Q: Hard disk spins during sleep

System Preferences - Energy Saver - uncheck box that says wake disks for network access. Other than that don't worry about it, my machine has been operating that way for 5+ years with no problem. Your machine is going on 3 years old so you're probably worrying about nothing.

Anymore word on this, I posted a similar question with no answers. What did you find out? Anything? I noticed when I was taking a nap that it was in sleep, but made the little purring sound and slight spin, which, to me, "oh mine has been doing it for 5 years" isn't a great answer to hear. Did you ever find out what was causing it, and were you able to resolve the issue? I paid 1800$ for this machine and i'd like it to run properly without having to tweak this and tweak that.

nmilew66,

Your machine is running properly! The HD will continue to spin and will be more reliable because of that. What tends to kill HD's is startup and shutdown therefore letting the HD spin (as it should) will lengthen it's life span. Kind of like what kills brakes and engines on cars which is stop and go driving. If you do lots of highway miles the brakes and drivetrain will last much much longer

Leave your machine alone and under most circumstances it will last a very long time.

What is the genius bar? How would I do a fresh install? This is my first mac, and I am not having a good experience considering I spent 1800$ on it.

"Your machine is running properly! The HD will continue to spin and will be more reliable because of that. What tends to kill HD's is startup and shutdown therefore letting the HD spin (as it should) will lengthen it's life span. Kind of like what kills brakes and engines on cars which is stop and go driving. If you do lots of highway miles the brakes and drivetrain will last much much longer

Leave your machine alone and under most circumstances it will last a very long time."

Can anyone vouch for this? I have heard the exact opposite in other forums, people say when it is in sleep mode, it should NOT spin at all.

milew66 wrote:

What is the genius bar? How would I do a fresh install? This is my first mac, and I am not having a good experience considering I spent 1800$ on it.

The Genuis Bar is the service counter at your local Apple Store. More info is at:

http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

Thanks, unfortunately I do not have applecare, although still have time on my warranty. It ***** that no one can answer a simple question for me over the phone. I pay 1800$ for a computer that is supposed to be top of the line, 6 months later it is talking in its sleep, and they want 19$ to answer a question over the phone. I really do not want to lug my 27 inch computer an hour away if this can be resolved another way.

Are there ANY doagnostic/hardware tests/software that I can buy or whatever to run and let me know if the HDD has errors? I have windows installed as well via bootcamp. If I run a hard drive scanner on that side, will it only scan that partition?

milew66 wrote:

 

Thanks, unfortunately I do not have applecare, although still have time on my warranty. It ***** that no one can answer a simple question for me over the phone. I pay 1800$ for a computer that is supposed to be top of the line, 6 months later it is talking in its sleep, and they want 19$ to answer a question over the phone. I really do not want to lug my 27 inch computer an hour away if this can be resolved another way.

 

Are there ANY doagnostic/hardware tests/software that I can buy or whatever to run and let me know if the HDD has errors? I have windows installed as well via bootcamp. If I run a hard drive scanner on that side, will it only scan that partition?

OS X has exactly what you need built into it, OS X is a much more efficient system than MS Windows.There is a utility called Disk Utility built into the system, to repair the HD and check for it's overall health boot in the Recover Partion, to do this when you hear the startup tone hold down the OPTION Key and choose the Recovery Partion, then choose Disk Utility and you can run Repair Disk. If it has errors (which I'm almost certain yours does not) they will be reported. I would also recommend you run Repair Disk Permissions and also read:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448

BTW as long as your machine is less than 1 year old you can still buy AppleCARE, if you still can then I'd strongly recommend you do so. If for no other reason it will provide you 3 years of peace of mind and you can call AppleCare support if you have anyquestions. If your machine is covered by AppleCARE and requires a part replacement 3x Apple will replace your machine. In addition if you live within 50 miles of an AASP you can request on-site service.

Thanks, I will try that, but I am hesitant about paying close to another 200$. Also, even though there is built in disk utilities, is there ANY software for mac, specifically for doiagnostics/hardware?

thanks again

As I said OS X has all the utilities already built in. For 99% of the users out there no third party utilities are necessary. However if you still don't believe me you can invest in Disk Warrior and/or Drive Genius.

BTW you can easily find discounts on AppleCare by buying from authorized resellers such as Amazon and LA Computer Company. Doing a little shopping could save you a lot of money. I just looked on Amazon and there are sellers listed it for as low as $98! However of course it's your call, to me $160 for 3 years of peace of mind is well worth it.

Tis the nature of a Mac. Learn to love it or love to hate it.

What is the nature? Things go wrong that you do not know if they are acutally wrong because there is no other software to test besides what is pre configured with the machine? I mean, If I had to rely on Microsofts windows defender for protection, my pc would have died years ago. I just want to know if there is any other software, for mac, that does not come with the computer, used for scanning and reparing disk errors?

Thanks, and I like the mac for the most part, it is the support I am not a fan of