Clicking sound in computer

Hi,
My computer clicks two times pretty softly every 5 seconds. the clicks themselves are about a half a second apart from one anothers. It's consistent and the same every time. I've had no problems with my macbook running so far except that at times it can run a bit slowly. However that's usually only when an internet browser is open and ahs been open for quite some time. Is this the beginning of the end????!!
Thanks,
Sean

Sean,
It could be the beginning of the end for your hard drive. If the sound is coming from under the right palmrest and it's a 'clicking' sound, it may be your heads banging against your platters. That's not a good thing and may be the reason that things are running a bit slowly.
Disk Utility isn't really made to deal with drive mechanism issues, but it wouldn't hurt to at least verify the structure of your drive using DU. If no errors are found, then it's time to make sure that you keep regular backups for that time when your disk may actually fail.
Good luck...
Clinton

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Sounds like abad hard drive. The clicking sound is coming from the HD. The folder with the question mark means that your computer can't find the statrup disk or the hard drive.
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I have the same issue. For more information, you will find an interesting discussion HERE.
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Power ON/OFF computer - click sound with red light?

Greetings,
when I power ON my Mac Pro, a small red light blips inside my computer and there's some sort of "click" sound, it is as if I unplug an active device from a power outlet. The same thing happens when I power OFF my Mac Pro. Is that normal?

Wow that's strange, I just had the same thing after disassembling my MacPro to clean the CPU heat sinks.
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Hopefully this helps.
- Jay

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Hard Drive is not spinning up making rhythmic click sounds

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4G Click Wheel 40 Gig Windows 2000

Hello,
If a sad iPod icon or an exclamation point and folder icon appears on your iPod’s screen, or with sounds of clicking or HD whirring, it is usually the sign of a hard drive problem and you have the power to do something about it now. Your silver bullet of resolving your iPod issue – is to restore your iPod to factory settings.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60983
If you're having trouble, try these steps at different levels one at a time until the issue is resolved. These steps will often whip your iPod back into shape.
Make sure you do all the following “TRYs”
A. Try to wait 30 minutes while iPod is charging.
B. Try another FireWire or USB through Dock Connector cable.
C. Try another FireWire or USB port on your computer .
D. Try to disconnect all devices from your computer's FireWire and USB ports.
E. Try to download and install the latest version of iPod software and iTunes
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
For old and other versions of iPod updater for window you can get here
http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=7369
F. Try these five steps (known as the five Rs) and it would conquer most iPod issues.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/
G. Try to put the iPod into Disk Mode if it fails to appear on the desktop
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651
If none of these steps address the issue, you may need to go to Intermediate level listed below in logical order. Check from the top of the lists to see if that is what keeping iPod from appearing on your computer in order for doing the Restore.
Intermediate Level
A. Try to connect your iPod with another computer with the iPod updater pre-installed.
B. Still can’t see your iPod, put it in Disk Mode and connect with a computer, instead of doing a Restore on iPod Updater. Go and format the iPod instead.
For Mac computer
1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
For Window computer
Go to folder “My Computer”
Hope you can see your iPod there and right click on the iPod
Choose “Format”. Ensure the settings are at “Default” and that “Quick Format” is not checked
Now select “Format”
Eject your iPod and do a Reset
Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
In case you do not manage to do a “Format” on a window computer, try to use some 3rd party disk utility software, e.g.“HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool”.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=501330&tstart=0
C. Windows users having trouble with their iPods should locate a Mac user. In many cases when an iPod won't show up on a PC that it will show up on the Mac. Then it can be restored. When the PC user returns to his computer the iPod will be recognized by the PC, reformatted for the PC, and usable again. By the way, it works in reverse too. A Mac user often can get his iPod back by connecting it to a PC and restoring it.
Tips
a. It does not matter whether the format is completed or not, the key is to erase (or partly) the corrupted firmware files on the Hard Drive of the iPod. After that, when the iPod re-connected with a computer, it will be recognized as an fresh external hard drive, it will show up on the iTunes 7.
b. It is not a difficult issue for a Mac user to find a window base computer, for a PC user, if they can’t find any Mac user, they can go to a nearest Apple Shop for a favor.
c. You may need to switch around the PC and Mac, try to do several attempts between “Format” and “Restore”
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2364921&#2364921
Advance Level
A. Diagnostic mode solution
If you have tried trouble shooting your iPod to no avail after all the steps above, chances are your iPod has a hardware problem. The iPod's built-in Diagnostic Mode is a quick and easy way to determine if you have a "bad" iPod.
You need to restart your iPod before putting it into Diagnostic Mode. Check that your hold switch is off by sliding the switch away from the headphone jack. Toggle it on and off to be safe.
Press and hold the following combination of buttons simultaneously for approximately 10 seconds to reset the iPod.
iPod 1G to 3G: "Menu" and "Play/Pause"
iPod 4G+ (includes Photo, Nano, Video, and Mini): "Menu" and "Select"
The Apple logo will appear and you should feel the hard drive spinning up. Press and hold the following sequence of buttons:
iPod 1G to 3G: "REW", "FFW" and "Select"
iPod 4G+ (includes Photo, Nano, Video, and Mini): "Back" and "Select"
You will hear an audible chirp sound (3G models and higher) and the Apple logo should appear backwards. You are now in Diagnostic Mode. Navigate the list of tests using "REW" and "FFW". The scroll wheel will not function while in diagnostic mode. For further details on Diagnostic mode can be found at http://www.methodshop.com/mp3/ipodsupport/diagnosticmode/
Try to do the 5in1, HDD R/W and HDD scan tests. Some successful cases have been reported after the running the few tests under the Diagnostic mode. In case it does not work in your case, and the scan tests reports show some errors then it proves your iPod has a hardware problem and it needs a repairing service.
B. Format your iPod with a start disk
I have not tried this solution myself, I heard that there were few successful cases that the users managed to get their iPod (you must put your iPod in disk mode before connecting with a computer) mounted by the computer, which was booted by a system startup disk. For Mac, you can use the Disk Utility (on the Tiger OS system disk), for PC user, you can use the window OS system disk. Try to find a way to reformat your iPod, again it does not matter which format (FAT32, NTFS or HFS+) you choose, the key is to erase the corrupted system files on the iPod. Then eject your iPod and do a Reset to switch out from Disk Mode. Reboot your computer at the normal way, connect your iPod back with it, open the iPod updater, and hopefully your iPod will appear there for the Restore.
If none of these steps address the issue, your iPod may need to be repaired.
Consider setting up a mail-in repair for your iPod http://depot.info.apple.com/ipod/
Or visit your local Apple Retail Store http://www.apple.com/retail/
In case your iPod is no longer covered by the warranty and you want to find a second repairing company, you can try iPodResQ at your own risk
http://www.ipodresq.com/index.php
Just in case that you are at the following situation
Your iPod warranty is expired
You don’t want to pay any service charges
You are prepared to buy a new one
You can’t accept the re-sell value of your broken iPod
Rather than leave your iPod as paper-weight or throw it away.
You can try the following, but again, only do it as your last resort and at your own risk.
Warning !!!! – It may or may not manage to solve your problem, and with a risk that you may further damage your iPod, which end up as an expensive paper weight or you need to pay more higher repairing cost. Therefore, please re-consider again whether you want to try the next level
Last Resort Level
1. . Disconnecting the Hard Drive and battery inside the iPod – Warning !! Your iPod warranty will be waived once you open the iPod.
In Hong Kong there are some electronic shops offering an iPod service for Sad iPod, the first thing they do is to open up the iPod’s case and disconnecting the battery and the Hard Drive from the main board of the iPod. Wait for 5-10 minutes and reconnecting them back. The reason behind which I can think of is to do a fully reset of a processor of the iPod. In case you want do it itself and you believe that you are good on fixing the electronics devices and have experience to deal with small bits of electronic parts, then you can read the following of how to open the iPod case for battery and HDD replacement (with Quicktimes)
http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/index.cfm?page=Video/directory.html
2.Press the reset button on the Hard Drive inside the iPod – Suggestion from Kill8joy
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2438774#2438774
Have I tried these myself? No, I am afraid to do it myself as I am squeamish about tinkering inside electronic devices, I have few experiences that either I broke the parts (which are normally tiny or fragile) or failed to put the parts back to the main case. Therefore, I agree with suggestion to have it fixed by a Pro.
2. Do a search on Google and some topics on this discussion forum about “Sad iPod”
Exclamation point and folder and nothing else
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2831962#2831962
What should I do with my iPod? Send it or keep it?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=469080&tstart=0
Strange error on iPod (probably death)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435160&start=0&tstart=0
Sad Face on iPod for no apparent reason
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=336342&start=0&tstart=0
Meeting the Sad iPod icon
http://askpang.typepad.com/relevanthistory/2004/11/meeting_thesad.html#comment-10519524
Sad faced iPod, but my computer won’t recognize it?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2236095#2236095
iPod Photo: unhappy icon + warranty question
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2233746#2233746
4th Gen iPod Users - are we all having the same problem?
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2235623#2235623
Low Battery, and clicking sounds
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2237714#2237714
Sad faced iPod, but my computer won’t recognize it
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2242018#2242018
Sad iPod solution
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=412033&tstart=0
Re: try to restore ipod and it says "can't mount ipod"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=443659&tstart=30
iPod making clicking noise and is frozen
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2420150#2420150
I am not suggesting that you should follow as well, but just read them as your reference. You are the person to make the call.
Finally, I read a fair comments from dwb, regarding of slapping the back of the iPod multiple times
Quote “This has been discussed numerous times as a 'fix'. It does work, at least for a while. In fact I remember using the same basic trick to revive Seagate and Quantam drives back in the mid to late 1980's. Why these tiny hard drives go bad I don't know - could be the actuator gets stuck in place or misaligned. Could be the platter gets stuck or the motor gets stuck. 'Stiction' was a problem for drives back in the 80's. Unfortunately the fix can cause damage to the platter so we temporarily fix one problem by creating another. But I know of two instances where a little slap onto the table revived the iPods and they are still worked a year or more later.”UnQuote

MacPro 1,1 clicking sound (not HD)

I have an odd problem with my MacPro 1,1 that I hope someone has an idea about. It makes a clicking noise when rebooting -- and only rebooting -- and then the reboot stalls at a grey screen until I power it off and back on.
I thought, logically, that it was a hard drive problem. I pulled all the drives, put in a new one and reinstalled Lion from an external drive
However, the clicking was still there. So I tried pulling the new drive and rebooting with only the external Firewire drive connected (it has an SSD in it, so no moving parts) and it still made a clicking sound without any drives attached
What else in a MacPro could cause the clicking sound and a reboot to hang?
Thanks,

Thank you for the replies.
I have two copies of the HD on external FW drives, and I keep ALL my personal files on external USB drives, so it is not a problem if the HD fails.
Interestingly, though, the problem cannot really be called intermittent, because when I start the computer from a complete off, it is guaranteed that it will click repeatedly and the rainbow will spin at the same time for a few seconds...
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Macbook Pro won't boot up makes clicking sound

Hi.
After upgrading to Firefox 4 on my 15inch 2006 Macbook Pro, it froze for over 5 minutes and began to make an odd repeated clicking sound. I tried force-quitting, but that wouldn't work, so I restarted it. Now it won't even boot up fully, it just makes a similar odd clicking sound (but not as frequently).
However, the grey Apple screen does appear, along with the revolving wheel. It seems very odd though, as the light at the front of the machine goes out as soon as the machine attempts to restart, which suggests that something physical may have occured to some internal hardware.
I even tried booting up in Safe Mode, but it is no different. Also, Caps lock and Number lock keys both appear to be working, so hopefully the keyboard is still functional.
Does anyone have any ideas what may have happened. My Applecare expired about two years ago, so really need some assistance if possible.
Thanks
George

First try booting from your OS X installer DVD. If the computer boots into the installer then do this:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
After returning to the installer reinstall Snow Leopard. This will not erase the drive. Reinstalling takes from 45 minutes to an hour or so.

"Click" Sounds on Wake-Up

Every time I wake up my iMac from "Sleep Mode" 3 or more hours, it makes some weird clicking sound while trying to prompt me with the window to enter my password. Can this be fixed easily or is my computer just getting old?

The weird clicking could be the first sign of a dying hard drive. I suggest your clone/backup your system immediately (I use SuperDuper!) and then run Disk Utility to check your drive.
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
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3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
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Then reboot from your internal drive and repair permissions.
You might also want to run Apple Hardware Test, which is either on your install disc #1 or #2, insert the disc and boot holding down the D key.
Message was edited by: MGW

White screen of death with clicking sound?

i got a White screen of death with clicking sound after crashing in boot camp with winXP, i try to put in the macbook installed disc, but nothing happened & i cannot reject the CD, is it the hard drive problem & how can i fix it? do i have to replace the hard drive....

It appears that Apple knows about the problem now: http://venturebeat.com/2010/11/04/apple-admits-to-macbook-air-screen-problems-in ternally-software-fix-coming/
The only problem is that I ended up buying a new Macbook Air and Apple is taking back my other one. The wanted me to send it in and have them replace it, but it's my only computer and I can't be without it for a week. It would suck if they come up with a software fix and replacing it was not necessary.
Support was very helpful and worked with me for a few days trying to isolate the issue. I don't get the horizontal lines (I get a solid grey, white, black or blue screen), so I am not sure if my issue is the same as the one that Apple is recognizing.

Macbook Pro makes a faint/light clicking sound.

I just recently purchased my macbook pro and over the last week, I noticed a light/fint clicking sound on the right side of the keyboard. I do not think it is the hard drive because it has not been slow or lagging or anything else and I verified the disk in disk utility and it said the HD is "okay", so I figured it is not a hard drive problem. It only starts when I've had it on for a few minutes It is only noticable when in a very quite room or when you really concentrate on the noise. Anyone have any idea what it might be if it is not the hard drive?

Thanks! I am getting it looked at just in case because when I first started up the computer right out of the box it was a little slow at first but once everything was installed and working it has been fine ever since, I was also reassured when I verified the Mac HD and it said it was okay and did not need to be repaired. So I am hoping it is just the fan or the optical drive, which are two things I wouldn't be concered too much about.

Not booting, clicking sound

So yesterday I came home, and the computer was in sleep mode which is normal. I clicked the mouse as I always do to do some work but nothing happened. So I rebooted the whole thing.
I came back after supper to find my iMac off. I did not turn it off. I turned it on, heard some clicking sounds (4-5 sequences) and the Apple sign on sound happened but the screen remained white, not even the boot icon came on. Instead, i have an image of a folder with a question mark on it. It won't even boot in safe mode using the command + R key... I am a busy photographer I need to see if this can be fixed! Also freaking out a little

Sounds like a crashed HD, take it into your local Apple Store or AASP. Once the HD has been replaced (if that's what it is) then restore from your Time Machine backup.

Clicking sound in computer

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