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Macbook Pro 'tink' sounds

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pearsonownz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 4, 2006
24
0
I just purchased my Macbook Pro about a week ago, and I am having some trouble with it.

Inside the right palmrest, I keep hearing 'tinks'. Almost sounds like lose hardware, but I don't think that is the case.

Also, when I am playing a video in VLC, if I move the Macbook, or adjust its positioning, that 'tink' will happen, and it will freeze the video for a second.

Any idea why? I have been reading about a security feature inside of it, but its sort of an annoying noise.
 
Pearson,

I am in the same boat as you... Having a little PC background the sound is coming from the harddrive. Seems odd that the platter or head slips when slightly moving the notebook as this has never happened to me with PC notebooks... This is my first macbook.

I'm wondering if this is a common issue for macbooks ? I was relieved to read someone else is having the same issue without having to search but a little worried that this will cause the drive to fail quicker over time.
 
jaysen said:
Pearson,

I am in the same boat as you... Having a little PC background the sound is coming from the harddrive. Seems odd that the platter or head slips when slightly moving the notebook as this has never happened to me with PC notebooks... This is my first macbook.

I'm wondering if this is a common issue for macbooks ? I was relieved to read someone else is having the same issue without having to search but a little worried that this will cause the drive to fail quicker over time.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I am worried about. I'm still in my trial to just return the darn thing, so I may just do that.
 
Are you guys moving your macbooks? If so this is the motion sensor that automatically parks the drive.

There were also some threads here about certain drives making this noise and for the life of me I can't remember why. Yeah, I know this isn't much help but hopefully somebody will chime in here and remind me.
 
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I'm having the same problem! Well whenever it made that noise I was moving or changing the position of my MacBook. It was almost always tilted when the noise would occur. Glad to know I'm not the only one that has this problem!

Does anyone know why?
 
Sudden Motion Sensor protecting your drive by moving the heads out of the way when it senses motion?
 
pearsonownz said:
What I'm wondering is why doesnt this happen to everybody?
Click to expand...

It does happen to everybody, but some just aren't as bothered by it than others. I'm not a fan of it myself and think that the sensor is much too sensitive. The solution is to buy an SSD and turn the sudden motion sensor off.
 
This certainly is NOT a problem; it's a feature added to protect your data. Besides, it's not restricted to MBPs either; some PC manufacturers utilize SMS as well.

Instead of looking at it as "what the hell is that clink noise when I move my MBP", just change your perspective and look at it as "ohhhh, the sweet sound of my HD parking its head so that it wont be scratched or destroy my data when I move my computer around". It may help a little :D
 
santos79 said:
It does happen to everybody, but some just aren't as bothered by it than others. I'm not a fan of it myself and think that the sensor is much too sensitive. The solution is to buy an SSD and turn the sudden motion sensor off.
Click to expand...

Honestly, if you think it's too sensitive, I wonder if you realize how much you're whipping your laptop around. I haven't had it engage once yet, but I have had a HD fail on me on a previous Powerbook--probably from moving the computer around too much while on and open.
 
Well mine does it even when sitting on my desk, in fact it just did it as I was typing this. It is definitely something in the hard drive, but it doesn't sound like a bad thing or like its damaging anything. It may just the the quick movement of the reader heads or something.

Anyhow it sounds like a common thing and not a cause for concern.

Just tinked again.
 
Hey all,

I would like to join this conversation by saying that I too have the same problems described in the aforementioned posts.

My new (<1 month old) MBP will make an almost "tinking" sound as it sits absolutely still on my desk. The noise definitely seems to be coming from the right side of the palm rest or key board.

It isn't so much that it concerns about a potentially damaged component, moreover the fact that it is growing to be quite annoying to hear every few minutes.

The pattern is irregular but may happen a few times within a short span of time. Other times it is completely absent.

I believe it to be movements within the hard drive. This could be a small factor in me wanting to switch to SSD.

I guess we should all just put some music or some sort of background noise on while using out notebooks from now on. LOL ;-)

Thanks
 
MacsOnAnabolics said:
Hey all,

I would like to join this conversation by saying that I too have the same problems described in the aforementioned posts.

My new (<1 month old) MBP will make an almost "tinking" sound as it sits absolutely still on my desk. The noise definitely seems to be coming from the right side of the palm rest or key board.

It isn't so much that it concerns about a potentially damaged component, moreover the fact that it is growing to be quite annoying to hear every few minutes.

The pattern is irregular but may happen a few times within a short span of time. Other times it is completely absent.

I believe it to be movements within the hard drive. This could be a small factor in me wanting to switch to SSD.

I guess we should all just put some music or some sort of background noise on while using out notebooks from now on. LOL ;-)

Thanks
Click to expand...

Well... SMS should not kick in while your computer sits absolutely still on your desk. It needs to be triggered with "movement". Has it been like this from the beginning or just started recently? If you want to make sure that it's the SMS, you can disable it and see if the clicking goes away. If it doesn't, I would take it to an Apple store for a possible HD replacement.
Here is the Apple link to SMS:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934
 
I think it's the unibody fit making the noise.

Nope not hard drive, I have a 256 SSD and have the same problem. I think if you gave your palm rest a bit of a squeeze you'll get the noise. I think it is the fit of the case making the noise,which is annoying, but I don't think is a problem to the operation of the machine. I've tightened screws and didn't help, so I guess I have to live with it.
 
Called Apple and no solution over the phone, will head in to Apple Store for a whinge.
 
Bradjc said:
Nope not hard drive, I have a 256 SSD and have the same problem. I think if you gave your palm rest a bit of a squeeze you'll get the noise. I think it is the fit of the case making the noise,which is annoying, but I don't think is a problem to the operation of the machine. I've tightened screws and didn't help, so I guess I have to live with it.
Click to expand...

Yep, definitely not the SMS. If the people who are so quick to say it's the SMS bothered to search they'd find at least two other threads on this issue.

I have an SSD also and I hear it. You can also hear it when the machine is off and just moving it around.
 
This subject has been discussed many times.

It is NOT SMS. And it is NOT the harddrive.

Why not? Because people with SSD's and SMS disabled have the same issue ;)

(so do I btw)
 
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