Hard Drive clicking noise...

[danimal1009]

I went to reboot my computer this morning when it started rebooting it hung a bit on the blue HP logo screen, then I heard this clicking noise coming from my computer, which I assume was the hard drive... Finally I got past the HP screen and it briefly flashed a SMART error that said something about a hard drive failure... it proceeded past this and left me with a screen that said " DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER". I tried restarting it a few times and got the same result.

I've accepted that fact that I'm going to need to buy a new hard drive. But before I do, I was wondering if someone enlighten me on something... Now I'm not a hardware expert so if this sounds strange you'll know why. I was googling on clicking noises and hard drive failures, and I came across this one forum thread from devshed that intrigued me (I didn't save the link and now I cant find it again). One of the posters made a mention about a bad power supply causing hard drive failures. Now I've had my computer for almost 2 years now and this is the 3rd hard drive failure I've had with it. The first one happened about a week and ahalf after I got it. It was under warranty and HP fixed it. Then about three months later it happened again. HP fixed it again. Niether of those time I had the clicking noise. Now this happened. Now before I go and shell out a bunch of money on a new HD, since my computer isn't under warranty any more, I was wondering If I should be suspicoius of my power supply, or if I just happened to have a rash of bad luck with this computer and its hard drives. If it matters they were all Maxtors.

Oddly enough, I left my computer alone for a few hours and tried booting it up again, and it booted right up. I backed up my stuff (:)). Then I tried rebboting it a few more times to see if it would repeat its clicking deal again (yes, I know I'm pushing my luck with that one), and its been working since. I don't expect that to keep up, though. :(

So if anyone could "enlighten" me on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

[klackenfus]

I think that if you were having power supply problems, issues other than your hard drive woes would have already occurred. For example, if you were having power surges, I'm sure other devices (modems, NICs, etc.) would have burned out. No, I think you're having issues with bad hard drives. Are you buying used/no name brands?

EDIT: I just reread and saw that HP is providing you the drives. You might mention quality control issues with them.

[XiaoKJ]

I think there may be many loose connections that cause it -- your problem may be because your hard disc is receiveing sparkles of electricity not the usual constant energy supply.

[kyroha]

I had a power supply blow out on me (smoke and all!) and it took both my hard drives with it, along with my sound card, everything else was untouched.

Power supplies are so cheap that it couldnt hurt to replace it just to be safe

[banzaikai]

Howdy.

It very well could be a -marginal- PS, if you have the HP "baby"-style case that uses the SFX type. These are incredibly anemic little (emphasis on "little") buggers. I was able to swap one out with a standard unit due to HP using an adaptor plate on the PSU. Remove both plate and PSU, and a regular unit (barely) fits. An SFX will output about 150W, IIRC.

To test, if your system gives you the disk failure again, just leave it on for a few more seconds, and then hit the reset switch. This will reboot the system, but all the power rails will be up to their levels, and all the drives will have spun up by then. I'm guessing there are times that the current draw of all that stuff temporarily drops the supply to non-optimal levels, resulting in the SMART error/no-boot. After the spindles are up to speed, the draw lightens up, and everything runs fine.

Again, I'd need to know which PSU you have in there as to whether or not you can upgrade it. Also, you can head over to http://www.maxtor.com and dowload their diagnostic program for HDs. At least it'll let you know how the drive is doing.

banzai "more power to ya" kai

[danimal1009]

Originally posted by banzaikai
Again, I'd need to know which PSU you have in there as to whether or not you can upgrade it. Also, you can head over to http://www.maxtor.com and dowload their diagnostic program for HDs. At least it'll let you know how the drive is doing.

How would I go about finding out what PSU I have? Would I have to take the computer's case off to do that? The case says its a Pavilion 772 on the front, but a sticker on the back says its a Pavilion 700, if that helps any.

I downloaded the powermax diagnostic tool from Maxtor's website. The quick scan didn't turn up anything, but when I ran the Full Scan it kept going well past the 20 - 30 minutes it was supposed to take, so I aborted it. Maybe I'll try it again tommorrow. But strangly, ever since I got my computer to reboot, it has been acting as if nothing is wrong... Although I still expect my HD to crap out on me again in the near future.

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.

[gehidore]

i once had a drive that sent the heads past the edge of the physical disk. the clicking i got was the heads trying to go back on to the drive but as they were unable to fit back on they clicked against the 2 glass platters.

i think i tried to make a clock out of it later on.

[banzaikai]

from: danimal1009
How would I go about finding out what PSU I have? Would I have to take the computer's case off to do that? The case says its a Pavilion 772 on the front, but a sticker on the back says its a Pavilion 700, if that helps any.


Sliding the side panel off and taking a peek is the best, but the label may not be in a visible spot. Does this model have an LED that lights up when the power cord is plugged in (next to the power socket)? The bad one I have here is a ... (searching through totes)

Ah! It's a Hi-Pro HP-K1603A3 157W (max!). The HP part number is on the side you'll see when you slide the side off, which is 5185-2917. The Hi-Pro label is (of course) on the other side where you can't see it.

Now if this seems like the one you've got, then you merely disconnect all the leads, including the one from the bottom fan to the motherboard, unscrew the four OUTER screws holding it (and the adaptor plate) to the back, and remove. Now fitting a standard size PSU in depends on the supply. You'll want to have one that has the power leads coming out the bottom corner closest to you as you look in from the side (the left if you're looking at the computer's front). If the leads come out the midle or other side, it'll hit the drives sitting in the 5.25" bays. The one I replaced had to have the CDR moved down a slot to accomodate the power leads, but if he had two drives in there, we'd be SOL.

I also found this: https://www.usereasy.com/components/sfx-2020.htm
which tells me you do, indeed, have an SFX PSU. If you plan on upgrading things in the HP, I'd grab a bigger unit (PC Power and Cooling - check for SFX models!).

banzai "350W is not enough!" kai

[danimal1009]

Thanks for the replies, everyone... I'll keep this in mind. Since everything has been working fine ever since, I'm going to ride this one out a bit. Could it be possible I beat this so called "click of death"? :confused:

(5 minutes after posting this, danimal1009's hard drive makes weird grinding and clicking noises...) just kidding... i hope ;)

[Bubba56]

Found this on HP's site for parts ( Iwent by Pavilion 772, 700 is most likely the same.

» Pavilion 772 (CTO)


Parts Listing for:
Keyword = Power Supply Country/Region : United States
* ALL PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE * Currency : U.S. Dollars

Move the mouse pointer over the column headings
for information on each field.


Category
Qty Part Number Price Part Description

Electronic Parts

0950-4107 72.00 200 watt power supply (HV, power factor correction (PFC), Bestec ATX-1956F) - 100-127VAC and 200-240VAC input (switch selectable), 50/60Hz - Total of either 7 or 8 output connectors (either version will work properly)



As you can see, it is one of the anemic 200Watt max power supplies.
I would seriously think about Banzai's suggestion of replacing the PS, I don't know where you live but even Best Buy, CompUSA, etc (maybe local PC shop) have power supplies now a days. You should be ale to buy even a 300 Watt one for under $40(US) maybe less. Using cheap power supplies is one of the many corners that Big PC companies cut to keep costs down. I hope this helps a bit good luck.