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Persistant click from uMBP 13" hard drive

Z

zwaldowski

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2009
70
1
I just bought an officially refurbished June 2009 13" MacBook Pro, and my hard drive (a standard low-end 5400RPM 180GB hard drive) emits a persistent (if not irritating) click or rattle. The noise continues from boot to power off. The computer shows no signs of hard drive issues... even running intensive applications, I haven't yet received a spinning "beach ball" cursor or anything. The hard drive seems perfectly reliable, except for this rattle.

I apologize for the off-site link, but here is a sample of the rattle from my iPhone's Voice Memos app. There's some background noise (family members, if you listen hard enough) but the rattle is very audible.

Should I be worried? Should I contact Apple?
 
You should contact Apple immediately. If the sound was coming from HDD, that's bad. Possibly from the fan.

celticpride678 said:
Did you download the firmware update that was released yesterday?
Click to expand...

That's for 7200RPM HDD. The OP was using a 5400 one.
 
It sounds to me like the hard drive spindle bearing could be going, but really, which part of the drive is defective is not important. Back up any data you've stored on the computer and call Apple to arrange for a repair/replacement.
 
Yeah, I attempted the hard drive firmware update, but it said it wasn't for me. Although the uMBP's are acoustically strange, it's almost certainly coming from the front-left of the bottom half of the MBP. It's definitely not coming from the back-center (battery/fan) area. That recording was from sitting my iPhone vertically directly to the left of the trackpad.

I can also say that the issue only occurs when the device is "flat" (e.g., horizontal) either on a flat surface or angled (in a lap, on my laptop stand)... when I turned the device on its side, the clicking went away (and not from the sudden movement sensor).

I'm not afraid to open this puppy up (I'm going to replace the hard drive in a couple of months anyway once I get the cash for it), so should I just check and see if it's aligned/screwed in right?
 
zwaldowski said:
Yeah, I attempted the hard drive firmware update, but it said it wasn't for me. Although the uMBP's are acoustically strange, it's almost certainly coming from the front-left of the bottom half of the MBP. It's definitely not coming from the back-center (battery/fan) area. That recording was from sitting my iPhone vertically directly to the left of the trackpad.

I can also say that the issue only occurs when the device is "flat" (e.g., horizontal) either on a flat surface or angled (in a lap, on my laptop stand)... when I turned the device on its side, the clicking went away (and not from the sudden movement sensor).

I'm not afraid to open this puppy up (I'm going to replace the hard drive in a couple of months anyway once I get the cash for it), so should I just check and see if it's aligned/screwed in right?
Click to expand...
Perhaps do a quick visual check if you're so inclined, but I wouldn't do anything further. You just bought it so I would take it to an Apple store or authorized repair shop if nothing is obviously wrong with it.
 
Bill Gates said:
Perhaps do a quick visual check if you're so inclined, but I wouldn't do anything further. You just bought it so I would take it to an Apple store or authorized repair shop if nothing is obviously wrong with it.
Click to expand...

Well, I'd have to do it through the mail. I just bought it online from the Refurb Store and had overnight shipping (awesome :apple: ). Perhaps the time to buy a new hard drive is sooner, if not later. :rolleyes:
 
Well, I'm back from self-servicing my MBP. It appears to have just been my hard drive rattling in that open spot; the rubber padding bar wasn't screwed down as far as it could've. There is still a buzz, but it's barely audible. If the rest of it's the hard drive, I'm replacing it eventually anyway. I'll just use my external hard drive as a Time Machine for emergencies only.
 
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