Specifications

iMac (Early 2006 17-inch) Troubleshooting — Symptom Charts 151
The sound is always present: The normal functioning of the hard drive and optical drive will
generate additional whirring and scratching noises that may be audible. Check whether this
sound is related to one of the components. Go to step 4.
The sound varies: Under normal conditions rotating blowers will make a slight hum that
varies in relationship with their rotational speed and the amount of air that they are moving.
Let’s see if this is indeed the case. Go to Next Step.
Are the fans making a normal humming sound that increases/decreases in relation to
processor usage? As the fans increase their speed to cool the system the sound level will
increase.
Launch the Activity Monitor application included with Mac OS X in the Utilities folder to
determine whether the noise corresponds with heavy usage of the CPU. Does fan activity
increase / decrease with the CPU Usage graph in Activity Monitor? Check by running CPU
intensive applications such as iTunes.
Yes: This is normal operation and none of the fans require replacement.
No: If the fan activity does not coincide with CPU usage, the sound you’re hearing may not
be fan activity. Go to the Next Step.
The normal functioning of the hard drive and optical drive will generate additional whirring
and scratching noises that may be audible. We can isolate these noises by booting the
computer to the iMac Install Mac OS X Install Disc 1.
- Place the disc in the drive, and restart your machine while holding down the “C” key as the
machine starts up.
- Once at the Installer window, choose Open Disk Utility from the Installer Menu.
- Once Disk Utility is open, select the system’s hard drive and on the toolbar choose
Unmount. Note: if the drive has multiple partitions, unmount each of these partitions.
This will spin down the hard drive. The optical drive will also be busy at this time; wait a
moment for the optical drive to spin down also and then listen to the machine.
Is the sound still present?
Yes: With the hard drive and optical drive inactive, all you should be hearing are the fans
in the machine. While booted to the CD, these fans should be running at a lower level
since CPU activity is low with both drives inactive. Fan sound that includes objectionable
ticking, whistling, or squealing may require further investigation and/or replacement of the
particular fan. Go on to the next step.
No: The normal functioning of the hard drive and optical drive will generate additional
whirring and scratching sounds that may be audible. All of these sounds are normal and do
not indicate a failure with the machine. If you wish to check the health of the hard drive, see
3.
4.