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jwilcox09

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
98
0
Boston
I have been having a weird noise come from my MBP lately, and I am not sure if anyone else has had this. I have a SSD in the main HD slot and i put a 1tb platter drive in place of the CD Rom drive using this. Everything runs fine and I haven had any crashes or anything, but every now and again, there is this weird noise that sounds like its coming from the aforementioned device. Its like "biiiiinnngggg CLANK". Then nothing happens, hard drive stays mounts and still R/W, not freezes or anything, but Its a rather concerning noise. I know I could remove the device to see if that was the root of the problem, but I figured I'd see if anyone had experienced this.

Thanks.

(I assure you I have searched quite extensively looking for an answer before submitting this)
 

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
Since you have no optical drive, the only logical conclusion is the HDD...It may be on it's way out, it's the only physical platter based device you have, and therefore can be the only source of the noise you describe....I'd check the drive and backup everything before it does go.
 

Glockron

macrumors member
Jun 16, 2012
99
0
As the guy above me said - back everything up RIGHT NOW. Abnormal noises is a clear indicator that a hard drive failure is imminent. After that you can tinker with it
 

mohsy90

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,332
2
New York
It could be the "click of death", google it. And as suggested above....back up everything NOW!! Your hard drive is likely failing and will be dead sooner or later!
 

jwilcox09

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
98
0
Boston
Thanks for the reponses, I do have everything backed up, but its been doing for about 2 weeks without any problems. Its brand new as well, so I guess I should send it back for replacement.

Thanks.
 

mohsy90

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,332
2
New York
Thanks for the reponses, I do have everything backed up, but its been doing for about 2 weeks without any problems. Its brand new as well, so I guess I should send it back for replacement.

Thanks.

Yeah, it shouldn't be making any noises if it's brand new. At first I thought it was the SMS sensor that Apple uses in their hard drives, which stops the needle and parks the drive when ever the laptop is moved....a precautionary action to save the drive in the case of an impending fall, but seeing as that is not the case....It's definitely a bad hard drive!!
 

jwilcox09

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
98
0
Boston
Yeah, it shouldn't be making any noises if it's brand new. At first I thought it was the SMS sensor that Apple uses in their hard drives, which stops the needle and parks the drive when ever the laptop is moved....a precautionary action to save the drive in the case of an impending fall, but seeing as that is not the case....It's definitely a bad hard drive!!

Thanks!
 

Trey M

macrumors 6502a
Jul 25, 2011
954
323
USA
Not sure if this is the same thing or not, but Apple by default installs a hard drive protection feature in all of it's hard drives- basically, it's supposed to activate when you pick up your computer to move it as to prevent damage from sudden movement. It makes a similar noise to what you're describing. Since your HDD (the only drive that would make a noise) is in your opti bay slot now, that may mean that it isn't installed correctly, as the noise would be indicating that something is moving/sliding. Not sure if this is what you're talking about, but I do know that Apple installs that hard drive-protection feature and it makes similar noise to what you're describing...
 

iViking

macrumors 6502
Oct 23, 2006
293
0
I have been having a weird noise come from my MBP lately, and I am not sure if anyone else has had this. I have a SSD in the main HD slot and i put a 1tb platter drive in place of the CD Rom drive using this. Everything runs fine and I haven had any crashes or anything, but every now and again, there is this weird noise that sounds like its coming from the aforementioned device. Its like "biiiiinnngggg CLANK". Then nothing happens, hard drive stays mounts and still R/W, not freezes or anything, but Its a rather concerning noise. I know I could remove the device to see if that was the root of the problem, but I figured I'd see if anyone had experienced this.

Thanks.

(I assure you I have searched quite extensively looking for an answer before submitting this)

It could indicate impending hd failure but it could just as well be the drive parking the heads. There was a ton of concern about this a few years ago with Seagate and other drives. Some called it the sound of a ping pong ball dropping, ball bearing click, etc. So I wouldn't panic just yet.
 

b0blndsy

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2010
277
1
Illinois
Sounds concerning. Just to clarify though, you got the HD tray from Apple or Amazon? I've had a similar experience of an HDD making such noises. Turns out the HD short circuited due to power fluctuation.
 

jwilcox09

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
98
0
Boston
It could indicate impending hd failure but it could just as well be the drive parking the heads. There was a ton of concern about this a few years ago with Seagate and other drives. Some called it the sound of a ping pong ball dropping, ball bearing click, etc. So I wouldn't panic just yet.

Yeah I am going to keep it backed up and ride it out untill it actually fails. It is my auxilary hd, and all the important stuff is on the SSD.

----------

Sounds concerning. Just to clarify though, you got the HD tray from Apple or Amazon? I've had a similar experience of an HDD making such noises. Turns out the HD short circuited due to power fluctuation.

The HD tray is from amazon, but its basically just a holder that connects the sata connection of the hd to where the cd rom would sit.

----------

Not sure if this is the same thing or not, but Apple by default installs a hard drive protection feature in all of it's hard drives- basically, it's supposed to activate when you pick up your computer to move it as to prevent damage from sudden movement. It makes a similar noise to what you're describing. Since your HDD (the only drive that would make a noise) is in your opti bay slot now, that may mean that it isn't installed correctly, as the noise would be indicating that something is moving/sliding. Not sure if this is what you're talking about, but I do know that Apple installs that hard drive-protection feature and it makes similar noise to what you're describing...

The only problem with this is that the HD is after market, not what my MBP came with, so I don't think it would have this. Its a Samsung SpinPoint 1TB.
 

jwilcox09

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
98
0
Boston
Interestingly enough, I did an SMC reset and the noise hasn't happened in 24 hours, so I guess I'll just keep backing it up and hoping for the best.

Thanks.
 
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