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xalex1

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2004
22
0
Any off you that have a new power book 15 inch model and also ahve macromedia mx 2004 software please help ! test and see if when you start any application like Flash mx2004 you laptop produces a faint buzzing sound ? for me it only happens with all the macromedia applications. When using adobe there is no sound. O and the sound does not come form the speakers because i tested it with them off. I hope its just the Cooling fan ?

Thank for any help.
 

BaDBoY

macrumors member
Aug 22, 2003
85
0
California
this happens to me too... its just the hard drive accessing stuff or spinning, or it could be the hard drive fan. most likely the hard drive fan. its normal as i know.
 

JFreak

macrumors 68040
Jul 11, 2003
3,151
9
Tampere, Finland
the sound comes from the cpu and nobody knows why. it's a "feature" of the G4 chip and it seems to exist more when the cpu is under a heavy stress.
 

Megaquad

macrumors 6502a
Jul 12, 2001
817
1
Is it a very annoying sound or something that you can get used to?
I'm getting same PB to use it with Macromedia apps and this is not good :(
 

xalex1

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2004
22
0
Nah

Cool so im not the only one, Im not alone Lol, nah its not that bad of a buzz, compared to my past pc its dead quiet. With some low music and small background noises you wont even here a thing. Get the PB :)

Thanks for your help !
 

frenetic

macrumors regular
Feb 11, 2004
228
27
Amsterdam
The buzz is indeed a "feature", though there are ways to work around it, all of them having a disadvatage unfortunately.

Apparently it is related to what stress you put on your cpu. For example, if I put energy saver on highest it is quite noticeable in a silent room. However, if I put it on automatic you really have to pay attention. In reduced mode it's almost not audible. So you can get the sizzle away, but at the expense of cpu power.

Another solution is to download CHUD from the apple website and through the hardware preference pane turn off NAP. If you do that even under highest energy saver setting tthere will be no sizzle left. The disdvantage is that your fan will come on far more quickly (apparently NAP is also an energy saving mechanism), and your battery will drain far more quickly.

So what I do is a. either work in automatic mode for non CPU-instensive tasks, or b. when I need the CPU power I put off NAP.

I really think apple should fix this. It is not super annoying, but when I am working at night (which unfortunately happens a lot) it really can get on my nerves, especially because it is not a constant sound but slightly irregular, like baking bacon or so.

Anyway, it's not a malfunction but a "regular" feature ...
 
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