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Plink noise coming from new 2.2 MBP

L

lukoson

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 24, 2008
74
0
Hi guys,
Just got a new 2.2 MBP delivered to me yesterday. Didn't seem to have any problems at all until about an hour ago. I just began hearing a metallic "plink" noise every few minutes or so. Its not a click or a tick but more like a hollow plink. It comes at random intervals but sounds like it may be coming when the hard drive(?) or something inside the machine spins. Any ideas what this might be?
 
lukoson said:
Hi guys,
Just got a new 2.2 MBP delivered to me yesterday. Didn't seem to have any problems at all until about an hour ago. I just began hearing a "ping" noise every few minutes or so. Its not a click or a tick but more like a hollow ping. It comes at random intervals but sounds like it may be coming when the hard drive(?) or something inside the machine spins. Any ideas what this might be?
Click to expand...

Have you checked that this only happens when you mute the volume? Are you sure this is not a system sound you are hearing?
 
DannySmurf said:
Have you checked that this only happens when you mute the volume? Are you sure this is not a system sound you are hearing?
Click to expand...

thanks, I don't think that it is a system sound. To clarify, its more of a metallic "plink" sound. I did some google searches and read about others with a similar sound. They thought it was a "head-parking noise" related to the hard drive. I'm not sure what this means though and they did not offer any advice about fixing the issue. Is this something worth sending the computer to apple for (i.e. would they replace the hard drive for something like this?). I bought the computer from my college's computer store and would like to just replace it with a new one but I know that I got the last 2.2. SR they had in stock. Its not a loud noise and I only noticed it late last night when the house was quiet but I can imagine it getting pretty annoying fast - especially now that I know its there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have been waiting to switch to a mac for almost a year now and just got the computer so I'm pretty frustrated about it right now.
 
erm when u do something what you shudent
on a pc is makes a noying noise on a mac it duz
so say to click on something when its loading it makes an anoying noise!
 
lukoson said:
They thought it was a "head-parking noise" related to the hard drive. I'm not sure what this means though and they did not offer any advice about fixing the issue.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it is. No advice was offered because there's nothing that can be done short of replacing the hard drive with a different one that (hopefully) will not be as loud when parking the head. For some reason, OS X has these drives park seemingly at random, sometimes in intervals as short as 10 seconds each.

There's no reason to believe your drive is faulty, but I agree the noise is annoying as hell.

Since the "Geniuses" at my Apple store wouldn't do anything about it, my solution was to replace the hard drive with a different brand. The stock hard drive in mine was a Hitachi 7K200, known on the 'Net for being rather loud drives. The new drive was a WD Scorpio 320GB. Every now and then, I still hear the head park on this one, but I don't hear it nearly as often and it isn't nearly as loud or annoying when it does happen.
 
My MBP makes that same "pong" noise, randomly. See http://web.mac.com/ethwrite/iWeb/Digital Witch/MBP PONG NOISE.html for an example.

Anyone else who experiences this, could you try something? I notice when I'm watching a video on YouTube and I hear the noise, the video skips a few frames. It's very brief but definitely noticeable. I'm curious if others are experiencing this -- it wasn't mentioned at all in the Apple Support forums, which I was a little surprised at. DVD, mp3, and other playback seems unaffected.

Maybe tonight I'll try the fix mentioned.
 
still hearing the plink/pong noise

jeff^d said:
Maybe tonight I'll try the fix mentioned.
Click to expand...

Did you try the fix? I tried downloading it last night but was unable to successfully do it. As it was getting late I gave up on it but will try again tonight. Has anyone heard of any issues when applying this fix (i.e. any side effects)?
:(
 
Looks like people are able to fix this. It's just a power management issue where the disk is parking its heads and going into a standby mode more often than it should. hdapm lets you modify those power management characteristics.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple provides a formal fix at some point; seems like a bit more wear and tear on the drive heads than I'd want.
 
I have the same blip blop sound on a brand new MBpro 2.4 with a 7200 RPM drive. I dont mind the sound but I think it also causes problems like I cant play wireless a downloaded dvd from my other PC without very long freezes. Hell even my 5 year old no brand windows laptop does that without problem.

What to do... apply the fix or wait for Apple?
 
jeff^d said:
My MBP makes that same "pong" noise, randomly. See http://web.mac.com/ethwrite/iWeb/Digital Witch/MBP PONG NOISE.html for an example.

Anyone else who experiences this, could you try something? I notice when I'm watching a video on YouTube and I hear the noise, the video skips a few frames. It's very brief but definitely noticeable. I'm curious if others are experiencing this -- it wasn't mentioned at all in the Apple Support forums, which I was a little surprised at. DVD, mp3, and other playback seems unaffected.

Maybe tonight I'll try the fix mentioned.
Click to expand...

its completly normal sound, if you want to get off it, use HDAMP
 
da plinker soundz is da most a noying sonds i ever known in mac!
 
still plinking...

OK, so are there any mbp that do not make the "plink" noise??

I exchanged my first mbp (2.2 SR) because of the "plink" noise and the new one that I just got also makes the noise. I'm debating if I should exchange again.:confused::confused: Its a bit annoying but if they are all like this I can live with it. On the other hand if not all of them make this noise then I don't feel like I should settle.

Otherwise the machine seems to be fine though the first one came pre-installed with Leopard and this one had Tiger and gave me a Leopard disk. I installed it with no problems and the only thing I notice is that sometimes when opening Dashboard it is a bit jumpy.
 
lukoson said:
OK, so are there any mbp that do not make the "plink" noise??

I exchanged my first mbp (2.2 SR) because of the "plink" noise and the new one that I just got also makes the noise. I'm debating if I should exchange again.:confused::confused: Its a bit annoying but if they are all like this I can live with it. On the other hand if not all of them make this noise then I don't feel like I should settle.

Otherwise the machine seems to be fine though the first one came pre-installed with Leopard and this one had Tiger and gave me a Leopard disk. I installed it with no problems and the only thing I notice is that sometimes when opening Dashboard it is a bit jumpy.
Click to expand...
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. It's just the hard drive head parking, and as already mentioned the only way you're really going to be able to remedy it is to swap the hard drive. I have a Fujitsu MHY2120BH hard drive in my MacBook Pro and I don't notice it.
 
Just returned from the Apple Store for the same reasons, actually took in My MacBook Pro Penryn and my fathers Air which are both making noise. The Genius stated that al the new drives are making this form of HD noise and tested both of them to be within normal limits. These drives are by far the loudest I have heard, neither my Powerbook G4 nor My sisters SR version are as loud.
 
lukoson said:
I've got the exact same one.
Click to expand...

On the second MBP it had a Hitachi HD , hot as heck after like 30 to 45 minutes. That went back the same day. Got the new one and the Fujitsu drive and NO hotness. NONE Nada ZIP. NOT happening here.

No NOISE, and runs so GOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Luvin it
 
my brand new macbook pro 17" is making plinking noises..help

hi..just purchased a macbook pro 2 weeks ago..the first one made a metallic plink type of noise..like a raindrop would sound on copper sort of..i immediately brought it to an apple store for exchange..now the 2nd one is doing the same exact thing..it has also had more than one ocassion of not waking up when lid is opened from sleep..the keyboard lights up but the screen stayed black unless i did a hard reboot..technician on phone had me reset the computer (which is only 1 week old) and it seems okay with regard to the sleep/wake situation..however i am being told that the plinking noise which is frequent and a bit annoying in a quiet room MAY be normal for the new 2009 computers as there is a motion sensor that regularly goes off even if not moved..please, can someone who has had this problem or has it let me know if this computer is defective of if i choose to ignore the plinking, if this will indicate far worse problems later on..thank you
 
my computer still makes that noise nearly 2 years later. I haven't had any other problems with the computer. I think that it is related to the heads of the drive parking (i.e. a motion sensor). Not exactly sure what it means but from what I've figured out this is entirely normal. It seems very annoying at first but after a while you barely notice it and its just one of those things where when you do hear it you just know that its just that "old noise" again. But I don't worry about it anymore. Enjoy the computer. :apple:
 
interesting info from apple makes no sense

thank you for your reply..i thought i might mention that i had my "personal technician from applecare" assure me that the plinking noise is totally normal FOR ALL MACPROS MADE FROM MID 2009 AND ON...that came when i asked why some people's macpros dont make the noise..(in other words they must have been made earlier)...i distinctly get the feeling that they say whatever they need to say to make me keep my computer and not return it..i am only hoping my "wake from sleep" problems that seem better since resetting my system are gone for good and not related to the plinking..i feel much better hearing from you after 2 years without problems..i also notice my keyboard light is on all of the time even in bright rooms..uh oh..
 
Plinking on Core i7 MBP w/ SSD

The other day I suddenly noticed a metallic "plink" sound eminating from my brand new (3 weeks old) MBP. Naturally I looked this up and found this Thread.

As I have an SSD, this is clearly not a hard drive noise. In fact it does it when the computer is turned off.. From what I can tell it is related to pressing down on the area on either side of the mouse pad, and also clicking on the mouse pad itself. It makes a plink when pressing down (not always) and then another after pressure is released, sometimes itis almost instant - sometimes it can take almost 30 seconds.

It happens significantly more often when on my lap - as opposed to on a table.

So I am convinced this is mechanical and related to the internal structure, although for the life of me - I cannot think what it may be. Applecare sucks eggs (will only dealt with it if I leave it with them - which is not going to happen) and so I am going to have a look at it myself when I get a chance.

*sigh* and the whole reason I bought a MBP this was for build quality
 
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