Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:16:18 -0600 (MDT) From: Warren Block <wblock@wonkity.com> To: Manish Jain <bourne.identity@hotmail.com> Cc: "Brandon J.Wandersee" <brandon.wandersee@gmail.com>, freebsd-questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Facing a strange problem Message-ID: <alpine.BSF.2.20.1608181611140.25296@wonkity.com> In-Reply-To: <VI1PR02MB09742BA14A5B15EC6E7F71C7F6140@VI1PR02MB0974.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com> References: <VI1PR02MB09746A446A84576ABBF8F157C2140@VI1PR02MB0974.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com> <864m6j3w9a.fsf@WorkBox.Home> <VI1PR02MB09742BA14A5B15EC6E7F71C7F6140@VI1PR02MB0974.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com>
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On Wed, 17 Aug 2016, Manish Jain wrote: > On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 3:15 AM, Brandon J.Wandersee > <brandon.wandersee@gmail.com> wrote: Actually, SSDs do indeed make a > high-pitched noisen when active---at least the ones in my laptop do > (two different brands and form factors). The noise is very soft and > not really constant, though. It's more a syncopated, staccato > "crackling" that sounds like a whine during high I/O, and you aren't > likely to notice it unless the rest of the machine (and room, for that > matter) is nearly silent. So unless you notice that the tone and > rhythm of the sound matches up with the I/O of your system, disk isn't > a likely source. > > A bit surprising, because I believe SSD's don't have any moving parts. > The noise I hear fluctuates pretty wildly, most of the time actually > zero, and fairly prominent when I hover on the categories in the > Applications menu of Gnome. At the bad moments, it's like a crappy > bearing being driven by the creator of hell. If is it is the SSD > attached to a SATA3 port, it would be pretty damning because there is > hardly any I/O needed to generate the Applications menu listing. Well, they don't have any parts that move very much. But they do have some inductors, and those can vibrate during use because of the current flowing through them. It is a form of very inefficient speaker. Probably the amount of noise is affected by a dozen different variables, including individual hearing ability. I have a Toshiba SSD in a notebook that is audible. The sound is very clearly tied to disk activity. In your case, I would probably rig up some kind of stethoscope-like listening tube to try to localize the source of the sound.
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