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I'm using a hybrid hard drive on my Debian10/KDE machine.

It's fully encrypted and the GNOME Disks tool says that the Disk is OK with all assessments having the status OK.

My problem is that it's too loud even when according to the disk I/O momitor no data is getting read or written. It's a constant noise (no clicking sounds or alike) that sounds like a fan (it's none of my fans though).

It goes away when putting the drive to standby. A second drive of the same type sounds exactly the same.

Is that normal for such hard drives? They're the only barrier to a fully silent PC-build to me now.

Is there a way to make them more silent beyond standby timeouts? For example would it be possible to choose what should be stored on its SSD and make it stay silent when nothing else gets accessed or when there's no reading/writing going on?

Giacomo1968
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mYnDstrEAm
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    You can use `hdparm` to spin down the drive after a defined amount of idle time. If you want a fully silent PC, don't use a HDD (they'll always be loud when spinning), use SSD only. – dirkt Sep 26 '19 at 14:31
  • What is the exact make and model of the hard disk drive? None of this sounds normal. – Giacomo1968 Sep 26 '19 at 14:38
  • @dirkt I think GNOME Disks uses hdparm in its *Standby Timeout Settings* under *Drive Settings...*. SSD-only is too expensive for ordinarily large storage-space. – mYnDstrEAm Sep 26 '19 at 14:41
  • Of SSD-only is too expensive, you've got to define your use case. What kind of content do you want on the HDD, and how often are you going to access it? If you need it every 30 minutes or so, the disk will constantly spin up and down, and you won't like it. If you need it every week, it might work. You can also get a "green" HDD with reduced RPM, and make sure you place it somewhere with good sound isolation. As for Gnome, I don't use Gnome and I have no idea what it does and why it doesn't work, but you can use `hdparm` to find that out (and correct it, if necessary). – dirkt Sep 27 '19 at 07:12

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This is not normal for any modern drive.

You say no clicking (possibly indicating failure) and test says OK.

So the drives may need to be mounted so as to be isolated from the case. It appears the sound may be generated by the normal disk vibration (usually small) against the case.

Perhaps try a new drive (nothing on it) and see if it makes a noise in your case

John
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  • Well, it sounded the same for another hard drive of the same model. It could also be due to the full disk encryption. I'll try anti-vibration screws but the noise doesn't sound like it's caused by vibrations against the case that could be reduced/removed by different screws. – mYnDstrEAm Sep 26 '19 at 14:47
  • A modern well-made drive is usually silent. It could be a consumer drive from the manufacturer. – John Sep 26 '19 at 14:53
  • HDDs too? It's a normal hybrid HDD. I don't think I'll get anti-vibration screws: they won't help. The noise is coming from within the HDD as if there's a fan inside of it. – mYnDstrEAm Sep 26 '19 at 16:02
  • I have not seen a good modern (less than 3 years) hard drive make this kind of noise. Perhaps ask the Drive Manufacturer support – John Sep 26 '19 at 16:06