Hard Drive Clicking Noise?

Jovian9 · Jan 21, 2005

I have a 250GB HD in my iMac G5. I have 3 partitions: the OSX Partition is 75GB, the 2nd Partition is 130GB, and the 3rd is the remainder. Lately it seems that whenever I'm transferring large files (video mainly) b/t the partitions (or from my iMac G5 to my PB) I get a clicking noise from iMac....seems to be the hard drive. Has anyone else run into this? Should I be concerned? Possibly a failing hard drive? The only other time I've ever heard anything similar is on my Firewire HD when I eject it from my desktop....it clicks to let me know it has been ejected......but I've never heard this sound with any other hard drives in any of the Macs I've had. Thanks!

Duff-Man · Jan 21, 2005

Duff-Man says...clicking noise from a hard drive is almost always a sign that the drive is dying...back up your stuff and get the drive checked out....oh yeah!

Jovian9 · Jan 25, 2005

I called Apple over the weekend about the clicking noise. I was on the phone for 2 hours trying to get this figured out. It would start clicking almost anytime I was transferring large amounts of data, but the sound seemed like it was coming out the bottom right (when facing) the iMac....and the HD is in the top left.
Eventually I had to take off the back, reset the PMU, start up the iMac (with back off) and try transferring data. I also had to check that all wires were seated properly and that all screws were tight. After doing this I no longer have the clicking noise.
Apple attributed this to the hard drive not getting enough power to transfer data, so the PMU needed reset.
Apple also stated that this is considered a 'Software' issue, so therefore is not covered after 90 days without a full 3 year AppleCare warranty (although I did nothing software related to solve this problem). So I had to pay them $50 for a 2 hour phone conversation and partially taking apart the iMac and resetting the PMU....all hardware. And I only get 5 days for this repair case to be open.....if the clicking begins again after 5 days and I have to call them, I will have to pay another $50.
My wife and I were about to buy a 12" PB, for her, the iWork suite, and 2 iPod Shuffles........looks like I'm going to cancel that thought because I am not very happy with having to pay Apple $50 for something that wasn't working right on my 3 1/2 month old iMac G5

Mr. G4 · Jan 25, 2005

Did you use the "Disk Utility" to see the SMART status?
Run Disk Utility and click on your drive, look at the bottom right.
If the HD is dying it should tell you. If it doesn't say verify, then that mean your HD is failing and you should call Apple to replace it.
If you live close to an Apple Store, just take it to the Genius Bar, usually they don't charge anything to look at it.

Jovian9 said:
I called Apple over the weekend about the clicking noise. I was on the phone for 2 hours trying to get this figured out. It would start clicking almost anytime I was transferring large amounts of data, but the sound seemed like it was coming out the bottom right (when facing) the iMac....and the HD is in the top left.
Eventually I had to take off the back, reset the PMU, start up the iMac (with back off) and try transferring data. I also had to check that all wires were seated properly and that all screws were tight. After doing this I no longer have the clicking noise.
Apple attributed this to the hard drive not getting enough power to transfer data, so the PMU needed reset.
Apple also stated that this is considered a 'Software' issue, so therefore is not covered after 90 days without a full 3 year AppleCare warranty (although I did nothing software related to solve this problem). So I had to pay them $50 for a 2 hour phone conversation and partially taking apart the iMac and resetting the PMU....all hardware. And I only get 5 days for this repair case to be open.....if the clicking begins again after 5 days and I have to call them, I will have to pay another $50.
My wife and I were about to buy a 12" PB, for her, the iWork suite, and 2 iPod Shuffles........looks like I'm going to cancel that thought because I am not very happy with having to pay Apple $50 for something that wasn't working right on my 3 1/2 month old iMac G5

HiRez · Jan 25, 2005

Jovian9 said:
My wife and I were about to buy a 12" PB, for her, the iWork suite, and 2 iPod Shuffles........looks like I'm going to cancel that thought because I am not very happy with having to pay Apple $50 for something that wasn't working right on my 3 1/2 month old iMac G5

I agree that sounds ridiculous. You should write them a letter (a real, physical letter) telling them that they'll be losing your business and they will probably change their mind about it. Even if they don't it's good for them to know it.

neut · Jan 25, 2005

Jovian9 said:
I called Apple over the weekend about the clicking noise. I was on the phone for 2 hours trying to get this figured out. It would start clicking almost anytime I was transferring large amounts of data, but the sound seemed like it was coming out the bottom right (when facing) the iMac....and the HD is in the top left.
Eventually I had to take off the back, reset the PMU, start up the iMac (with back off) and try transferring data. I also had to check that all wires were seated properly and that all screws were tight. After doing this I no longer have the clicking noise.
Apple attributed this to the hard drive not getting enough power to transfer data, so the PMU needed reset.
Apple also stated that this is considered a 'Software' issue, so therefore is not covered after 90 days without a full 3 year AppleCare warranty (although I did nothing software related to solve this problem). So I had to pay them $50 for a 2 hour phone conversation and partially taking apart the iMac and resetting the PMU....all hardware. And I only get 5 days for this repair case to be open.....if the clicking begins again after 5 days and I have to call them, I will have to pay another $50.
My wife and I were about to buy a 12" PB, for her, the iWork suite, and 2 iPod Shuffles........looks like I'm going to cancel that thought because I am not very happy with having to pay Apple $50 for something that wasn't working right on my 3 1/2 month old iMac G5

This is NOT a software issue. Did you get the name of who helped you? I'd call back and ask for the supervisor (or next up) or customer service. You shouldn't have to pay $50 for that fix. It might be cheaper to return it and pay a restcking fee ... ?

lame. sucks to hear bad apple situations like this one.

peace.

Norouzi · Jan 25, 2005

I can confirm that reseting the PMU is not a software issue. How do I know for sure, because when I worked for a specialist, we got reimbursed for a PMU reset as a warranty repair. So if we could get paid for it under warranty it's not software related since software isn't covered.
I'd definatily call Apple and ask them how exactly they classify taking appart the iMac and pressing a button on the Logic board as a software problem. And definatily don't talk to the first person you get ask for someone higher up.

Mr. Monsieur · Mar 4, 2005

i know it may sound obvious to some...but others perhaps have never actually been to an apple store...i know it's more difficult with towers, etc., to get it there, but for peace of mind (they'll never charge you $50 as long as the part is under warranty...in fact, i think they'll even look at it after it's out of warranty!) it's worth it...my apple store experiences have been really positive!

Mechcozmo · Mar 4, 2005

Eh, you had to take the back of your iMac off to fix it. That sounds pretty hardware related, because you are not using the mouse/keyboard. You are using a screwdriver and brute force.

That's hardware my friend. The simple test is if you can kick it, its hardware. If you can't kick it, it is software.

Search

Search

Hard Drive Clicking Noise?

Jovian9

macrumors 68000

Duff-Man

Contributor

Jovian9

macrumors 68000

Mr. G4

macrumors 6502

HiRez

macrumors 603

neut

macrumors 68000

Norouzi

macrumors 6502

Mr. Monsieur

macrumors 6502

Mechcozmo

macrumors 603

Our Staff