popping noise and orange network light flickering

[gregmacc]

Yesterday I received and began setting up my new TS253D + X2 8tb HDDs. I have set-up the configuration process using the quick wizard and storage pool and volume building are complete ... (I think). The unit took about fifteen hours to complete the storage pool. When I go into the storage/snapshot settings it tells me those processes are complete ... but the unit continues to make popping noises every few seconds and the orange network LED keeps flickering. I have not loaded any apps and it seems to have only the default ones ready to use. I have not launched any apps, created folders or added any data. The popping noises are quite distracting when I am at my workstation situated in the same room. I can accept noise when the NAS is actually processing functions but is this noise normal, as I presume it should be in some sort of idle mode and not being actively accessed?

[OneCD]

Popping noise?

Have you check your AC and DC power connections are solid?

[gregmacc]

Popping noise?

Have you check your AC and DC power connections are solid?

Hi OneCD ... thanks for responding.
Connections are fine. The noise is not arcing electrical current. It's coming from inside the NAS ... maybe the speaker? ... but it's not a 'beep" ... more like a soft muffled "clunk" ... but I'll continue to call it a "pop" for the sake of continuity.
Since my initial post several hours ago I have been experimenting and have discovered a few things which may assist others in offering an opinion/diagnosis ...

[OneCD]

... but it's not a 'beep" ... more like a soft muffled "clunk"

Ah, if it's a clunk, that would be the heads moving across the platters in the HDDs. It's the only thing in a NAS that makes a clunking sound. Some drives are noisier than others, and the construction of some NAS models won't attenuate this.

If this is a new NAS, it may be running multimedia indexing (this happens even on empty drives). It should settle down after a day or-so.

There are also internal SMART tests conducted by the HDDs which run periodically. You'd need to check the SMART info for each drive to determine if tests are being run at the moment.

If you're really interested, SSH into your NAS as the 'admin' user and check the running process list. If you install a utility like 'iotop', it can help you identify which processes are reading and writing to the HDDs.

[gregmacc]

... but it's not a 'beep" ... more like a soft muffled "clunk"

Ah, if it's a clunk, that would be the heads moving across the platters in the HDDs. It's the only thing in a NAS that makes a clunking sound. Some drives are noisier than others, and the construction of some NAS models won't attenuate

yep ... that's what it sounds like

If this is a new NAS, it may be running multimedia indexing (this happens even on empty drives). It should settle down after a day or-so

yes ... it's a brand new NAS ... and obviously I'm not particularly computer savvy and didn't even know what NAS was until very recently. So should I just continue with my own custom installs in terms of folders, data, apps etc? or wait for all the seemingly random background activity to stop?

There are also internal SMART tests conducted by the HDDs which run periodically. You'd need to check the SMART info for each drive to determine if tests are being run at the moment.

How would I check the "SMART info"?

If you're really interested, SSH into your NAS as the 'admin' user and check the running process list. If you install a utility like 'iotop', it can help you identify which processes are reading and writing to the HDDs.

By "SSH into your NAS" I presume you mean sign in ... when I do so and open the background tasks icon at the top of the QTS web browser interface it says "no background tasks running"

What is also interesting is that if I shut down the connected PC (Windows 10) and restart it the noises disappear ... until I relaunch QfinderPro and the QTS web browser interface ... then the intermittent noises start again.

[OneCD]

yes ... it's a brand new NAS ... and obviously I'm not particularly computer savvy and didn't even know what NAS was until very recently. So should I just continue with my own custom installs in terms of folders, data, apps etc? or wait for all the seemingly random background activity to stop?

Continue with your installation.

As this is your first NAS, I suggest ignoring the drive activity for-now. NAS (and NAS compatible-drives) are designed to run 24/7, and QNAP NAS perform maintenance tasks in the wee-hours of each morning. If the noise is an issue, move the NAS to another room.

[syncthing]

If you're really interested, SSH into your NAS as the 'admin' user and check the running process list. If you install a utility like 'iotop', it can help you identify which processes are reading and writing to the HDDs.

sorry for OT
but what is the fastest way to install iotop, because it looks like entware doesn't have it
# opkg list | grep -i iotop
#

[OneCD]

but what is the fastest way to install iotop, because it looks like entware doesn't have it
# opkg list | grep -i iotop
#

I think it's only available for certain arches like x86 & x64.

Another way is to install the IOTop QPKG from the Qnapclub: https://www.qnapclub.eu/en/qpkg/447

[syncthing]

I think it's only available for certain arches like x86 & x64.

tried to install on intel cpu nas ...

I'll try the qnapclub package