Clicking noise on power up?

Hi guys..... this may sound stupid, but..... recently when I power up my QS G4 I get a clicking sound. It makes this noise about every two seconds or so. When it stops after about 15 seconds my Display comes on and starts the power up routine.

This is a new noise that has just started. It is def coming from the Mac... not the external HD, wireless router or speakers. I put a new (secondary slave) internal HD in there about month ago but have had no problems with it. When its up and running everything works fine.

I've had a look at the log but still can't understand it. Has anyone else had a similar noise and is it the begining of the end for this Mac?

I may try disconnecting the second drive just in case its that but I can't believe thats causing the problem. I power my G4 up from the display on/off button, if that makes a difference.

System details..... G4 QS, 733 Processor, 1.12Gb mem, 40Gb HD, 128Gb HD, USB2 CARD. All else fairly bog standard.

Any help gratefully received.
Reaperman

This sounds dangerous. I would fire up Disk Utility and verify your disk. I would *immediately* do a full backup. As you can tell, I am guessing the hard drive. Of course it could be something more benign, like an obstruction on a fan that ceases to make so much noise when the fan comes to full speed, but in this case, better safe than sorry. Back up right away, and then frequently. Be ready for disaster if it should strike.

mac57 said:

This sounds dangerous. I would fire up Disk Utility and verify your disk. I would *immediately* do a full backup. As you can tell, I am guessing the hard drive. Of course it could be something more benign, like an obstruction on a fan that ceases to make so much noise when the fan comes to full speed, but in this case, better safe than sorry. Back up right away, and then frequently. Be ready for disaster if it should strike.

Click to expand...

Hi. Thanks for the message. I back up everything on the internal HD and the external 250Gb HD. I opened the case and had a quick look see inside but couldn't see anything untoward. I did move a power cable lying close to the fan when I installed the new HD.

The clicking appears to have stopped now.

So maybe it was the Fan. Can't be sure. The system is nearly 7 years old and has had lots of upgrades so shouldn't expect it to go on forever.

I have all my files and programme's safe so if it should go turkey on me I can always change the slave HD to Master and re-instal everything. If all else fails I just have to pick up another G4.

Thanks for the message though. It is appreciated.
PS Disk utility suggests everything is working fine.

Many thanks.
Reaperman

If Disk Utility reports SMART verified don't worry.