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hotani · Jan 9, 2003, 01:56 AM

Ok, yes - this is yet another "why is my G4 with mirrored doors so frikkin loud" thread, but I could not resist.

I looked at the past threads and noone seems to mention the problem that bothers me the most about this: the noise is not consistant!!!! It speeds up, slows down, speeds up - like a bad idle on a car! It really sounds like there is a car idling on my desk; a car that desperately needs a tune-up!

Honestly, the noise is not too loud when it is steady - but occaisionally the machine gets a mind of its own and falls into this revving fit - it is EXTREMELY annoying. Is there any hope?

D'Espice · Jan 9, 2003, 02:02 AM

That problem is well-known and should have been fixed with the G4 Firmware Update.

hotani · Jan 9, 2003, 09:12 AM

Originally posted by D'Espice:
That problem is well-known and should have been fixed with the G4 Firmware Update.

Well, that did not fix mine. however, this is not happening every time I use the machine - maybe 1 out of 5 reboots. It was doing it last night, then after it slept all night it is fine this morning... weird.

Chun Hsu · Jan 10, 2003, 01:25 AM

Originally posted by hotani:
Well, that did not fix mine. however, this is not happening every time I use the machine - maybe 1 out of 5 reboots. It was doing it last night, then after it slept all night it is fine this morning... weird.

The main case fan is temperature controlled, so it will speed up if the interior heats up. Although my fan doesn't speed up, I know you are not the first person to encounter this problem. Someone else added two hard drives to their case and started having this issue. It means that your machine is getting hot for some reason. Probably a combination of manufacturing variances and poor design, IMO.

D'Espice · Jan 10, 2003, 03:24 AM

hotani:
I understand you're running OS X 10.2 on your PowerMac, that fan issue only occured in OS 9 as far as I remember.
Do you have the stock MDD G4 or did you change something, switch the harddrive or video card or whatever? I assume that it's just some kind of bug that occurs from time to time. Did you ever try shutting your Mac down and booting up again when that happened?

Mac Zealot · Jan 10, 2003, 03:42 AM

I'm guessing it is just a bug in hardware design.

When I first got my quicksilver, I had it on my desk, the desk was close to a window...

whenever a breeze came in the fans would slow down, then kick back to full blast, it got really annoying.

Sadly, after that the temp sensors seemed to fail or something because now they're on full blast all the time

hotani · Jan 10, 2003, 04:55 PM

Originally posted by D'Espice:
hotani:
I understand you're running OS X 10.2 on your PowerMac, that fan issue only occured in OS 9 as far as I remember.
Do you have the stock MDD G4 or did you change something, switch the harddrive or video card or whatever? I assume that it's just some kind of bug that occurs from time to time. Did you ever try shutting your Mac down and booting up again when that happened?

I have added another hard drive, but it was doing this before. If it is varying in speed, I can reboot and it will continue. The only thing that seems to cure it is an hour or two in sleep mode.

Funny you mention the video card - mine has been acting really screwy; things that should be blue are orange, but for the most part everything looks fine. I have another thread about it here.

gattacahq · Jan 13, 2003, 07:31 AM

For help with all MDD G4 noise issues, go here:

http://www.g4noise.com

Great site, really helpful people, mostly audio and video pros.

Pro-active group seeking permanent solutions from Apple for ALL noise and audio issues.

Noise analysis, mod suggestions, fan replacements (not recommended since it voids your warranty blah blah)

Online petition too.