Help, harddrive buzzing noise on loading vst

dj donnyman · Post by **dj donnyman** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:04 pm

I am getting a loud buzzing sound from my harddrive each time I load a particular live set in live 5, it only lasts about 2 seconds, I think it may be something to do with the free VST I downloaded, I get a really cool sound from this VST, but I'm a bit worried that something may happen to my hardrive if I continue to load this particular set up into live, it's not a very healthy sound. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this, or does anyone have any idea what the exact cause could be. Would be grateful for any help on this,
p.s I don't seem to have any problems using other VST's

Cheers
Sonic

network.funky · Post by **network.funky** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:33 pm

Any odd mechanical buzzing noise from a hard drive is generally not good. It could be that the drive is on its way out and the sectors that that particular Live set are stored on puts the drive and/or read heads into a position that is causing some internal friction that should not take place.

It would only run for a second or two as the data from those sectors is read and then, as the read finishes, or parts of the Live set are read from different parts of the drive the heads return to somewhere erm, quieter.

I'd suggest backing up the disk asap. Then de-frag it. This will, more than likely move the Live set in question to somewhere else on the disk. If after a defrag the noise is still apparent when loading the same live set then it is probably not a physical issue with the drive.

If you do not want to de-frag then make a copy of the entire Live set and all its elements on the same drive and load that up. As the copies will be stored on different sectors (empty ones) the drive will read from different parts and may not make the noise. Actually if its a physical drive problem then you'll also hear the odd noise while you make the copy and it reads that same data.

If it is a physical problem with the disk you'll find that the noise will become more frequent as it effects more areas of the disk or that the number of bad blocks on the disk goes up.

There are only 2 types of hard drive. Those that have failed, and those that are going to fail. Backup regularly.

thelike5 · Post by **thelike5** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:19 pm

network.funky wrote:Any odd mechanical buzzing noise from a hard drive is generally not good. ore areas of the disk or that the number of bad blocks on the disk goes up.

There are only 2 types of hard drive. Those that have failed, and those that are going to fail. Backup regularly.

Yeah, nobody ever wants to hear this when a hard drive stars going but it's true. I had one go on me a couple years back and it wasn't pretty... never is I suppose.

On the brightside, at least they make a noise for a few days or a week or so to TELL you they are dying. I have two hard drives in my mac. One went bad so i had to disconnect the jumper line/cable that was connecting both of them together. Try and repair permissions all you want, I'm not sure what the proper terms are but disconnecting the cable that connected both drives fixed the problem. I have been meaning to install a new drive down there I just haven't needed the space but I'm sure I will soon.

I would back up, remove the VST plug in, remove the hard drive install new one and you should be set. Something tells me a VSt plug in won't make your hard drive sound like that.

DeadlyKungFu · Post by **DeadlyKungFu** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:07 pm

Turn the music up.

b0unce · Post by **b0unce** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:13 pm

yer harddrive has the aids.

dj donnyman · Post by **dj donnyman** » Thu May 25, 2006 10:51 pm

Thanks for the replies, Well erm the sensible one's anyways. I defragged my hard drive, does'nt seem to be any reported problems, but it has'nt solved the problem so I'm removing the set and VST, it's a shame cos I had a really cool sound going on.

network.funky · Post by **network.funky** » Fri May 26, 2006 10:02 am

dj donnyman wrote:Thanks for the replies, Well erm the sensible one's anyways. I defragged my hard drive, does'nt seem to be any reported problems, but it has'nt solved the problem so I'm removing the set and VST, it's a shame cos I had a really cool sound going on.

You don't need to delete the set, just copy it somewhere else.

Also if you ran disk check and it didn't report any problems then keep going.

As long as you have backed up your data then you're fine if the disk fails. Until then so long as the Live set runs ok once its loaded keep on enjoying the cool sound you had going. Its hardly worth scrapping someting you've worked on just because your HDD makes an odd noise.