24" iMac humming noise "Problem Solved"

Hello,
I reinstalled Mac OS X 10.5.6 Combo Update and the annoying humming sound coming from my iMac is gone,I have read alot of people were having the same problem with the Aluminum 24" model.

I'm having the same thing with my 2008 24 inch iMac. I'm not sure if it is the hard drive or one of the fans, but there is a loud WHOOSH every time it starts up or wakes from sleep and the whirring noise is pretty much constant. It used to be completely silent, so this new sound is very noticeable.
Lately, the noise with abruptly stop and then make a struggling sound as if whatever is causing it is either going away or making it stop revolving or whatever (it would help if I could determine exactly WHAT is making the noise). I check iStat, but can't see any wide variance in the fans rpm speeds when it is happening or the heat of various components spiking. It is not affecting my computer use as it did the first time I had a similar problem (which turned out to the the hard drive, since replaced under warranty).
I bought Apple Care for this computer, so it is still covered under that, but I don't know if the fact that the noise is completely annoying to listen to all day is enough reason to bring it in for service and be covered under the extended warranty.

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Brand New 27" iMac: humming noise!

Just restored everything from my Time Machine backup and wanted to start working
with my new iMac 27" i3 3.2GHz but there is this annoying humming noise!
It's not from the HD - I hear the HD only during reading/writing and this is quite normal.
The humming noise sounds like it's from the power transformer
and I can also feel a vibration when I lay my hand on the iMac.
Anyone else has this issue?
I hope this is not NORMAL with the new iMac!!
I've had 3 other Macs before (see below) and NEVER heard ANY noise.
As far as I'm informed, the previous 27" iMac generation didn't have
this humming noise either.
Please answer ASAP - I have much work to do. Thanks!

There are two power supplies in the iMac starting with the Late 2009 models. One is the main power supply, the other steps up the voltage for the LED backlighting. The main PSU is a bit left of center on the top of the system, the other one runs along the left edge from pretty close to the top to about the middle of the system. One of those is likely defective.
While I'd put the odds as pretty low, the worst case scenario would be one of those catching fire and completely destroying the computer.
I'm no electrical engineer, so if there are any out there who want to disagree with what I'm about to say, I'd definitely defer to them. But I'd say the humming is probably a sign that the PSU is not having it's power flow regulated properly and somewhere there's a buildup/backup of energy. It could also be a lack of proper shielding that's creating a kind of sympathetic resonance. Lots of possibilities, but so long as the frequency/pitch of the sound is remaining constant... PROBABLY nothing to worry about in the next 2-3 days.
Again, I'll defer to any electrical engineers in the audience, but having worked as a hardware tech for around 2 years, I've run across people who have had loud PSUs for years with no obvious ill effects. I wouldn't recommend it myself, but there's at least anecdotal evidence to suggest it's more of an annoyance than anything.

IMac Fan Noise Problem (Reset SMC isn't working)

The Fans on my early 2009 iMac have been running very loud non-stop for the past few days.
I reset the SMC, and that took care of the problem for a few hours, but later that night, it happened again.
Thinking that my system may have been overheating, I reset my SMC again, and then installed iStat to monitor the temps and fans.
Everything looked normal, and the fan noise stopped after ther reset. That night, same thing, fans came back on, but iStat couldn't read the temps anymore...there was just a " - " where the temp should have been.
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I got the same problem..
Just started couple days ago.. SMC reset worked but still it starts up again... I even got the vacuum out to suck out a little dust perhaps, no dice.

HUM/Vibration Problem Solved and it was EASY..

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I opened the side panel and removed all 4 drives from their bay's.
After looking inside to figure out what the culprit could be... I noticed the horizontal plastic surface above the front fan was very thin. HD #1 sits directly above this thin plastic surface. This looked to me like a plausable cause for vibration.
I used a 3.5 inch length of 1/2 inch 3M Brand double sided foam tape and placed it on top of the thin plastic fan top surface. I did not remove the protection layer on the double sided tape, rendering it a single sided foam strip.
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Hi Knype,
have the preinstalled WD 250GB and three Seagate 320GB.
No issues and/or slowdowns (not that I really depend on speed).
Got the Seagates because they were cheap (83 Euros/per piece).
Stefan

Is it common for imac 20" isight to have noise problems?

Hi there,
I ordered imac 20" isight and currently waiting for delivery. I am getting woried over these "buzzing noise" and other noise problems reported over and over again here on these boards. Can more experienced users of these boards, apple insiders and anyone else give me your opinion:
Is it common for imac 20" isight to have noise problems?
I am really considering to get 17" if there is any real information it is considerably more quiet.
Thank you in advance.

We have a new 17" and 20"
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IMac Fan Noise - Not The Usual Problem

Hi,
I have seen plenty of discussions on iMac fan noise but mine is a little different. A week ago, a 'tink' noise (similar to tapping your fingernail on a glass) started coming from my mid 2011 iMac. At first, I thought it was the "click of death" for my hard drive, so I replaced it myself. This didn't fix the noise, so I ran an extended hardware test. This came back with a 4MEM error. I had some spare RAM, fitted it, ran the test again, no 4MEM error.
So, I booted the iMac again. 'Tink'... 'tink'. I finally located it to the bottom right of my iMac, where the optical drive fan is located. This fan has always rattled a little now and again but now it seems intent on driving me round the bend with its very own form of torture. At first, the 'tink' was now and again, but now it constant. 'tinktinktinktinktink'. Is there a way to stop the optical fan for now? I don't use the optical drive often anyway. Or would it just be a replacement fan?
Resetting SMC or PRAM does nothing.

This may be way off target, in which case ignore me. Do you have an app called Free Memory installed? There have been a few posts on here where it seems to cause repetitive odd noises to occur, particularly when running Mavericks?

When using FaceTime, my iMac makes noises. It dings like I am receiving an email and sometimes sounds like a busy signal, but this is while I am talking to someone. Any suggestions?

When using FaceTime, my iMac makes noises. It dings like I am receiving an email and sometimes sounds like a busy signal, but this is while I am talking to someone. Any suggestions?

Dear Mr. Toad (my all-time favorite ride at Disneyland ;-) ..
Thanks so much for your detailed reply.. my netbook is in the bedroom, turned off.. I (so far) only use it in the evening, in the bedroom.. I've saved your response, and will try your suggestions, and let you know if they solve the problem I described. I really appreciate you taking the time to post such a detailed reply..
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Humming Noise

I keep getting this humming noise from the bottom right side of my new iMac. I am sure it is not the hard drives or the fans. It sounds like an interference sound or something and comes and goes. Please help.

This started happening to me after 6 months of use, I took it to my local Apple store and they replaced the fan bottom left of the iMac.
However came home to find the problem still exists, it's really frustrating if you've gotten used to a really quiet machine.
Things I've found, squeezing the back near the power button, sometimes clears the humming, however it will eventually comeback.
It's an over all vibration from the fans, this can be proved by simply using your finger and gently touching the glass panel or anywhere at the bottom of the iMac near the speakers - your finger absorbs the vibration (humming therefore disappears)

I recently downloaded the latest OS update and now I have a constant "humming" noise from my MBP and my audio output is no longer working. Any suggestions?

I recently downloaded the lastest OS update (Lion X 10.7.4) on my MBP that I purchased in November of 2011, and since downloading it my MBP has been making a constant "humming" noise from the right speaker/disc drive area. I also don't have any audio output for FaceTime or Skype. I attempted to use Photo Booth to record a video and it doesn't record any audio. I attempted to reset SMC and reinstall Lion with no resolution of the problems.

Click the Finder icon on the Dock.
Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup
Built-in-Output
Output tab
Move the Master volume slider to the right a bit.
Best.

IMAC G5 NOISE ??? vs MAC MINI

I WANT TO BUY A NEW MAC,but i'm very concerned about the posts and issues of noise, i want a quiet mac, like i have now, please some one could advice me
Every body has the noise problem and how terrible is
I will buy a MAC MINI, bu i;m attracted to the higher performance and specification of Imac but the noise???

In general terms, a Mac Mini will be a quieter machine.
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WiFi connection problem solved

My intel iMac and MBA had no problem but iPods 3g and 5g did. I had an old Netgear router connected and sitting next to my Airport Express. On a hunch I diconnected the Netgear and created a guest network to replace the one on the Netgear. PROBLEM SOLVED!
Evidently our iPods and boarder's iPhone had problems sorting out the signals and finding the right addresses. Moving the AE to a higher and slightly more central position also helped.
Jim

Same here on a Vodafone PocketWiFi 2.
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All the live CDs I've tried work, even an Arch CD from May works, though a current install does not.
I have no problems connecting to another (wpa2 enterprise) network yet can't on this 3G modem.
I'm hoping this isn't a permanent issue and perhaps an update very soon will fix this.
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Humming noise in new MBP

Well, the latest firmware fixed the trackpad issues that I was having. Way cool!
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Mine has had the exact same issue for 3 weeks now. Moving my left hand around on the palm rest causes the right palm rest (above the hard drive) to buzz intermittently, depending on the pressure and position of my left hand.
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Hello,
If 10.7.0 or later...
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions, reboot.
If you still have problems, this has worked for a few...
Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712
10.7 & 10.8…
System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.
10.5.x/10.6.x/10.7.x instructions...
System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.
The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.
10.4 instructions...
Is that Interface dragged to the top of Network>Show:>Network Port Configurations.
If using Wifi/Airport...
Instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.
For 10.5/10.6/10.7/10.8, System Preferences>Network, unlock the lock if need be, highlight the Interface you use to connect to Internet, click on the advanced button, click on the DNS tab, click on the little plus icon, then add these numbers...
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
Click OK.

PPC Mac G4-Front Speaker Humming Noise

Yesterday I turned the CPU on as usual and then I started to hear a "buzz humming noise" coming out from the front speaker. I disconnected all my external devices, fix the permissions, Zap the Pram and the buzz continued for the entire day and through the night. I thought the front speaker had give up on me so I booked at the Genius Bar to replace it this morning. Shut down the CPU last night. Turned it back on this morning and the "buzz humming noise" totally disappear, vanish! I canceled my reservation at the "Genius Bar" but the whole issue got me a little concerned as to how that happened and then all of the sudden it vanished. That makes me think of a spyware or a security issue if anyone can provoke such a thing from any external meanings. Anyone have any thoughts on this? ...Or experienced such an issue similar to this one? Thanks!
Message was edited by: Eduardo B1

Hi everyone I just thought to come back here and answer to my own question since I found the bug that caused the humming noise on the CPU front speaker after all this time. It was that little Google Application called: "Google Notifier Appl." If you are having the same problem, delete that application. There is a bug there that interferes with the Computer Sound Board causing a terrible humming noise enough to annoy "da heck" of anyone. I Hope that helps!
Message was edited by: Eduardo B1

Mac Pro 8-core Power Supply Making Humming Noise That Comes And Goes

This is in reference to a Mac Pro 3,1 8-core purchased around Feb 2008.
Lately, I've noticed a strange noise coming from my power supply that sounds like the noise a refrigerator radiator makes. It's a humming noise that rapidly comes and goes, constantly.
The power supply fan speed is running at 599rpm
I'm not sure if the problem could've been caused by adding additional ram (12GB, OWC) or an additional HDD (3rd HDD, WD), but I didn't really notice the noise until after adding these components.
What could be the cause of this problem? What are my repair options if necessary (without Apple Care)?
Thanks in advance.

I know for a fact it is not any of my hard drives because the noise is becoming more frequent no matter what hard drive I use, I actually have a 1.5tb, a 1tb, two 500gb and two 320gb drives, I have set an appointment to take my system in and have it tested, it is starting to crash 5-6 times a day. I can not get a lot of work done with this annoying spinning noise and the shutting down. Thank god for my Apple care, and I have visited various forums that lead me to believe its the power supply going out, with the symptoms it is having. This article and others like it explain what to look for when a power supply is going bad.
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/r07 04/24r04/24r04.asp

24" iMac humming noise "Problem Solved"

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