I just got a WD MyBook Essential 3TB USB 3.0. It seems to work fine, including the USB 3.0 speeds.
However, every 10 seconds (I’ve timed it), it makes an annoying sound (as if the spindle is moving briefly) and blinks exaclty 4 times even though it is NOT being used (e.g. no files are being transferred to/from it although it’s plugged in).
Now, this is incredibly annoying because it happens 6 times a minute, every minute, of every hour, of every day while I’m trying to concentrate on work. It’s like the Chinese Water Torture of hard drives, especially since it’s right up there on my desk where I work, mocking me every 10 seconds.
Do all MyBook Essential drives do this or is mine defective? Can this be fixed? If I can’t get this fixed, I will have to return it and get a different hard drive because it’s driving me crazy!
What OS are you using? Does it do the same thing when connected USB 2.0? Do you have another PC to try it on? Just trying to narrow down the problem. If it does in both it would be the drive. If it’s only in USB 3.0 then it would be an issue there possibly driver or settings to check.
What OS are you using? Does it do the same thing when connected USB 2.0? Do you have another PC to try it on? Just trying to narrow down the problem. If it does in both it would be the drive. If it’s only in USB 3.0 then it would be an issue there possibly driver or settings to check.
Joe
I’m using Win 7 Pro.
After updating the Firmware and the WD SmartWare software and restarting my computer, it stopped and I thought I had fixed it.
But after putting my PC to sleep overnight and waking it up, it started again.
When it starts happening, it happens on BOTH USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. However, it only happens on this new PC, as I’ve tested it with an older laptop (that only has USB 2.0 ports) and it did NOT happen, but as soon as I plugged it back into the new PC, it started happening again.
I tried unplugging the USB cable from the back of the drive and then plugging it back in, but it started happening again a few seconds after I plugged it back in.
I tried unplugging the Power cable from the back of the drive and then plugging it back in, but it also started happening again a few seconds after plugging it back in.
Restarting the computer seems to fix it, and it seems like it only happens after the PC wakes up from a long sleep. For example, after a long overnight sleep, it started happening again. I restarted the PC and it stopped happening. I put the PC to sleep two times in a row (two short sleeps) and it did not happen.
This is quite frustrating and I don’t want this drive to force me to restart my PC everytime it starts making that sound every 10 seconds.
