Well prior to installing HDAPM, i had unchecked 'put hard disks to sleep when possible' and i didn't hear any reduced clicking. Still fairly noisy, could hear the click once every 5 - 25 seconds.
I just installed HDAPM and it's been silent.
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Brand New Mac Mini 2012 2.6 making click/tick/crackle noise
- Thread starter tim34567
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I just installed HDAPM and it's been silent.
Hey; I've tried to install HDAPM on my week old midrange mac mini but it hasn't reduced my noise. To be honest I don't know if I have installed it right. Anyone who can help me? Also, is there a way to see if HDAPM has done it's work?
Unfortunately isn't enough.
Just install HDAPM and the problem is solved.
This issue is known since 2008. I had the problem first on a late 2009 MBP.
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Open Console, and in the search box write "HDAPM".
You should find something like "HDAPM: set APM Level to 0xfe: Success".
In this case HDAPM is working.
My Mini was making the ticking noises. It has the Hitachi 1TB hard drive in it. Needless to say, as a maintenance technician this was a little more than disconcerting. However my Mini no longer makes that noise any more. I can't tell you what has changed as I have not changed or downloaded anything but the EFI update. Weird and unexplainable but I am happy now.
I'm noticing a clicking too, but I'm not so sure that it's the HD. It's more noticible now that I've added an external DAC to the system and the clicks come through the external speakers, so I'm not sure if it's the mini or the DAC, or whether the DAC makes the mini clicks more noticible.
Thank you pongo this worked for me. Just picked up a used 2012 i5 mac mini in which the first owner put in a HGST 1tb hd. The ker chunk was every 5 to 45 second and driving me nuts. I downloaded hdapm, hit install, went to console which said it failed. However the click stopped immediately after I hit install and has not come back!! Never posted to any thread before but had to say thanks. THANKS! I'm leery downloading most anything.. Anybody check all the characters for bots or bugs? I don't much care as it was worth sanity.
Ok so it's 2016. How is everybody doing? I had an intermittent clicking on my i7 Late 2012 server. Two 1Tb disk drives. Here's the problem. I've been nursing the machine the entire lifespan. It seems that at these hard drives are slow, or something has always been wrong with the drive and/or controller.
Now I installed 10.11.3 (El Capitan rev 4) onto the main HD and guess what. No boot. Verbose didn't show anything. Safe-Mode didn't ever come up either. I can still see my data on the disk, by booting off another device. I think I've had a lemon the entire time. I've tried everything including DiskWarrior 5 but nothing has brought the boot back (it does boot into Recovery though strangely).
It hangs on the progress bar and the Apple even in Verbose mode. The bar moves, and then slowly stops at around 65%.
I thought it would be no problem to get the OS upgraded. But now it's totally dead. My last resort is to take the drive out and try SpinRite on it.
Has anybody else had to deal with a hobbled, limping Mini for the last three years?
Report back! This could be VERY handy information for everybody.
James
Now I installed 10.11.3 (El Capitan rev 4) onto the main HD and guess what. No boot. Verbose didn't show anything. Safe-Mode didn't ever come up either. I can still see my data on the disk, by booting off another device. I think I've had a lemon the entire time. I've tried everything including DiskWarrior 5 but nothing has brought the boot back (it does boot into Recovery though strangely).
It hangs on the progress bar and the Apple even in Verbose mode. The bar moves, and then slowly stops at around 65%.
I thought it would be no problem to get the OS upgraded. But now it's totally dead. My last resort is to take the drive out and try SpinRite on it.
Has anybody else had to deal with a hobbled, limping Mini for the last three years?
Report back! This could be VERY handy information for everybody.
James
Even when HDDs are working properly they're kinda annoying. Noisy and slow. I've replaced the HDDs in all my Macs with SSDs since the prices have come down so much. Now I only use HDDs for backups.
I don't understand James.
Clicking is often a HDD failure symptom. It seems unlikely that anyone could have a similar problem for that long. You set some sort of record buddy! Why did you have to deal with that sick mini for "the last three years" James? Did you never take the computer to Apple or an authorized service center for diagnosis and repair? My best guess is that you purchased a used i7 server around January of 2013 and never tried to utilize the remaining factory warranty coverage. Or perhaps you took it to Apple and they blew you off...
Used Computer?
AppleCare?
Factory Warranty?
Three whole years?
What a shame. Your server should have been a beast for that whole time. You have one of the most coveted Macs on the planet! If there ever was a good candidate for a double SSD transplant, you should have one on your desk.