I just wanted to post this new thread because I found a number of older unresolved threads here discussing the same issue that I stumbled upon first when searching for this issue but they have all been closed to updates.
I just bought a WD Red Pro 20TB, basically a twin of the Ultrastar HC550 / HC560 line, with OptiNand and all and this has been my first new WD in a long time after mostly using Seagate Exos and Ironwolf for the larger drives a couple years ago.
Previously I had WD Red CMR 6TB drives which were very quiet, and old HGST drives of all types, which varied in noise, but even those loud HGST drives did not have this one annoying issue of the new WD Red Pro: clicking every 5 seconds. There's head movement going on which I can strongly feel too on every click. This is pure idle, unformatted. The only time it stops occurring is when I spin the drive down.
It's definitely a lot more common and I think people placing them in rackmounts or large machines may not notice, but the environment will make a difference IMO. This is for my home office. I don't mind loud chattering noises upon I/O like the old HGST drives but during idle, clicking every 5 seconds in my quiet environment is driving me nuts.
Initially I thought something was wrong--like perhaps shipping damage from Newegg--so like all others I ran some tests, and SMART self test, and like the others here and elsewhere, no failures.
Here this guy has some recordings: https://community.wd.com/t/2x-wd-red-10tb-both-making-loud-clicking-noise/216185/4
and finally I found:
www.reddit.com
It's due to a feature PWL / Preventive Wear Leveling
From a year ago:
community.wd.com
Now that I know replacing it with another one won't solve the problem, I'm thinking about returning it (soon) for a different line.. maybe back to new Seagates of the same size or Toshibas. What are people's experiences with other brands sized 18TB + as far as idle sounds and periodic clicking?
What about the Water Panther / WP drives?
I just bought a WD Red Pro 20TB, basically a twin of the Ultrastar HC550 / HC560 line, with OptiNand and all and this has been my first new WD in a long time after mostly using Seagate Exos and Ironwolf for the larger drives a couple years ago.
Previously I had WD Red CMR 6TB drives which were very quiet, and old HGST drives of all types, which varied in noise, but even those loud HGST drives did not have this one annoying issue of the new WD Red Pro: clicking every 5 seconds. There's head movement going on which I can strongly feel too on every click. This is pure idle, unformatted. The only time it stops occurring is when I spin the drive down.
It's definitely a lot more common and I think people placing them in rackmounts or large machines may not notice, but the environment will make a difference IMO. This is for my home office. I don't mind loud chattering noises upon I/O like the old HGST drives but during idle, clicking every 5 seconds in my quiet environment is driving me nuts.
Initially I thought something was wrong--like perhaps shipping damage from Newegg--so like all others I ran some tests, and SMART self test, and like the others here and elsewhere, no failures.
Here this guy has some recordings: https://community.wd.com/t/2x-wd-red-10tb-both-making-loud-clicking-noise/216185/4
and finally I found:
Reddit - Dive into anything
www.reddit.com
It's due to a feature PWL / Preventive Wear Leveling
From a year ago:
Preventive Wear Leveling
Which WD SATA hard disk model lines (Green, Blue, Black, Red, Purple, Gold) have PWL - “Preventive Wear Leveling”? I’m talking about modern models. > PWL - “Preventive Wear Leveling”. It’s a periodic head sweep to distribute lubricant and prevent wear in a particular place if lubricant were to...
community.wd.com
I actually think some of my recent Seagates do have it (none of the WDs / HGST several years ago did though) but there it's still much less frequent and much, much quieter, as in more muted.
Now that I know replacing it with another one won't solve the problem, I'm thinking about returning it (soon) for a different line.. maybe back to new Seagates of the same size or Toshibas. What are people's experiences with other brands sized 18TB + as far as idle sounds and periodic clicking?
What about the Water Panther / WP drives?
