27" iMac hard drive noise

Howdy, well the first thing to realise is that you have got the machine setup exactly how you want it! Perfect! Don't panic because the following utility will help you clone your drive so you can restore it exactly where you left off when you switch machines or get a new harddisk. Make your time capsule backup but be aware that it simply backs up your settings and files in the home directory and does not backup you operating system or Apps installed! That's a pain to restore and often very time consuming. The best way around this is to clone your hard disk using SuperDuper. It's freeware and avaliable at http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Read about it and get comfortable with how it works. It's really quite easy to use. The hard part, if you would call it that, is rebooting your iMac using the OS DVD that came with it and using disk utility to restore the clone image you have made using Super Duper onto your system.

Hi and thank you. I have download SuperDuper (appears so much easier than Acronis which I used before) One question though - I have a 1.5tb external hard drive attached via usb for TimeMachine. This shows as timeMachine drive. If I want to use this same HardDrive without loosing my TM backups - can I do that? I guess I use the smart backup - but I am confused as it still selects the TM without specifying where on the TM drive. I have looked at partitioning - but that's even more confusing. I just want one folder in the HarD Drive to be TM and another SuperDuper. How do I do that?

Howdy, just unplug the external drive and connect it to a USB port on your iMac. Create a new folder on it say BACKUP. Run SuperDuper and point the destination for your backup to this drive!
Your time capsule backup is a different directory on this drive. Good Luck!

Oh BTW, SuperDuper has two options, an image or a clone. You want to make an image file of your iMac drive and put it into the directory you made. If you clone it, then you would wipe your time capsule directory off the USB drive making the drive a perfect bootable disk to replace the one in your iMac. We don't want to do this 🙂 The backup might take some time so would leave this one running overnight. Also make sure you choose the read only option for your image file. You will be prompted for this when you begin the backup. This takes longer to do but is a much more reliable backup. Cheers! & Good luck!

Too bad this fix did't work..
Got the error: No ATA hard disk with "Acoustic Management" found!
Tried hitting that continue button but same all the time.
(I got the 1 TB ST31000528AS Hard Disk)

Guess Gymnae is right, but I just had to try it!

Now u all don't have to try this, it doesn't work. No matter how much we want it to..

Hi Rayon, it pays for people to check this for themselves because some iMacs were supplied with different model HDD's which could benefit from the acoustic check. FYI, I would NEVER recommend someone use the 1 TB ST31000528AS disk. Apparently, this specific drive caused significant issues in a multi million dollar event consisting of about 2000 computers due to firmware issues that caused the drives to randomly fail. Over a 2 day period, there were about 200 failures out of 2000 drives. Apparently 10% over 2 days. After the event, a test bed of about 20 systems was used to figure out the issue and had a 100% failure rate. It took Seagate months to figure out that the problem was bad firmware. Apparently their 7200.11 drives had firmware problems that caused disk failure and this 7200.12 drive had firmware problems that caused disk failure, If you receive an iMac with this drive in it TAKE IT BACK! Personally will try to avoid seagate like the plague for the next iteration or two of their drives.

Please stop scare scaremongering, this drive for a start has Apples firmware on it and many have no issues with it at all, since more iMacs are made with Seagate drives than any other it would be hard to get one that is not a Seagate, posts like this are pointless and unneeded. Also if there was a mass Seagate failure for imacs don't you think we would have seen it on the forums by now?

Message was edited by: killhippie

Message was edited by: killhippie

No scare mongering intended. The reality is that if more people become aware that there are serious issues with some of the drives being shipped with the new iMac 27" then this helps for people to make an informed decision about their particular circumstance. Personally I returned four units (iMac 27") to the Apple store in Bondi Junction Sydney. Each unit had problems with them. From dust under the screen to static discharge noises from the top of the screen and excessive bearing noise from the CPU fan! In each case I had a seagate drive which clicked and rattled! So its not scare mongering, just pointing out that people do have an option to resolve the problem most of the time through their local re-seller. In my case I think that many of the units that were received by my local Apple store must have been refurbished / upgraded with new motherboards from the factory explaining the cloth wipes on the back of the glass screens. Their are some posts on this so wont go into that here. Either Apple picks up the quality control on these systems or customers will vote with their feet 🙂 BTW on my forth unit I had the Apple store have ready another new system for me to exchange with a WD onboard which was also a little noisy but no where near as bad AND the AAM was OFF by default hence the fix in my previous post!

Message was edited by: BOFHMAN

All those issues are not great, but the deep rumbling of the Seagate drive is the noise of it writing and seeking, I have heard them in other PC's the Seagate drive does not have AMM as such so that sound is as its meant to be, now considering how quite the mac is, how close it is to you and your background noise you may/may not hear it, saying its going to fail is not true because its loud as WD drives can be noisy and fail, along with the Hitachi drives used in some Macs, all drives have that potential but changing imacs repeatedly because of drive noise is not something I consider worth doing, I'll just probably get another Seagate and since my imac is great in all other respects, no whine, not bad screen no smears or dust etc I am happy.

Your post could be seen to tell people to return all Seagate drive machines when many on here have had zero issue with them, so tbh yes if you have flaws take it back, but if its a Seagate, it will probably have a loud seek, but its not a problem and you have a higher percentage of getting another Seagate with other issues if you do swap. Enjoy your Mac get Applecare and don't worry is my view.

Good for you Killhippie, for people buying a new Mac knowing this information can be invaluable, hence the forum! You have 14 days in Australia in which to get a replacement unit no questions asked. Not sure what it might be in other countries, interestingly on my forth unit the drive was swapped out after my request because it was within this period. Frankly, they offered to either do this or give me a full refund. So knowing your rights is important too. I am sure that Apple are very aware of all the returns in relation to this problem, avoiding a unit with this drive in the first place is prudent measure until the quality improves OR Apple can provide a resolution 🙂

Just bought the iMac i7 27in a few weeks ago....same noise...coffee maker, stomach grumbling etc.....very disappointed! This was my 3rd one I exchanged as well!! First one the back of the unit didn't fit the mold or something so there was a dent in it....2nd one replaced due to some pixels burned out ....noticed 3 red dots when writing a paper...not this one is making the grumbling sounds.....and all for 2 grand....Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!!

All the iMacs in my local Apple store are Seagate, and as far as for Apples official line, its not an issue. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3204 its how the drive sounds, now since I know PC's that have this noise and the same drives but with different firmware and are still going I'm not worrying, Apple computers are mass produced units after all.

People expect far to much for the money, you are paying for the Apple brand, we all know that. If you buy a hand built PC fair enough complain, go get a windows 7 PC built to your spec at half the price with USB 3 Sata 6 and an i7 or your choice if you want, and get solid state drives. The iMac is is a mass produced AIO, yes quality is not great sometimes, but they sell tens of thousands of these things and many people do not issue with Seagate drives, in fact many have the same exact noise with WD and Hitachi on here, some even have silent Seagate's so you cannot just say one drive is better with Apple as its a lottery really.

If you sit and listen to your hard drive seek and it bugs then change it over and over if you like, but most stores even Apple online I imagine will reach a limit and give you a refund in the end, as you are chewing though stock they could sell to others. Yes change your hard drive by Apple tech support and you could get yet another Seagate/WD/Hitachi that's noisy.

I don't hear mine, I tuned out I guess and I am just enjoying my computer. Since Apple have used these drives since late 2009 I can't see mass failure issues on the forum.

Just enjoy your Mac and stop thinking its built for you out of love and magic, its not.

Message was edited by: killhippie

Totally agree Killhippie, you must really love your iMac and thats great ... good for you!

On the other hand, countless others have all sorts of problems as the forum reveals. I think it's time for a little education and to take the rose coloured glasses off for five minutes and be prepared for a reality check on this site:

http://www.listenupsteve.com/fixtheimac/

Now don't get my posts wrong, Im sure we agree that the iMac is a beautiful machine in many respects ... much more efficient and stable than other OS and PC hardware ... HOWEVER it could be tweaked easily from the factory so that such a simple component as the hard disk be replaced with a more acoustically compatible solution. Seriously, it amazes me that this issue continues after all this time as it just creates so many headaches for both Apple customer service and the purchaser. Hopefully these forums will assist Apple to understand the customers frustration better and to resolve issues such as this without the run around. Cheers.

Just wanted to let you know that my HDD noise continued and i wasn't happy to accept a brand new iMac like that - so after digging around for help on transferring to a new iMac I went back to Apple Care who ran a few tests (?) reset hard drive I think - Turned off, unplugged all usb's. Turned off and on again at at the first sound pressed alt, cmd, and p and r at the same time letting go when the 2nd sound come on. Made no difference what so ever. Confirmed that I had been unlucky to have a noisy harddrive and suggested I return it to retail (PCWorld) and get replacement. Yippeee - I did - no problems replacing it and I have a new Imac 21.5 inch (so it's not just the 27") but it still has a Seagate with the same model number - but - right now it is definitely quite! Only been using for 12 hours - so may be it will change in a few weeks - but if it does - hey it's gonna go back! Set up was a breeze, just used TM backups - didn't need anything else. SM 🙂

I accept what you say completely, but the iMac is an AIO machine, it has specific temp sensors on the drives so you would have to get one from Apple anyway or use tape and muck about I would imagine, also many other AIO's are equally impossible to work on, its the nature of the machine. If you want to exchange hard drives and graphics cards the Mac pro really is your choice right now.

I am lot in love with my Mac, it just works well and I am happy with it, but I bought it knowing I could not easily upgrade internals, I knew my purchase was awkward in that respect. My days of replacing drives went a long time ago, I am disabled and this is all I need, if anyone though is looking for the upgrade path then the iMac is not the machine for you, unless you are adventurous or just want to upgrade ram, Its that simple. Come on you cant change a battery in an iPhone easily either and you can not change CPU's in any of Apple's machine as far as I know, and I doubt they will ever give us that ability and that's fine with me, if others want that then...well they have choices or can let their feelings be know to Apple. As far as hard drive noise that's always going to be subjective, our homes, work places and hearing is all different. 🙂