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lunaticbunny · Oct 13, 2003, 02:53 PM

I've had my 1.25 PB for about 2 weeks now and during this whole time i've always left my processor performance at automatic, until today... i switched it to "highest". (PB is running on AC) now i get this weird scratching/screeching/ticking noise coming from underneath the keyboard. i can't pinpoint exactly where, but i can hear it, especially when i put my ear to it. the noise occurs even when nothing is in use - no apps opened. however, when i switch it back to "automatic" the noise is gone... is anyone else having this problem?

also, my PB has developed the famed "white spots" i have three of them, but they are quite faint, barely noticeable against a white background.

fuddman · Oct 13, 2003, 02:56 PM

I was concerned about that faint screaching, ticking noise... I asked my PC tech friend to listen to it and he says its just the hard drive.. I did a hardware check with the software recover disk and it says everything is working fine.. so i'm not worried about it anymore.

docholiday · Oct 13, 2003, 03:10 PM

I have the same sound coming up every once in a while... but I did a hardware test too and everything seems fine.

acedloring · Oct 13, 2003, 04:19 PM

i have the same problem. I have heard it described in this forum as a "mouse-like" sound. I have not noticed that changing the power settings affects the presence or absence of the sound. Hard drive checks have shown that there are no problems. When I send my powerbook in to get repaired for white spots for the SECOND time in one week, I am going to have them look at the hard drive. This is NOT a normal sound. My friend has the exact same 1.25 ghz powerbook without this strange noise.

kentuckyfried · Oct 13, 2003, 07:28 PM

^ It might be normal....you guys notice that whenever you move the mouse, you can hear a very faint sound from the Powerbook? It's like the sound of the processor or something.

It's not loud enough to be annoying, but it's definitely something different from the iBook I had last year.

I'm not worried about it...it's more troublesome to send my laptop off to Apple to "fix" it and have it come back and find that it's still exactly the same. Otherwise, everything else is perfect (well, ok, maybe not...the battery life sucks but hopefully that can be corrected in Panther and later OS revisions).

lunaticbunny · Oct 14, 2003, 01:15 AM

i've just plugged my PB for recharging after draining the battery. with processor performance set to highest, that darn screeching sounds is quite noticable and constant. enough to drive you crazy if you're working in silence, like i'm doing now. when i set it to automactic or reduced, the sreeching sound is somewhat reduced, but still there and can still be heard... Grrr!

kentuckyfried · Oct 14, 2003, 01:20 AM

^ ok, so I'm not crazy and imagining things...

garlic2000 · Oct 14, 2003, 05:08 AM

I have the same problem, i'm pretty sure it's not the hard drive(the HD makes an alltogether different noise) I think its either the processor or the video card making interference. This happens on all power settings, its just louder when you're on the highest setting. There are similar posts in Apple's forum but now official response from Apple. Personnaly, i can live with it, automatic setting is fine for me, i'm not even sure that putting it on high makes the PB go any faster.
In any case it would be good to know if this a serious issue or just a small bug we have to live with. Is this affecting all PB's ? it probably since to be able to hear this sound you need to be on highest setting and in a totally silent place.
How does one go about reporting this to Apple ?

kentuckyfried · Oct 14, 2003, 11:17 AM

I think we just have to call it in and go through the necessary levels of support...that's a total drag.

I would do it normally but I'm kinda swamped at work.

Originally posted by garlic2000:
I have the same problem, i'm pretty sure it's not the hard drive(the HD makes an alltogether different noise) I think its either the processor or the video card making interference. This happens on all power settings, its just louder when you're on the highest setting. There are similar posts in Apple's forum but now official response from Apple. Personnaly, i can live with it, automatic setting is fine for me, i'm not even sure that putting it on high makes the PB go any faster.
In any case it would be good to know if this a serious issue or just a small bug we have to live with. Is this affecting all PB's ? it probably since to be able to hear this sound you need to be on highest setting and in a totally silent place.
How does one go about reporting this to Apple ?

x · Oct 31, 2003, 07:02 PM

same here. I have the Fujitsu HD on my 15" Albook. The clicking can get annoying when it's really quiet still thinking if I should return it. But otherwise, it's a perfect machine.

Got it on Panther night.

timmerk · Nov 1, 2003, 01:56 AM

I have this on my 17in Albook. It only does it on certain webpages. Very strange.

For example, go to online.wellsfargo.com and try logging in. You'll hear it.

lunaticbunny · Nov 1, 2003, 02:17 AM

i've figured out what the noise is. that weird screeching noise only occurs when using Safari and logging into secure websites. however, the problem has been remedy in Panther. the other noise that comes from the processor when set to the highest i've just accepted as normal.