LOVE Tiger, but anybody else have new soft "beeps" now?

I just had to bring this topic to the top of the forum list again - here it is on December 12, 2005 and we are up to OSX v10.4.3 and still no fix for those beeps. My machine, a dual 2.3, has had the beeps from day 1 (4 months) and are driving me crazy. I sent a report to Apple and they suggested I return the machine for a check, which is fair. I probably will before my warranty runs out but will wait a while as I am hoping for some sort of a firmware or software update.

People have written in here that they first noticed the beep after updating from Panther to Tiger. I have tried all of the suggested fixes ( different prossesor settings, etc ). I prefer not to use CHUD as I do not want to do any damage to my MAC. I am aware that it is a PSU problem and that the dual core machines do not have the beeping noise. If that is the case then Apple have found a fix. Therefore, why hasn't it become known to us?

Other than the beeping, the machine runs great and some days I can ignore it but other days, I cannot. Its worse at idle.

Thanks for listening folks.



Dual 2.3 GHz PowerPC G5, Apple 20 inch display Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.5 GB DDR SDRAM

Just wanted to chime in and say that Apple needs to fix this. I am forwarding this forum onto MacNN.

I didn't notice a chirping until I stopped running Folding@Home -- when I did that, the fan speed dropped down a bit, and since then I've noticed a direct correlation between fan speed and chirping. So now I always run one Folding@Home process in the background, to elevate the fan speed. Anyone else find the same thing works?

I wish Apple would give ups some manual control over the various fan speeds -- personally I would like to turn up the fans a little, and get the CPU temperature down into the 120º-130º range...

Actually, until I downloaded the MP3 provided above, I did not realize that I had this issue. I installed the developer tools, and in System Preferences, a pane called Processor is added. In there, I unchecked 'Nap'; the noise was suddenly GONE! Turn checkbox back on, BAM, the sound is back. Off, GONE. Just thought I would let you all know...

Thank God, my G5 is near silent again.

I have the exact same problem. I have called apple, and even got my power supply replaced and it still does not work. I love my G5--but this problem puts a definite wedge in our relationship and makes me excited to sell it for a new intel model 🙂

I have had this problem on my G5 Dual 2.0 since I got it almost 3 years ago. It seems to be graphics related although replacing the graphics card didn't seem to effect it.

I notice it most when scolling in Safari, switching between Preference Panes and in Screen Savers or anything that uses Quartz Extreme.

Unchecking "Nap" in the Processor Prefs fixes this issue for me. Unfortunately this doesn't hold through restarts, so It has to be rechecked after I start up the Mac.

PowerMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4)

i thought i was the only one suffering through this. when i spoke with someone at my apple store about the issue they seemed to be clueless about it so i just gave up. when i first got the machine i don't remember hearing this but ever since i moved last summer (and the macine sits closer to me in a quiet environment) it has been maddening. the only thing that has kept me from doing anything about it is the fact that i've been traveling quite a bit recently.

i'm going to try the chud trick today and i'll post back if i have success.

i've got an original dual 2.0 with a radeon 9600 pro with 64 megs. i haven't upped the ram in this machine but have added faster hard drives (western digitals-one 10000 rpm one 7200 rpm). running 2 20" cinema displays with it.

One more ... my dual 2 GHz G5 revA chirped loudly with its first PSU, then some months ago one CPU went burned and I asked the Apple Service to replace also the power supply.
Now it chirps a bit quietly, but it still CHIRPS! A regular, low chirp every second and some louder chirps when the G5 performs some CPU or graphic-intensive tasks.
And Apple still refuses to fix a problem that is reported by almost all G5 users from more than 2 years ... my impression is that Apple and its hardware gets worst and worst while time passes ... my old PowerPC 7300 never had a problem!

I am sorry to say Apple will never fix this problem. Not gonna happen.
The beeping stems from the power supply unit where some resistors have "popped" their tops. It looks like it has a little dome on it. It is designed to do this. There is an "X" shaped grove to alow this to happen. It is not broken nor does it not effect anything at all. Just that it is now sort of open and alows a sound to come from it. Audio pros have dealt with this issue before on a range of products. What some have done before was to dab a little hot glue to the tip of it to seal it. That has worked on other equipment, but I do not know of anyone who has done this to a G5. The easiest method to quiet the machine is to use AppleScripts to turn off NAP. Every restart clears that setting so the AppleScript run at startup can quite it from there. Turning off NAP forces the processor not to idle when it is not doing something. Your processors are made to run 100% all the time. So this will not hurt it. The most efficent processor should run at 100% all the time anyway so its all good. Even with NAP off, the processor will not run at the max so you don't have to worry about the fans blowing more.

"It is not broken nor does it not effect anything at all."

doesn't affect anything at all? i'd beg to differ. i am an audio pro and while this machine doesn't get used for audio all the time it certainly has an effect on my sanity. i'm trained to listen to the slightest noises. it's what i do. saying to me that it doesn't affect anything is like saying to a graphics guy that if the screen blinked once a second it wouldn't affect them.

g5 dual 2 gig Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I suffered from the chirping during processor or graphic intensive tasks. The NAP trick (turning it off) worked for me. With NAP enabled my 2.3 dualie runs at about 61-64 deg C. With NAP off it runs at 74 deg C. What is interesting is that the fans rarely ever ramp up with NAP off, even if both processors are running 100%... temp stays right at 75 deg C.

So, until Apple comes out with a software fix or a power supply replacement this seems to work.

Question: Does anyone know of a 3rd party power supply replacement which would eliminate the chirps??

Thanks,

Mace

I have a pro quality hum eliminator (ground loop isolator) to address the G5 noise problem. It helps, but it doesn't eliminate the problem. What's worse: those little chirps DO get recorded in your audio recordings--even if you do get a hum eliminator. I mean live audio recordings, not ripping a CD. I have a small, fairly nice, little recording studio, never had a problem with the noises until 10.4.3 (same in 10.4.4) It may have come with Tiger and I just didn't really notice it until 10.4.3. I've had my G5 for almost 2.5 years. Its always made weird annoying little electronic noise, but now I find that I cannot use it for one of its primary purposes: recording audio. Apple needs to fess up on this monumental problem with the G5.

Michael,

Does disabling NAP get rid of your chirps? See the rest of this thread for how to disable NAP.

Mace

Hello there,

Did 10.4.5 solved the "beeping" problem?

Does anybody know?

Best,

Julieta

Did I just get lucky?

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1632225#1632225

(I do recommend disabling NAP-- especially for audio geeks.)