Weird iMac noise. Save my sanity!

M

MikeMTL

Registered
Hey all.
Well, I just bought a new iMac G4 15" 1GHz and I have encountered no problems with it and find it to be a truly great machine. But there is one thing that is really bothering me. A noise. I don't know what it is but every few minutes, I can hear a very strange noise, not one I would contribute to processing or computing. It is emanating from inside the computer somewhere. It sounds like a whine of some sort, lasts for a few seconds and doesn't do it again for about five or ten more minutes. I don't know what it is and I do not believe it has anything to do with processing and does not usually occur when it is doing some heavy processing. It does not hinder the performance of the computer although I thought that I may have seen a pause in processing while it is making the noise. It is just really annoying. If anyone has had a similar problem with their iMac or knows a way to fix it, please advise. Thank you for your time.

-Mike

P.S. If anyone whats to hear the noise, I just recorded it and I can email it to you.
 
Mike,

I, too, have a shiny iMac and do experience a strange noise occasionally - I've always put it down to the hard drive going to sleep or something like that.

It's happened from the day I took delivery and usually occurs when the computer has been sat idle for a minute or two.

Email me your recording to ...

timothy_griffin at mac dot com

... and I'll let you know if it's the same sound.
 
Hard drives do tend to "whine" sometimes -- most of the time you won't notice it, but if the hard drive spins down and then back up again, you may notice the change in sound.

Check the "Energy Saver" pane of the System Preferences -- make sure "spin down hard disks when possible' is unchecked. It sounds like your hard drive is going to sleep, then spinning back up whenever something needs to access it. See if that helps and post back!
 
Yeah Timmargh, that noise is very annoying and I'd really like to get rid of it, but I do not know how. ElDiablo, I disabled the "put hard drive to sleep when possible" and I can still hear the noise.
 
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