odd sound

[instant.human]

well yea, recently i discovered an odd sound coming from under my macbooks keyboard.

its located somewhere around the "w", "e", "r" keys, so its likely to be the CPU, if im not mistaken...

somehow it sounds like a working cpu, so its nothing to worry about yet but it does sound a little different and as far as i recall, that noise is unknown to me and sounds... yea, kinda odd.

i recorded it and tried my best to extract it but it still sounds a little noisy.

just to give you an idea. its like a highly filtered chuckle or something... but listen yourself, maybe it sounds familiar to someone...

Memo__2_.wav

what is it? where could it come from? do i have to worrie?

it does not always appear but its pretty loud at the times its hearable, mostly it really appears when the cpu has to work but sometimes also when the harddrive is active...

end 2006 blacbook 2,0, which never suffered from whining or any other known glitch.

[Kralik]

well yea, recently i discovered an odd sound coming from under my macbooks keyboard.

its located somewhere around the "w", "e", "r" keys, so its likely to be the CPU, if im not mistaken...

somehow it sounds like a working cpu, so its nothing to worry about yet but it does sound a little different and as far as i recall, that noise is unknown to me and sounds... yea, kinda odd.

i recorded it and tried my best to extract it but it still sounds a little noisy.

just to give you an idea. its like a highly filtered chuckle or something... but listen yourself, maybe it sounds familiar to someone...

Memo__2_.wav

what is it? where could it come from? do i have to worrie?

it does not always appear but its pretty loud at the times its hearable, mostly it really appears when the cpu has to work but sometimes also when the harddrive is active...

end 2006 blacbook 2,0, which never suffered from whining or any other known glitch.

Hmmm... after listening to the attachment.. it sounds like a rotating motion.. so its either a fan or the harddisk.. My guess is its likey a dusty fan... just get a blower and clean it out.. it can be the hardisk as well in which case u can lose all your data (or most) if it crashes... id recommend you take it to a service center near you or have Apple send someone over to take a look at it if you want to be really safe..

[instant.human]

okay, so i see that the soundfile is really bad. since i know what its supposed to sound like, i can extract the noise from the others but apparently anyone else just hears fan-like-sound, which it isnt...

the next apple-retailer is like a 1hr ride away and im gone for the weekend but on monday i will take the ride... just to be sure...

thanks.

[-Vivicidal-]

Sounds like its so hot your keyboard is frying.

[instant.human]

crap, that soundfile really sucks... ^^

no, the temperature is perfectly fine...

[Cara Veteran]

well yea, recently i discovered an odd sound coming from under my macbooks keyboard.

its located somewhere around the "w", "e", "r" keys, so its likely to be the CPU, if im not mistaken...

somehow it sounds like a working cpu, so its nothing to worry about yet but it does sound a little different and as far as i recall, that noise is unknown to me and sounds... yea, kinda odd.

i recorded it and tried my best to extract it but it still sounds a little noisy.

just to give you an idea. its like a highly filtered chuckle or something... but listen yourself, maybe it sounds familiar to someone...

Memo__2_.wav

what is it? where could it come from? do i have to worrie?

it does not always appear but its pretty loud at the times its hearable, mostly it really appears when the cpu has to work but sometimes also when the harddrive is active...

end 2006 blacbook 2,0, which never suffered from whining or any other known glitch.

To be honest the sound file isn't much help, sounds like running water to me. ;)

That being said, even if it's an hour away take it in to your local Apple Retail Location and let them look at it, please do remember to make an Appointment with the Genius Bar prior to stopping in however so you don't have to wait as long once you're there. :)

[instant.human]

oh, they know an like me over there. i wont have to wait. :p

however, sorry for the file. couldve just left it out.

thanks for the replies.

[Cara Veteran]

oh, they know an like me over there. i wont have to wait. :p

however, sorry for the file. couldve just left it out.

thanks for the replies.

Always handy. ;) Remember to post when you find out what it was, it's always nice to add one more fix to the old knowledge base.

[instant.human]

okay, i didnt have the time to head to my retailer yet but...

i found out that it has to be the fan. i increased an lowered the fan-speed via smc fan control and yes, its the fan.

and now i think i can discribe the noise a little better:

it sounds kinda like when you stick a little piece of paper into a running desktop-fan. do you know what i mean?

well yea, thats how it sounds and that leads me to my new question:

is that something to worrie about? i mean im pretty sure i didnt stick something into my macbooks venthole. ;)

is it save to use a vacuum cleaner to clean my fans, which could maybe help?

i would not like to use canned air, i dont want to have all the dirt which right now sits on the fan inside the laptop itself...

i read on the mighty interweb that some used vacuum cleaners but id like the hear your oppinion aswell.

as soon as possible ill take my book to my store but i am a little unsure if its healthy to have it running until then. i need it though... :(

[Guest]

That's exactly what I thought it sounded like based on your sound file.

It's worth checking out, but I wouldn't worry too much. Probably some dust just trapped in there. You could try using a compressed can of air or perhaps just leave it to the guys at Apple.

[instant.human]

alright... i will calm down now a little.

just for the record - in the soundfile, its a little too high-pitched.

it actually sounds a little more muted.

but thats just an additional info here.

im glad i at least found the source of the noise and now can take it to my pals over at gravis and say exactly what i think it is. ;)

cheers all!

[PyX]

Looks like a waterfall to me. Maybe it's the secret piece of hardware Apple puts in their laptops to make them so good?

[Kralik]

okay, i didnt have the time to head to my retailer yet but...

i found out that it has to be the fan. i increased an lowered the fan-speed via smc fan control and yes, its the fan.

and now i think i can discribe the noise a little better:

it sounds kinda like when you stick a little piece of paper into a running desktop-fan. do you know what i mean?

well yea, thats how it sounds and that leads me to my new question:

is that something to worrie about? i mean im pretty sure i didnt stick something into my macbooks venthole. ;)

is it save to use a vacuum cleaner to clean my fans, which could maybe help?

i would not like to use canned air, i dont want to have all the dirt which right now sits on the fan inside the laptop itself...

i read on the mighty interweb that some used vacuum cleaners but id like the hear your oppinion aswell.

as soon as possible ill take my book to my store but i am a little unsure if its healthy to have it running until then. i need it though... :(

That is what I thought the first time I heard that file :p

What fan is it.. im guessing its the main system cooling fan .. dont think there will be any other fans in a mac book :blink:

Anyways.. I clean my desktop and laptop fan out on a weekely basis.. just blow the dust (not suck!) from it with a vacuum cleaner.. and that blows all the dust away from the heat sink and the fan.. with temps here around 40C i have to do it weekly otherwise my system would heat even faster with all the dust on the sink!

I dont know if its safe for you to do so as I havent seen whats wrong.. maybe a screw's loose and the fan blade is jumping.. in which case i wouldnt blow into it as it will only rotate the fan even faster and may cause the blade to come out altogether.. take it to the dealer.. thats the best advice anyone can give you..

Edited July 8, 2008 by Kralik

[instant.human]

alright, i got it repaired for free at gravis, the biggest apple retailer in germany, it was the fan.

two things were causing the noise:

a loose screw and A LOT of dirt.

they gave me the old fan which was replaced and man, it really was FULL of dust.

however, now everythings fine again. =)