a mid-2011 iMac, purchased new in June 2012, running OS X 10.7.5, very noisy. anyone else experiencing this? I was used to this same sort of sound when TimeMachine was running, but this is constant and quite annoying.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), iTunes 10.6.1
What kind of noise are we talking about here? Are the fans running full speed? Is the hard drive making noise like it's searching? Is it an audio hum or buzz from the speakers? You will have to give us more information as we are not able to observe your problem.
Hi, RRFS,
I don't know how to answer since I don't know what the fans sound like versus the hard drive versus whatever else is in there. It's a very mechanical sound with occasional surges but with no discernible pattern or rhythm to them. It's by no means a hum or a buzz. Since the computer also gets quite hot -- and always has, for its whole five months of use -- I keep wondering if there's something mechanical that's not quite right.
Try doing this Reset:
SMC RESET
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
The 5 second timing is important to a successful reset.
Unfortunately, after 15-Mississippi-ing, then plugging in the power cable and counting to 5-Mississippi before turning on the iMac, it still sounds just the same.
I could be the HDD. To me it sounds like you have a faultly drive and its running on browed time. Try booting in safe mode and reseting the PRAM for the fun of it. To reset the PRAM hold down the Command-Option-P-R keys upon the booting the system.
As the hard drive is a possible contender for this noise (computers dont have too many mechanical parts 🙂), open Disk Utility and look at the SMART status, to see any indication of a failing drive.
If the noise correlates with disk activity, as with a Time Machine indexing operation, mentioned first, then I suspect the HD. Take it into the shop and get it checked out under warranty.
Here is the SMART status, obtained per your suggestion. (After verifying the disk, then verifying and repairing disk permissions, I followed the instructions in Disk Utility Help to select the disk and get info):
Name : Macintosh HD
Type : Partition
Disk Identifier : disk0s2
Mount Point : /
System Name : Mac OS X
System Version : 10.7.5
System Build : 11G63
System Copyright : 1983-2012 Apple Inc.
File System : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Connection Bus : SATA
Device Tree : IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/SATA@1F,2/PRT0@0/PMP@0
Writable : Yes
Universal Unique Identifier : 0A79A0A7-0985-3CEE-BCAC-1F3F9EF54780
Capacity : 999.35 GB (999,345,127,424 Bytes)
Free Space : 720.34 GB (720,342,347,776 Bytes)
Used : 279 GB (279,002,914,816 Bytes)
Number of Files : 1,010,660
Number of Folders : 243,095
Owners Enabled : Yes
Can Turn Owners Off : Yes
Can Repair Permissions : Yes
Can Be Verified : Yes
Can Be Repaired : Yes
Can Be Formatted : Yes
Bootable : Yes
Supports Journaling : Yes
Journaled : Yes
Disk Number : 0
Partition Number : 2
I might also add that, though I installed an additional 8 mg of DDR3 last week, the computer seems slower. I had rather expected more speed.
It checks out OK according to SMART.
As this forum is not suited to diagnosing noises, you will need a physical appraisal by a technician if you want to investigate it further.
Ah, well. The long drive to the Apple Store (again)!
Thanks so much, roam. You too, oBs barcode and RRFS.
No problem, also try to isolate the issue by removing any changes.
Dear oBs barcode,
I just found this, 22 hrs later. I feel like a ninny, but though I've used Apple products forever (since the first, steam-powered Mac in 1984), I don't always know what things (or people talking about things) mean. What changes should I remove??
Gratefully, but feeling like "oh, dopey me,"
dadoclare (actually, Clare's mom: Mary Beth)
Hi dadoclare! I was stranged by your question, because I have the same iMac and it's probably the most silent computer I ever had. Maybe some issue with your fan?
iMac very noisy
