Seagate Hard Disk Noise

Question

I just bought an used 8TB Seagate Exos HD and I although seems to works fine what caught my attention is that on startup it makes very weird sounds, this is the first time I bought a seagate hd and also the first time I bought used storage, with smaller (2TB) WD hd's never heard such weird sounds.

I tested the disk with Seatools and it passed the short and long test. Also checked it HD Sentinel and Crystaldskinfo and seems to be Ok too but I don't understand to much of the parameters listed in the results.

Seatool test result:

Seatool SMART info:

CrystalDiskInfo:

Hard Disk Sentinel report:

-- Physical Disk Information - Disk: #1: ST8000NM000A-2KE101 --
Hard Disk Summary


Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1
Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3, 6 Gbps
Disk Controller  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Controladora SATA AHCI estándar (AHCI) [VEN: 1022, DEV: 7901] Version: 10.0.19041.1889, 6-21-2006
Disk Location  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bus Number 1, Target Id 0, LUN 0
Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ST8000NM000A-2KE101
Firmware Revision  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SN03
Hard Disk Serial Number  . . . . . . . . . . . . : WSD1BXMB
Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7630882 MB
Power State  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Active
Device Type  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Fixed Disk
Logical Drive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Z: [Movies] 
Current Temperature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 21 °C
Maximum Temperature (Ever Measured)  . . . . . . : 45 °C, 2/8/2023 21:43:37
Minimum Temperature (Ever Measured)  . . . . . . : 17 °C, 7/8/2023 21:54:46
Maximum Temperature (During Entire Lifespan) . . : 55 °C
Power On Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 514 days, 12 hours
Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : more than 1000 days
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)
Performance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)

Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 1173 times.
In case of sudden system crash, reboot, blue-screen-of-death, inaccessible file(s)/folder(s), it is recommended to verify data and power cables, connections - and if possible try different cables to prevent further problems.
More information: https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_case_communication_error.php
  No actions needed.

ATA Information


Hard Disk Cylinders  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 15504021
Hard Disk Heads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Hard Disk Sectors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63
ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ACS-4
Transport Version  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SATA Rev 3.3
Total Sectors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1953506646
Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4096 [Advanced Format]
Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0
Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7630885 MB
Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Highest Possible Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps)
Negotiated Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . : S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps)
Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time  . . . . . . : 120 ns
Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time  . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY  . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns
ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid
ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid

Acoustic Management Configuration


Acoustic Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Acoustic Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Disabled
Current Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Default (00h)
Recommended Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . : Max performance and volume (FEh)

ATA Features


Read Ahead Buffer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
DMA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Ultra DMA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
S.M.A.R.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Write Cache  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Host Protected Area  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
HPA Security Extensions  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Advanced Power Management  . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Extended Power Management  . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
Power Up In Standby  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
48-Bit LBA Addressing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Device Configuration Overlay . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
IORDY Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Read/Write DMA Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NOP Command  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Trusted Computing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
64-Bit World Wide ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5000C500C96F5A43
Streaming  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Media Card Pass Through  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
General Purpose Logging  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Error Logging  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
CFA Feature Set  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
CFast Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Long Physical Sectors (8)  . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Long Logical Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Write-Read-Verify  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Disabled
NV Cache Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NV Cache Power Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NV Cache Size  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Free-fall Control  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Free-fall Control Sensitivity  . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Service Interrupt  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
IDLE IMMEDIATE Command With UNLOAD Feature . . . : Supported
Zoned Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
SCT Command Transport  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
SCT Error Recovery Control . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Nominal Media Rotation Rate  . . . . . . . . . . : 7200 RPM
Nominal Form Factor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3.5 inch

SSD Features


Data Set Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
TRIM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Deterministic Read After TRIM  . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Read Zeroes After TRIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

S.M.A.R.T. Details


Off-line Data Collection Status  . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
Self Test Execution Status . . . . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
Total Time To Complete Off-line Data Collection  : 567 seconds
Execute Off-line Immediate . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Abort/restart Off-line By Host . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Off-line Read Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Short Self-test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Extended Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Conveyance Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Selective Self-Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Save Data Before/After Power Saving Mode . . . . : Supported
Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave  . . . . . . . : Supported
Error Logging Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Short Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . . . : 1 minutes
Extended Self-test Estimated Time  . . . . . . . : 731 minutes
Conveyance Self-test Estimated Time  . . . . . . : 2 minutes
Last Short Self-test Result  . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Short Self-test Date  . . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Extended Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Extended Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Conveyance Self-test Result . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Conveyance Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . : Never Started

Security Mode


Security Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Erase Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 732 minutes
Security Enhanced Erase Feature  . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Enhanced Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . : 732 minutes
Security Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Locked  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Frozen  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Security Counter Expired . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : High
Device Encrypts All User Data  . . . . . . . . . : No
Sanitize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Overwrite  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Crypto Scramble  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Block Erase  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Sanitize Antifreeze Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
ACS-3 Commands Allowed By Sanitize . . . . . . . : Yes

Serial ATA Features


S-ATA Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
S-ATA I Signaling Speed (1.5 Gps)  . . . . . . . : Supported
S-ATA II Signaling Speed (3 Gps) . . . . . . . . : Supported
S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps) . . . . . . . : Supported
Receipt Of Power Management Requests From Host . : Not supported
PHY Event Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Non-Zero Buffer Offsets In DMA Setup FIS . . . . : Not supported
DMA Setup Auto-Activate Optimization . . . . . . : Supported, Disabled
Device Initiating Interface Power Management . . : Supported, Disabled
In-Order Data Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Asynchronous Notification  . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Software Settings Preservation . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
Native Command Queuing (NCQ) . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Queue Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32
NCQ Streaming  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NCQ Autosense  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Automatic Partial To Slumber Translations  . . . : Not supported
Rebuild Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Disabled
Hybrid Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Device Sleep (DevSleep)  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
DevSleep To ReducedPwrState  . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

Disk Information


Disk Family  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Exos 7E8
Form Factor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3.5" 
Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8 TB (8 x 1.000.000.000.000 bytes)
Number Of Disks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ?
Number Of Heads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ?
Rotational Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7200 RPM
Rotation Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8,33 ms
Average Rotational Latency . . . . . . . . . . . : 4,17 ms
Disk Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Serial-ATA/600
Buffer-Host Max. Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 600 MB/seconds
Buffer Size  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 262144 KB
Drive Ready Time (Typical) . . . . . . . . . . . : ? seconds
Average Seek Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
Track To Track Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
Full Stroke Seek Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
Width  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 101,9 mm (4,0 inch)
Depth  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 147,0 mm (5,8 inch)
Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 26,1 mm (1,0 inch)
Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 716 grams (1,6 pounds)
Required Power For Spinup  . . . . . . . . . . . : ? mA
Power Required (Seek)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 12,8 W
Power Required (Idle)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7,6 W
Power Required (Standby) . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? W

S.M.A.R.T.


No.  Attribute                Thre.. Value  Worst  Data                Status                   Flags

1    Raw Read Error Rate      44     82     64     161122843           OK                       Error-Rate, Performance, Statistical, Critical

3    Spin Up Time             0      90     90     0                   OK (Always passing)      Statistical, Critical

4    Start/Stop Count         20     100    100    281                 OK                       Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

5    Reallocated Sectors Co.. 10     100    100    0                   OK                       Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical, Critical

7    Seek Error Rate          45     75     60     35384631            OK                       Error-Rate, Performance, Statistical, Critical

9    Power On Time Count      0      86     86     12348               OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

10   Spin Retry Count         97     100    100    0                   OK                       Event Count, Statistical, Critical

12   Drive Power Cycle Count  20     100    100    114                 OK                       Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

18   Head Health Self Asses.. 50     100    100    0                   OK                       Error-Rate, Statistical, Critical

187  Reported Uncorrectable.. 0      100    100    0                   OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

188  Command Timeout          0      100    1      524287              OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

190  Airflow Temperature      40     79     45     21                  OK                       Self Preserving, Statistical

192  Power off Retract Cycl.. 0      100    100    45                  OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

193  Load/Unload Cycle Count  0      61     61     79076               OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

194  Disk Temperature         0      21     55     15; 21              OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Statistical

195  Hardware ECC Recovered   0      13     1      161122843           OK (Always passing)      Event Count, Error-Rate, Statistical

197  Current Pending Sector.. 0      100    100    0                   OK (Always passing)      Event Count, Statistical

198  Off-Line Uncorrectable.. 0      100    100    0                   OK (Always passing)      Event Count

199  Ultra ATA CRC Error Co.. 0      200    178    1173                OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Error-Rate, Performanc.. 
240  Head Flying Hours        0      100    253    2856                OK (Always passing)

241  Total LBA Written        0      100    253    39782514162         OK (Always passing)

242  Total LBA Read           0      100    253    1671592783          OK (Always passing)
Transfer Rate Information


Total Data Read  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 MB,  1 MB since installation  (2/8/2023)
Total Data Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 MB,  0 MB since installation
Average Reads Per Day  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0,17 MB
Average Writes Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0,00 MB
Current Transfer Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Maximum Transfer Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Read Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Write Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Disk Activity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 %

Please help me interpret the SMART reports.

Answer 1

I concern about some numbers in the following parameters, Command Timeout, Ultra ATA CRC Error, Hardware ECC Recovered, Seek Error Rate and Raw Read Error Rate.

Some of the Seagate RAW values are very counter intuitive.

Based on this answer: https://superuser.com/a/1747851/705502 I made a simple converter for some of the values:

1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate
7 Seek_Error_Rate
195 ECC_On_the_Fly_Count

Raw Read Error Rate 161122843 then gives:

Seek Error Rate 35384631 gives:

Hardware ECC Recovered 161122843 gives us:

Command Timeout 524287 we need to do manually based on: http://t1.daumcdn.net/brunch/service/user/axm/file/zRYOdwPu3OMoKYmBOby1fEEQEbU.pdf

3.11 Attribute ID 188: Command Timeout Count
Normalized Command Timeout Count = 100 – Command Timeout Count .
This attribute tracks the number of command time outs as defined by an active command being interrupted by a HRESET and COMRESET or SRST or another command
The normalized value is only computed when the number of commands is in the range 103 to 104. The CommandCount and ErroCount are cleared when Number Of Commands reaches 104. The error count used to compute normalized value is not reported in attribute Raw value. It is reported in vendor info area of Attribute sector, bytes 474:475. If Command Timeout Count is > 99, normalize value of 1 is reported. The initial Worst Value is set to 0xFD as a special case.
Raw Usage
Raw [1 – 0] = Total # of command timeouts, with Max hold of FFFFh
Raw [3 – 2] = Total # of commands with > 5 second completion, including those > 7.5 seconds
Raw [5 – 4] = Total # of commands with > 7.5 second completion

According to both Crystal and Seatool we get 30065295359 in decimal which is 00070007FFFF in hex.

So it does appear time outs occurred.

Ultra ATA CRC Error Count 1173, according to Seagate document should be interpreted as:

3.18 Attribute ID 199: Ultra DMA CRC Error Count
Normalized Ultra DMA CRC Error Count = 200 – (#OfCRCErrors * SampleSize /
#SectorsTransferred) where SampleSize = 8000. The attribute is computed if sectors transferred
is >= SampleSize.
Note – Replace CRC errors with R-Errs for SATA drives.
Raw Usage
Raw [3 – 0] = Current CRC/R_Errs Error Count

So it appears errors occurred.

TBH I am not certain how bad or how normal these last two values are.

With regards to Ultra ATA CRC Error, you may want to check if cables are properly seated. It's not by definition cabling errors, but they could be. It's unlikely this type of error contributes to abnormal noise.