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MacBook Pro HD

M

MarkW19

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 13, 2002
1,209
1
Surrey, UK
I got my MBP the other day, which has a 200GB 7200rpm HD.

The HD makes a sort of clunking sound every 30 seconds or so, which doesn't seem to correlate with anything I'm doing at the time. Sometimes, my mouse will freeze for a second just after the clunk sound as well.

This happens either on Power or Battery, and "Put Hard Disk to sleep when possible" isn't checked.

Can anyone help?
 
MarkW19 said:
I got my MBP the other day, which has a 200GB 7200rpm HD.

The HD makes a sort of clunking sound every 30 seconds or so, which doesn't seem to correlate with anything I'm doing at the time. Sometimes, my mouse will freeze for a second just after the clunk sound as well.

This happens either on Power or Battery, and "Put Hard Disk to sleep when possible" isn't checked.

Can anyone help?
Click to expand...

Time Machine?
 
neil321 said:
Could be the fact that 2.5 drives are considered portable
and the sound you hear are the heads docking to prevent
damage

Aint got a clue about the mouse
Click to expand...

Do you mean the accelerometer that docks the heads when you drop the laptop? Or is that something they just constantly do anyway?
 
Had the same problem with you about the HD clucking every 30 seconds. That means that a hard drive failure is expected VERY VERY VERY SOON. That is how I broke my iBook G4... :(

You should make backup copies right now if you must.

With kind regards,

apple90
 
apple90 said:
Had the same problem with you about the HD clucking every 30 seconds. That means that a hard drive failure is expected VERY VERY VERY SOON. That is how I broke my iBook G4... :(

You should make backup copies right now if you must.

With kind regards,

apple90
Click to expand...

My MBP is only 1 day old though...
 
Well, I don't have anything worth backing up anyway as I've had my MBP for all of one day.

After waiting 2 weeks for my MBP to arrive, I'd be very disappointed if I can't even manage one day's use.
 
MarkW19 said:
Well, I don't have anything worth backing up anyway as I've had my MBP for all of one day.

After waiting 2 weeks for my MBP to arrive, I'd be very disappointed if I can't even manage one day's use.
Click to expand...

Yeah that sucks I'd be pretty pissed if i were you but it happens sometimes can't really blame apple
 
Techguy172 said:
Yeah that sucks I'd be pretty pissed if i were you but it happens sometimes can't really blame apple
Click to expand...

Of course I can blame Apple, it's them who have got my £1500 (~$3000).

Anyway, I've done some research on this - even on these very forums - and it seems it's a common "symptom" with MacBook/MBP drives - it's the disk moving between tracks every 15 seconds or so, to prevent damage from the heads sitting over one area of the disk for an excessive period of time.

I've backed up anyway, just in case, but I'm fairly sure that's it. It's only a very quiet sound - only audible in very quiet conditions, when the CD drive/fans aren't going etc.
 
MarkW19 said:
Of course I can blame Apple, it's them who have got my £1500 (~$3000).

Anyway, I've done some research on this - even on these very forums - and it seems it's a common "symptom" with MacBook/MBP drives - it's the disk moving between tracks every 15 seconds or so, to prevent damage from the heads sitting over one area of the disk for an excessive period of time.

I've backed up anyway, just in case, but I'm fairly sure that's it. It's only a very quiet sound - only audible in very quiet conditions, when the CD drive/fans aren't going etc.
Click to expand...

Frankly, since you're still within the 14-day return period, I think you should ask for a replacement. My 2.6 17" hi-res currently has this symptom, and it's driving me crazy. The worst of it is that it wasn't making the noise before I sent the laptop in for a top case replacement and the idiots at the TX repair depot decided to just REPLACE THE F*^$ING HARD DRIVE INSTEAD. No reason given, nothing wrong with the original hard drive. Oops.

So I take it back to the Genius bar and they keep it overnight and can't hear the noise. (I don't know how, because even though it's not a loud noise, it's like a chirp-hiccup-clunk noise---definitely not normal.) But because they can't reproduce the issue, they're refusing any additional service.

Solution: I bought myself a 320GB WD Scorpio to throw in there, warranty be damned.

The point is that whether or not this noise is a common symptom or indicative of imminent drive failure, it's not a "normal" noise, in the sense that the majority of MacBook Pros either don't make it or don't make it nearly as loudly as mine is.
 
Taken from http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/hdd/physClunking-c.html :

"Explanation: Every once in a while the drive makes a "click-click-click" or a clunking noise, either while it is operating or sitting idle.

Diagnosis: This is usually a message, and the message is: "look out!" Generally speaking, hard disks should not make these sorts of noises. Do not confuse a loud clicking or thunking sound with the quiet "tapping" access sound made by some drives performing thermal recalibration. Also, some newer drives (such as those made by Western Digital) use a feature called "wear leveling", that causes the disk to move from track to track every 15 seconds or so to prevent the heads from sitting over one area of the disk for an excessive period of time (which could increase the possibility of a wearout failure). Time the interval between clicks; if it is 15 seconds exactly and the drive is otherwise fine, this is likely what is going on, and you probably do not have to do anything."
 
MarkW19 said:
Of course I can blame Apple, it's them who have got my £1500 (~$3000).

Anyway, I've done some research on this - even on these very forums - and it seems it's a common "symptom" with MacBook/MBP drives - it's the disk moving between tracks every 15 seconds or so, to prevent damage from the heads sitting over one area of the disk for an excessive period of time.

I've backed up anyway, just in case, but I'm fairly sure that's it. It's only a very quiet sound - only audible in very quiet conditions, when the CD drive/fans aren't going etc.
Click to expand...


I'll Admit they could have chosen better drives but most are fine and apple doesn't make the components so.... You can't blame them for the faulty drive it happens
 
After hearing the sound more recently, it's more of a quiet falling "tink tink tink" in quick succession (each "tink" being slightly lower in pitch than the previous one) - quite subtle, I only get it now and again, and I can only hear it when the main fan isn't on, CD drive, etc.
 
I have a similar problem, I would almost describe it as a hard drive hiccup. I usually notice it when watching YouTube videos -- every few minutes the video will pause for a split second (the hiccup), barely noticeable IMO. Oddly I don't have the problem when listening to music or playing a DVD.

I've had my MBP since November, and everything about this laptop is rock steady. Nonetheless, my data is backed up -- it's just standard protocol.
 
Yeah, mine has been just fine, including doing intensive audio work every day, despite the scare-mongering.

A "hiccup" is a good way to describe it, sort of a falling "tink tink tink".

Anyway, I'm returning my MBP for a couple of minor issues, and getting a brand new Penryn one when they're out (hopefully very soon!).
 
Again, the drive has performed flawlessly for me for 5-6 weeks now, doing audio/video work, gaming, the lot.

After researching, I found a lot of other people have this sound, and it's just the heads moving to reduce wear, etc. Apple also confirmed this, and indeed my colleague's Macbook Pro was also the same.

So - thanks to the people who helped in this thread. But to the people who were scare-mongering after I posted a slight observation with my new £1500 purchase, and my first laptop - perhaps you should do some research yourself on issues you're not fully knowledgable on, before unnecessarily worrying others in the future? :)
 
MarkW19 said:
Again, the drive has performed flawlessly for me for 5-6 weeks now, doing audio/video work, gaming, the lot.

After researching, I found a lot of other people have this sound, and it's just the heads moving to reduce wear, etc. Apple also confirmed this, and indeed my colleague's Macbook Pro was also the same.

So - thanks to the people who helped in this thread. But to the people who were scare-mongering after I posted a slight observation with my new £1500 purchase, and my first laptop - perhaps you should do some research yourself on issues you're not fully knowledgable on, before unnecessarily worrying others in the future? :)
Click to expand...

When you choose the adviser, you choose the advice...
If you wanted knowledgeable opinions, you should have gon to the Apple store and ask for technical advice.
Also, your description of the sound (every 30 seconds or so...) was not the same description it was given for the "wear-reduction system" (exactly every 15 seconds).
By the way, my MBP with 200 Gb 5400rpm HD does not make any sound at all and I don't see any "hiccups", etc. If I buy a new $2000 computer and makes all this weird stuff, last thing I would think is that it is normal. A professional computer that freezes every few seconds for a moment while watching video? Are you kidding me?
 
Macmel said:
When you choose the adviser, you choose the advice...
If you wanted knowledgeable opinions, you should have gon to the Apple store and ask for technical advice.
Also, your description of the sound (every 30 seconds or so...) was not the same description it was given for the "wear-reduction system" (exactly every 15 seconds).
By the way, my MBP with 200 Gb 5400rpm HD does not make any sound at all and I don't see any "hiccups", etc. If I buy a new $2000 computer and makes all this weird stuff, last thing I would think is that it is normal. A professional computer that freezes every few seconds for a moment while watching video? Are you kidding me?
Click to expand...

I didn't ask for advice from people who didn't know what they were talking about, or that jump to (wrong) conclusions - indeed, one user above has been banned. When I said "can anyone help", I meant from anyone that has had experience and knowledge of this, and not someone that just has the word "clunk" jump out at them, and immediately jumps to the conclusion that my hard drive is about to fail! And, as we all know, Apple technical support are barely perfect. We're all here because we want advice from people that are in the same position as us, in the real world, with probably more experience than the Apple techs, and not just reading standard answers to common questions off a computer screen...

It doesn't freeze with the "hiccups" by the way, it was just coincidence.

Your MBP doesn't make any sound AT ALL? What about the standard "clicking" from hard drive read/writes, standard fan noise at <2000rpm? :| If you have a truly silent machine, then you have witnessed a miracle of computer engineering!
 
i have a macbook pro 2.4, 160G hard drive,2G RAM 15.4w
I dont have any noise from my mac at all,no clicking.
i am going to get 320G
(Western digital) if any one knows any better options (brand of hard drive ) please let me know.
thanks
 
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