MacBook "MOO" fix?

[blitzydog]

To the people who say it's nothing but a regular fan starting up:

No, you're wrong. It's not normal. I don't think you guys have witnessed the moo - it really is louder than the average fan going on and off, trust me. Some people have no problem, so when the fan goes on and off around the threshold, it's quiet as can be.. but for us with the moo, it's louder. If the computer's really hot and fans are on full blast, it's also loud... So there is definitely something wrong with this.

 

[Nate4747]

Mine does it every once in a while, and it's no big deal. Just figure out how to keep your notebook in a different temperature range, either by opening extra apps or quitting a few. Sometimes even something as simple as keeping the Activity Monitor open with a floating CPU usage indicator is enough to keep me above the moo threshold.

Firmware upgrade is most likely forthcoming, so it will be solved soon anyway.

 

[purelithium]

Ignorance is bliss... created by the pounding of 10 years of punk shows...

 

[ITASOR]

Here's a video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4490733167064230159

You can't really here much in the video, though

I can hear it, and that would drive me INSANE!

 

[stefan15]

You must get your ears examined, they are working much too well. Or maybe there is a cow outside the window.

What you hear is the sound of the cooling fan being turned on and accelerating, and turning off when the MacBook is cool enough again. The fix? Don't use your MacBook. Use it only very gently inside a walk-in freezer so the fan is never used, or alternatively use it as hard as possible so the fan runs at full speed all the time.

Did you notice the strange noises that your car makes when you drive? They are called "engine running", "wheels rolling over the ground", and "air passing your car at high speed". Ask your car manufacturer to fix those noises.

This post is horrendously ignorant.

 

[DMPDX]

Could someone make a recording of it or someting. Becuase I hae no good idea of what it actually sounds like.
-dsm

 

[lietsche]

These MacBooks that moo...do they give milk?

ROFL


my 17" mpb does moo too
but no milk

 

[aristobrat]

IIRC, it was the MacBook Pro folks that first had the Moo, and it was fixed by the SMC firmware update.

 

[flyguy451]

I think you may be taking your anger out on the wrong person. You may have legitimate complaints about the quality of your machine or just maybe you have set an impossibly high standard. Think about it - is everything you do "perfect" or do you produce work within some acceptable range, have you ever said, "this is good enough." These computers are not a product of Divine Intervention, they're built by humans.

this post pissed me off. I just got home from my university, and I'm so annoyed at my Macbook I don't know how to describe it. The fan starts, stops, then starts again after 2 seconds...ALL THE TIME.....it's HORRIBLY ANNOYING, and pissed off both me and my friend who I was working with, even when I placed the mac on another table a meter or two away... It was not running any big programs at all...only a small torrent program, nothing more....so please don't use that condescending tone when some of us have more than a thousand bucks on a computer that has major errors...

my macbook has the whine sound as well, and my battery isn't working. I have to have the charger inserted if I want to use it. If I take it out it says "no battery detected" or something like that, and shuts down after 2 seconds...then, when I come to try and find a fix for the problems I read this post, which only adds fuel to my rage...Apple's quality control imust be HORRIBLE..it seems like you should consider yourself lucky if you get a machine that's working properly...I'm taking this one back as soon as I can, cause I'm certainly fed up....and if you're right, and this is the way the Macbook is supposed to run, then I'll never lay my hands on a Mac again...I'm very disappointed with this machine, which is my 1st mac ever.

 

[flyguy451]

You must get your ears examined, they are working much too well. Or maybe there is a cow outside the window.

What you hear is the sound of the cooling fan being turned on and accelerating, and turning off when the MacBook is cool enough again. The fix? Don't use your MacBook. Use it only very gently inside a walk-in freezer so the fan is never used, or alternatively use it as hard as possible so the fan runs at full speed all the time.

Did you notice the strange noises that your car makes when you drive? They are called "engine running", "wheels rolling over the ground", and "air passing your car at high speed". Ask your car manufacturer to fix those noises.

Perfect analogies!! My Macbook moos too, I expect a software fix will appear to modify the fan set points and all will be well again.

 

[nermal0]

Perfect analogies!! My Macbook moos too, I expect a software fix will appear to modify the fan set points and all will be well again.

Stupid analogies. A car makes car sounds, every car does. But this laptop makes sounds I NEVER heard on any laptop I owned before. This guy has no idea what causes the moo and what it sounds like. And I bet he would return his car if it'd sound as if the exhaust pipe fell off.

 

[Yoyodyne]

Is there a sound link to what the "moo" sounds like on the MacBook's? I'd like to hear...

This is off Apple's support boards: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~chrispl/Moo.m4a

 

[unfaded]

Did you notice the strange noises that your car makes when you drive? They are called "engine running", "wheels rolling over the ground", and "air passing your car at high speed". Ask your car manufacturer to fix those noises.

If my car started mooing, I would certainly ask my manufacturer to fix it, yes.

 

[flyguy451]

Stupid analogies. A car makes car sounds, every car does. But this laptop makes sounds I NEVER heard on any laptop I owned before. This guy has no idea what causes the moo and what it sounds like. And I bet he would return his car if it'd sound as if the exhaust pipe fell off.

I have a Macbook. It "moos". It's exactly what he says it is; the fan/airflow noise as the fan increases and decreases in speed. Since some machines have it and some don't and apparently the volume varies from one machine to another I would guess that very slight variations in the system are to blame. There is, however, no doubt as to what is causing the sound. BTW, it does not bother me and I will not be hauling back to the Apple store because of this.

 

[HiRez]

Just sounds like fans revving to me. My G5 tower does this all the time and it's much louder (you can hear it easily from the next room). Kind of annoying but I got used to it. Hard to judge by the video just how loud that would be in a quiet room, I can see it being distracting with a portable if it's pretty loud.

 

[n8236]

Mine "moo," but only when I'm using it on my bed w/ mediocre ventilation.

 

[chrispl]

"all macbooks moo" says the genius...

This is off Apple's support boards: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~chrispl/Moo.m4a

1st of all, thanks for using my clip! haha.. im glad its put to good use!

so i called apple care a 2nd time after i was told to go into the store the first time about the moo/whine, and they still said i have to go into the store to prove anything was wrong. i only called again after reading some encouraging posts about how apple care said there was a defective batch that mooed and how the macbooks werent supposed to do that.

anyways, brought it into a store and the genius told me they all moo and that its definitely not defective. he said that the macbook was designed to turn on the fan that way, but if it turns out to be more of a hinderance, then theyll fix it. he also said said "im sure apple is working on a fix for it". so if your macbook just moos, then i dont think you can return it or anything. but my powerbrick and magsafe connection also hissed/whined. he took it into the back to hear it more clearly, came back and said "i hear a liiiittle bit of sound...." but still offered me a 10% restocking fee FREE return.

i wonder if hes just saying the moo is on all of the macbooks just to keep people quiet. i mean... would a teeny tiny sound that he supposedly heard (its actually really loud and annoying) really warrant a waiver of the 10% restocking fee?

chris

 

[donaldGuy]

mine does moo a bit but it doesn't really bother me.. granted that if it really does vary significantly and is loud I can see how it could bother someone. Even the recorded version doesn't sound that annoying to me..

Personaly, I would prefer a laptop that is usually dead silent but occasionaly moos when using it on a badly vented surface to a laptop that had a low humming fan all the time (or worse.. an iccesently clicking fan like the fans in my desktop that I should REALLY replace)

 

[WillMak]

So can we expect a firmware patch to fix this issue soon?

 

[rdrr]

mine does moo a bit but it doesn't really bother me.. granted that if it really does vary significantly and is loud I can see how it could bother someone. Even the recorded version doesn't sound that annoying to me..

Personaly, I would prefer a laptop that is usually dead silent but occasionaly moos when using it on a badly vented surface to a laptop that had a low humming fan all the time (or worse.. an iccesently clicking fan like the fans in my desktop that I should REALLY replace)

I have been a mac enthusiast since 2001, and I own 3 macs, and 2 ipods. I am trying to point out that I am not an apple basher, but...

This is a defect, just like the white spots on the 15" AL PowerBooks. I don't think people should just rollover and accept that a brand new notebook should "moo". I don't care how faint it is, I can hear it and it is very annoying.

 

[AcousticDoc]

If it was a light constant hum like the pc laptops I've had it would be ok. But this moo comes and goes at random intervals and random volumes! GAH!!! iT'S DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What's the point of having a notebook if you can't even take it with you to the library to study!?!?!?!?!?

 

[designed]

The fan behaviour on the MacBook isn't that far from my Pentium M VAIO, except the VAIO doesn't moo around. It does have occasional spurs of "what to do with the fan" but it keeps it on for a while and doesn't spin it back up again right away.

I hope there's a firmware fix or a slider to decide between silence and coolness. I'd take a notch or two of fan usage anytime, there's certainly silence to spend.

 

[Arch]

Macbook moo

I purchased a Macbook this past Friday. It was working fine until the "mooing" started. This is definetly a defect. It will drive you nuts. My friend heard mine Macbook, and he agrees with me. You don't have to have sensitive ears to hear it. His Macbook doesn't have the "moo." I'm going to the Apple store; I hope they can fix it. If not, I'm returning it.

 

[Nar1117]

So lets review here:

The fan turns on at 67 C (152 F), and stops and starts at regular intervals.

What is the fan for? The fan is used to increase airflow inside the computer, to lower the temperature of the components inside.

When the fan starts, it brings air inside the computer and the computer starts to cool down.

Apparently, the activating temperature for the fan is 67C. The heat sensors inside the case probably measure temperature in tenths of degrees. When the fan starts up, the computer cools down maybe 2 or 3 tenths of a degree, which COULD be causing the fans to shut off, since the inside temperature has now reached a value that does not require the fans to be turned on. So they turn off. When they turn off, the computer is no longer being cooled, so it heats up. Then the process starts all over again.

Bam. Moo sound.

We know that the moo is connected with the temperature, and why should it not be? The moo is caused by the fans, which help to regulate temperature, so there is no simple answer that could explain the moo being a problem relating to any other part of the computer.

The problem lies with the communication between the temp. sensors and the fans.


I believe that the sensors are too sensitive, causing the computer to read the temperature in too small of degrees, and being too 'jittery' with corrections involving turning the fans off and on.

The reason that other computers do not experience this has to do with their temp. sensors and the way that the computer interperates the readings.

So yes, the problem is 'within specs'.

 

[brbubba]

Firmware upgrade is most likely forthcoming, so it will be solved soon anyway.

But it would be nice if we had an actual comment from Apple about the situation and reassurance that it will be fixed soon. I am just more surprised by how this one could have gone passed the QA dept, you gotta be a friggin idiot to send retail product out like this.