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FINALLY -- MB/MBP Whine/Buzz solution(s)

M

maximus06

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 5, 2007
212
0
Finally! The problem appears solved. After researching for hours and trying 5 different apps and potential fixes - I seem to have found two working solutions. By the way, I have a SR Macbook 2.0 - Leopard 10.5.1

Solution 1: Download and install: ftp://ftp.apple.com/developer/Tool_Chest/Testing_-_Debugging/Performance_tools/CHUD_4.4.4.dmg

This will add a new option to system prefs.

After installing, go to system preferences -> hardware -> processor -> "show control in menu bar".

Now in the menu bar, click on the processor icon and select "show processor palette". Then click on the second processor icon/picture to grey it out OR simply select "single cpu" from the drop-down. Now your system will only be using one processor, and for me, the whine has stopped completely!

HINT: Do not uncheck/check it through the system prefs panel - it doesn't work for some reason. Use the menu-bar-palette way or menu -> single cpu also works most of the time. Sometimes you need to enable/disable the processor several times to get this to work, I don't know why. Just have you ear close to your macbook and enable/disable the 2nd processor until the noise is gone. This sounds stupid, but it does work after you've tried it a couple of times, once you "get it" the noise stays off until you sleep/restart.

I monitored my CPU temp and it does NOT increase, no fans spring on. Now I can finally love my macbook! I'm happy :)

Drawbacks:
-Noise seems to kick in during screensaver, but when you log-in again/get out of screensaver its gone again.
-needs to be re-done after every restart & sleep (but it only takes a second if you do top menu -> single cpu)
-using only one CPU, so performance loss. Though nothing significant it seems.
-------------------

Solution 2: Download QuiteMBP (works for macbooks as well): http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/downloads/QuietMBP1.1.zip

Run it and set the slider to the far left to completely disable the noise. WARNING: This is a crude method, because the app will keep your CPU's busy at a minimum 38%, which means your core temperatures will increase by 30-50 degrees Farenheit, which means the fans will kick in, permanetley (as long as you run QuiteMBP) and this in turn means less battery life and the fan noise...

Hopefully Apple will release an official fix for this sometime soon, but I doubt it because the problem has existed since 2006 at least. Any feedback is appreciated!
 
I will give it a try. I just got my third macbook SR today and they all have a buzz...I really hope that apple does something too.
 
tayhoenes said:
I will give it a try. I just got my third macbook SR today and they all have a buzz...I really hope that apple does something too.
Click to expand...

Yes I belive they all have it, and its not just Apple. Dell's as well, and all other Core 2 Duo laptops. Its the intel chip.
 
maximus06 said:
Run it and set the slider to the far left to completely disable the noise. WARNING: This is a crude method, because the app will keep your CPU's busy at a minimum 38%, which means your core temperatures will increase by 30-50 degrees Farenheit, which means the fans will kick in, permanetley (as long as you run QuiteMBP) and this in turn means less battery life and the fan noise...

Hopefully Apple will release an official fix for this sometime soon, but I doubt it because the problem has existed since 2006 at least. Any feedback is appreciated!
Click to expand...

Could you please clarify (I'm sorry, I just suck at technology)? And why do you advise us to slide it to the far left? The app says to "set the slider below to the highest level where the noise is alleviated."
 
that's a little over-exaggerated for quietMbp, there is no way you could withstand letting your computer get 30-45 degrees hotter... it would litterally melt... it's already at 50-65* 90 would literally be scalding. (and 30% would be extreme overkill... 3% gets rid of the noise completely.)

I believe the noise has been fixed for a couple of years... I've got one installed on my computer that uses 2.6%CPU on average..... temperature isn't really effected, but battery life is cut by 30 minutes....

it was just an install and forget thing... so I cannot remember what it was called.

but those numbers on quietMBP are not correct.
 
Draddy said:
that's a little over-exaggerated for quietMbp, there is no way you could withstand letting your computer get 30-45 degrees hotter... it would litterally melt... it's already at 50-65* 90 would literally be scalding. (and 30% would be extreme overkill... 3% gets rid of the noise completely.)

I believe the noise has been fixed for a couple of years... I've got one installed on my computer that uses 2.6%CPU on average..... temperature isn't really effected, but battery life is cut by 30 minutes....

it was just an install and forget thing... so I cannot remember what it was called.

but those numbers on quietMBP are not correct.
Click to expand...


Do you mean 50-65 degrees Celsius? Cos mine's almost always at 71 degrees Celsius.... Is that bad?
 
In any case, I set it at Single CPU and it's not helping at all. The fans are just as loud and irritating as usual.
 
DO NOT DISABLE ONE OF THE CORES OF THE CPU!

Not only will it make your computer slower, but it will also kill battery life!

Use ShhMBP which will simply disable the C4 power state. It has a minimal impact on battery life.
 
Ron21 said:
DO NOT DISABLE ONE OF THE CORES OF THE CPU!

Not only will it make your computer slower, but it will also kill battery life!

Use ShhMBP which will simply disable the C4 power state. It has a minimal impact on battery life.
Click to expand...

ShhMPB doesn't work - at all. I tested it. Plus even if it worked, it would also "kill" your battery life because the C4 state would be disabled (power saving state).

Disabling one core does not make ANY noticeable difference in terms of speed, maybe if you're using something CPU heavy like movie-rendering or a game, in which case you could simply switch it to 2 cores. For normal useage this is perfect.

Yes I heard it will reduce battery power, I don't know by how much, however I am using this "tweak" while my MB is plugged in. Usually when I go travelling about, the environment isn't totally quite anyways so I don't really hear the whine anyways.
 
aureiden said:
In any case, I set it at Single CPU and it's not helping at all. The fans are just as loud and irritating as usual.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by fans, what do fans have to do with this? This noise is caused by the intel processors in the macbook. And like I said you have to fiddle with it a bit sometimes to "get it". Just enable/disable it in different way (menu->singe cpu OR menu->pallete->click 2nd picture). Or maybe you're hearing a different buzz/wine? I know my screen makes a hum...this is just for the processor.
 
maximus06 said:
This noise is caused by the intel processors in the macbook.
Click to expand...

Why didn't you just do what i did. Return the laptop and get a new one. It's a known issue and even apple have acknowledged it and will replace your logic board for you.

Anyway to correct you, the noise isn't caused by the intel processor. It's caused by PWM power circuitry close to the intel processor. It was a problem with the first revision MBP and was solved by users AGES ago, so you've only "finally" found an existing solution!

Anyway I personally wouldn't want a dual core laptop if i couldn't use the second core without the machine making a god awful noise so i'd either get my money back (which i did) or get it repaired.
 
TBi said:
Why didn't you just do what i did. Return the laptop and get a new one. It's a known issue and even apple have acknowledged it and will replace your logic board for you.

Anyway to correct you, the noise isn't caused by the intel processor. It's caused by PWM power circuitry close to the intel processor. It was a problem with the first revision MBP and was solved by users AGES ago, so you've only "finally" found an existing solution!

Anyway I personally wouldn't want a dual core laptop if i couldn't use the second core without the machine making a god awful noise so i'd either get my money back (which i did) or get it repaired.
Click to expand...

I think this is a different problem - I had a Dell XPS M1330 before with this issue (un-fixable in windows vista) and other people told me it has existed as far back as 1996. It is an intel processor problem, do a search. The problem in early MBP's was a different one...maybe?

Anyways, I'm quite sure all SR Macbooks have this, as you will see if you read several threads in this forum, people have returned it 2,3,4 times even and the problem persisted. Some people hear it, others don't depending on their age (apparently) and other things. Additionally you need to be in a very quite room to notice it, and some laptops have it louder than others.
 
zilu01 said:
Can you post a recoding of the sound? I have a SR MBP and it does not make any noise.
Click to expand...

i didn't think my macbook made any noise either, until i started to read about it. then i REALLY listened, and i'm so annoyed by it all the time now.


funny thing, the whine always seems to diminish when i'm using the two finger scroll. weirddddd.
 
wyatt23 said:
i didn't think my macbook made any noise either, until i started to read about it. then i REALLY listened, and i'm so annoyed by it all the time now.
Click to expand...

Me, too. Its very psychological I think, you don't really notice it until you read about it and actually listen for it. Then you always try to listen. Even though its gone now for me due to this "fix", I still try to listen for it or pretend its there. I'll just have to get over it all.
 
wyatt23 said:
i didn't think my macbook made any noise either, until i started to read about it. then i REALLY listened, and i'm so annoyed by it all the time now.


funny thing, the whine always seems to diminish when i'm using the two finger scroll. weirddddd.
Click to expand...

I tried to hear it, the only time my mbp gets loud is if I run xp and play games. It's just fan spinning faster but its not very annoying. Sounds like my old desktop at it's idle fan speed.
 
No, not everyone has this whine. Some laptops have it, others don't.

Do a search, you'll see mixed answers in forums everywhere
 
It has nothing to do with fans... it's an electronic whine... basically very similar to the whine of a tube TV... if you can't hear a tube TV you probably can't hear the whine of a Macbook Pro (it's in the 15-18KHz range)

disabling one of the cores is an incredibly stupid solution...

there are options that work, but not every option works for everyone... shhmbp works for me without creating heat, but killing battery by 30 minutes.
 
maximus06 said:
I think this is a different problem - I had a Dell XPS M1330 before with this issue (un-fixable in windows vista) and other people told me it has existed as far back as 1996. It is an intel processor problem, do a search. The problem in early MBP's was a different one...maybe?

Anyways, I'm quite sure all SR Macbooks have this, as you will see if you read several threads in this forum, people have returned it 2,3,4 times even and the problem persisted. Some people hear it, others don't depending on their age (apparently) and other things. Additionally you need to be in a very quite room to notice it, and some laptops have it louder than others.
Click to expand...

Mine makes no noise except the fans obviously
 
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