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VERY STRANGE Whirring noise on startup - MacBook 5,1 (late 2008)

J

joshfairweather

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 15, 2017
48
0
Upon startup, waking from sleep, and loading the "storage" tab in About My Mac, my laptop makes a noise as if it's whirring away underneath the trackpad for a few seconds. If this makes any sense it sounds like: vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr.

One short noise, three longer whirring/scratchy/vibrating kind of noise (can't think of the right word to describe) then another short noise and it stops.

I have a 5,1 MacBook Late '08 release with 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD..... Someone must know the problem and how to fix?!?!
 
You might want to record it and post the recording here.

Fan?
 
unless a wasp has gotten into your mac... back everything up. seems time for a new hard drive. altho i've never heard anything quite like that, can't think of anything else capable of such a sound.

anyone else? meanwhile, BACK UP.
 
dosdude1 said:
That's the optical drive. Something's just wrong with it. Take it out or replace it, and it'll stop making that sound.
Click to expand...

I NEVER put CDs/DVDs into my Mac. If I took it out would the Mac still work perfectly? Or would it throw errors up about one not being found? And if I was to get a replacement have you any idea where and what the best bet would be? I am in the UK.. If it WAS a hard drive error, nothing is returning in First Aid (not that I trust Disk Utility after it couldn't add a GUID partition to my USB) and I am getting an SSD soon.
[doublepost=1505768188][/doublepost]Strange that my Mac will still accept and recognise DVDs if the optical drive is making such a HORRIFIC noise...
 
joshfairweather said:
I NEVER put CDs/DVDs into my Mac. If I took it out would the Mac still work perfectly? Or would it throw errors up about one not being found? And if I was to get a replacement have you any idea where and what the best bet would be? I am in the UK.. If it WAS a hard drive error, nothing is returning in First Aid (not that I trust Disk Utility after it couldn't add a GUID partition to my USB) and I am getting an SSD soon.
[doublepost=1505768188][/doublepost]Strange that my Mac will still accept and recognise DVDs if the optical drive is making such a HORRIFIC noise...
Click to expand...
It's definitely not the hard disk, I'd recognize that optical drive whining from anywhere. The system will work perfectly fine with it removed, in fact many people replace them with an adapter to allow a second hard disk or SSD to be installed. It'll also work perfectly fine with nothing at all installed, so nothing to worry about there. If you want to get a replacement drive, they're available for about $20 on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/152635240567
 
dosdude1 said:
It's definitely not the hard disk, I'd recognize that optical drive whining from anywhere. The system will work perfectly fine with it removed, in fact many people replace them with an adapter to allow a second hard disk or SSD to be installed. It'll also work perfectly fine with nothing at all installed, so nothing to worry about there. If you want to get a replacement drive, they're available for about $20 on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/152635240567
Click to expand...

I'll probably attempt to remove it however outside of fitting a new hard drive and battery I've never added or removed anything from a laptop lol. How difficult a job is it to remove, do you know?
 
joshfairweather said:
I'll probably attempt to remove it however outside of fitting a new hard drive and battery I've never added or removed anything from a laptop lol. How difficult a job is it to remove, do you know?
Click to expand...
It's not hard at all. Just follow the iFixit guide found here.
 
Use a ssd and install the OS on it. Your machine will be speedy as newer before
 
Update:

After putting a DVD in the drive to see if the drive was broken (because that noise indicated nothing less than being broken!) it read the DVD and played it. Upon removing the DVD, my MacBook has stopped the original noises and now does this:


Is that the sound the optical drive should make upon startup as it is 9 years old? Or is that still "not normal" but better than before?
[doublepost=1505820116][/doublepost]@maerz001 I am swapping my HD for an SSD and upgrading the RAM this weekend. Don't think I have any use for dual storage just yet and don't want to fork out for an SSD I won't use yet - would rather remove the optical drive!
 
That is the sound it normally makes when ejecting a disc from the optical drive. Either you drive is starting to fail, or, which is more likely since the sound now changed, it is so dusty that it thinks there's always a disk inside. That also makes sense since it sounded as if it was trying to spin up and read a disk that was never there, in your first video.
Anyway, if you never use it, you are perfectly safe. The optical drives are some of the most fail prone components of older Macs. You can also try and blow it out with an air can. Worst case is that it stops working.

You can also just remove it, to make your Mac lighter. Or replace it. Or install a HDD in its place for more space. Or a hidden bible. Or maybe a collection of pictures of your favorite movie (xxx) actress (Along with the bible).
 
Yep, the second sound is the right sound. Glad putting in a disc fixed it. As T'hain says though, I wonder if it's failing.
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
That is the sound it normally makes when ejecting a disc from the optical drive. Either you drive is starting to fail, or, which is more likely since the sound now changed, it is so dusty that it thinks there's always a disk inside. That also makes sense since it sounded as if it was trying to spin up and read a disk that was never there, in your first video.
Anyway, if you never use it, you are perfectly safe. The optical drives are some of the most fail prone components of older Macs. You can also try and blow it out with an air can. Worst case is that it stops working.

You can also just remove it, to make your Mac lighter. Or replace it. Or install a HDD in its place for more space. Or a hidden bible. Or maybe a collection of pictures of your favorite movie (xxx) actress (Along with the bible).
Click to expand...

I did wonder if putting a disc in would maybe dislodge something that was stuck, causing it to make the first noise. Maybe I'll just slide a couple discs in and out and try spray some air through it see what happens. When I upgrade to SSD this weekend I may keep the hard drive and install it as a backup in my MacBook in place of the optical drive - any idea where I could get the bracket in the UK?
[doublepost=1505821232][/doublepost]
EugW said:
Yep, the second sound is the right sound. Glad putting in a disc fixed it. As T'hain says though, I wonder if it's failing.
Click to expand...

So the drive should be silent upon start and make that noise when removing a disc? It was the first time I'd ever put a disc in my Mac but it seemed to need the disc pushing in slightly further than I would have expected (it didn't instantly grab it like my old Toshiba did) and it seemed quite a 'violent' action it took to insert and eject but maybe that's just how it is. Won't bother with a video of that obviously, just some extra info..
 
joshfairweather said:
any idea where I could get the bracket in the UK?
Click to expand...
eBay or Amazon.

So the drive should be silent upon start and make that noise when removing a disc?
Click to expand...
Not silent, as it always spins it up and checks booting the Mac. Not entirely correct, but it is nearly normal. Personally I wouldn't worry about it at all, as I said those drives are sooo error prone that it will eventually fail at some point anyway.
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
eBay or Amazon.


Not silent, as it always spins it up and checks booting the Mac. Not entirely correct, but it is nearly normal. Personally I wouldn't worry about it at all, as I said those drives are sooo error prone that it will eventually fail at some point anyway.
Click to expand...

Ah well I'm not too bothered then I'll just leave it and see how I feel on Sunday when I do some upgrades and have my mac open! Thank you all.
 
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