Hi!
I have just started using my first G-DRIVE, I have always had Lacie discs.
I don’t have a thunderbolt 3 port on my iMac, it is connected with USB 3.0.
I noticed from the first connection, that the disk makes a slight working noise, every 3-4 seconds, even if the disk is not performing operations. The disk seems to work correctly, I’m copying files I don’t see any problems, but the noise continues. Maybe it’s normal, I ask you because I don’t know G-technology products.
tnx
Met
Hi, I have just order the same drive for the iMac 2020. Is yours working ok now?
tnx
Antonio
Hi Antonio,
the drive seems is working ok.
I hope it’s just a little bit noisy in normal work.
Seems a little slow when the drive come back to work after a period of stand by.
Matteo
I have a 6tb USB 3.0 G Drive and it does the same exact thing. It sounds like a soft “thud” every 4-5 seconds when idle. It is the same sound like when it is reading or writing except it is ONLY one soft thud/tick. Then after like 10-15 minutes the drive goes to sleep if idle (on my Mac since it is set to put drives to sleep whenever possible). Based on my bast guess this is all normal and some process the drive does automatically when idle. I am no expert but googled this a bunch and it seems like a lot of people with drives larger than 4tb notice this behavior so I doubt it is a defect. I am talking to tech support and will update if I find out any more info
**also, if you are on a Mac, spotlight might be accessing the drive while it is idle unless you set this drive to not be searched by spotlight. This can cause sounds like the drive working while it is idle but you should see the G drive logo flash while this is happening since the drive is actively reading and writing. This is separate from the ticking noise every 4-5 seconds.
Update, just talked to G technology support and they basically said this is normal operation (assuming the drive isn’t acting up in other ways) and included the following info…
Normal drive sounds include:
Whirring noise during drive spin-up when the computer is starting up, waking from sleep, or the drive is transitioning from idle to full speed to resume normal operation
Occasional drive clicks occurring at 4 or 5 second intervals, and the drive is functioning normally and passes diagnostics
Hard clicks during a head park operation during shutdown or entering sleep mode
Abnormal drive sounds include:
Grinding sounds
Vibration sounds due to either vibration in the mounting hardware or in rare cases, a drive failure
Clicking or clunking sounds that occur repeatedly.
so, upon further research I also stumbled upon something known as “pre-emptive wear leveling” which is a feature most (maybe all) WD drives have. I think G drive is owned by WD and uses their drives so this makes sense. Google “pre-emptive wear leveling” if you want to learn more but basically the drive does some sort of sweep every 4-5 seconds and calibrates something to help ensure long life of the drives. After reading up on it I am convinced this is what I am hearing on my 6tb drive so I feel good about that. Hopefully this information helps your situation. I guess now we should all worry if our drives are too quite when idle.
I have the same clicking sound on my new 10 TB hard drive (G-Drive). I am considering to return it as an defect drive - should not repeat an clicking every 2-3 seconds! Did WD support comment on your issue?
/Jesper
Just bought two 6TB G-Tech drives. My Time Machine drive is not ticking. My media drive IS ticking. Inquiry sent to tech support… waiting to see what they say, and monitoring this thread. With COVID and producing at home, these drives are mission critical as I have a new deliverable and all its assets hanging on them every week. A little scary. And no I’m not backing up 3TB to the cloud on a regular basis - it’s just not practical - drive reliability is what’s practical. My permanent assets and building blocks are backed up to the cloud, but week-to-week projects come-and-go and I need a drive I’m not worried about.
I have return the hard drive.
