Whining Hard Drive - Strange But True. Options

[Podfather]

Not sure if anyone else has come accross this.

Mac spec

Powermac G5 dual 2.7ghz
2 gb ram
250gb serial ata
ati radeon 9650
RME Fireface 800
Logic Pro 7.1
Reason 3

Whenever I start Logic my hard drive starts a failry high pitch whining noise. If I then add Reason via Rewire - it gets worse? Has anyone else come accross this?

[td3k]

Typically when a drive makes a high pitched 'whine', it is eventually going to fail.
What you are probably hearing is the spindle of the drive generating friction. When the drive gets heated, the metal expands, and a spindle that is getting worn generates that high piched whine. Perhaps when you are running Logic, the drive is spinning up to full speed and you hear that noise. I have seen drives go on like this for as long as year or two, but eventually they go south. If the computer is still under warrwanty I would give Apple a call (although they will typically not do a repair unless the drive is failed.) (And of course, please back up all of your data files.)

Good Luck,
TD

[Podfather]

thanks for the reply. have you any ideas why it only does this on Logic?

[gdoubleyou]

Because it's constanly being accessed and stressed when you are using Logic.

[ourmanflinty]

do any of the settings in 'hardware and drivers' affect the noise...you have a few to play with ie
reducung the number of tracks? more friendly disk handling or not? buffer size?
try lowering your maximum recording time in the 'set audio record path' dialog?

How about moving your logic samples /audo files / exs instruments etc to an external drive to take some load off the internal. Same goes for your refils etc.

Use disk utility in the utilities folder to run repairs on your drive then see what happens ( you'll need to boot from an install cd / dvd to run all options on your internal drive, run 'disk utility' from the menu rather than doing an install ).

Have you found 'activity monitor' yet? when you run this it reports on all operations going on in your mac, it's useful information and may give you clues as to what's happening.

If you can prove the drive is functioning out of specification, and they have a decibel spec, then surely you've got a better chance of getting some applecare?

[The Guitar God]

My old G3 did this. It eventually gave up the ghost and stopped working. You should back up all of your important files to DVD etc. Mine was 7 years old though, so it had good reason. That seems a bit new to give up now.

[citypigeon]

are you sure its the drive? seems funny that reason would affect drive operation like that... i've noticed on my dual 2.0 that there is a quiet wine coming from the computer which changes tone depending on what the processor is up to at the time - its very quiet and doesn't bother me since the computer is too far away for it to interfere with music but it sounds like maybe you have a more extreme case of this going on in your 2.7 .... i'm fairly certain its its not my harddrive causing this though

cp

[ourmanflinty]

ah yes..it could be the fans spinning up to cope with the extra load...remember the fans in g5's are dynamic in that they will change the airflow rate dependant on the heat being generated.

[TheKid]

Not necessarily the fans. If allow nap is checked, uncheck it. It may be a frequency being generated due to the nap mode. I have that problem on my dual 2 Ghz.

Later -- Jeff

[editbrain]

the noise is generated by the lack of power to the processors. i most models of the Dual G5 there is a power supply problem.
the nap fix should not be considered a fix. a work around maybe, but not a fix.

[Podfather]

I spoke to Apple ( again) and they agreed this should not happen. I did listen very closely to the fans with the program running but I am almost certian it is the hard drive.

I have taken it to a local Apple service repair centre today and we will soon know what the problem is as they are going to test it under warranty.

I will let you know what they say.

My first instinct is to agree with td3k as with the case open I could distinclty hear the whine coming from the hard drive area of the case. But I could have been mistaken.

[fictionmusic]

Someone else has already mentioned the nap fix (which imo is in fact a fix).

My computer whines too.

A good way to find out if it is a Nap issue is to mouse over some functions in a program and see if the whine pitch changes at all. If it does you should download CHUD tools and install it
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8506

Once installed go to:
Open hardware prefs/and uncheck nap (which is what the whole nap thing is about)

That should do it.


Every time you fire up your mac you will need to uncheck nap but other than that you'll be fine.

I have had a G5 2x2 for over 2 years and its been like that. It is on almost all day every day and it works flawlessly (unlike some software I use) so like I said , imo, it is a real fix.

[Podfather]

OKay - here is what the Apple service centre have said.

The whine was being caused by the CPU running too hot as one of the cooling fans was not spinning up due to an incorrect plug on the motherboard.

I will take the G5 home tonght and test to se if this is the case.

[Podfather]

Well I have taken the Mac home and it is still whining so I tries the nap fix and it worked.

I would like to thank all that mentioned it as the annoying squeak and whine have now disaappeared. My only gripe is that nobody at Apple support mentioned it and even the service centre did not know about it. It seems the only real support you can get is on forums - which are free???

[editbrain]

i never settled for the nap fix. i kept taking my computer to apple and calling until they fixed the issue. this is a total defect.. what is the deal with there power to the cpu issue. if you turn off nap and it quiets the sound, what is to say that the power supply is not going to fry something else.
power has to flow in a computer correctly. each component relies on it. if you use a fix to quiet the cpu the power is still faulty from the source.
i have had it with apple and there faulty support, and faulty hardware design. when my G5 dies. i am going back to intel. at least with intel there are not any broken promises. you know what you are getting into, and you are not lied to like you are an idiot (not saying you are), but apple tech do that. when you buy an apple. once payment is made. all defects, and faulty software becomes your fault. isn't there a lemon law in the United States that protects us from this kinda retail?

[Podfather]

editbrain, I certainly take your point about Apple treating me like an idiot. I even wrote a complaint on their customer survey email they sent me. Luckily My Mac is leased over two years with free Apple Care thrown in. So if it fries, they can buy a new one.