Hitachi drives hum in MacPro?

I just got a refurbed MacPro with the stock 250GB hard drive and so I ordered 2x500GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K500 drives from zipzoomfly.com (1.25TB total) The drives arrived today and so I went and installed them (very easy in the MacPro)
Upon boot up, I noticed a really nasty "clicking" noise and thought "oh no", the machine never fully booted, I even got the circle w/ a line through it. So I shut it down and removed one of the drive trays and figured out which one of the drives was clicking.
So, with the other drive still in place, I booted again and this time it came up and wanted me to initialize it so all is well... but the thing is that it seems to "hum" quite a bit. Overall, it's much louder than with just the 250GB boot drive installed, I was wondering is this "hum" normal on a MacPro? I can kind of understand it because the case is aluminum, but I'm surprised at how it cycles the hum. It's like it'll hum, then it'll be quiet, then it'll hum again and so on.
I have another Hitachi 7k500 in my PC and it doesn't make any noise...
What do you think?
G5 Dual 1.8GHz 1GB RAM Mac OS X (10.3.9)
MacPro Quad-core 2.66GHz, 2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.9)

A couple other people have taken similar measures. I bought a 10K Raptor last Sept that makes the case hum and vibrate. Bought a new one, doesn't do it.
I have two WD Caviar SE16s that are so quiet you don't know they are there. But a Maxtor MaxLine Pro sounds like some old big SCSI drive from centuries past churning away. But no case issue.
Sometimes making sure to tighten those bolts and firmly insert the drive is all that is needed. For months I had mine on its side rather than upright and the noise and hum was abated.
I like to take some tools to loosen up and break a drive in at first. Just zero the drive to insure all is well and scan all the blocks. Or use Speedtools to test media and performance.

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Hard Drive Hum on brand new IMac i5

All,
Just settling in with my new IMac, and a very noticeable, persistent hum comes from the machine. It is not read/write noises, but very clearly it is the 2tb Hitachi Drive (Hitachi HDS722020ALA330) making the majority of the noise (I can hear the fans, but those are acceptable). The noise is a steady, persistent hum. I can hear read/write noises when accessing files, but these are very quiet.
The reason I know its the hard drive, is that during shutdown, while the screen is still lit, the noise will die and then a second later the machine goes off.
The noise itself kind of sounds like a transformer hum, and is noticeable even when playing music on the machine (at a fairly low level). In a silent room, this noise is noticeable from across the room. The noise does not fluctuate with changes in screen brightness, or even putting the screen to sleep.
Anyhow, I am considering calling AppleCare, but wanted to see if there is a way to quiet this drive down. Some IStat info:
HD: 55°
CPU 50°
GPU Diode 64°
GPU Heat sink 60°
Mem Controller 56°
Optical Drive 48°
Power Supply 2 61°
Ambient is 27°
the fan speeds are:
Optical Drive 999 rpm
Hard Drive: 1099 rpm
CPU Fan: 1199 rpm
There are a ton of threads around humming, clicking, fan noises...etc... after reading them (some anyhow), I think I have accurately noted the sound I am hearing. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Greg

I confirm that my iMac 21.5'' Core i5 2011 has a constant HDD humming as well. It's not too loud, but very recognizable in a silent room even from some meters away. the HDD access noise does not bother me as it's quiet enough. Actually all Apple coomputers I have had a crappy loud hard drives, which is weird for the computers of such price. While the silent drives do exist on the market, Apple prefers to install a cheap hard drives to save some bucks. I am really disappointed that 2011 models have a proprietary hard drives, which limit the upgrade. I tried to listen to this Mac at the shop where I purchased it and heard nothing, but the room was not perfectly silent. When I ran it at home I've got the noise immediately. I have Hitachi 2 Tb drive (it's pretty old model to install in 2011 computers, what a shame Apple). While the drive speed is good, the humming just kills the entire iMac idea , because you have it right at your face. I don't wish to go back to the shop cause it's actually in another country and it will be not easy to move it back and forth.. And I doubt they will be able to help me.
I am just curious is this humming in every iMacs with 2 Tb Hitachi, or mine is not OK?
BTW there are LOTS of complaints on noisy iMAc HDDs for years, and it's weird Apple does nothing to fix it.
I would probably prefer to have a 1 Tb HDD without a humming, than pay so much extra for BTO iMac just to get this problem. I think I will try to replace my HDD at some moment, but with 2011 iMac limitations that could be some problem if you are not in the USA.

Trying to install snow leopard on my Macbook Pro. After already having problems with Grey screen, blinking file with a question mark, etc. Computer now says that one of the hard drives is failing.The "hitachi" drive says it's failing in disc utility.

o.k. So, I've been tinkering with several "self help" fixes for several days now with no positive results. I'll explain my initial problems and then end with my most current situation. In hopes that someone out there will have a good suggestion or possibly remedy for the issues i'm facing
First, my problem started after my wife played a game on my macbook pro and the computer froze. She went into a panic and decided to shut down via power button. When computer restarted she got the blinking file/grey screen and that problem continued for a couple of days before I began using steps from various support topics from apple concerning the grey screen/blinking file folder.
Ultimately, yesterday I decided to erase my Macintosh HD file as one tip suggested. Following the brief online and on screen (via the process) tips that were there. Once that was completed I attempted to reinstall snow leopard (my most current version on hand) into the pc.
At first, I thought this would work. It looked promising. But, after several hours the installation screen returned with failure. I attempted to repeat. And, even repair drives during this try and re-try process.
Now, today, one of the drives.. "hitachi..." states that it's failing and is in red letters with no ability to repair via the disc utility screen. The Macintosh HD drive shows that it's o.k. But, this drive is listed under the HItachi drive so I think that's where a problem might lay.
So, I guess my question really revolves around.. What if anything can I do to get the hitachi drive back up? (short of taking it to a repair facility and replacing.)
And, how on earth can i get my OSX back up to I have a laptop again.
Operating on a macbook pro here. It's my lifeline. Otherwise, I am using a Windows desktop that i'm not that fond of. lol
I'm trying to bring this 2006 laptop back to life. Trying to avoid a rather expensive repair or the purchase of a new laptop. Also expensive...
Any help would be appreciated.

Well, running on a 2006 model. I did not have a startup disc. Initially, it booted up on original software in 2006. Since then, I've upgraded to 10.6 via a box set. And, since then I think I popped it up to lion.
All I have on a disc is snow leopard. And, I can't get farther than the setup screen due to hard drive. I'm taking to a apple authorized repair store right now. We'll see what they tell me . I'm just going to weigh the cost of repair vs. buying new.
Another bad, stupid thing is I had no means of backing up my stuff. So, I might have lost things like music, vids, etc. we'll see if they can recover. If the cost is too much for repair I might just forget it and start over with a new system. Just not sure at this point.

Looking for replacement internal hard drives for a MacPro

Looking to replace internal hard drives in a MacPro. Was thinking about 3TB. Any recommendations?

Look in System Report for the link speed available. (Mine says 3 Gigabit.) Get drives with at least that speed; going beyond that won't get you any more performance.

4 TB Hitachi drives won't fit in 2008 Mac Pro

I just purchased 2x 4 TB Hitachi drives for my 2008 (3,1) Mac Pro. When I went to install them, they would not fit. I mounted the drives to the sleds, and tried to slide them in. They would only go about 95% of the way, and I could see that the SATA connectors weren't linking up. I pushed fairly hard and couldn't get them to budge.
I turned on the computer to see if they were mounting, and they didn't.
On OWC they say the drives are compatible. Any ideas?

Desktop Hard Drive screws are an SAE (American) #6 size, 32 threads/inch. If you had a die to clean up the threads afterwards, you could file them shorter.
There is also a common electrician's wire stripper/crimper tool that has dies in the handle for those and a few other common screws used in American Elecrtrical work. You can screw a screw into that die, and squeeze the handles to lop off the end, then back it out to clean up the threads. I was surprised to find one in a drawer, and it has been very handy. Looks like this:
-- image courtesy Lowes.com
CD, DVD, and notebook Drives use a metric 3mm screw, 0.5mm/thread

Can I put 1TB SATA Hitachi drives in my Powermac?

Can I put 1TB SATA Hitachi drives in my Powermac?
I have a Dual 2.5GHZ PowerPC Power Mac.

Hi clazz-
That drive should be fine.
You may also be interested in checking out the experiences of other users with regard to this topic: Drive Compatibility Database>
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

1TB Hitachi Drives in Xserver G5?

Has anyone tried this yet or knows if it would be possible to install the 1TB Hitachi drive in an xserve G5? I have a Dual 2.0GHz G5 xserve with 3 drive bays. Currently 80x2 and a 500GB.
George

Hi George,
If you are going to be the guinea pig I'll be very interested in the results.
While searching for these drives I came across this.
Review.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=812
And this, check the title (Please note this drive is not suitable for RAID)..
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(17359)1TB-1000-GB-Hitachi-Deskstar-SATA-II-300.aspx
Please keep this thread infomed.
Thanks
Mark
G5 Duel 2.3GHz, iMac 2.33GHz intel, Xeon Xserve Mac OS X (10.4.10)

10.5.8 to 10.6 Can I use an internal SATA drive in my MacPro for back up..

10.5.8 to 10.6 Can I use an INTERNAL SATA drive in my MacPro for back up..
or must I use an External hard dive.
I prefer to use an internal for anti "desk-clutter" purposes. I am looking
at a 2TB drive to install into my Mac Pro tower for the purpose of back up
and time machine i guess.
Also.. if doing a clean install of 10.6 how do i restore the backed up apps
without re-registering all of them?

A clone is a functional copy of the original, including the internal links & setting that makes it bootable if the original is. Time Machine will not make a clone of a volume, nor will a Finder copy. You can make a clone with the appropriate settings in the "Restore" tab of Disk Utility but many users find purpose-designed cloning utilities easier & simpler to use. The two most popular of these are SuperDuper! & Carbon Copy Cloner. Both are very reliable, easy to use, & well documented.
I prefer SuperDuper! for reasons that are not important here. However, even if you decide to use CCC, I suggest that you download SuperDuper! just to read the extensive documentation that comes with it.

How to add an extra DVD drive to a MacPro?

How to add an extra DVD drive to a MacPro?
Is there any where instruction on the procedure?

There are instruction in the manual that came with the computer. Set the drive jumper to CS (Cable Select). You will need to remove the tray's lip.
<http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/index.cfm?page=removedrivedoor.html>
Be careful not to pinch or cut the cables when reinstalling the drive carrier.

I'm trying to find an external drive for the MacPro that will allow me to password protect the external drive in case it is taken. Any suggestions on a very reliable on that is 2TB or a third party software that is compatable with the need I describe?

I'm trying to find an external drive for the MacPro that will allow me to password protect the external drive in case it is taken. Any suggestions on a very reliable one that is 2TB or a third party software that is compatable with the need I describe?

How much of a hurry are you in, and are you considering upgrading to Lion?
File Vault on Snow Leopard only encrypts home folders you select, and doesn't work well with Time Machine.
But Lion will have "full disk encryption" of local or external disks. See File Vault 2 here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/whats-new/features.html

USB super drive for a MacPro retina. It recognizes CDs but not DVDs.

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MBP refers to Macbook Pro
Do the DVD spit out right away? (indicates a bad loader mech)
OR do the DVD spit out after several seconds (indicates a dirty laser diode lens) ?

June 2009 15" MBP - 5400 Hitachi Drive - Long BeachBall Pauses

I've got a new late June Unibody 15" MBP with a 5400 rpm Hitachi drive and 4Gb RAM and I periodically experience long (30 or so second) freezes.
I suspected (and continue to suspect) Safari 4. It seems that this pause always happens while I am in Safari. When it happens it always freezes iTunes output. Sometimes other windows (like terminal or mail are fine, sometimes they are frozen.)
When these happen, I see no CPU load. I've started monitoring iostat to see if any i/o is going on and I see i/o go to zero when the freeze occurs. (I have an external drive attached for time machine, but in the example below it wasn't actively doing anything.)
disk0 disk2 cpu load average
KB/t tps MB/s KB/t tps MB/s us sy id 1m 5m 15m
49.77 14 0.68 0.00 0 0.00 12 12 76 0.48 0.48 0.42
12.34 28 0.33 0.00 0 0.00 10 10 80 0.41 0.46 0.42
14.43 91 1.28 0.00 0 0.00 18 12 71 0.43 0.46 0.42
17.96 35 0.61 0.00 0 0.00 12 11 77 0.83 0.55 0.45
11.87 44 0.52 0.00 0 0.00 13 11 76 0.71 0.53 0.44
7.87 297 2.28 0.00 0 0.00 13 12 75 0.82 0.56 0.45
*0.00 0 0.00* 0.00 0 0.00 12 11 77 0.77 0.56 0.45 (iTunes is frozen during these samples)
*0.00 0 0.00* 0.00 0 0.00 3 8 89 0.65 0.54 0.45
86.55 2 0.19 0.00 0 0.00 5 9 86 0.55 0.52 0.44
I've noticed that it occurs more often when I use my higher power GPU.
I've tried resetting Safari and disabling top sites (although I haven't been successful at that.) I've also reinstalled Safari.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
John

It does appear that I am running that update. From System Profile:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,3
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP53.00AC.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.48f2
Serial Number (system): W89236DU644
Hardware UUID: B06E8157-1F18-5D8B-AC83-6D515B508B3B
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
Thanks,
John

Can you swap existing drives into new MacPro tower?

I have an old MacPro silver tower with 1.3GHz processors in it and not a lot of RAM. My buddy has a slightly newer one that looks the same but with I think 2.6GHz processors and a lot more RAM. He said I could have his except for the hard drives because he got a new Mac, but I'm wondering, if he gives me his, can i just take all the drives out of mine and put them in his drive-less machine in the same slots they exist in in mine, and everything should work right? or does it not work like that

There never was a Mac Pro 1,1 or any other that had 1.3GHz (but it did have 1300MHz front side bus, with 2.0 - 2.66 - 3.0GHz processor)
About this Mac.... or system profile.
Yes you can use your drives though you probably need to use his drive bay sleds.
Any Mac Pro other than the new current model can run 10.6.x or Lion.

I need a a second hard drive for a Macpro

Hello i need a little advise here
I need 250GB or more internal hard drive, i will use it for video editing FCP
i will install myself the hard drive it appears to be easy.
can anyone help me, Which is the next step after i install the internal hard drive

Just curious though... why did you buy a drive if you weren't sure it would work in your computer first? Don't tell me because you got a good deal on it... It's not a good deal if you can't use it.
Thanks for the reply. You are correct about the deal but:
I wanted a big hard drive to match the 500 G Hitachi that came with my MAC PRO in order to use it as the drive for LEOPARD's Time Machine when it comes out. On the day of the sale I got to the store 1 hour after it opened and they had only one left. I knew I could get advice on this forum as to if it would work or if I needed to return it.
I also could use the WD 500 g SATA in my HP Windows PC that I am giving to my wife once I get used to the MAC.
Mac Pro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4) ATI X1900 30in display 2 G ram

If I want to install Lions on a 2nd hard drive in my MacPro Desktop, will it allow me to do so if I have Leopard installed on the boot drive?

I have a blank 2nd hard drive that I am going to install in my MacPro desktop. The boot drive already contains the Leopard operating system. I want to install Lions on the blank hard drive. Will setup in Lions when it comes out, allow me to install Lions onto the 2nd hard drive since it should detect that I have a valid Apple operating system on the boot drive?

You can first install Snow Leopard then re-download Lion. Or you saved the original installer application then created a bootable Lion installer on a USB flash drive or DVD. Or you buy Apple's $69.00 USB flash installer.
You haven't told us what hindrances you've encountered, so you should post your own separate topic related to your problem and not threadjack another person's topic.

Hitachi drives hum in MacPro?

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