Filed under: Hardware, Macbook Pro
7200RPM drives trouble some MacBook Pro owners with mystery beeps
There's a thread on Apple's Discussion Boards this week regarding trouble with the latest MacBook Pros with 7200RPM drives. Specifically, the machines are clicking (most users report the click as coming from the drive's location) followed by a beep that's, as far as anyone can tell, not coming from the speaker, as demonstrated above. It's quiet in the video, so crank up the volume and listen closely. Finally, its occurrence is unpredictable.
No clear answer has been reached yet, but Other World Computing (OWC) shared some relevant information with MacNN:
"The issue may be with Seagate's Momentus 7200.4 G-Force hard drives ... Affected units are said to spin up and down frequently, which may be generating the sounds reported by users ... The G-Force technology is said to be mostly irrelevant on Macs in the first place, as a result of pre-existing anti-shock protection."No one at the TUAW offices has one of these machines, so we haven't experienced the problem. If you have, let us know in the comments and we'll see what we can dig up. Thanks, and good luck.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
JScott said 2:38PM on 7-09-2009
Man, i thought i was crazy, but my 15" Mid 09 has the beeps and clicks. Kinda freaked me out at first, sounds a little like what a dying HD sounds like.
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andyjtauto said 3:13PM on 8-30-2009
My brand new 15 inch macbook pro has a 7200 rpm hard drive. I hear a small beep every once and awhile but my computer still seems to be running fine.
oliver hart said 2:38PM on 7-09-2009
maybe the hdapm fix would help. i know that's how i fixed my hard drive clicking issue in mine.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6498085
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owine said 2:40PM on 7-09-2009
Yes! I heard this in the few days since I got my new MBP and was a little concerned. Nice to know it's not specific to me.
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Aaron said 4:25PM on 7-09-2009
I heard something very similar on my PlayStation 3's hard drive. (An 80GB 5400-RPM unit manufactured by Toshiba.) After replacing the hard drive with a larger drive, I put the 80GB drive into an external case and heard the "beeping" sound from the drive.
XGM said 1:39AM on 7-10-2009
I installed a new seagate momentus in my MBP, and it also does the beep at startup. Its probably the drive spinning down and back up...
tino said 3:01PM on 7-09-2009
Yup, same here.
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Lewin said 2:47PM on 7-09-2009
This has happened a lot in the past, the drive manufacturers typically say it's thermal recalibration. I have had the phenomenon with all sorts of different drives of vintages ancient and modern, as far back as the first 500MB IBM drive I put in an old 486DX/33 laptop.
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Rockstar said 3:19PM on 7-09-2009
It may well be thermal management but more likely it's a spin down. The faster notebook drives make a sqeak or beep engages and disengaging. I wouldn't sweat it much.
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Jason Tallman said 2:59PM on 7-09-2009
I've had 2 Apple supplied 7200 rpm drives malfunction in my unibody macbook pro. I've always made sure the laptop was put to sleep before moving it.
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scottcormier said 2:54PM on 7-09-2009
I've been hearing the same noise from day one with my June 09 MBP. Hopefully it can be cured with a firmware update.
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Benjamin said 2:59PM on 7-09-2009
I get this on my 17 inch but not that frequently. I believe the sound is made when the HDD stops spinning.
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Jake said 3:02PM on 7-09-2009
Chimed in to say that I am having this issue.
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SteveJr_Ri said 3:07PM on 7-09-2009
I have a 17" UMBP with the 500GB 7200 RPM Drive, I have had this issue since DAY 1.
TUAW we need to stress that the system pauses also in occurrence with this issue.
I went to the genius bar and they ran disk utility and said everything was OK. I asked to have my drive replaced, their response was that everything was fine. I asked them to stress test it, but they really didn't feel like that was the best solution. So finally he went back and talked to someone and because my machine was a CTO I qualify for an Engineering Capture program, where I send my machine back and Apple will send me a brand new machine. Its kind of inconvenient but I really need this issue fixed.
The funny thing was when I called the apple expert, he recommended that I buy a 3rd party drive and install it myself if I really want this issue fixed. I responded to him, why did I pay Apple for this upgrade if I'm just going to have to do it myself? He didn't really have an answer other than to have my machine looked at.
This situation sucks, especially after shelling out $2500+
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RoboBot said 11:20PM on 7-09-2009
Mine does the same thing, but as opposed to flipping out, I live with it. It's nut jobs like you that made working at the genius bar stressful. Does the beeping cause you to be less productive? Do you have super sensitive ears? We've got the largest/fastest laptop HD on the planet. All HD's fail at some point, I suspect these will go faster than the average drive. Keep your data backed up (like you should be doing anyway), calmly back away from the Apple store, and go fret about something worth the time.
SteveJr_Ri said 11:28PM on 7-09-2009
@RoboBot
It's not just the beeping its the pausing, when your in a quiet classroom and the computer is beeping non-stop, you CAN hear it. I'm sorry if YOUR job is difficult, but if I paid $400-600 I'd say whatever, but the damn thing keeps clicking, beeping, and PAUSING, I want it fixed, especially if similar drives don't make the same noise and have the pauses.
How would you feel if you took your brand new car to a mechanic and said my brakes are making noise and sometimes don't make me come to a complete stop. And the mechanic had your attitude and said its fine just deal with it, what would you do?
So anyways, when my hard drive does fail, I'm sure you'd also be the one to piss and moan about having to replace it too.
Fuzzyuu said 3:14PM on 7-09-2009
I had the SAME exact issue with one of the new 500GB 7200RPM Seagate drives, but it was NOT a G-Force drive. RMA'd the drive and was fixed.
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ymilord said 9:21PM on 7-09-2009
Hrmm, That's the same noise most External USB 2.5" Drives make when there is not enough power coming from the USB port. (If you have a External HDD with a double USB ports- If you only plug one end in (data+power) it makes the same noises...)
Interesting...
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adam said 3:16PM on 7-09-2009
Yep, my mid 2009 unibody MBP had this beeping issue. Then one day, the entire drive (500gb @ 7200rpm) just failed completely. Completely unacceptable for a two week old machine. I'm currently awaiting my replacement from Apple. Hopefully they're sourcing their HDDs from another manufacturer by now, or are at least using drives from another "batch".
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Arman Khan said 3:14PM on 7-09-2009
My educated theory:
Steve Jobs is an alien that is using the money from his Apple profits to secretly develop a spaceship to go back home. His near completion has yielded the attention of his home planet, who have established a form of communication in the form of clicks and beeps, masked as hard drive failures.
Speaking of failures, this comment is also a prime example of one...failure that is.
Your truly,
Arman
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