Macbook: Betwixt Moo and Whirrr...

[Ol' Betsey]

Hi all,

I've posted this on the Apple forum as well, so sorry for the cross posts...

But firstly I must say I love this computer (Black Macbook 2Gz). It's fast and looks great.

But this noise is rattling me.

I do audio/music for a living and, well, it ain't really cuttin' it.

I've 'Googled'. I've watched the 'moo' movie and I've and downloaded the widgets but to no avail.

I'm beginning to think that maybe this sound isn't the 'moo' that everyone is talking about?

I've included a little (very little - 10 secs. lo res) MP3 of the sound in the link below:

http://www.theflowershoprecordings.com/moo.mp3

Any ideas?

Cheers and thanks for the help,

R.

 

[Rovman]

Yup, thats the same moo that we all have. Basically its the fan turning on then off again repeatedly, happens when the temperature is hovering at 70c, the fan comes on then instantly drops the temp to the point where the fan turns off

 

[runninmac]

Oh wow I thought I had the moo's but apparently not, mine is about 50x quieter than yours. I don't know what advice to give you.

PS: Is it really that loud?

Edit: I think my fans go on at 62c so I think thats why mine aren't as loud.

 

[7on]

Say, instead of posting a new thread over this I thought I'd post it hear. We don't want too many negative MacBook threads floating around do we?

Anyway, the left side of the display hinge from the back (from the front it'll be the right side) looks to be uneven about 1-2mm or so compared to the other side. I only mention this as I have accidently pushed the display back too far a couple of times (my TiBook could just about perform a 165º angle whereas my estimate for the macbook would be about 120-125º). Just want to make sure I didn't damage anything. I didn't force the thing open, just opened till it stopped - mainly hearing a creaking first. Didn't think anything of it till I saw the case not flush. It's not awfully drastic though so I'm not too worried.

Oh and my macbook takes longer to go to sleep than my old Tibook. I'll killall dock just to see if I have a nasty widget running...

 

[Macky-Mac]

haha......thanks so much for posting that recording!!! I've seen several macbooks and not one of them mooed so I've been wondering what the heck "mooing" sounds like on a computer......and now I know

have you taken it in to have it checked at an apple store?

 

[AlexSpark]

Oh wow I thought I had the moo's but apparently not, mine is about 50x quieter than yours. I don't know what advice to give you.

PS: Is it really that loud?

Edit: I think my fans go on at 62c so I think thats why mine aren't as loud.

There are two kinds of moo. One normal, one abnormal. The MP3 is a recording of an adnormal moo. It repeats over and over and it really is that loud! The normal moo apears once or twice then goes away until the next time its needed. The normal moo is about 1/5 the loudness of the abnormal moo.

 

[vakej]

One normal, one abnormal.

So there's different kinds of "moo" sounds.

I don't think a "moo" sound from a laptoop can be classified as normal

Just curious, if you had a "mooing" macbook, does the apple store quickly replace it, or do they state it's normal and push back (assuming you returned within a week)?

 

[FragTek]

Take it to the Apple store nearest you (if you have one nearby) and have em look at it / swap it out with a new one for ya. That's a bad moo, no one at the Apple store will be able to deny you a new lappy with that horrible racket going on inside!

 

[jsnuff1]

haha so thats the mooing noise everyone is talking about... thats a pretty funny noise heh.

 

[AlexSpark]

So there's different kinds of "moo" sounds.

I don't think a "moo" sound from a laptoop can be classified as normal

Just curious, if you had a "mooing" macbook, does the apple store quickly replace it, or do they state it's normal and push back (assuming you returned within a week)?

My first MacBook had the moo as featured in this MP3. The one im typing from now only does a tiny quiet moo moo once in awhile from heavy use, it seems normal to me, thus why I call it the normal moo. I just upgraded from an iBook, im very happy with this second MacBook now, the first one was a nightmare.

 

[chrispl]

good luck with exchanging for another non-abnormal-mooing macbook! ive been to 2 stores and both have told me that its within spec and that its absolutley normal. the first guy said theyre probably working on a fix. the second said its just the fan. i made a similar recording and showed the second guy, but he didnt give it a second thought.

chris

 

[Deepdale]

But this noise is rattling me.

That was my first time hearing the sound in question and it clearly rises to the level of being very distracting, and a poor reflection on Apple if they consider such a problem to be within specs. If that can really be given a normal label, it is time for Apple to seriously review the concept of quality control and what consumers have a right to when they pay premium prices. Moo on them.

 

[Ol' Betsey]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies.

I was afraid that I might have the dreaded 'moo' and it seems I have...

So where do I join?

To be honest, I did boost the noise (compression, eq, etc.) while recording in order to make it more clearly audible for everyone but having said that, my finely-tuned and highly-trained audiophile ears can still pick it out quite noticably from the other ambient noise in the room. (Joke: even after 15 years of the most extreme heavy metal noise rock I'm amazed I can hear ANYTHING...)

Thanks for the good description too.

On closer listening it is in fact the fan ramping up to a higher speed.

At first I didn't think it was this as I could hear the fan purring quietly in the background but I guess it kicks in at double (?) speed at higher heat (app. 69C) levels, huh?

Other than this quite major problem, when this lappy is quiet, she's really quiet.

Not sure if I should just wait another few days for a firmware update or not?

I've just gotten all my software updated and this baby is really humming (and unfortunately, mooing) along quite nicely.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Rovman]

It's definately a firmware problem, the fans need to be made to come one slightly earlier, maybe at 65c or so. The "moo" happens when you hit 70c the fans come on and instantly drop the temp a fraction, enough to turn the fan off. As soon as the fan goes off the temp rises a fraction again turning it on thus the mooing repeats. The way to stop the mooing is either increase your load so the temp goes up to a point where the fan just stays on, or drastically reduce the load so the temp stays at 65c or so

The fan coming on at a lower temp (but slower rpm) would be far less annoying than it going on and off, right?

 

[MRU]

Yup, thats the same moo that we all have. Basically its the fan turning on then off again repeatedly, happens when the temperature is hovering at 70c, the fan comes on then instantly drops the temp to the point where the fan turns off

Mine doesnt do that EVER, not even on full load when the fans going on full kilter. This is the first time I've heard the 'moo' and my god your all right it does sound like a moo.... I have cows in the field across from me and they sound the same

But just like to add, not ALL macbooks suffer. Mine definetly doesnt..