WD Caviar Green 3TB

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KiwiT

53 posts

Master Geek

#161862 21-Jan-2015 23:05

Hi All
I have a WD Caviar Green 3TB drive (with 2.2TB of data) that was in a WD Mybooklive NAS enclosure. Its since decided to not spin up anymore.

I removed it from the case and plugged it into a PC to test the fault. With an ear to the top of the drive, when plugged in, it make 3 quiet chirp noises a pause and 3 more, then nothing. Im hoping someone also had a dud drive with a different problem and perhaps the PCB board it good and I could swap it to try. Dont want to open it up yet.

I have a WD RED 3TB ready to ghost everything over to if i can get it to spin up.

If you have a Caviar Green 3TB that i could steal the PCB from that would be good. Will pay for courier etc.

Thanks

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#1219594 21-Jan-2015 23:26

I had a WD Caviar Green 2TB Drive fail on me at about 18 months old. Before that, 2 different Seagate Barracuda drives failed (2TB and 3TB). Admittedly I am running them 24/7, so last time ordered a 3TB WD Black Edition, and had no more problems (touch wood).

I wouldn't buy 'Green' edition drives again as they don't seem to be rated for heavy use. Sorry can't help you with the PCB as my faulty WD drive is 2TB.

If you are hearing 3 clicks then silence, it sounds to me as though the heads are stuck to the platter so the PCB won't be of any help.

KiwiT

53 posts

Master Geek

#1219602 21-Jan-2015 23:52

yeah i've not read good things about the Green's. But its factory supplied so not much i could do. didn't find out till too late. Im not a fan of the Seagates at all, had many fail.

Hmm, stuck the heads you say.....

Athlonite

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#1219658 22-Jan-2015 06:39

sometimes standing them on their side and giving them a rap with the handle of screw driver (solid handle) or small tap with a hammer can un-stick them remember though not to hard you don't want other damage to occur, You can also try putting it in a freezer bag and sucking all the air out and freezing it for a few days whilst it is still cold plug it in and turn it on

timmmay

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#1219676 22-Jan-2015 07:23

All drives fail at random times, therefore all drives need to be backed up from the first day they have useful data.

Sorry to say that if you have valuable data on the disk you're probably going to have to pay a professional recovery place. Sounds more like a mechanical failure to me.

grant_k

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#1219785 22-Jan-2015 09:11

KiwiT: Hi All
I have a WD Caviar Green 3TB drive (with 2.2TB of data) that was in a WD Mybooklive NAS enclosure. Its since decided to not spin up anymore.
...
I have a WD RED 3TB ready to ghost everything over to if i can get it to spin up.

I also have a WD Mybooklive 3TB NAS, but didn't know what type of drive was inside it until I saw your post. Mine only gets plugged in once a month for a few hours to do backups and then put away in a cupboard in a different house. Hopefully it will last a long time with that sort of duty cycle.

WD Red Edition drives are intended for CCTV Surveillance systems I think, so hopefully that will be OK for your NAS.

Kiwiuk

138 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#1219795 22-Jan-2015 09:24

In the past I have had great success with the freezer method for stuck heads, bagged and left overnight for around 10 hours.

ratsun81

508 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1219798 22-Jan-2015 09:27

WD Red Edition drives are intended for CCTV Surveillance systems I think, so hopefully that will be OK for your NAS.

You are getting mixed up with the WD purple drives which are the surveillance models.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1210&utm_source=WD%20Red%20redirect&utm_medium=collateral&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=product

WD red are designed for NAS use.

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timmmay

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#1219802 22-Jan-2015 09:29

grant_k: I also have a WD Mybooklive 3TB NAS, but didn't know what type of drive was inside it until I saw your post. Mine only gets plugged in once a month for a few hours to do backups and then put away in a cupboard in a different house. Hopefully it will last a long time with that sort of duty cycle.

WD Red Edition drives are intended for CCTV Surveillance systems I think, so hopefully that will be OK for your NAS.

Red are for NAS devices. Purple are for CCTV/surveillance. Green are really for backups, they spin up and down so often that if you use them internally for random things they'll spin up and down so often they'll wear out quickly.

I've found Seagate drives reliable internally but not that reliable when used only monthly. They wear out much more quickly than they would otherwise.

SepticSceptic

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#1220075 22-Jan-2015 13:26

There is a WD utility that will disable the spin down / spin up feature on the green drives, or at least extend the timeout to several hours.
Did that for a Green drive that was in a pooled drive in WHS v1, as the lag for network streaming was a PITA. Videos would hold buffer content for a few mins as data was read across the extender, then pause for a few seconds as the drive spun up again, etc

tommywd

15 posts

Geek

#1220149 22-Jan-2015 14:52

Hi KiwiT, sorry to hear about the problems with the HDD there. There are several possible causes for this problem.

Faulty EIDE or Serial ATA data cable.
Incorrect BIOS settings (EIDE or Serial ATA drives in PC systems).
Incorrect configuration (SCSI drives).
Data corruption or the drive may be defective.
The power supply in the computer may not be able to power all the devices in your computer.

You may try to see below for possible resolutions to each of the causes above.

Solution#1 - Turn off your computer system and disconnect the data cable to the drive that is making the noise. Do NOT remove the power cable. Turn your computer system back on. If the clicking noise still persists, your drive is defective and needs to be replaced. Please see RMA (http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Myt2gk) for details about product replacement. If the drive does not make the same clicking noise, then you have a faulty cable. Replace the data cable.

Solution#2 - Verify that your drive is properly detected by the system BIOS (http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=OHGwVS)

Solution#3 - Test your drive to determine if the clicking is the result of data corruption or the result of physical problems with the drive, by using Data Lifeguard Diagnostic Utility (http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=nfp2AE)

Solution#4 - Replace the power supply in the computer with a higher wattage power supply.

Let us know how it goes, hope this helps.

KiwiT

53 posts

Master Geek

#1220988 23-Jan-2015 18:18

SepticSceptic: There is a WD utility that will disable the spin down / spin up feature on the green drives, or at least extend the timeout to several hours.
Did that for a Green drive that was in a pooled drive in WHS v1, as the lag for network streaming was a PITA. Videos would hold buffer content for a few mins as data was read across the extender, then pause for a few seconds as the drive spun up again, etc

My NAS itinitally worked alot, constantly flashing green led indicating disk activity. I fine tuned my mybooklive, closing down unneeded background programs and then the drive went to sleep (constant blue led). only waking for user intervention.

KiwiT

53 posts

Master Geek

#1220989 23-Jan-2015 18:19

Kiwiuk: In the past I have had great success with the freezer method for stuck heads, bagged and left overnight for around 10 hours.

Ok?, What then? did you let it warm up or plugged it into power while cold?

KiwiT

53 posts

Master Geek

#1220991 23-Jan-2015 18:21

grant_k:
KiwiT: Hi All
I have a WD Caviar Green 3TB drive (with 2.2TB of data) that was in a WD Mybooklive NAS enclosure. Its since decided to not spin up anymore.
...
I have a WD RED 3TB ready to ghost everything over to if i can get it to spin up.

I also have a WD Mybooklive 3TB NAS, but didn't know what type of drive was inside it until I saw your post. Mine only gets plugged in once a month for a few hours to do backups and then put away in a cupboard in a different house. Hopefully it will last a long time with that sort of duty cycle.

WD Red Edition drives are intended for CCTV Surveillance systems I think, so hopefully that will be OK for your NAS.

I recommend you open it up (voiding any warranty) and replacing it with a better drive. Does your NAS get a solid blue led after a while when not accesing it? or does it always flash green?

timmmay

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#1221061 23-Jan-2015 19:49

Interestingly, the big drive survey released not so long ago by BackBlaze pretty much says don't buy 3TB drives, most suck other than HGST.

JWR

821 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1221135 23-Jan-2015 21:22

timmmay: Interestingly, the big drive survey released not so long ago by BackBlaze pretty much says don't buy 3TB drives, most suck other than HGST.

I saw that too.

I have a couple of 3TB Green. They are still going Ok for now.

Think I might move them into a mirrored config at some point tho:)

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