2011 iMac started grumbling

[techhead42]

I have had a perfectly quiet iMac for 3 days, until tonight. It's now got the dreaded grumbling hard drive, and boy it is annoying.
Looks like a call to Applecare tomorrow, ******. I would have thought Apple would have sorted this problem out by now!!!!

 

[StevenPaulJobs]

the thread title made me laugh...

 

[MacHamster68]

I have had a perfectly quiet iMac for 3 days, until tonight. It's now got the dreaded grumbling hard drive, and boy it is annoying.
Looks like a call to Applecare tomorrow, ******. I would have thought Apple would have sorted this problem out by now!!!!

how should they sort that out ? apple is not making the HDD's , they only buy them from the cheapest source they can possibly find and where they get the biggest discounts..and that the HDD is fitted in a unibody enclosure (called iMac) thats out of metal and in ear hight does not really help keeping the HDD
quiet and spotlight is indexing every day a bit more which doesn't help either

 

[NutsNGum]

how should they sort that out ? apple is not making the HDD's , they only buy them from the cheapest source they can possibly find and where they get the biggest discounts..and that the HDD is fitted in a unibody enclosure (called iMac) thats out of metal and in ear hight does not really help keeping the HDD
quiet and spotlight is indexing every day a bit more which doesn't help either

Fella's got a point. Spotlight loves a little chow down, now and then. Especially later on. I like to do a OS reinstall every 6 months or so, keeps it ticking over a little more neatly.

 

[applefan289]

Mine has it too (late '09 Core 2 Duo iMac). I just ignore it. The performance is fine. It really sucks though that Apple has not addressed that issue. I guess they'll address it in the next refresh, which will be a redesign. By then, we'll probably have SSDs standard.

 

[TheUndertow]

I'd be curious if the SSD + HD combo would help by hitting the mechanical drive less often.

 

[SkippyScud]

Mines on a glass table top with metal frame legs. Trust me, you got nothing on mine when it gets hungry and 'grumbles'

 

[techhead42]

Just an update.
I rang Applecare this morning and they will be sending me out a new iMac to replace my grumbling hard drive and hair under the glass iMac. They are also allowing me to hold onto my Imac until the new one arrives.
Although the outcome is uncertain until I assess the condition of the new one, I am extremely happy with the way Apple has handled this matter. I'll update with the results.

 

[tsugaru]

See if this temporarily resolves it.

Lift up your iMac (gently) while it is running (I stress gently.)

If the noise goes away, something is afoot inside the machine.

Glad Apple is replacing it for you.

My iMac with the bum RAM slot had that happen as well. Hope the new one doesn't exhibit that.

 

[techhead42]

See if this temporarily resolves it.

Lift up your iMac (gently) while it is running (I stress gently.)

If the noise goes away, something is afoot inside the machine.

Glad Apple is replacing it for you.

My iMac with the bum RAM slot had that happen as well. Hope the new one doesn't exhibit that.

I tried as you suggested by no change. I have read a lot about this 'grumbling HDD' in the 2010 model.
My iMac was completely silent at the beginning, it only became noisy yesterday. I have no idea why apart from the fact I was moving a large file (15GB) and it was noisy after that. That was the hardest I'd pushed the iMac since I'd had it. Maybe that had something to do with it, I have no idea.