First time posting here. My G Drive USB started making incredibly scary noises while I was rendering a project in premiere pro. I shut it off and went to Best Buy and got a temporary back up, and filed for an RMA. However, now that the data was backed up, I kept working on it. The noises persisted, but to my surprise the G Drive USB worked fine. Although the speeds are now reading and writing around 160mbs and I remember it being around 215mbs.
I took a video of the way the G Drive sounds when being powered on. It was not connected to the computer, only to the power. Is this normal? or is it a warning for a failure coming soon? any advice would be appreciated!
Hi, I hear the heads making movement and seeking noises at the beginning of start up; not unusual, then it gets pretty quiet.
Don’t let the copy speed difference throw you a curve; short files can appear quite fast. whereas a few gigibytes file is a more accurate indicator of consistent speed.
Okay, comforting to hear about the noise it was making. It also sounds like that periodically when things are being transferred and at times when in normal use.
As for the copy speed difference - would it make it any different being aware that I used Black Magic Speed Test and always used the 5gb stress test? Before I would get around 215mbs now I’m getting 160mbs?
The way I check speed of file transfers is with the Windows notificationscreen during file transfers. Since I have a completely gigabit network and use USB3 drive, I get the maximum speed allowable when copying from PC to my WD My Cloud NAS. That speed is 113MB/sec. This speed is when transferring large 5+ gigabyte video files. Using USB2 drive would make this slower as well as a non-gigabit network. Small photo and music files would give a faster (and untrue) faster speed.
I have the same question and concern. 5TB drive(s) from B&H. RMA for the first one making the noises. Then a few days later, the second drive started making those sounds, too. Has me a bit worried, some other drives that have made that noise with the heads clicking around like that when idle was a precursor to them failing. I’ve owned a few G-Drives over the years, and they’ve all been really reliable – and still work great – but this has me wondering if I should change my RMA from an exchange to a return on these particular drives.
I have tried two G-Drive 10TB USB - both make expected hard-drive sound when writing and reading, but there is a relentless loud knock/clunk every two seconds when idle. Getting refund and trying other brands instead.
I know, I know, the last comment here is already some months ago. But I’ve exactly the same problem with my now third(!) 10TB G-Drive. Sent back the first after hearing the sound, which you can also hear in the video of the first commenter here. Got a second, same story. Sent it back. Now I’ve the third one, and again the same. What the hell is going on here? This is definitely NOT a trustworthy drive, even though it’s from WD, if I understood correctly. But why this scary sound in idle state? Additionally I’m also scared about the fact, that a constant moving and using of the reading/writing arm over years could be a problem as well, instead goimg to a parking position when not in use. Really strange…
Thanks for any hint from someone using one of those noisy drives over the last years.
I just got one of these drives - same thing. I’ve had many G-drives over the years and they have all been quiet and reliable. This thing is a tarnish on their name. Were they always owned by Western Digital? I’ve many terrible WD drives (and some good ones). This one is going right back to the seller. I guess I won’t bother ordering another of the same type.
These two are both super loud as well.
The one on the left is a 4tb and the one on the right is a 12 TB. They never shut up. It seriously annoying and no way in hell would i buy these again.
