Macbook Pro hd startup noise slow

Question

Level 1

46 points

Macbook Pro hd startup noise slow

So I have an old macbook pro 5,1 that I've had for a few years. It started to get bogged down with all my programs and stuff and didnt have the power to keep up with me so I got a new one last year. I just decided to install ubunto onto my old macbook pro 5,1.

Before the install, whenever my computer started up, the hard drive sounded slow. You know the distinctive start up noise for macbooks (only way i can describe it is "Doo Doo Doo Doooooo")? That sound didnt sound normal, but very sluggish. I thought it might be the fact that I have all this crap on my computer, but even with a clean install of Ubuntu, it still does it. Is my hard drive giving out?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Other OS

Posted on May 25, 2012 12:35 PM

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Answer 1

ds store

Level 7

30,855 points

May 25, 2012 12:40 PM in response to ccbeyer

Could be, but if you only have Ubuntu on there then there could be a issue as the firmware is looking for the EFI partition and it's corrupted by the Linux installer.

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Answer 2

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

May 25, 2012 12:43 PM in response to ccbeyer

Hi c,

You could open Disk Utility and check the SMART status, and if that is "verified," run Verify Disk.

If nothing shows up therr, you could download or buy a utility such as SMART Utility and run it. It will give you more info.

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Answer 3

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

May 25, 2012 12:46 PM in response to tjk

Edit to my previous post: if you no longer have OS X on your old MBP, then you'll need to connect it to your newer one via FireWire Target Disk Mode: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

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Answer 4

ccbeyer Author

Level 1

46 points

May 25, 2012 12:53 PM in response to ccbeyer

@ds store: It happened before I put ubuntu on there, and it got worse as my macbook got older.

@tjk: thanks ill try that

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Answer 5

ccbeyer Author

Level 1

46 points

May 25, 2012 1:09 PM in response to tjk

Well I ran the ubuntu disk utility, and the error that it found was "Reallocated Sector Count" and it said "Type: Failure is a sign of imminent disk failure (Pre-Fail)..." doesnt sound good...

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Answer 6

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

May 25, 2012 1:11 PM in response to ccbeyer

ccbeyer wrote:

Well I ran the ubuntu disk utility, and the error that it found was "Reallocated Sector Count" and it said "Type: Failure is a sign of imminent disk failure (Pre-Fail)..." doesnt sound good...

Agreed. Sounds like HD is on its last legs, so time for a new HD.

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