Intermittent clunk noise

on my G4 PowerBook laptop, I am now getting an intermittent clunk noise similar to when one makes a mistake in typing. The noise is getting more frequent, perhaps every 5 minutes. The CPU readout does not alter and I have gone through the Disk Utility which came up with no errors. I am concerned that the disk is starting to come up with errors. Is there a way to check and verify this, plus correct....or indeed to confirm where the problem is? I have backed up all valuable files.

thanks for the comments. I went through all of the suggestions. I am not certain it is a drive issue. If I turn the sound off, the noise does not occur, so it is coming through the speakers. If it were a drive issue would it not be more of a mechanical noise?
The sound is more like when you mis-type and you get a 'bong' noise. Could it possibly be that some application is getting errors and every now and then sends out the noise? I had a look through 'activity monitor' and could not see anything running that obviously was in error.
Any suggestions on other things to look at?
Thanks

Similar Messages

  • 56HM195 DLP Clunking noise dim/bright issue

    Got an old 56HM195 that I inherited, been running good until the other day it started making a clunking noise.  The picture dims and brights alternately with each 'clunk'.  The bit of lamp I can see shining thru the rear of the housing appears steady.  So the dimming is in the mechanism, perhaps?  I can hear a fan running.  The vents aren't too dusty.  I pulled the lamp, visually it looks good.  It is an OEM type I put in back in 2012, not one of the cheapos.  The picture has been slowly dimming with age (gets a lot of use) and I knew I was headed for a new lamp eventually, however the clanking/dimming has me stumped, especially when from the rear peeking in the cracks the lamp light appears to be steady up to a certain area, I'm assuming past the light engine, then you see the flashing.  The clunking/flashing isn't quite per second but is is close to that and very regular, not intermittent or variable.  The picture is otherwise flawless, I have no static, no spots, no green/blue areas, the colors are as they should be as far as I see.
    When I'm not turning it on or off, and it's just sitting there flashing the screen bright/dim and clunking, IIRC the led lights don't show any errors.
    When I turn the television back off, the clanking continues until the set reaches the end of its cooldown cycle, at which time it quits making the noise.
    Fan going bad?  Light engine crapping out?  Is it really just the lamp?  Reluctant to buy a cheap lamp, but also reluctant to buy a full-priced one when I'm not sure that is the fix.  Any ideas?  If no one replies I'll be tempted to do dirt cheap lamp knowing it's a piece of junk, on the off chance it is a lamp issue, then I'll go from there.  With Wally selling comparably-sized flat screens in the $400 range now I'm not going to pour tons of money in this but I don't mind feeding it lamps every three or four years, either.

    Thanks for the links. Yes, I've tried everything, and so did a Genius at the  Store today. He took it in the back, then came out, saying that he thinks it's a logic board problem. He told me that he had hit the button to turn it on, and that it had not responded immediately, but came on a few moments later. Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to replicate this behavior. He said he really didn't know much more about it, and that he wished he could, but he was "bound by 's rules" on the matter and had to send me along with the out-of-warranty line. So I'm heading to a 3rd-party guy in the next day or to, and I'm gonna let him run some diagnostics on it.
    I don't know what he was talking about with the turning on thing, but it seems to turn on just fine for me–and I've pushed that button all night now.
    Hopefully the second opinion will cast some light onto this issue.

  • Clunking noise?

    Hi, I got my Mac Pro a few days ago, and when it started up I was very happy with how little noise it generated, other that the usual HD clicking noise, which is pretty standard.
    About 5 minutes in, it started making a loud clunking noise, even though I wasn't putting it through any stress at all. It sounded like someone was using a jack hammer on the road outside, and then about 30 seconds later, it went away again.
    I'd hoped this was a one off thing, but it seems to happen intermittently for short periods of time and is very noticeable.
    I have three hard disks installed, one I have yet to put anything on (bay 3), one that has my music sample library on (bay 2), and one running the OS (bay 1). Activity monitor doesn't list any unusual amount of disk activity when the noise occurs, though.
    The noise does appear to be coming from the front/top area of the MP, leading me to suspect it's either the main fan or the disk in bay 1/2, which is more likely.
    Anyone got any ideas?
    Thanks, Ed

    Check and see if the drive manufacturers list a STIR (Seek To Increase Reliability) function for their drives. You migh be hearing that. This little gem of hard drive behaviour is designed to keep the heads moving around inside the unit so as to prevent a heat build up.
    Seagates have this, I think a lot of the drive manufacturers do, but it can be right noisy at times. It can be a ticking, a clunking or a soft chattering sound. You wouldn't see any disk activity during a STIR time, since it's a hardware function of the drive being idle and has nothing to do with the OS.
    Does this noise stop when you go into the drive and poke around some files? If so, that's what it is.
    Message was edited by: Deborah Terreson

  • My Deakjet 1660 printer makes a very loud clunking noise . Any ideas ?

    my Deskjet 1660 printer makes a very loud clunking noise whilst trying to grab the paper. Any ideas ?
    A visual inspection does not show antthing obviously wrong. The paper and position are ok.
    thanks for any other ideas.  My wife is about to throw it out of the window !

    chuckbolotin,
    This article should cover the issue you are having. Give the steps a shot and let me know the results:
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01931887&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en
    Best of Luck!
    You can say thanks by clicking the Kudos Star in my post. If my post resolves your problem, please mark it as Accepted Solution so others can benefit too.

  • Clunking noise then freeze up. Upon restart there is a boot disk error.

    My machine is a Slimline s3300z. Recently it has started to crash. There will be a clunking noise---possibly the hard drive? Then a reboot is required (power down/up). If I do not interceed during this process a black screen"Boot Disk Failure" message appears. If I use the ESC key to use the boot menu I can reboot successfully. This has happened probably six times in the last two days. Thanks. 

    You should still be able to burn your recovery discs using HP Recovery Manager in your start menu programs.
    Scroll down on the page to Step 3- Create a set of Recovery Discs:
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docuement?docname=c00707939&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&os=2093&product=36...=
    ******Clicking the Thumbs-Up button is a way to say -Thanks!.******
    **Click Accept as Solution on a Reply that solves your issue to help others**

  • HD frequent parking and clunk noise

    My HD makes a "clunk" noise as if it is parking constantly or at least once or twice a min. The noise is sort of faint and can only really be heard in an quiet room. However, it is annoying. i was wondering if others had this problem and if there is a solution besides the declunk program?

    All modern HD's have an internal monitoring mechanism that checks on the health of the device. It is called [S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology)|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T], and whenever a Mac starts doing strange drive noises, you can open up Disk Utility, select the device (i.e., +186.3 GB Hitachi...+, not Macintosh HD) and on the bottom edge you will see a S.M.A.R.T. Status. Anything different from "Verified" means an error was detected and action should be taken cause failure may be imminent.

  • Intermittent white noise occurring on USB speakers

    I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this but I thought it would be a good start point. Apologies if you feel it is the incorrect forum.
    All of a sudden my lacie USB speakers are creating intermittent white noise hiss when listening to music or viewing video with audio. This has only occurred today. The speakers are connected through a belkin USB hb which has a few other devices connected.
    Just wondering if anyone has had any similar issue with any other speakers or general audio problems which may be similar?
    Many thanks.
    Anthony

    Well little did I know that I was in the process of hearing my Belkin F5U307 7 port USB hub screaming its last few cries for help as it has now died. A three year long useful life expended.
    I'm unsure what the issue was here. I know that when I had been switching on the Mac that I had occasionally had a loud buzzing from the speakers during startup. A quick disconnect and reconnect sorted it. I had upgraded to the current Mac Pro a few months ago. I reckon its a power supply issue but can't be sure.
    So I am now in need of a new 7 port usb hub.

  • All cds put onto ipod classic have a regular intermittant static noise.  How can I get rid of it?

    When I put cds onto my Ipod Classic, all cds contain a regular intermittant static noise.  How do I get rid of the static on all of the cds?

    Restore the iPod.

  • Macbook Pro, clicking/clunking noise near Magsafe Power Connector?

    Hi all,
    I recently purchased (3 weeks ago) A brand new late 2008 old-model MacBook Pro with full 1-Year Apple Warranty.
    Just earlier today, near the magsafe power adapter there is a really audible clicking/clunking noise, sometimes it wont do it for ages, sometimes it does it 4 or 5 times in one minute... It wasn't doing this at all previously, but now it has started doing so..
    Does anyone know what this could be? I've googled and read through a few topics but there aren't really any problems that sound similar to mine.
    Thanks,
    Paul

    Since one of the possibilities is the hard drive, be sure to make a good back up of your data and keep it up to date while you are researching what the noise is. Also, open Disk Utility and see what the S.M.A.R.T. status is.
    Another possibility might be a fan.
    You could run the extended version of the Apple Hardware Test and see if anything turns up in the form of an error code.
    These are just a couple of general suggestions. Each build has its own idiosyncrasies, and you will likely find out more specific information in the late 2008 forum.
    Good luck!

  • Intermittent clicking noise

    I've had my new 20" iMac Core Duo for a couple of weeks now and have noticed an intermittent clicking sound that I think is coming from th bottom left corner of the iMac. Is anyone else experiencing this problem?

    Does the noise sound mechanical or is it more like
    something generated by the speakers?
    If you haven't already done so, try muting the sound
    to rule out the latter.
    Assuming it is mechanical, its very hard to know what
    it might be. My guess, however, would be the hard
    drive. I had a similar issue with the stock drive on
    my PowerBook. Depending on who you speak to this was
    either a sign that the drive was about to fail or
    just the drive recalibrating itself due to
    temperature fluctuations. My drive survived for
    almost a year after I first noticed the ticking, but
    I eventually replaced it to get more space and the
    clicking has largely vanished.
    Is the iMac in a relatively warm room? This could
    cause the thermal recalibration to occur more often.
    It will also increase stress on the drive generally.
    Make sure you back up regularly just in case the
    drive is on the way out.
    Sadly, the iMac's drive is a lot harder to replace
    than the PowerBooks. If you find you can't put up
    with the ticking, I'd take it to an Apple store
    (after a back-up) and get them to look at it while it
    is still under warranty. You may find that they'll
    replace the drive as a matter of caution. If they
    don't replace it or you don't want to take it in, I'd
    consider getting the extended warranty.
    Firstly thank you for your response.
    I can't put my finger on whether or not the noise is mechanical or speaker related.
    The room is normal room temperature and never overly warm.
    I think I will take it into an Apple Store to be on the safe side.

  • Intermittent fan noise

    I've got a G5 quad, been running fine. Over the past 3 days the fan has intermittently come on. It "revs" up very briefly sometimes, other times it comes on strong for several seconds. Any ideas about what's happening. Environmental temperature hasn't change for several weeks.
    Thanks

    I have 2 Power Mac G5 and both have increased the fan speed since I last turned the "on" with the side covers opened. I tried resetting the SMU and PMU button on the logic board a few times, as instructed by Apple support with no success.
    Annoying noise but I learned to live with it. Computers work fine, sleep mode and all. The only problem is the loud fan noise. Is there a software or something that can be done? I even thought about disconnecting the fans leaving without, but I suppose they will burn.

  • T410s - screen makes clunk noise at bottom right support

    Hi
    When I close the screen of my T410s there is a loud audible clunk sound from the bottom right support bracket.
    It seems like the screen is a little loose at the bottom right support as there is "give" or movement at that joint.
    Has anyone come across this before and can they advise how to get this fixed?
    Thanks 

    more likely it is a hinge issue. Do you have warranty still?
    Regards,
    Jin Li
    May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
    I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

  • Why is my imac making an intermittent dinging noise?

    Yesterday, my imac started making an intermittent 'ding' noice, like someone hitting a bell.
    Can anyone tell me what this is please?

    Open Console in Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.

  • Intermittent static noise in exported movie

    I exported a full HD movie 5min 30sec long (i tried it using both Export Using Quicktime and Export Movie options), and my finished movie has periodic static noise throughout the movie.  I don't hear it in the imovie program when i preview the movie, only in the exported .mov.file.  Any ideas as to why this is happening?  I've never had it happen before.  Thanks!

    Bus slewing is [un-officially] explained here
    http://www.macosg.com/group/viewtopic.php?t=2472
    and comprehensively here
    http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-powerenv/
    You could try an SMU reset (bottom of page)
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300341
    Note static precautions and the warning to press the button once only.
    Post again if it doesn't help.

  • Intel iMac making intermittent error noises

    Hello all,
    One of our machines is a 21" 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo G5 iMac running Tiger 10.5.8.
    It works completely fine but makes a double thunk/dong noise every 5 mins or so, which is annoying and a bit worrying. It's the same noise that usually happen when you press a wrong key on the keyboard - an error noise.
    Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? I haven't managed to find anything in my searches.
    Thanks very much!

    Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
    The sound you describe is called submarine and is found in System Preferences/Sound/Sound Effects.
    What appears to be happening is that something is set to run periodically, like checking for new email as an example, and is not working or getting an error, so you get this error sound effect. Do you have any apps running that periodically check for something?
    Dah•veed

Maybe you are looking for

  • Unable to submit a Reader-enabled PDF: "This operation is not permitted"

    Hi I've looked through the forums but haven't found an answer to this particular query: I've created a simple form (text boxes, radio buttons, and a submit button which should send the entire PDF to an email address). I have tried different options:

  • I have an error of invalid node structure

    I have an error of invalid node structure.  Can I save my data from my hard drive? Is it even fixable?

  • Alert on entry in table

    Hi, May I know is there a standard function that I can use to check if there is an entry to a specific table. This is to help alert user that new entry has been made on the specific customized table. Samewise, is there a way to check if new file has

  • Removing 10g Express Edition

    I need to remove Oracle, but this version doesn't have the universal installer, and it doesn't show up in the add/remove progammes box in windows. I'm sure I'm missing something really obvious, but can anyone advise? cheers

  • What to download?(New to Java)

    Hi. Im taking a Java class this year and I need to download it on my home computer. YOu can download it on this site, but I dont know what to download. There is: NetBeans IDE + J2SE SDK J2EE 1.4 J2SE v 1.4.2_05 SDK includes the JVM technology J2SE v