Graphics Glitches & Coil Whine

[zchrykng]

Title pretty much says it, I've been having random graphical glitches since I received my new Mac Mini, I'm still inside the return window so am considering just returning it, but I previously purchased and returned a Mac Mini because it wouldn't boot after a few days of using it. Also, have pretty strong coil whine, but that seems minor next to the other issues.

Anyone else having graphics glitches and/or coil whine? These issues are really bugging me, but I'm torn because it really is a nice machine.

 

[IngerMan]

What do you mean by graphic glitches?

I noticed the first week of my setup I would occasionally get a brief black screen for a second or two like it went into sleep and occasional artifacts when trying to watch a tv app on safari. Since then I ordered a better shielded hdmi cable, and I think the problem is resolved. I will say Chrome seems to run Hulu better then Safari. That is the only thing I use chrome for is Hulu.

 

[tpivette89]

Try wiping the internal hard drive and re-installing Mojave. I've read this sometimes cures the graphical issues.

If either issue persists, I would absolutely return it. My i5/16GB/256GB has none of the problems you mentioned.

 

[zchrykng]

What do you mean by graphic glitches?

I noticed the first week of my setup I would occasionally get a brief black screen for a second or two like it went into sleep and occasional artifacts when trying to watch a tv app on safari. Since then I ordered a better shielded hdmi cable, and I think the problem is resolved. I will say Chrome seems to run Hulu better then Safari. That is the only thing I use chrome for is Hulu.

Occasionally I'm seeing a strip 10-20 pixels tall of noise for a couple frames. Not while doing video things.

 

[golfpan]

Occasionally I'm seeing a strip 10-20 pixels tall of noise for a couple frames. Not while doing video things.

That is not normal behavior or even a common bug on the 2018 model (the coil whine is a known but relatively rare issue, but not the video issue).

IMO you should return it and get a replacement. That shouldn't be happening.

 

[IngerMan]

Try wiping the internal hard drive and re-installing

Try wiping the internal hard drive and re-installing Mojave. I've read this sometimes cures the graphical issues.

If either issue persists, I would absolutely return it. My i5/16GB/256GB has none of the problems you mentioned.

I am not claiming I have issues, I did have a few odd things happen the first week as I posted in #2 but since then with the new HDMI cable and I also did do a clean install as well and have not had issues since February 20th.

 

[macaron95]

Hi

does coil whine depend on the configuration we pick ?

i.e . i7 processor or other sizes of SSD ?

 

[Ploki]

Hi

does coil whine depend on the configuration we pick ?

i.e . i7 processor or other sizes of SSD ?

no.

That is not normal behavior or even a common bug on the 2018 model (the coil whine is a known but relatively rare issue, but not the video issue).

IMO you should return it and get a replacement. That shouldn't be happening.

could be a bad cable, or interference.

 

[brentsg]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2018-mac-mini-coil-whine.2153169/

 

[palebluedot]

My understanding is all of the Macs that use Toshiba SSDs have coil whine. My 2012 is silent with a Samsung EVO installed but the new Mini I just got (i5/512/8gb) has pretty substantial hissing (coil whine) off and on.

I'm a gamer that builds PCs so I am attuned to coil whine. I wonder if the folks who claim that they don't have it just don't hear that frequency or don't realize what they are hearing.

 

[Ploki]

My understanding is all of the Macs that use Toshiba SSDs have coil whine. My 2012 is silent with a Samsung EVO installed but the new Mini I just got (i5/512/8gb) has pretty substantial hissing (coil whine) off and on.

I'm a gamer that builds PCs so I am attuned to coil whine. I wonder if the folks who claim that they don't have it just don't hear that frequency or don't realize what they are hearing.

Samsung EVO 970 NVMe has as much coil whine as my Mini has (i have to push my ear against both to hear it). MacBook Pro 13" has less, i cannot hear it no matter what.
So I don't think it has everything to do with Toshiba, but has something to do with higher speeds. SATA3 SSDs never ran nearly as hot as PCIe drives do.

 

[brentsg]

Samsung EVO 970 NVMe has as much coil whine as my Mini has (i have to push my ear against both to hear it). MacBook Pro 13" has less, i cannot hear it no matter what.
So I don't think it has everything to do with Toshiba, but has something to do with higher speeds. SATA3 SSDs never ran nearly as hot as PCIe drives do.

You understand about sample size right?

It's actually a rhetorical question b/c it's clear that you do not.

 

[Ploki]

You understand about sample size right?

It's actually a rhetorical question b/c it's clear that you do not.

Yeah, i was replying to his sample size which is about the same as mine...

As the sample size of this thread is 26, and 65% do not suffer coil whine, and all 2018 macs have toshiba SSDs, it seems that "its those darn toshiba SSD's" is a poor conclusion, and "all toshiba macs have cool whine" is even poorer, and "samsung SSDs do not have it" is just as poor.

 

[palebluedot]

Yeah, i was replying to his sample size which is about the same as mine...

As the sample size of this thread is 26, and 65% do not suffer coil whine, and all 2018 macs have toshiba SSDs, it seems that "its those darn toshiba SSD's" is a poor conclusion, and "all toshiba macs have cool whine" is even poorer, and "samsung SSDs do not have it" is just as poor.

I think it is fair to assume that most normal people don't hear coil whine as they assume that is just the "sound of electronics". I also don't think it is relegated solely to Toshiba. My SurfaceBook Pro 2 has terrible whine. My logitech mouse has coil whine when it is not plugged in. Pretty much every high end gaming GPU from Nvidia has it.

 

[Ploki]

I think it is fair to assume that most normal people don't hear coil whine as they assume that is just the "sound of electronics". I also don't think it is relegated solely to Toshiba. My SurfaceBook Pro 2 has terrible whine. My logitech mouse has coil whine when it is not plugged in. Pretty much every high end gaming GPU from Nvidia has it.

probably.

i was just implying that assuming all macs with toshiba has it is erronous, and that samsung doesnt have it is as well

 

[zchrykng]

After more checking, I think the whine sound was coming from my KVM more than the mac mini. Also haven't seen much in the way of graphics glitches since I originally posted.

Fingers crossed it stays that way.

 

[palebluedot]

After more checking, I think the whine sound was coming from my KVM more than the mac mini. Also haven't seen much in the way of graphics glitches since I originally posted.

Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Do you hear any hissing or clicking when you copy large files or run Black Magic? Just curious. Hope you enjoy the new Mac!

 

[T-Bob]

Hi

does coil whine depend on the configuration we pick ?

i.e . i7 processor or other sizes of SSD ?

Not clear yet, but there are i3 owners reporting no whine (one recent example had whine from an i7). Could be less power delivery is helping here, most of the whine reporters have i7 or i5.

 

[palebluedot]

Huh, thanks. Side question: Do you have a slight "buzz" (electronic noise, constant, like a transformer) in your non-coil whine Mac?

 

[ixxx69]

After more checking, I think the whine sound was coming from my KVM more than the mac mini. Also haven't seen much in the way of graphics glitches since I originally posted.

Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Thanks for following-up and I hope your computer "stays that way"!

This is a good example of what's at the heart of 90% of the computer "issues" posts on these forums. I've been assisting family, friends, co-workers with their computer issues for 30+ years, and 9 out 10 times, what someone thinks is the source of an issue turns out to be something else. (it happens to me too, i just know enough on how to go about properly troubleshooting)

Most people will never post that they were mistaken or wrong once they do figure out whatever the "real" issue was, or they don't figure it out and continue to place blame where it's not deserved.

 

[palebluedot]

Thanks for following-up and I hope your computer "stays that way"!

This is a good example of what's at the heart of 90% of the computer "issues" posts on these forums. I've been assisting family, friends, co-workers with their computer issues for 30+ years, and 9 out 10 times, what someone thinks is the source of an issue turns out to be something else. (it happens to me too, i just know enough on how to go about properly troubleshooting)

Most people will never post that they were mistaken or wrong once they do figure out whatever the "real" issue was, or they don't figure it out and continue to place blame where it's not deserved.

To be fair, coil whine is a well documented and discussed phenomenon. If he knows what coil whine is, he is not akin to a family member no realizing they plugged an HDMI cord into a toaster.

 

[ixxx69]

To be fair, coil whine is a well documented and discussed phenomenon. If he knows what coil whine is, he is not akin to a family member no realizing they plugged an HDMI cord into a toaster.

That a disingenuous example and totally misses the point. Everyone here may "know" what coil whine is, and it can still also be true that 97% of the folks posting about it are attributing it to being a mini "issue" when the issue is actually with their other gear, or not even "coil whine", but rather electrical interference from another source that sounds like coil whine.

That's not to say that there are not defective units that may exhibit unusual amounts of coil whine/electrical interference - defects are just a reality of manufacturing. But there's no evidence to date that there's any issues with the design of the mini or the components used in the mini.

 

[brentsg]

That a disingenuous example and totally misses the point. Everyone here may "know" what coil whine is, and it can still also be true that 97% of the folks posting about it are attributing it to being a mini "issue" when the issue is actually with their other gear, or not even "coil whine", but rather electrical interference from another source that sounds like coil whine.

That's not to say that there are not defective units that may exhibit unusual amounts of coil whine/electrical interference - defects are just a reality of manufacturing. But there's no evidence to date that there's any issues with the design of the mini or the components used in the mini.

There was a thread on the 2018 Mini's coil whine and people made post after post about the issue. People replace the unit and it persisted, and I've read many posts where people replaced older Mini's with new ones and the old one didn't exhibit the issue. You may believe it's a lot of make believe and that's your prerogative.

I've personally owned 2 and both exhibit noises from the SSD that make it sound like a mechanical hard drive during read/write activity. At the same distance from my ears, it's louder than my 8 bay NAS. It doesn't matter where it's located. It doesn't matter what it is/isn't plugged into. It's not a CPU load issue, nor is it a network activity issue. I examined each scenario. It also isn't the video card high-pitched whine, so it's tolerable.

 

[palebluedot]

That a disingenuous example and totally misses the point. Everyone here may "know" what coil whine is, and it can still also be true that 97% of the folks posting about it are attributing it to being a mini "issue" when the issue is actually with their other gear, or not even "coil whine", but rather electrical interference from another source that sounds like coil whine.

That's not to say that there are not defective units that may exhibit unusual amounts of coil whine/electrical interference - defects are just a reality of manufacturing. But there's no evidence to date that there's any issues with the design of the mini or the components used in the mini.

Fair points, I just assume most folks posting about coil whine understand the issues unique to clean/dirty power, device interference, etc. and have isolated for those. Heck, personally I've even monitored the 12v power rail for fluctuations to see if it corresponds to hissing. I do the same thing for my gaming PCs though, so it is fun (if annoying) detective work.
[doublepost=1552167416][/doublepost]

There was a thread on the 2018 Mini's coil whine and people made post after post about the issue. People replace the unit and it persisted, and I've read many posts where people replaced older Mini's with new ones and the old one didn't exhibit the issue. You may believe it's a lot of make believe and that's your prerogative.

I've personally owned 2 and both exhibit noises from the SSD that make it sound like a mechanical hard drive during read/write activity. At the same distance from my ears, it's louder than my 8 bay NAS. It doesn't matter where it's located. It doesn't matter what it is/isn't plugged into. It's not a CPU load issue, nor is it a network activity issue. I examined each scenario. It also isn't the video card high-pitched whine, so it's tolerable.

Did you ever get one without the hiss?

 

[ixxx69]

There was a thread on the 2018 Mini's coil whine and people made post after post about the issue. People replace the unit and it persisted, and I've read many posts where people replaced older Mini's with new ones and the old one didn't exhibit the issue. You may believe it's a lot of make believe and that's your prerogative.

I'm well aware of the other thread - it's a circlejerk. The point is that people don't know how to properly troubleshoot.

Suggesting that the old mini didn't do it and the new mini does do it, and therefore the new mini is the "issue"... is a textbook example of poor troubleshooting. It would certainly be a relevant data point, but if that's where it ends, you haven't ascertained anything. And that's my whole freaking point. It's not that I think people hearing a sound is "make believe"... it's that they are probably attributing it to the wrong device.

I just assume most folks posting about coil whine understand the issues unique to clean/dirty power, device interference, etc. and have isolated for those.

LOL, what forum do you think you're on?