Beep from HDD on shutdown/power off. Is this normal? (video)

[cowala]

Hello,
Just done building and installing my first FreeNAS 9.10.2U4 in a Fractal Design Node 304 using WD Red 6TB x6 (raid1). I noticed on power off this weird whistle/beep noise from the HDD itself.

It doesn't occur every time, but it happens more frequently when the HDD is on its side (orientation inside the case). All HDDs from two shipments produce the same sound. Unplugged all drives to be sure it is not the motherboard speaker. No errors after 12 hours of testing using GSmartControl. No errors from FreeNas.

Videos: (power on for a few seconds then forced power off)
Video 1.mp4 (2.3MB) the noise happens at 00:15.
Video 2.mp4 (1.5MB) the noise happens at 00:10.
If you have VLC Player, scroll up to raise the volume above 100.

Is this normal?

 

[melloa]

1st video didn't hear a thing. 2nd one there is a click at the end, like the HD is parking? With all the noise I have around, I wouldn't notice that until it fails :D

 

[cowala]

In the first video it happens at 00:15.
In the second video it happens at 00:10.
If you have VLC Player, scroll up to raise the volume above 100.

 

[Stux]

Hmmm.

I've had drives which 'beep' as they spin up.

Could be the armiture swinging back/forth.

 

[cowala]

So what's the plan? Is it normal or should I return them?

 

[nojohnny101]

This is pure speculation as it is hard to tell from a video and not knowing if you are doing anything with the drives when those sounds happen. Having said that, the sounds to me are very similar to sounds I have heard drives make when power is cut from them suddenly. I know this isn't directly related to your case but that is what I hear.

So what's the plan? Is it normal or should I return them?

As for the way forward? WD Reds have a good warranty so you have that going for you. Perform your due diligence and make sure all your drives are full burned in before you put them to use. You can search on these forums about how to do that. If they are fully burned it and didn't throw any errors at anytime during that process, that would be enough for me to proceed. After burning in you could run smart tests on them for extra peace of mind.

People on here recommend burning in drives because it will catch >90% of pre failures that even new drives can have.