[MacGallant]

I've installed a new seagate hd on the ata66 bus after I finally managed to find the cable which was hidden and tucked away under the ata33 cable. Upon bootup up after the startup chime, there was a brief crackling sound, which got me worrying. That crackling sound after the startup chime happened twice. Could it be due to a defective ata66 cable? ? Anyways, I've formatted the seagate hd and am using it as my main boot drive.

Another wierd thing, when I'm surfing the net in Safari while using iTunes6, occasionally when i close a tab and download something, there now seems to be a "pop" noise in the iTunes6 playback while listening to my music.

Anyone have any insight or idea on the crackling sound post startup chime and know if it is something serious? Or on why the "pop" sound occurs randomly when I surfing the net in Safari with tabs while listening to iTunes6?

[MacGallant]

Is there anyone out there who is knowledgable about my problem? Anyone?

[MacGallant]

The Problem occured on the front headphone port being connected to my powered speakers
(I was using the front headphone port as a work around for the infamous MDD Audio distortion bug which Apple claims to be working on a fix since Panther 10.3.6) but for a few days so far, I'm using the back line out port and all seems well so far.

I experienced the static noise post start up chime about 2 or three times, but haven't experienced it in a while.

The AppleCare guy suggested to do a PRAM reset or to do a PMU Reset. I did PMU Reset. So far so good, I got my fingers crossed. The AppleCare guy said PMU Reset or a Pram Reset should resolve audio problems.

[MacGallant]

Now, that I come to think of it, I think the whole static noise after the startup chime started after I installed the Seagate 160 GB HD.

I installed it in the front cage of the MDD and attached the Apple concealed data cable to the ata66 bus, and connected to power cable for the HD and and reconnected my MDD and peripherals (with my speakers connected to the front headphone port) and powered up. Immediately after the start up chime-- there followed some static noise that lasted for 2-3 seconds coming out of my speakers but everything booted up fine. My OEM Deskstar on the ata100 bus was the boot drive at the time and the Seagate HD was not formatted yet at the time and but I eventually formatted it as my main boot drive and zeroed the Seagate HD. I thought it was just myself imagining the noise, but it happened again a few days following that day. And the third time it happerned was when I woke the MDD from sleep.

So I tried to reseat the data cable and then zap the pram. I haven't experienced the static sound after the startup chime since then(i'm knocking on wood). And today I resetted the PMU based on advice from the AppleCare guy just for precaution. Based on the advice of the AppleCare guy, he told me the front headphone port might be more sensitive than the line out port in the back and to use the line out port for my external Logitech speakers instead of the front headphone port, and so I did.


Problem#2: But a wierd problem that I can't tell if I'm still experiencing is a faint popping noise when closing a tab or opening a tab to a web site when I'm surfing the net with a few or a bunch of tabs enabled in Safari with listening to iTunes 6. It's very random. After resetting the PMU, I can't tell if problem #2 is still happening, but I'm trying to catch it.

Anyone have any advice or tips? Anyone? Detrius, you always seem knowledgable, maybe if you have a few minutes, that you'll be kind enough to chime in. Thanks.