Intermittent Fan Clicking Sound on iMac 8,1

I have an iMac 8,1 Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 GHz that has developed a very small clicking in the fan. When I use iStat to speed up the fan, the noise is louder. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so do you think AppleCare would cover this? I do most of my work at night when it is quiet, and it is driving me nuts! Thanks.

I am wondering if this is the clicking I am hearing on my new 27" iMac, coming from the lower left... almost like ticking...

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Clicking sound from iMac

From time to time my iMac keeps freezing with the spinning ball for 5-20 minutes, and there is a loud clicking sound from the upper left hand side of the iMac.
I have run hardware test, it took an hour or so, and there is nothing wrong with the harddrive. I have also reinstalles the whole system, but the problems are still there.
What could it be?
The serial number is inside the range for the Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues, but I dont know if it has anything to do with this.

From time to time my iMac keeps freezing with the
spinning ball for 5-20 minutes, and there is a loud
clicking sound from the upper left hand side of the
iMac.
I have run hardware test, it took an hour or so, and
there is nothing wrong with the harddrive. I have
also reinstalles the whole system, but the problems
are still there.
What could it be?
The serial number is inside the range for the Repair
Extension Program for Video and Power Issues, but I
dont know if it has anything to do with this.
Okay, the same exact thing was happening to us. I was dreading the worse and backed up the important stuff. It was so bad sometimes that computer was becoming almost useless--naturally just out of Apple warranty. We took it to local shop and they checked and updated everything, and same things started when we got it home again. Another trip to shop and it ran fine there. The guy there said it was because too many wireless networks in our neighborhood were using the same default channel 6.
Impossible, I thought, but turned Airport off on iMacG5 and ran ethernet cable directly to Netgear router. The problems ALL disappeared! I will change channel on router--as soon as I figure out how--and try Airport on G5 again, but meanwhile everything's great. I'm seeing spinning balls on older iMac in other room so should solve problems in there as well. Hopefully this info can be of some help.
PS--Video and power issues are only for problems that are consistent--not intermittent as our G5 falls within same range.
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Odd clicking sound on iMac

HI
My Imac has started to make an odd clicking sound which comes and goes. Intially it was totally silent so it is a bit disconcerting. Any ideas.The machine is just about a year old.
Thanks

Before you do ANYTHING, backup your system. REPEAT BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then listen to the sounds in Failing hard drive sounds and see if your sound is like any of these, if it is take the system in for a new HD. DO THIS AFTER BACKING UP THE SYSTEM!!!!!!!!

Macbook fan clicking sound

Hi,
Lately, the fan in my black Macbook C2D has been making some very strange clicking sounds when it spins up fast. Here's a recording of the sound:
http://benjisa.com/macbook.aif
I'm contemplating opening up the macbook and taking a look at the fans. However, I couldn't come across this problem anywhere else. Some advice?

It definitely sounds like the fan needs replacing. Get it service if it's in warranty. If not, get a fan at ifixit.com and replace it yourself. It's not that hard and they have instructional guides there to walk you through the process.
Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support' (designed exclusively for an iPhone/iPod touch)

1st gen iMac G5 resurrecting from the dead? (strange clicking sounds)

I have a first gen iMac (pre-iSight) that I bought a few years ago brand new. But the past 8 months or so I've been having a very strange power problem where occasionaly pressing the power button does absolutely nothing... WAIT! I know you hear about this problem all the time but before you click 'back' I'll have you know I too have read countless of these types of power problems on forums, but this one seems different!
Sometimes after unplugging, waiting for a few minutes, then replugging the power supply (while all other cords disconnected) it'll all of the sudden turn on. I recently checked inside the computer as one tutorial suggested to see if the first of 4 LED lights turn on when plugged in, and it does, meaning it's not power supply failure. The biggest problem with the whole thing is that is that the "unplug-then-replug"(sometimes upwards of 15 times) doesn't always work, and always seems to happen at varying degrees of inactivity depending on how long the computer has been off.
I've been doing this for 8 months, afraid to turn my computer off not knowing for sure i'll get it back on (which can take up to a day sometimes). And my resurrection methods seem to be more and more futile, as today and yesterday i've had no luck. LASTLY -- and this really confuses me -- I usually hear a very faint but rapid clicking noise when I plug in the computer (before I even turn it on, never happens when it's actually on) after its been unplugged for a while. The sound seems to be coming from near the bottom of the computer, so I cant imagine that it's that dreaded "Hard-drive Death" symptom (since the hard drive isnt even running).
Please, if you can, offer me some insight regarding these issues, I've looked everywhere and it seems I'm the only one having them! I'm almost to the point of gasp! actually finally going to the apple store and paying them to fix it.....

Hmm, the fan? How would I go about checking that? I want to try everything I can.
DEVELOPMENT: I got the computer on last night (using it right now)! I think it was off for almost exactly 24 hours since the last time I had it running. The most frustrating thing is that I don't really know what I did differently to get it to boot up again. That whole day I was just checking it about every hour or two, unplugging and replugging the power (at one point I opened the back and tried pressing those two tiny buttons under the fan, one is an internal power switch, and the other some sort of reset button, nothing noticeable happened with either, although the clicking sound that occasionally showed up hasn't reared its head lately). I think my computer is almost at its end, and now that its on I'm going to try my best to keep it running. One more slip into a coma and it might not make it out...

Weird clicking sound, iMac freezes or is dead slow, and turns itself off!

I've had my iMac for a good 3-4 years, during which it has been fitted with a new hard drive.
About a year ago, during watching DVDs, there was a weird click-clack sound for a good 10 seconds which was followed by the freeze. Sometimes it would go off, but sometimes the Mac would turn itself off like it had run out of juice. I thought it might've been a power issue.
Nowadays it almost every time presents this clicking sound, and freezing is inevitable. Sometimes there's no warning, the power just goes off. I have unplugged all devices that are using power ie. iPod, but the problem persists.
Could this be a mere power issue? What can the clicking sound be a symptom of?
I'm doing back-up in case the Mac completely shuts down, but I have hope for the machine yet!
I have few months warranty left, keen to sort this out pronto! All comments warmly welcome.
Anne

As I was making the clone with SuperDuper, the process was halted by an error, and I found half of my stuff copied on the external hard drive. It had enough space, but it prompted a dodgy file in 'Frameworks' in the Library which stopped the process. It all looked very benign, and I checked the troubleshooting and it suggested to try again after restarting.
What in fact had happened, was that ALL my music files had disappeared from my hard drive, none of my applications would work on my Mac, even Safari or iTunes, and I was left last night with the blue screen of death. These files were nowhere to be found, ANY of the hard drives.
Ready to chuck the piece.
Thanks for all your advice but this time, it made it worse. I'm getting the Mac a new hard drive as it's still under warranty. As it's the third time I've lost my files, there's hardly a scratch on me.. Taught me not to get attached to things too much.

IMac won't turn on. Only a clicking sound and a grey folder with flashing question mark.

iMac won't turn on. Only a clicking sound and a grey folder with flashing question mark.
Help.

Your iMac is actually turning ON as proven by the grey folder with the flashing question mark.
The flashing question mark indicates that your system is unable to find a bootable volume. The clicking sound that you hear is probably coming from your hard drive while it tries to recalibrate. I suspect your hard drive has failed.
What model imac do you have? If it's under warranty I suggest taking it in for service. Hopefully you've been maintaining a regular backup of your data as all users should. I lost my data once and it was a valuable lesson. I back up regularily now.
If your iMac came with install disks then you can boot from them, choose your language when asked, then pull down the Utilities menu to launch the Disk Utility application. The Disk Utility application will allow you to verify whether your hard drive has an issue. Usually a clicking sound, assuming it's coming from the hard drive, is a sign of a bad hard drive.
If your system has Lion installed then you can hold down the Command and R keys when you restart the system, then launch the Disk Utility application from the menu that appears.

I can hear a loud 'CD spinning/fan like' sound from my MacBook Pro intermittently. Definitely not the audio as i muted it. No CD either. And I don't have any

I can hear a loud 'CD spinning/fan like' sound from my MacBook Pro intermittently. Definitely not the audio as i muted it. No CD either. And the only programs running are words, safari and mail.

It sounds like the fan but this is the first time I hear it in the past 6mths using this Mac. If its the fan, shouldn't the sound be there all the time and not intermittent?

3 month old iMac produces little clicking sounds coming from the top

As of today, my three month old iMac is started to make little clicking sounds! It comes from to upper side. There in the neighborhood of the iSight. What is this???? It sounds like a hard drive. Is the HD located near the camera? I need a silent computer because I record audio in front of it. That was the main reason I bought the MAC, three months ago, brand new out of the box.
After three months of software headaches (leopard) , the hardware troubles start too!! My Compaq Armada Pentium 3 laptop is still flawless after years and years of heavy use. I also ran Windows XP for more than 3 years without having to reformat. I have reinstalled Leopard 3 times in 3 months.
Whats going on with Apple?

Contact Apple and arrange for warranty repair.

I use Garageband 09 to record voice overs via podcasting, female narrator noisy, but keep getting an intermittent clicking sound. It's not the metronome. I have a good quality external USB mic plugged in. Any ideas?

I use GarageBand 09 to record voice overs via the Podcasting then Female Narrator Noisy utility. I have a good quality external mic plugged in. I keep getting an intermittent clicking sound on the audio track. It's not the metronome as that is turned off. I have to edit out the clicking after recording. I can see the spikes on the waveline. Any ideas how I can prevent this happening?

Hi again and thanks so much for replying.
The 'mic jack' on the old mic is both wide and large, measuring about an inch and a quarter from the base (where it comes out of the black encasing) to the edge of the tip (sort of cone shaped). As I can't plug this in directly to any port in the back of the Mac, I thought it might be possible to to buy some sort of adapter so that I could plug in the jack at one end, with a USB connector at the other end to go straight into the Mac. But I see from your comment that you are suggesting a smaller jack itself (i.e., large size jack to small size jack and then plug in to the small round port, instead of jack to USB port)?
At the Mac shop I bought a USB adapter to connect up a second monitor (screen). I've just dug out the package and it's called a mini display port to VGA adapter. But back to the mic issue, I don't want to use the old mic really, I'm just trying to eliminate whether or not my usual mic, or its USB cable, is at fault and causing the clicking.
I looked on Amazon for a suitable adapter but there was mention of these little gadgets having a sound card. As the Mac obviously has its own internal sound card, I couldn't see the point of another (exernal) one, unless it was actually required to convert the sound from input to output (playback) or something. One review said sound quality was lost but the person had a problem with his speakers, not a ticking sound while playing back recordings - which is obviously my problem.
I do have a headset that I used to use for Skype. It has a pink and a green jack. I could plug one into the "headphones symbol' port and try recording again with Garageband. At least the jack is the right size. Again, this is just for the purpose of eliminating whether my good mic on a stand with the anti-popping sheild is at fault.
While my Mac does have both inbuilt speakers (I don't need external ones) and an inbuilt microphone, the latter is not of a high enough quality for voice overs, hence buying an external mic etc. But whatever is causing the clicking or ticking is obviously affecting the quality of my recordings. As you can imagine, it is very time-consuming to edit out the ticking spikes and if the noise appears during speech, you can't edit it out at all.
Please keep the suggestions coming. I am determined to get to the bottom of this for my sake and everyone else who is suffering from the same problem!

Clicking sound from fan

My pavilion g7 1002sa which is only 8 months old has always had an annoying clicking sound from when it was purchased from new.
I thought that it would disappear with usage, but after altering the BIOS Settings to disable the continual fan running option it is still
there. While on Skype friends have complained and described it like someone using an old typewriter in the background.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Sounds like the fan needs to be replaced. Since you are under warranty that is going to mean sending it in for repair. Call HP Service and make arrangements to do so.

Clicking sound that the iMac hard drive makes every 10 minutes or so when in Sleep Mode.

My iMac is 2 years old. I have noticed that when I put it to sleep, the hard drive makes a
clicking noise every 5-10 minutes. I had my Lacie hard drive set up for Time Machine, but
the iMac also seemed to be making the Lacie whir every so many minutes, too. I have since
temporariily shut off my Lacie, but the clicking sound persists. It also seems to me that at
times the hard drive also is trying to "run" or activate momentarily.
I never hear the clicking noise when I am using my iMac.
I read many posts about other iMac owners having a similar problem. One "suggestion" was that
the iMac is not really in sleep mode. I don't understand that since I use the Sleep prompt under
the Apple O.S. Icon. I read somewhere else that the clicking is the cooling of metal, or something
like that. That seems a "reach" to me.
Any suggestions (or directing me to a thread that specifically addresses this issue) would be
much appreciated.
In any case, if I need to call Apple Tech (I have 1 year left on my warranty coverage), I would like
to know if they have probably encountered this problem. Also, what would be a good way to explain
the issue, if you can advise me on that.
Thanks!

I have since called Apple Support about the problem. They did not solve it, but did offer to call back. I was unable to be home for the call back. I will call them again, but they did not seem to be aware of any "clicking" problems the iMacs were having.
I timed the clicking noises while the iMac was in Sleep mode; it is every 2 minutes almost consistently. (Not the 5-10 I mentioned in my first post.) Also, it then has a slight "whirring" sound after the "click" or "ping" as if it is trying to process something.
My iMac does not make the clicking/pinging noise while not in Sleep mode.
I have searched the Net and these forums repeatedly trying to find someone who has had a similar "clicking" sound. One fellow suggested his hard drive clicked in Sleep mode because it was looking for a printer. That is not the problem I am having, since all printer jobs have been completed.
If any of you could help me on this or direct me to a thread that addresses the issue, I would appreciate it immensely.
Thanks.

Media bay fan in Powermac G5 making a clicking sound.

Yesterday the media bay fan in my Powermac G5 tower started making a clicking sound. It looks like I can buy a new one online pretty cheap but from what I've seen from some tutorials it is going to be a real B**** to install. I have to take apart the whole case just to get at it. Does anyone have any other suggestions or work arounds? I have taken apart other Macs before but I don't know if this is worth the trouble!
Model Name:          Power Mac G5
Model Identifier:          PowerMac7,3
Processor Name:          PowerPC G5 (2.2)
Processor Speed:          2 GHz
Number Of CPUs:          2
L2 Cache (per CPU):          512 KB
Memory:          2 GB
Bus Speed:          1 GHz
Boot ROM Version:          5.1.8f7

Hi, I see no easy way to do it...

Clicking sound when display goes dark on 24in iMac

Hello all,
I have the strangest problem with my iMac. Everything works perfectly with my 3.06Ghz 750GB HDD iMac (24 inch), except one small annoying thing. When the display turns off to save power (after 15 minutes or whatever it is set at), a faint clicking sound can be heard from the upper left hand side of the computer. It sounds like....the head of the hard drive moving back and forth, similar to a muted version of the optical laser movements that can be heard when a CD is being read. This has been happening for several months, maybe over a year now.
This ONLY happens when the display enters powersave mode. It stops immediately once the display backlight is turned on. I am guessing it is my hard drive, so the normal course of action is to get it replaced, but this has been happening for quite some time so it doesn't appear that the hard drive is failing. Any ideas? Should I just get the hard drive replaced? Doesn't this sound like a software issue?

Robin I am not a tech and I do not know what is happening but that was happening to mine a few weeks ago. I put off calling the tech because by pressing four keys I could get back in. It finally went and they cannot even find my HD now. Lost a lot of edited photos. I now have a new 2T HD and am being backed up by time machine - but it cost me!!! Mine is 3 years old and the tech told me that that is about par for the HD they make these days - again I am just quoting.

Imac 2011 click sound

Imac 27 2011 gives a random "click" sound (hard disk?). Is this normal or should I contact support?
Thx

Failing Hard Drive Sounds http://datacent.com/hard_drive_sounds.php
Listed by drive manufacturer. Click on the > next to the drive & you will hear the typical failure sound.
How to Tell When Your Hard Drive is Going to Fail
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/how-to-tell-when-your-hard-drive-is- going-to-fail.html
Grinding And Clicking – Symptoms Of A Failing Hard Drive
http://pcperformancetools.com/getdata/grinding-and-clicking-symptoms-of-failing- hard-drive.html
Failing Hard Drives
http://losangelescomputerhelp.com/computer_networking_news/failing-hard-drives.h tml
Some newer Macs use a technology called S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) to attempt to detect problems with the hard drive that indicate it is about to fail, such as mechanical wear. If a SMART-equipped (SMARTReporter.app; Mac OS X 10.3.3 or later; at least one ATA, SATA or eSATA hard disk drive) computer detects that its hard drive is about to fail, it can warn you of this so that the data on the disk can be backed up.
 Cheers, Tom

Intermittent Fan Clicking Sound on iMac 8,1

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