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crispinwilliams · Oct 15, 2003, 07:25 AM

I have a new 17 inch pb and I believe the low level fan is always on. I can hear a soft fan-like noise from the left-hand side. I have tried resetting the power-management system and zapping the PRAM.. but it continues. This noise starts early in the boot process and is independent of whether the computer has been running or is completely cool.. right now with a light load the CPU is 43.3 C (109.9 F) - surely not hot enough to trigger the fan?

I am running 10.2.8

Any suggestions?

MusicalTone · Oct 15, 2003, 08:23 AM

Adjust your energy settings - lower the screen brightness and reudce the processor speed.

djjava · Oct 15, 2003, 08:30 AM

Originally posted by crispinwilliams:
I have a new 17 inch pb and I believe the low level fan is always on. I can hear a soft fan-like noise from the left-hand side. I have tried resetting the power-management system and zapping the PRAM.. but it continues. This noise starts early in the boot process and is independent of whether the computer has been running or is completely cool.. right now with a light load the CPU is 43.3 C (109.9 F) - surely not hot enough to trigger the fan?

I am running 10.2.8

Any suggestions?

Trade it in for a RevA?

nagromme · Oct 15, 2003, 10:40 AM

Left side... could it be the HD?

Karim · Oct 15, 2003, 11:00 AM

If the sound appears to come from the left front corner (to the left of the trackpad) it is the hard drive. And, there is no way to get rid of that noise, unless you sleep/shutdown the computer. Selecting the energy saver option to spin down the HD in MAC OS X doesn't do it for me, mostly because I am always active with the powerbook and when I'm not, it is asleep.

crispinwilliams · Oct 15, 2003, 11:14 AM

Yes it could be the hard disk - in which case it is impossible to get rid of.. a week ago straight out of the box - it was completely silent .. now I have this ever present noise - not enough noise to send it back to Apple - but annoying nonetheless since it use to be absolutely silent. Where are the fans located exactly? If I put it under heavy load so the the hevy duty fan kicks in (at around 51 C), this seems to be located on the left hand side in roughly the same place. Is there any absolute test to do to decide if it is the hard disk or a fan. BTW it is the stock hitachi harddisk.

unchi2 · Oct 15, 2003, 11:22 AM

No, its the fan. It makes a low "brrrr" sound if its on. But if it's on all the time then I would suggest you take it to the shop. My 1.33 seldom turns on, it only does that when I play video games or uncompress a huge file.

Originally posted by crispinwilliams:
Yes it could be the hard disk - in which case it is impossible to get rid of.. a week ago straight out of the box - it was completely silent .. now I have this ever present noise - not enough noise to send it back to Apple - but annoying nonetheless since it use to be absolutely silent. Where are the fans located exactly? If I put it under heavy load so the the hevy duty fan kicks in (at around 51 C), this seems to be located on the left hand side in roughly the same place. Is there any absolute test to do to decide if it is the hard disk or a fan. BTW it is the stock hitachi harddisk.

nagromme · Oct 15, 2003, 06:33 PM

The fans are at the back edge, on either end of the hinge. Those are the only two I see in the cutaways, anyway.

Karim · Oct 15, 2003, 08:49 PM

Well if your machine used to be silent but now isn't I would say the Hard Drive theory is out the window. Pay close attention to any environment changes that may have occurred (different room, different temperature, etc..) to account for the difference. If you really feel your usage circumstances are unchanged and the machine is, then send it in, or take it to an Apple store and compare "environments" to an existing Rev B 17".

Mine is a Rev A and I know all about fan noise from previous Ti-books, and on this machine, it really is non-existant.

nagromme · Oct 16, 2003, 11:23 AM

Actually, I once had an HD that DID change sounds after a few weeks. If that's it, it's a BAD sign. Back up your data in case it fails! Mine did. (Years ago.)