[Arch]

I received my Macbook this past Friday. I just been familiarizing myself with computer. I'm a Windows user who is making the switch to Mac. The computer was working fine until yesterday afternoon. That's when I encountered a sound coming from the upper left-hand side of the computer. I sounds like a drilling sound like from a high speed Dremel tool. It lasts about two seconds then it stops and starts up again in a another two are three seconds. It wasn't making the noise until yesteday afternoon after I connected the Mac USB modem and installed the internet provider software. I not doing it now, but I don't hae the power cord connected. Also, the computer is hot in the area close to where the power cord is connected. A coworker hasn't had any problems. He has the same computer. He said that the fan comes on, but it doesn't bother him and he has very sensitive hearing. I want to get this resovled because this noise is very annoying. Apple told me to take it into the store and have a tech look at it. If that doesn't work, I'm going to return it to the Apple Store where I bought it and ask for an exchange. Thanks for any suggestions.

[griffman]

Follow the suggestions -- take it back to the store, that doesn't sound at all like any sound I've heard from mine.
-rob.

[zarmanto]

From the description, I'd speculate that you have a fan which is rubbing against the interior plastics when it spins up. If that's the case, then you've probably noticed that the noise starts just as your computer is starting to really heat up... and then of course, the fan isn't dissipating heat properly, so it would indeed get warm in that region.
Yeah... like Rob said, take it to the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store. They fixey-fixey for you. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Nobody]

And hope that it makes the same noise in the store... some silly intermittent annoyances can be very crafty, they never appear when you want them! /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Arch]

That's the problem. It's not making the noice right now. I'm afraid that it won't make the noise at the Apple Store. I wonder if they will actually open the computer up to look at the fan at the Apple Store. I don't know whether to take it to the Apple Store or see if I can exchange it for another Macbook at the store where I bought it. I hope that I didn't get a lemon. Thanks for the help.

[zarmanto]

In reply to:

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I don't know whether to take it to the Apple Store or see if I can exchange it for another Macbook at the store where I bought it.

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I take it by this that you're saying you didn't purchase the computer at an Apple Store? What were you thinking, man??? /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Kidding aside... Even if that's the case, I'd still suggest you take it to the nearest Apple Store -- unless that's just unreasonably out-of-the-way for you, in which case, I'd suggest that you call up the Apple Phone Support line listed on their Contact page, and ask them how best to proceed.

[Arch]

Now, I wish that I had bought it a the Apple Store; It's two hour drive from my home, and I'm trying to save on gas. I did call Apple, and they told me it would be faster to take it into the store. I called the store and they actually repair computers in the store, so I'm going to make an appointment to get it fixed. I am going to have them check the fan. I hate to have to go through this with a new computer. I wonder if the fact that this computer is assembled in China has anything to do with the quality. I read several posts on here warning about buying first generation computers. I'm still hopeful that I will be happy switching to Mac. Thanks for the help. Cheers.

[jdb8167]

If it is a fan, you can make it rev up by putting some load on the CPU. A simple way to get moderately high load is to go to the the Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities) and type yes >/dev/null and hit return--do it in two windows. After a few minutes your fan should rev up. If that isn't the noise, then it probably isn't the fan.

[Arch]

I just read another post and viewed a video clip of a Macbook with the fan going on and off. He hit the nail on the head when he described the sound as a "moooing" sound. It sounds just like that. If the fan keeps going on and off that can drive you nuts. He also showed the temperatures on his Macbook. If you want to see fan and hear the noise, click http://video.google.....33167064230159 . This sounds like a defect to me. I wish I could send this link to the Apple tech who couldn't help me.

[Arch]

I've found a number of Macbook owners who has made posts on the internet regarding the "mooing" noise. It seems that the fan is turning on and off in two or three seconds, which is very annoying. It's not your typical fan noise. One person stated that he thought it was the heat sensors in that are too sensitive and are turning the fan on and off too quickly. If this is the case, I hope that Apple has a quick solution to remedy this defect. I also read that there was a noise problem with the Macbook Pro that was fixed with a firmware update. I hope I don't have buyers remorse. I really want to make the switch to Apple, but not the hard way.

[Nobody]

Your link seems to have expired.

[zarmanto]

Actually, I think he just accidentally truncated it. Here's the full URL: http://video.google....30159&q=macbook