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imac
Sorry Derekfromwishaw i was away for work
Ok i am from Nova Scotia Canada i went through apple care and got to choose a service center near me (robotnik) i had nothing to do with which drive was put in to replace the seagate, and nor im told did the tech or company that did the repair.
It took 72 hours to diagnose, send for the part and have it fitted.......
IMac was a month old so needless to say i was ******, but since have it back now its great although the guy did put Snow Leopard on instead of Lion...... said it was more stable! ha!
Seems to be great and working great, i can always go back to Lion should the need arise.
Hope this helps
Dizzydown.... sorry i was away for work
My NEW drive is
WDC WD1001FALS-403AA0
which IS completely silent just a slight hum from fans is all i can hear, certainly a massive change from the train wreck of a drive that was on here before (seagate i believe)
FYI this IMac is on a desk in a bedroom which is completely silent, and it does not make a squeek,
This is the exact model that was in my imac in october 2011. Mine was horrendously noisy and I sent it back. Strange that yours is silent with the same drive installed. Good to see someone get it resolved though.
Apple have again edited my posts so we know that someone is watching this topic thread. How they can read the pages and pages of noisy hard drive complaints and yet not acknowledge there is a problem is totally unacceptable. Sorry poeple if I sound ike I'm going on and on but please email this TV programme and inform them of your grumbling imac. It's they only thng we can do as apple are aware of this issue but not prepared to address the concerns of their customers.
The 21.5" iMacs suffered the same noise, I had a 21.5" with the seagate that was really noisey, the nest had a WD which was also noisey and they run hotter, the third machine was a mid 2011 i7 imac with a seagate and its totally silent, same model segate as the others but I seem to remember the firmware may have been different, its so long ago now its hard to remember, anyhow the seagate does not make the rumbling coffee perculator sound at all, so maybe it is down to assembely of firmware but it was horrendous on the original machine, so not all seaget drives sound bad.
killhippie,
Thanks for this. I have sent a copy of your post to the senior apple care person I have been in contact with.
The reason for me going on and on about all of this is that I can't use my mac the way I want to. For example, last night I was undertaking music editing work and the tapping and grumbling was so bad that it was in fact like a metronome click along with the music. The only problem? It was of course out of time with the tempo of the music I was listening to and its metronmone click! How can I work with this? Once again I reiterate - I do the same at work on an imac at work that is virtually silent and all previous imacs I have worked on have never sounded like this. So, as a mac customer I had no way of expecting this noise when I spent over £1,500 pounds on this machine. Well over £2,000 if you include the software. I am, therefore, no going to simply leave this issue. I NEED a solution.
Derek, the ideal solution is Apple SSD which makes iMac dead silent (I recommend to remove a hard drive and put SSD). But Apple is using outdated not so fast SSDs in iMacs and charges alot for that. You can also try to upgrade to 2Tb Hitachi HDD from Apple - it has no clicks and grumbling is almost not recognizable, but it has a constant fan-like humming. But Apple prices for both of solutions are just ridiculous. It would be probably even cheaper to send your iMac to the US company macsales.com - they can install SSD or silent HDD much cheaper and it won't have any "fans" issues.
You can also install any quiet third-party HDD like WD Green or Samsung and use software to control fan speed. This way is the most cheap and dirty.
Anyway, I don't understand why should we suffer from ridiculous Apple policies - which are intentionally put in their hardware. We pay lots of money and deserve a flawless experience.
BTW for over 1500 pounds I believe you could order an SSD-only iMac, isn't it?
It's funny that Steve Jobs decided not to put a fan in the original Macintosh in 1984 to make it quiet and now in 2012 they offer so noisy systems!
here is a similar topic, may be interesting to read
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1263502
the story below is very interesting.. that guy tried 3 different HDs and they all made significant difference in iMac acoustics!!
He finally found Seagate drive to be the most quiet. It seems Apple now has a silent Seagate series. I think Apple SHOULD warn their customers on their website about the REAL difference in acoustics of different iMac models!! Especially when they charge for "upgraded" drives.. Here is a copy/paste of that interesting post from Mac Rumors:
jsheppherd, I feel your pain - you're not crazy and you're not the only one. My advice is to not give up until you're happy. My story is a long and boring one, but here it is anyway: Bought a 27" i5 in May, the week they were released. Mine had the 1TB Seagate and I was very happy with it. It was so quiet that I would have to put my ear to the machine to tell if it was running. Then I receive the dreaded email from Apple advising that my hard drive may fail and needs replacing. I contacted Apple and they agreed to send someone to my house to replace the drive since there's no Apple Store in Adelaide and the nearest Authorised Repairer said it would take 7-10 days. A rep from Unisys arrives at the agreed time and swaps by defective Seagate for a WD drive. Loads up Time Machine, starts the restore process and leaves. At this point everything seemed fine. Once the restore is completed I notice the drive making very loud seek noises, much louder than the Seagate. Plus he got dust under the glass which I didn't notice prior to him leaving. Called Apple back and they agree to replace the drive again and clean under the glass. Second rep from Unisys arrives and swaps the drive with another WD. As for removing the dust - well, he forgot his cleaning kit and was partially blind so just made it worse. I restored the drive backup and this time, in addition to loud seeking noises, there's a noticeable hum coming from the machine. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about due to your experience, but it's the kind of vibration you can hear across the room, and is especially noticeable when sitting directly in front of the machine, and feels as if it's boring through your skull. Annoyed, I call Apple again and speak to a Senior Advisor. He agreed that it's not supposed to make noises like that and asks if I'd be happy with a replacement machine. Hoping this will resolve the issue, I agree. They send a replacement before collecting the old machine, but to my frustration, the replacement (which also has a WD drive) is exactly the same as the previous one with the loud seek noises and vibration. In fact, the vibration was slightly worse. I thought that perhaps it was my desk, so moved it to the kitchen table, kitchen bench, coffee table, even the wooden floor and it was the same. Tried putting a mouse mat, CD, book, etc. under the stand and while it may have reduced it slightly, the vibration continued. Called the Senior Advisor back and he said they'll swap it again until I'm happy. He suggests a hard drive upgrade since I'll more than likely get a different brand hard drive, but couldn't guarantee it. As much as the idea of paying to resolve the issue annoyed me, I was willing to try anything. So I pay the $180 to upgrade to 2TB and hope all will be resolved. New machine arrives with a 2TB Hitachi drive and no vibration/hum and the seek noises are much quieter, although still not as quiet as the Seagate. However, the hard drive motor was noisier than the WD and sounded like the iMac now had 5 fans instead of 3. I could hear if the machine was running from 5 metres away if that gives you some idea. I was considering just keeping it because although it was still noisy, it wasn't the annoying mind-boring hum that the WD had. Unfortunately, after a few days the hum/vibration started. It was intermittent (perhaps due to temperature?) and not as loud as the WD, but still annoying. That, combined with the yellow tinge at the bottom of the screen, the dust under the glass and the buzzing power supply, was the deciding factor to send it back. I called Apple again and just asked for a refund. I was so sick of the problem I was going to go and buy a PC again, as much as I thought I never would. After being transferred to about 4 different people, they said they couldn't refund as it was purchased months ago, but would replace it again. I didn't want a 2TB hard drive again as I knew it would be the same brand, so wanted to take my chances with the 1TB and hoped I'd get a Seagate. They said they couldn't refund the upgrade fee I'd paid, but could downgrade me. This was unacceptable, so they eventually agreed to refund the $180 and send a new machine after I threatened to involve Consumer Affairs. Received a new machine with a 1TB Seagate. Guess what? Quiet as a mouse, just like my original machine. I thought that perhaps Apple had stopped using Seagate after the recall and I'd keep ending up with WDs, but it appears not to be the case. This one was manufactured in August and has the Seagate so they're obviously still using them. Keep at them until you're happy. One thing I have to say is that although their quality control may be slipping, their service is great. What other company would offer to keep swapping a product until you're happy? Good luck! |
it's obvious that Apple has different revisions of 1 Tb Seagate drive (maybe different firmware)
The first is loud and grumbling and another one is reported as the most silent iMac HDD.
That's weird isn't it??
I suspect Apple started to use hard drives with modified firmware to reduce seek noise, but that's again not public and they don't comment that. There is no any official way to order the part you need! "Eat what we give" and that's all. Apple, you are not low-level budget PC maker - you have a demanding customers! We deserve to get at least what you advertise, i.e. "You can hardly tell if your iMac is ON"
I just don't get any of this. Is it firmware? Whay can't they just up-date this? I've never understood how I tried my first seagate replacement in a back room my local mac store (I made sure I did this) and I couldn't hear anything. I spent some time going through web sites that I knew created a noise and I couldn't hear anything. I thought, bingo - I've solved my problem.
However, I got my mac home, did a system restore off my WD external drive and the grumbling started all over again. Could this be to do with firmware? Or, simply that the mac started grumbling again due to the stuff that was put on the drive?
Another thing, I've a mac pro a work with the same seagate drive model number and it's just as noisy. I didn't notice it before as the tower is well away from the monitors that I use (I use a dual monior system). However, I went over to the machine and listened to it and it's just as noisy. If the drive was in front of you (like on an imac) you'd hear it grumbling away. So, I've now experienced working with 4 seagate drives with the notorious ST31000528AS model number and they all sound the same. Grumble, growl, grumble......tap....tap...drrrrrr......tap..tack..tack, grumble. Honestly, just like my coffee perculator. It's just totally unacceptable from apple but when/who/how is something going to be done about this!
Derek, you can also try to play with acoustic management software like this
http://www.smarthdd.com/en/aam.htm
It's harder to get a similar software for mac os x but you can try to search Google.
Anyway, AAM fine-tuning seems to be disabled on my Hitachi drive (by Apple or by Hitachi, who knows)
Just a small question to Derek - do you hear a motor noise of your HDD which sounds like a fan? I.e do you hear your iMac when it's not grumbling? The motor noise of Hitachi is so loud that I can hear it over movie sound. How could they put so noisy drive in a system like iMac ...
I asked the guy in the genius bar about acoustic managmenet and he told me it's a windows thing (?). I'm afraid I'm no computer expert at all so I don't really know what these things are and how to check if I can use them. Like a lot of people, I've only the time to learn and use the software (pro tools, sibelius) so you rely on a company like apple (who you give a lot of money to) to be able to provded you with an acceptable machine. As DizzyDown has said, we didn't go to our local independent PC corner shop (I've a few of these in my town) and ask for a cheap as chips PC to be built up. I could have easily done this but chose to stick with apple and spend a lot of money on my 27 inch machine. To be given an imac that sounds like a popcorn maker/coffee perculator/hungry stomch and then be told there's nothing apple can do about it and it'll cost me even more cash to sort out the issue on my own is just unacceptable. Apple are reading these posts which makes it even worse.
DizzyDown, I can hear a slight hum so I do know the machine is on (when I don't hear the grumbling that is) but I have to say it's not that bad. In fact, you only really hear it when placing your ear up close. I would consider this to be acceptable but yours sounds as if it's louder than this. The noise appears to get louder when the mac is doing automatic time machine back-ups to my external drive. Also, the 21.5 inch imacs I have at work all make this noise. Again, it's not really that bad and what I would consider to be OK.
my motor noise can be heard from 2-3 meters in absolutely silent room and can be heard over movie sound when it's not loud. I think it's not acceptable for the price I paid. Again, a service center told there is nothing wrong with it.
Acosutic management is not Windows thing, if your drive supports it - it can be applied once and forever no matter from which operating system. The hard drive stores the settings in its memory. But most software is really for Windows. Here is some weird hint about that but below is told that Barracuda drives do not support it. I think you have Seagate Baracuda.
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20041014005324939
DizzyDown,
Yes that's the drive I have so no luck there. I went onto the seagate website and found a post from someone asking about, what they called the 'clicking noise'. The post (from 2009 I think) had a link to this page and the macrumors page.
The seagate post stated how the new imacs were shipping with the seagate drives and there were 'thousands' of complaints about the clicking noise (I've called it tapping in the past) even when the machine is idle. Exactly what were're all complaining about here. This is simply unbelievable. I bought my mac in late 2010 so apple were aware of this issue but, like now, had done nothing about it. And yet, all the support people I've spoken to over the past year or so have said they've never heard of this issue before. I could use other terms and other words but the bottom line is that is all so, so disappointing from a company such as apple.
I think my solution is to take my machine to get an SSD drive fitted. I'll not stop complaining and I'll just need to wait until I have the time and money to do this. After spending so much in my machine this is totally unacceptable but there's nothing else I can do.
27" iMac hard drive noise
