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chirping hard drive...
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 8:41 pm
by RCory
For some odd reason, my G4 dual 1.25 started chirping. I think it's one of the three hard drives inside the machine...
How can I tell which drive it is? Or is it something else??
C
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:10 pm
by Frodo
you can open the side panel of the G4 to see if you can tell what's happening. Otherwise, you may want to shut down and remove your newest drive first-- chances are if it's the drive, it'll be the oldest one. Boot up again with the side panel open to determine the source.
If there's a CD in the tray, take it out to see if that was the case.
The only other moving parts would be the fan...
Could be mice..!!
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:05 pm
by RCory
I opened up the Mac and cleaned off all the dust that had collected over the fans and exhaust vents... There was a TON of crud.
The chirping has all but disappeared!
C
ps - backed up all the drives anyway...
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:25 pm
by midiw
I would consider replacing the oldest drive and so on. The cost of drives are really down these days. You may even consider adding a fourth drive. That's what I did last year. Replaced the original and brought it up to 4 drives.
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:32 pm
by RCory
Hey midiw -
I went and bought a huge drive to back up everything. I put it in a external firewire enclosure, copied everything to it, and put it back in the box and on a shelf.
C
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 3:41 pm
by sdemott
Open up disk utility (Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility) and as you select each drive you will get a status report on the bottom of its S.M.A.R.T. status. Anything other than a green "Verified" is a dying HD.
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:39 pm
by RCory
sdemott -
Thanks for this. One of the drives shows up as "Not Supported"
Is that bad?
C
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 7:35 pm
by midiw
Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:29 am
by twistedtom
No problem you should be able to use the drive utillity program < aplications - drive utility > and format the drive. You will select "erase". This will put the info on the drive you need.
Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 6:29 am
by sdemott
RCory wrote:sdemott -
Thanks for this. One of the drives shows up as "Not Supported"
Is that bad?
C
As twistedtom said - the S.M.A.R.T. drivers are not installed, reformatting the drive using disk utility will add all necessary drivers. Just be sure to backup the drive first.