27" iMac hard drive noise

hi ! new imac arrived today - same hdd - model, same hdd - firmware AP 25 .. but !!! QUIET !!

My refurbished 27" iMac (received about a week ago) also has some hard drive noise. I have a 2TB Hitachi drive in mine and checked the AAM, but it was already set on quiet (loud was much worse). It's not absolutely awful , but it does make that low grumbling sound when it's working, which can be annoying because I have the computer in a quiet room. I also plan to use it for some acoustic audio recording and I'm not sure if the sound may be a problem and be picked up through the microphone.

Anyway, I'm a bit at a loss. I still have time to return the computer and get a replacement, but I am otherwise happy with the machine and wonder if I am likely to get something worse. I will also need to ship it back to Apple and then wait for the replacement, so I'll be without the computer for a while (but I still have my PC in the meantime). It has been suggested by Apple techs that I bring the computer into a store to get it checked out, but the stores are pretty loud and I wonder if they will think I'm a little nuts if they can't hear anything.

So, the question is do I keep it (I do have Applecare if something goes wrong in the future) or take my chances and swap it now while I still can (and keep returning them until I am completely satisfied)? This is my first Mac and I really hoped to have a great experience without issues.

I also have one of the grumbly machines. I have been monitoring this thread for a month or so. I decided to just keep my otherwise perfect machine. Is it annoying, yes, can I live with it, also yes. From what I have picked up fromo this thread, there is nothing wrong with the drive. It's just noisy. My drive is fast and really is only truly annoying when I use safari. I usually web sift with my iPad anyway. It's pretty quiet after other apps have loaded. I don't hear it during gaming for example.
Just my 2c

Will

How did you check the AAM Larry?

Howdy ... firstly I know Im not Larry but I posted the following some time ago which covers your question. Enjoy:

Have solved the problem with all iMac 27" HDD rumble / clicking!!!!!

By default ... the AAM is disabled on ALL HDD's (Seagate and WD) except one specific model.

Its an easy process for all Intel based machines (iMac's).

Simply make a BartPE BOOT CD. Here is the link: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

You need to use an XP machine or VMware to make the boot CD using files from a XP OS CD OR from the XP machine you are making the CD with using the BartPE builder.

Thats the hard part

OK now get a USB stick and put the following file winaam.exe onto it (make sure you use a FAT32 or NTFS format on the stick) you get it from http://www.withopf.com/tools/aam/

OK now your ready to kill the noise forever!

UNPLUG all USB devices except your USB stick.

RESTART your iMac and keep your finger on the OPTION (ALT) key during the bootup. This will give you a choice to boot from your HDD or CD. Choose the CD.

BOOT off the BartPE boot CD you made ... use a USB mouse because your bluetooth one is not supported in XP! You wont need a keyboard.

Now wait! Get a coffee! Booting from CD takes a while!

Finally you will have a windows XP type of desktop. Click on the START button and find the file manager. Open your USB stick and double click on the winaam.exe file.

Now follow the instructions ... just click on CONTINUE and choose whatever option LOUD or SOFT you want and activate. Don't worry if the app returns an error saying not set. Just click ok and start the app again. You will see the change now the second time. To test you can click on the test button to hear the difference. Keep going back and forth you'll get the idea!

When your done and the last setting was the drive on quiet. Click on START and then RESTART. Unplug your USB mouse if you like and the iMac will restart with almost ZERO noise from the HDD.

It scared the willy out of me somewhat the first boot because I was so used to hearing the drive click up etc ... now silence!!! Peace and fan noise

Good luck.

Seriously, this works!!!!!!!!!

All the best!

And remember, this tip won't work for iMacs with Seagate HDDs, because they don't have AAM on-board. To enable AAM on Seagate HDDs, Apple needs to release a new Firmware. So check if you have a Seagate HDD, if you have you can safe your sweat, BOFHMAN's hint will not work then.

Yes, I followed BOHFMAN's instructions. Unfortunately, the Hitachi drive I have was already set to quiet, so this is as good as it gets. I suppose it's pretty quiet by the standards of many, but I still hear it unless there is background noise, which there often is not in the room where the computer is located.

I too followed BOHFMAN's instructions but the AAM on the Hitachi drive was already set to 128 (quiet), tried it with HDDScan and quiteHDD. WinAAM would not run, saying that it could not find an ATA drive.

So this is as good as it gets. I will add Hitachi to my avoid list which also includes Samsung, Maxtor and Seagate.

The only choice these days is Western Digital or some other SSD brand.

Hitachi HDT721032SLA380

I bought the 27" i5 only 3 days ago. I took it back yesterday as it had a dead pixel, and the hard drive made that irritating coffee percolator noise.

This new one is exactly the same. I bought this thing as all the other iMacs I've used have been silent. The two I've had can be heard anywhere in the room, nearly constantly. I've got the Seagate drive, the ST31000528AS 1TB.

Here are two recordings:
http://soundcloud.com/nathan-gallardo/ipercolator
http://soundcloud.com/nathan-gallardo/mac-noise

The top one is probably the better example.

It's a really irritating noise. My laptop for example is silent. The iMacs at uni are silent. My classroom has 24 of them, constantly running, and the room is silent. 24 of these would be incredibly annoying.

I've just spent a ridiculous amount of money, and I'm really ****** off. Some people may be able to live with it, but I don't think, for this amount of money, I should be expected to. This one is going back as well.

To be fair to the people at the store, when I told the manager I expected reimbursement for my travel costs, he was happy to do it. I'll be claiming for the cost to return this one as well. I think I'll just get my money back this time, and order over the phone and insist I dont get another Seagate drive.

Are there any drives that are known to definitely not make this noise?

I'm on the phone to Applecare at the moment, and she tells me that all 2010 models have Seagate drives. There are no alternatives, and no way to have an alternative installed other than pay an Apple Expert to do it out of my own pocket.

The online Apple store lets you upgrade machines. Shame it doesn't let you downgrade a drive to a silent 500gb.

So I guess this is it, then. I had thought about returning the computer in the hopes of getting a quieter drive, but I'm not sure that makes much sense based on what I am hearing. The annoying thing is that this is my first Mac and had I purchased a PC that had a similar problem it would be a very simple (and relatively inexpensive) matter to replace the hard drive myself with whatever size/brand I wanted. But I can't say I didn't know there was a downside to purchasing an All-In-One machine.

Seems like it Larry. This machine is also buzzing when I dim the brightness, so it's going back. Not sure if I'll try another exchange, or just get my money back. Apple seem to think it's an acceptable noise, which means it's not the computer for me. And the lack of options means the only other choice for silence is the bottom of the range iMac, which lacks the graphics capabilities, which defeats the purpose of owning one.

I might try one more exchange, but if it's the same (I'm sure it will be) I'm ditching Apple. Shame, as I really need one for my university course. I'm at a loss really.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. We have a Dell PC in the house (about 4 years old) that has a hard drive that's a good bit noisier than the Apple, but the PC that I was replacing had drives that were quieter (although in fairness, the fans were a lot louder, so the hard drive noise may have been masked). I just expected that the Mac would be quieter based upon what I had been told from the folks at the Apple store (and I did ask because I do some audio recording).

Best of luck with your decision.

I am getting more and more frustrated with this too – as mentioned before I have the 21” with the same hard drive problems. Already replaced one machine – now this one after three weeks has started with the same noises. It was perfectly quiet up until now. If I take it back again for a replacement I guess that I am going to get the same hard drive and same problem. Is this only with the 1TB does anyone know? If I downgraded to a 500GB I wonder what would happen? Also, mine isn't the very latest model - mine is the 2009 one which although 'brand' new was slightly reduced in price. Does the very latest model have the same problems?

UNBELIEVABLE - or is it? Just been and replaced my iMac 21.5" that had a seagate drive - this now is my third iMac and this time I have the Hitachi HDE721010SLA330. The other 2 were quiet for at least a week maybe 10 days, this one is noisy from that start! So miserable 😟 - what is the answer - what are Apple doing about this? Someone must know whats going on??I can't believe such a bizarre hard drive noise can expel from these beautiful machines - why did I buy a Mac??