE! no more random beeping/creeping me out noises. Only the beautiful sound from the computer fans! Of course the factory default settings will be restored upon reboot/shutdown. But I don't know if there is another option with Seatools or new firmware that fixes this.

 

So freaking happy It is resolved for now! :) 

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Hdparm changes are persistent. Should be there after a reboot since it modifies the hd settngs on the drive itself.

 

I did a shutdown to test it,,, and the settings were set back to factory default setiings... Also I've red that the newest firmware would take care of these annoying sounds.

But I have the 1CH166 model and can't be upgraded to the latest firmware; CC4H like the model 9YN166 can..

 

So i don't really know what to do here. I bought these drives in July and don't really want to listen to these unnecessary beeping/chirping sounds. 

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Cross-posted => I see you've confirmed the settings are not indeed persistent.

 

So ... your choices would seem to be:

 

=>  relegate the drives to backups and replace them (this is what I'd do)

=>  RMA the drives and hope you get 9YN166's in return (but you may not)

=>  Return the drives if possible and buy something else (may not be possible if you've had them too long)

=>  Live with the sound (least desirable option)

 

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I would have thought another option would be to add the relevant hdparm command(s) to the go file to switch the sound off each time the system boots?

 

Ye that could work! Unfortunately I don't know how I would do that :P? (any chance for an explanation?)  Haven't used many commands like that before..

 

If that doesn't work I will probably contact the vendor and ask if there is a chance for a refund of some kind.. It doesn't hurt to ask..

Or like you suggested garycase relegate the drives to backups.

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You need one of the Linux guru's to chime in here, but basically you simply add the appropriate HDParm command to your GO file in the Config folder on the flash drive.

 

Two issues I can think of ...

 

(1)  You need to wait for the drive to be mounted before the command is issued;

 

and

 

(2)  you have to know the designator for the drive (e.g. the "x" in sdx) -- hopefully THIS is persistent (i.e. always the same)

 

This is apparently a common problem -- this quote is from the details on HDParm:  "... However, the settings you can set via hdparm are reverted each time you reboot. Therefore, it might be wise to restore the personal settings upon boot."

 

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