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    New MBP Clicking Sound

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Kage, Sep 11, 2009.

  1. Kage

    Kage Notebook Consultant

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    I have a MBP and I hear a clicking sound coming from hard drive. Is normal to hear the clicking sound?
     
    Kage, Sep 11, 2009
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  2. Lethal Lottery

    Lethal Lottery Notebook Betrayer

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    No not all. Bring it for service, but make sure its making the sound when you do. I had the same issue, but since it did not make the sound in the presence of the technician, he refused to open up the laptop.
     
    Lethal Lottery, Sep 11, 2009
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  3. Kage

    Kage Notebook Consultant

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    Does this clicking sound have to do with the Sudden Motion Sensor with the hard drive? If not, does it matter if I go to the Apple Store even though I did not buy my MBP from them?
     
    Kage, Sep 11, 2009
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  4. ClearSkies

    ClearSkies Well no, I'm still here..

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    Wait a minute -- if this click is *only* heard when it's very quiet in the room, then it is much more likely to be OS X's aggressive power management parking the hard drive heads than a HDD failure.

    Several people here are mistaking this single/double "clunk" sound for HDD pre-failure and are being told to take it in when it's unnecessary - there have been a few threads on this very subject over the past few weeks.
     
    ClearSkies, Sep 11, 2009
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  5. Kage

    Kage Notebook Consultant

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    My HDD sounds does not have a clunky sound so I assume that it is not on the verge of failure. It more sounds like a very quick click that happens every 45 seconds to a minute and I guess its normal. Thanks for your help.
     
    Kage, Sep 12, 2009
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  6. HchorionicGT

    HchorionicGT Notebook Consultant

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    If it is happening with that kind of frequency when the laptop is just sitting around on a table, that seems unusual. Is the clicking happening when you are using it on your lap and moving around?
     
    HchorionicGT, Sep 12, 2009
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  7. Tinderbox (UK)

    Tinderbox (UK) BAKED BEAN KING

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    I have had a clicking/clunking noise from my Hitachi 500gb 5400rpm hdd since i upgraded to snow leopard, it does not happen in leopard or bootcamp.

    it can happen every 10 seconds to every minute or so, it is driving me crazy.

    If turns out, at least mine is the sound is the hdd parking it`s heads, it`s called load cycle count in the hdd smart data , and every time the hdd parks it`s heads the count goes up, see my post below.

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=415063

    I have found a program called hdapm that disable the hdd power management and stops the clunking/clicking sound.

    http://mckinlay.net.nz/hdapm/
     
    Tinderbox (UK), Sep 12, 2009
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  8. Kage

    Kage Notebook Consultant

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    So this clicking sound became more noticeable with Snow Leopard. Do you think that Apple is aware of the clicking sound? Maybe I should go back to Leopard.
     
    Kage, Sep 12, 2009
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  9. Tinderbox (UK)

    Tinderbox (UK) BAKED BEAN KING

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    I posted on the official apple mac forum and nobody had an answer for me , most thought my hdd was faulty.

    But when i use the hdapm software , the clunking/clicking noise goes away.

    Do you have the Hitachi 500gb 5400rpm hdd , or a different one.
     
    Tinderbox (UK), Sep 12, 2009
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  10. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    just cuz hdapm stopped the problem, doesn't mean your drive is ok... it could still be your drive... it could also be your controller, or motion sensor
     
    doh123, Sep 12, 2009
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  11. Tinderbox (UK)

    Tinderbox (UK) BAKED BEAN KING

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    It`s not the motions sensor , I turned it off and the noise still happens.

    It`s just strange how i have only heard the noise since i installed snow leopard.
     
    Tinderbox (UK), Sep 12, 2009
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  12. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    In 10.5 the built in auto drive parking on drives would be disabled, and the computer one would be used.... maybe its possible that something in 10.6 isn't treating your drive right, and the 2 sensors are fighting each other.
     
    doh123, Sep 12, 2009
    #12