MacBook Air Random Click noise/ sound

[squaremon]

i got an replace today. even got more clicking =( tho its not as loud as the previous one

I uploaded a video on youtube. Heres the link on my previous mba.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bpRPcyo_Oq4

Turn up your volume. "Click" sound occurs at 0:00:04 - 0:00:06
The beep noise happened 2 times so I took it in and exchange one.

 

[gtxp]

OQO E2 also

in my new OQO E2, I have a 60GB disk, it's making the same noise, and I found your forum by searching Samsung hs082hb (which is the model of the disk), so it "seems" that this is a "common" issue to all Samsung disks...

I'm both happy and unhappy. Good point is the machine is not "broken", bad point is for a device I'm holding all the time near my face, it's driving me crazy. I guess I'll try to buy a 1000 bucks SSD later to replace the disk...

found this link, not sure if it's useful:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_HUTIL.html


This confirms this is a common issue:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Apple-MacBook-Air-Subnotebook.7979.0.html

"The built-in 60 GB 1.8" hard disk by Samsung crackles a little bit, which is audible," ...

 

[AreanFSL]

Is anyone else having a slight thudder coming from the fan when it's crusing along 2500 RPM? I noticed this last night because before this incident it was dead silent. The noise is happening near the top left..
It seems like the fan might be loose because once it reaches 6200 RPM then drops to around 2500 the laptop is DEAD silent and I'm not having the sound. Also, when the fan is @ full blast 6200 rpm, and I pick the laptop up and move it a bit, the fan drops in speed a bit.
Anyone else with this problem? or am I being over anal

 

[WilliamG]

So this MacBook Air is great. Aside from the core shutdown issue that many people have (don't watch HD movies on a bed!), it's been working great. However, occasionally the hard drive will make quite an audible clicking sound. One time it went "CLICK CLICK CLICK" quite loudly. I know what normal hard drive sounds sound like, as when I'm downloading I can hear the "normal" access clicking, and that's fine. This was a really audible clicking you can hear from 10 feet away. It's only done it a few times (once when the system was put to sleep even), and I know 1.8" drives have some oddities. There are no other issues to speak of with the system, and the drive purrs away 99% of the time. That 1% when the drive makes that clicking sound, the UI definitely freezes (more of a pause) for a second...

So is this the normal characteristic of the 1.8" drives?

 

[johnzoidberg]

I'd say everything is fine. Mine has done that, and I've had zero issues. Zero.

I've yet to hear of someone's MBA hard drive failing from problems relating to the loud clicking sound.

In fact, Apple is aware of this "issue" and states that it's normal:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307514

 

[WilliamG]

I'd say everything is fine. Mine has done that, and I've had zero issues. Zero.

I've yet to hear of someone's MBA hard drive failing from problems relating to the loud clicking sound.

In fact, Apple is aware of this "issue" and states that it's normal:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307514

Thanks for the reassurance! It really is a pretty obnoxious noise when it makes it loudly. Definitely startled me! Head loading/unloading sounds seriously needs to be worked on. Your computer should automatically play a pleasant MP3 when the heads are about to be parked!

 

[johnzoidberg]

Definitely. It was pretty jarring the first time I heard it. I was convinced something was wrong with my MBA. That was 2 months ago. My MBA still runs as great as it did on its first day.

 

[WilliamG]

Definitely. It was pretty jarring the first time I heard it. I was convinced something was wrong with my MBA. That was 2 months ago. My MBA still runs as great as it did on its first day.

Gosh 2 months? Is that how we measure longevity nowadays?

Thanks again. I'll sleep a little easier now. But I think I'll buy that Applecare to make sure.

I still can't get over the fact that we pay money for an object, and then pay more money to make sure it works. Crazy!

 

[JasO]

Mine too makes this clicking noise, not the most pleasurable thing to listen to but if it's not a fault with the computer i suppose i can live with it. Hopefully the MBA proves its worthiness on my upcoming trip to Europe

 

[superknoppix]

Click Noises Answer

This click noise is not normal. This is the sound of a hard drive dying..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bpRPcyo_Oq4

The hard drive in the macbook air will make clicking noises when the heads park. this is normal. Some hard drives in certain macbook airs will not make any noise. its just the manufacturing. some park loud and some park quiet. Sometimes it will make a series of clicks one after another, this is due to the hard drive trying to park and the user or system trying to use the HD at the same time. the drive will go into a little spasm then will be fine.

One way to fix the clicking if it is annoying you is to change your power settings. Click on your battery on the top tool bar and select Energy saver preferences. Then deselect the option at the bottom that says "put hard disk(s) to sleep when possible". deselecting may shorten your battery life slightly but shouldn't be that noticeable and will give you peace of mind if the clicking is driving you crazy. If the clicking continues after changing the power setting option then there may be a problem with your drive, and you should take it into an Apple store.

 

[Bruce0]

Clicking on SSD Macbook Air

Reading through this thread, and the Apple Tech bulletin, and looking at the youtube recordings (very useful) of other peoples clicking indicates that there are multiple problems here.

1) Some people may be having head parking noise. But not if you have an SSD (Solid State Disk) Macbook.

2) Some of the YouTube recordings are clearly not clicking or parking, one was fan noise, another sounded like an alarm or overload of some sort.

My problem is a click, it repeats 5 times in rapid succession (5 or 6 clicks in about 1.5 seconds time, then a 5 second pause or so, then repeat.)

click-click-click-click-click-click-pause...........click-click-click-click-click-click-pause...............

They are quiet clicks, very soft, and they do eminate from under the power button. I moved my ear around the macbook air trying to find the source.

When I had the macbook air on its side, open, listening to the bottom vent against my ear i heard the clicks begin and then I heard the fan spin up and the clicks stopped.

I cannot reproduce the problem but I have a theory.

Perhaps some obstruction gets in the fan, and the fan retries starting, and perhaps turning the mac on its side cleared the obstruction.

I didn't even know this thing had a fan... it is usually very quiet.

Anyway, for us SSD guys with the click-click-click-click-click- problem, I think it is an obstructed fan, and I think if it happens to me again I will try vacuuming the bottom vent in the region of the power button.

 

[King t.]

same clicking here, but ince apple says that it's normal

by my machine it only clicks once and then i don't hear it anymore, i have a 1.8ghz with the 80gb hd, but beside the clicking which only occurs one time during the day, i haven't had any issues so far

 

[Stigmater]

same clicking here, very annoying

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Just got a brand new 1st gen MBA 1.6ghz 80gb HD. Clicking like crazy the moment it starts up. Please advise what to do.

 

[Mactagonist]

Just got a brand new 1st gen MBA 1.6ghz 80gb HD. Clicking like crazy the moment it starts up. Please advise what to do.

Take it back.

 

[superknoppix]

Reading through this thread, and the Apple Tech bulletin, and looking at the youtube recordings (very useful) of other peoples clicking indicates that there are multiple problems here.

1) Some people may be having head parking noise. But not if you have an SSD (Solid State Disk) Macbook.

2) Some of the YouTube recordings are clearly not clicking or parking, one was fan noise, another sounded like an alarm or overload of some sort.

My problem is a click, it repeats 5 times in rapid succession (5 or 6 clicks in about 1.5 seconds time, then a 5 second pause or so, then repeat.)

click-click-click-click-click-click-pause...........click-click-click-click-click-click-pause...............

They are quiet clicks, very soft, and they do eminate from under the power button. I moved my ear around the macbook air trying to find the source.

When I had the macbook air on its side, open, listening to the bottom vent against my ear i heard the clicks begin and then I heard the fan spin up and the clicks stopped.

I cannot reproduce the problem but I have a theory.

Perhaps some obstruction gets in the fan, and the fan retries starting, and perhaps turning the mac on its side cleared the obstruction.

I didn't even know this thing had a fan... it is usually very quiet.

Anyway, for us SSD guys with the click-click-click-click-click- problem, I think it is an obstructed fan, and I think if it happens to me again I will try vacuuming the bottom vent in the region of the power button.

Again, this is the sound of the heads parking...
The multiple clicks are not the heads physically moving, it is just the mechanism that moves the heads locking, the heads don't move but the drive continues to try to lock them in place... this may be a defect with a sensor in the drive but I don't think that it would cause a drive failure...
I haven't heard of any problems with a drive in the MBA yet.
Edit: oh and I don't think that there should be clicking from a SSD, but if that is the case then its a totally different problem(fan or something)

 

[HiFiGuy528]

I found out that it was the fan stuck because it is new and can't start-up. I gave the Air a hard tap around the Delete, \, Return key. Heard the fan start-up and the clicking stopped. It is silent now.

 

[superknoppix]

I found out that it was the fan stuck because it is new and can't start-up. I gave the Air a hard tap around the Delete, \, Return key. Heard the fan start-up and the clicking stopped. It is silent now.

You should take your MBA to the Apple store and have them look at it, if the fan is being obstructed then you could experience overheating problems(a problem than MBA's have already with a working fan) and excess heat will shorten the life of your hardware(battery, screen if the lid is closed).

I've taken my MBA apart to put new thermal paste on the GPU, CPU, and the fan is actually underneath the 5 and 6 keys, your HD is located beneath the delete key.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

You should take your MBA to the Apple store and have them look at it, if the fan is being obstructed then you could experience overheating problems(a problem than MBA's have already with a working fan) and excess heat will shorten the life of your hardware(battery, screen if the lid is closed).

I've taken my MBA apart to put new thermal paste on the GPU, CPU, and the fan is actually underneath the 5 and 6 keys, your HD is located beneath the delete key.

No need to take it in. After a few hard taps the fan started up and is running normally. It's slient now. I am very happy with its performance and the price I got it for.

 

[superknoppix]

No need to take it in. After a few hard taps the fan started up and is running normally. It's slient now. I am very happy with its performance and the price I got it for.

Thats great! Perhaps it was just from the initial manufacturing, the fan is quite small so I could see it being stuck at first. The MacBook Air is a great machine, I've been using mine solid since the beginning of August, and haven't had any problems so far(except for overheating but coolbook fixed that).

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Well, my Air started to click over the weekend. I am not worry because HD is cheap and I'll just buy a new one when it dies.

Just wondering if anyone found a for the clicking sound?

 

[Bruce0]

Well the fans are bad.

Well, my Air started to click over the weekend. I am not worry because HD is cheap and I'll just buy a new one when it dies.

Just wondering if anyone found a for the clicking sound?

DjAm...

I suspect the problem is not heads "parking". To test this, gently access a file on the hard disk that you haven't read recently (like an old letter or something). If you can get it, the disk is spinning, the heads are not parked, they are not re-parking right away and if the clicking continues, then you have the same clicking I have (which is what I suspect, i mean how many clicking problems can this thing have).

So if you can read a file that is not in disk cache, it is not parked or parking.

But you have to read the file "gently" because the tapping on the keyboard might free your jammed fan.

In any case, if it happens again, and the clicking continues after you read an uncached file, then post again so we can all eliminate the head parking theory.

Here is what I did...

I did try taking it in to the Mac store, and of course there were 2 problems.
1) The fan is so quiet that even if it is running you can't here it in an apple store (there were about 100 people in there)
2) The problem is intermittent.

But mine is SSD, and my clicking is clearly not heads parking (the heads, tracks and sectors on SSD are all conceptual, it is just flash).

A finger thump to bottom of the area where the power button is, and it spins up and stops clicking.

This has happened to me several times, but now that I know how to fix it, I usually can.

Unfortunately it probably means the machine overheats sometimes. SO ... it over heats, they don't fix it, and eventually it fries. Hopefully it will be old when it dies.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Thanks for the tip. I left it on all Sunday night (not sleep) and the clicking went away since. I'm not going to worry about it. I'll just wait till it dies.

 

[ulim]

Darn it, I had this clicking today on my Rev B. I was setting it down on an uneven surface (desk with various pens and piles of papers) and this very weird recurring click/shhhh sound comes out from, seemingly, the screen. After a while I swept my desk free and set the Air down on the even surface and the sound immediately stopped. It definitely sounds different than a hard drive and I have an SSD anyway.

I guess an occasionally jammed fan is the best explanation we have at this point.

Ulrich

 

[MBAir]

Mine is Rev B 1.8 SSD.

I have random clicking noise from the left side of the laptop. It is ANNOYING!

Any solutions yet? What is source of that noise?