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Hard Drive Static Noise

I just received my iMac Intel, after returning my iMac G5. I notice that every time the hard drive is accessed, it generates a 'static' type noise. I don't recall my iMac G5 did this.

Does anyone else have the same problem? What is the solution if any? Should I return it to Apple (gasp!). The computer seems to be functioning OK, but the noise is annoying...

Any input would be much appreciated.

iMac Intel Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Jan 27, 2006 9:09 PM

Reply
50 replies

Jan 27, 2006 11:17 PM in response to WeaponX

Hey Check on www.macnn.com go to Forums. A guy was having the same problem. It is the Intel Audio Card that makes that static noise. There is no way to be fixed. They claim that some WIndows PCS with Centrino Processors use the same audio chip and are experiencing the same issues. I, however never heard it on my Core-Duo iMac, I guess some machines come with that defect. I would take it back to Apple, and see if they can switch the audio chip or swap ur machine.

Feb 3, 2006 8:58 AM in response to WeaponX

Exact same problem with my 17" intel directly out of the box. Took it back to Apple store Geniuses and I don't think they heard the same "scratchy static" that occurs during any hard drive read or write. Perhaps the ambient noise in the store was too high.. In any case it is not "fan noise" as they concluded, but some combination of drive brand (seagate implicated elsewhere) and / the intel audio chip. Will have a 2nd date with the Concierge, now armed with the growing evidence RE this problem.


I just received my iMac Intel, after returning my
iMac G5. I notice that every time the hard drive is
accessed, it generates a 'static' type noise. I
don't recall my iMac G5 did this.

Does anyone else have the same problem? What is the
solution if any? Should I return it to Apple
(gasp!). The computer seems to be functioning OK,
but the noise is annoying...

Any input would be much appreciated.

iMac Intel Mac OS X (10.4.4)




intel imac Mac OS X (10.4.4) Scratchy static

intel imac Mac OS X (10.4.4) speaker static on drive activity

Feb 4, 2006 1:22 PM in response to WeaponX

I am getting the same hard drive noise. I hear the noise whenever the hard drive is being accessed, especially when starting up. It is a scratching noise. The best thing to compare it to is the sound of a fragmented hard drive on an older computer.

What I've done:
I purchased a 17" core-duo (factory specs) on 2/4/06, brought it home and noticed the sound immediately. I ran disk repair and the thorough hardware test and it found no problems. I erased the disk completely and had it zero out the drive and then reinstalled the OS from the restore disks (thinking it might be a bad image). After all that the sound was still there.

This morning 2/5/06 I called AppleCare and explained the problem. They said that they wouldn't expect the hard drive to make that kind of noise but they hadn't heard of any specific issues. They said it could be a bad drive and that I should take it back if I suspect a problem. I took the iMac back this morning and asked to exchange it for another 17" core-duo. They exchanged it with no hassles and the new machine has the exact same noise.

I'm not sure what to do from here. Is the sound normal for the new iMacs? Has anyone had any luck returning their iMac and getting one with out this problem? Are there iMacs out there that don't have this problem?

One more thing: I looked into the model of my hard drive and it is a Barracuda 7200.7 SATA - ST3160023AS.

Let me know if you've had better luck than me.



iMac Intel 17-inch 1.83 GHz 512MB Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Feb 5, 2006 12:14 AM in response to WeaponX

I have the same issue, if you can call it that. Seems it may be that the Seagate HDs are just noisier.

A guy over on MacNN had the same issue:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=283916

If I had a backup computer I would change mine too, although as y ou have found out there is no garuantee you will get a non Seagate HD in return...

I wonder how easy it is to manually upgrade the HDs in these babies?

Feb 5, 2006 1:11 AM in response to Antonio Aparicio

It's a pain to replace the HDD in the new iMacs. Does everyone here forget that hard drives do involve moving parts that make noise? I could hear both hard drives spin up (not just access!) in my old Power Mac G4. So what? Is it making death noises (heartbreaking screeches, ka-tonks, scraping noises)? Then you worry and post here.

My iPod makes "static" noises and even vibrates when it accesses songs. There must be something wrong with it because it works perfectly!

These are computers, full of an assortment of mechanical and electrical parts. They're still made using metal and plastic not some sort of magical pizza dough. Everyone just calm down and take a deep breath.

Feb 5, 2006 9:42 AM in response to Apollo Adama

Apollo -

Wow thanks for the words of wisdom. I have my calmed down and I am just super happy with my new iMac! It's the best!

Is Jobs your little brother or something? Did someone insult your mom? Go pick a fight some place else. I know it's hard for you to hear that a mac might actually have a problem but try and compose yourself and let the grownups use this forum to talk about their iMac issues. It's hard to believe, but somebody might have a problem here that you've never had.

I know what "normal" hard drive chatter is and this is way above what is normal. I use a dual 800 G4 at work and it is right behind the monitor. The HD is much quieter on that machine. I use a 12" PB, a 60 GB iPod and an iMac at home. I am replacing my old G5 iMac with this new Core-duo iMac. The Core-duo's HD is louder than any of these other machines; it sounds like an ailing PC.

iMac Core-Duo 17-inch 1.83GHz 512MB Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Feb 7, 2006 11:47 AM in response to WeaponX

Would you please let me know how it went? I came
back from a local Apple Authorized Dealer and they
told me the noise is 'normal' drive chatter. There
is nothing they can do for me...

So what to do? Return it and pay the re-stocking
fee, or swap out the drive?


Hi WeaponX... I printed this thread and took it to the OTHER Apple store in town (ahhh big city choices..) They immediately pulled out a new machine, firewired the data & profiles across and sent me packing with a quiet version of the 17" Core Duo.

THAT is what Apple service is supposed to be about.

(FYI the 1st one did have the Seagate drive, although my noise was more like RFI static from the speakers below)

Feb 9, 2006 12:16 AM in response to WeaponX

Have the same noise with my brand new 17" iMac (EU version). It seems that some application/process is accessing the HDD in the background, which is causing this ticking sound. My iMac came also with a 7200rpm Seagate Barracuda - and these buggers are well known to be on the noisy side during R/W operations.

I got my iMac from the Developer Transition Kit exchange program, so it was equipped with only 512MByte of RAM. I already ordered 2GB of RAM - and i hope that the noise is gone, because with enough memory there is no need for background swapping operations. Can anybody tell me if the noise occurs with 1G or more memory?

Another solution could be to switch the drive into noise reduction mode (most of todays SATA drives have this feature) - i'm going to ask Mr.Google if there is a tweak (-ing application) available for the Mac. I'll post the results when i got more information.

Cheers

Hans-Joachim

Feb 9, 2006 3:19 AM in response to Hans-Joachim Fabry

Update: It seems as if the Seagate ST3160023AS Barracuda of my iMac 17" doesn't support acoustic management. I found a thread at MacOsXHints dealing with that problem (ticking noise of the HDD), but the solution works only for the PPC Macs with OpenFirmware:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20041014005324939&query=acoustic+ma nagement

I'll continue investigating

Cheers

Hans-Joachim

Feb 9, 2006 1:11 PM in response to WeaponX

All,

See my other posting on this subject (interference). I took mine back to the store after 24 hours and was told that all imacs make this noise. The ambient noise in the shop was enough to make this seem a very minor problem but at home it is really quite annoying.

I tried the on line support and I have to say that the agent was very evasive when I was asking if there had been reports of this problem. He said that as long as the noise was not loud there is no fault. But he wouldn't acknowledge that this had been reported by other users.

As a new mac user (and not particularly experienced PC person) I feel this has left me with a really negative feeling about mac - when I should be cooing at all the great features.

Feb 9, 2006 11:19 PM in response to Chris.E

The noise is definitely caused by one specific brand of hard disk. If the iMac is equipped with a Seagate Barracuda ST3160023AS 160G drive, it is very likely that you will hear the fast tickering noise (sounds a bit like a broken fan) which is caused by the positioning mechanism of the harddisk's heads. You can check if your iMac is equipped with a Barracuda by launching the system profiler (Apple menu->About this Mac->More Informations) and selecting the entry Serial-ATA. If an entry is diplayed like ST31xxxxx, your Mac is equipped with a Barracuda - and you will probably hear that noise. If the entry says something like 6V... or 7L..., your Mac is equipped with a Maxtor drive (i think the 250G HDDs are Maxtors) - and you shouldn't hear anything, because the Maxtors have a built-in acoustic management.

I'm still waiting for my 2G of RAM to arrive. I hope that the noise will be gone after the memory upgrade because there is no need for background swapping operations anymore.

I'll keep you informed!

Cheers

Hans-Joachim

Feb 10, 2006 4:51 AM in response to Hans-Joachim Fabry

I have this model of iMac with the Seagate drive and the fact that the drive was audible was the first thing I noticed when I started using it after selling my G5 Rev b.

The G5 drive was totally silent. However, this only sounds like a Hard Drive working - I havent noticed anything weird or scratchy about it and I cant say it upsets me in anyway - in fact I'd forgotten about it and stopped noticing it. It doesen't come through the speakers and I certainly wont be sending it back. BTW It did decrease quite a lot when I upgraded to 1Gb.

I'm not having a moan, but you do get a situation where paranoia runs through these forums. It's understandable that people are on the lookout for problems when they've spent that much money - but a lot of the time it turns out to be of little importance. I remember when I bought my Mac Mini that lots of people were saying in that forum that the (Seagate) drive was making a noise that meant it was about to fail - well as far as I know the Mini has turned out to be an incredibly reliable computer. Mine (with Seagate drive and noise) has been running 24/7 in hard use for nearly a year now and has never had a single problem despite being treated to the abuse of several sudden power interruptions!

Feb 10, 2006 5:32 AM in response to Carl Chamberlain

Thanks Carl,

i don't think that the Seagate drives are more prone to failure than drives from other manufacturers - and i don't think that the ticking sound is something which is caused be a failure - it's simply (as you stated) the operating noise of the head positioners. I wouldn't send my Mac back because of that noise.

When i received my iMac CD, this noise was the first audible difference to my PPC Macs, which are nearly noisless. Seems as if the Intel version of the OS has a slightly different caching strategy for the virtual memory, because the ticking sound starts and is clearly audible (of course in a silent room), when you are sitting in front of the computer (the harddisk in the iMac is mounted behind the display at eye level).

After a couple of minutes the sound stops - apparently the background operation has ceased. May be the activity is caused by Spotlight re-indexing the disk in the background.

And thanks for the report about your memory upgrade. That was something i was hoping to get from an upgrade - reducing the need for swapping operations. Hope my ordered 2G of RAM will arrive soon.

Cheers

Hans-Joachim

Hard Drive Static Noise

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