Optical Drive seems to be pushing really hard...

DaveMacMini

Hey guys... I'd appreciate your input on this topic...

It seems to me that when i used to rip cd's, the mini would be virtually silent (or so I think)...but now when I do it, it seems like the drive is pushing really really hard, working overtime. Is this:

A) some complication with the optical drive
B) due to the fact that I'm still only using 256 ram and the system just can't handle what I'm doing with it?

If you guys know what might be going on here, please let me know!!

Thanks

Dave

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:14 am Post subject:

I'm sure that the 256mb RAM has something to do with it, but what exactly is occuring with your system? Are you saying the DVD drive is really loud or the fan kicks up really high?
_________________
Computer Engineer
Junior, Brown University
15" NC8430 HP Laptop
1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
40GB G4 iPod
2GB Black iPod Nano

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:14 am Post subject:

K

I just talked to my local apple service tech and he says either the optical drive spot where the cd goes in is unbalanced, causing the cd to sort of wobble while spinning, causing the slow cd import times and loud noise

either he's gonna fix that or just replace the whole optical drive altogether

hrmmmm

could this be an opportunity for me to get them to put in a superdrive? is that even possible?

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:16 am Post subject:

Hey Susurrus...

yeah, the cd seems to spin really fast and the fan pushes super hard, making vibrations on my desk....like its working overtime to read and import from a cd...and import time is now super slow, where before it was like 10 secs max a song

billabong · Member Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 147 Location: Texas

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:17 am Post subject:

Yeah, it's definitely possible to replace the internal DVD drive. I'm actually planning on doing that myself once I start my huge set of upgrades. I would think you should be able to convince them to do it for you, or at least provide you with the drive so that you could do it yourself.
_________________
Computer Engineer
Junior, Brown University
15" NC8430 HP Laptop
1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
40GB G4 iPod
2GB Black iPod Nano

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:35 am Post subject:

Yeah...

just got off the phone with Apple Care in Canada..
He had me reset the firmware and all that fun stuff....ripping songs 'seems' to be a bit better, but i find the drive still sounds like its taking off to mars or something....

Why for some reason did I think ripping audio 2 weeks ago was virtually silent? When u guys rip cd's, is your drive silent or does it rev up till its finished?

Also, If i have to replace the drive, thats all covered under warranty, but if i want a superdrive, i gotta pay da full price pLUs labor apparantly

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:52 am Post subject:

Wow

one last post...I've reset my computer after the firmware reset, and now there appears to be no extra noise at all, my mini is quiet as ever, however, ripping speeds are still somewhat slow....50 secs a song...

would upgrading to a 1gb ram stick fix this, or help it to some degree?

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:59 am Post subject:

nope...

now its back again....I ripped one cd 2 mins ago and it was fine, now the next 3 have been loud loud loud...

godamn I've had nothing but problems with this little thing

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:17 pm Post subject:

So once you get onto the third CD the drive starts rattling or it's the system fan? If it's the system fan it's because ripping CDs is a complex task that eats CPU cycles so your Mini is working hard. If it's the CD, schedule a Genius Bar meeting and see if they can help you out. You should be able to reproduce this right in front of them and they should be able to fix it pretty quickly, though I don't know exactly how the Bar works.
_________________
Computer Engineer
Junior, Brown University
15" NC8430 HP Laptop
1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
40GB G4 iPod
2GB Black iPod Nano

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:26 pm Post subject:

thanks for the continual replies

I THINK its the fan....the fan goes very quickly until the cd is ejected -- at that point, the computer is still 'noisy' per se, then the fan slows down to a full stop and the computer is virtually silent

is this normal? i'm sure ripping cd's before never put the fan into that kind of activity

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:31 pm Post subject:

I know that my Wintel laptop does this. iTunes has always done the fan-spinup at the end of ripping a CD for me. I think it has also done it for burning for me. Granted, this is on a Windows machine, but I don't think it is cause for any concern. If it's just the fan, don't worry about. If the actual drive is crazy-loud like vibrating and such, then I would take it to the Bar.
_________________
Computer Engineer
Junior, Brown University
15" NC8430 HP Laptop
1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
40GB G4 iPod
2GB Black iPod Nano

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:34 pm Post subject:

Susurrus...

Once again, thanks for all the input

Its so weird cause sometimes it drives the fan into overdrive, and just now I'm ripping a Pantera cd (old favorites), and now its practically SILENT...

Would upgrading to a bigger ram stick help the drive in ripping? I mean, so the computer isn't lagging behind and all that associated with a 256 stick?
_________________
1.42Ghz Mac Mini - Combo Drive
20 GB ipod

DaveMacMini · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:41 pm Post subject:

Susurrus...

When you say the drive vibrating and being crazy loud....i'm not sure if mine is doing this...i mean...its loud, and if I place the palm of my hand on my desk, u can feel the vibrations of the computer running really hard, and it is loud, but for the past 20 mins...the loud sound is only on the load up of the cd...once it access the 'name database gracenote' thing, it stops and is perfectly silent, ripping is even silent!!! But just last night and this morning, it was a loud and vibrating experience
_________________
1.42Ghz Mac Mini - Combo Drive
20 GB ipod

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:47 pm Post subject:

I would recommend upgrading from 256mb even if you werent ripping. The Mini's, well, OS X at all, is hard to use with just 1/4gb RAM.

As for the vibrating, I would talk to Apple about it. I haven't done any ripping on my Mac, I'll try tonight so I can see what happens, but when ripping a DVD my drive is practically silent. I would say your drive has a problem.

Oh, upgrading the RAM should help your ripping speeds a bit.
_________________
Computer Engineer
Junior, Brown University
15" NC8430 HP Laptop
1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
40GB G4 iPod
2GB Black iPod Nano


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