MacBook Pro Special Report follow-up: More abnormal noises from some units

More abnormal noises from some units In addition to the various, occasionally disrupting noises covered in this section of our MacBook Pro special report, users are now reporting a new sound affectionately referred to as the "cow-fan-noise."

The new noise seems to be associated with a fan located under the right side of the MacBook Pro's keyboard. Most users say the noise sounds like a fan is trying to startup then fails several times in a row. Some users have described the noise as akin to the "mooing of a distant cow."

MacFixIt reader Mortel writes:

"If I use my MacBook Pro for a while, a noise coming from the right side that sounds like a fan is trying to power up, but fails, tries again and again. Normally I would suggest that when the MacBook gets too hot, the fan powers up and runs for a while (when I start a game it works fine). But in the case of normal work (iDVD, iMovie, iTunes ) the fan just tries to start several times."

Most users who have experienced this noise issue have run Apple's Hardware Test CD with no error messages.

For more information on fixing various noise issues with the MacBook Pro, see this section of our special report.

Inconsistent wireless connections with third-party routers Meanwhile, users continue to report difficulty connecting to third-party wireless routers with the MacBook Pro.

One reader writes:

"Connecting to a 3Com 7250 WAP using WPA2 (AES) is frequently difficult. The connection will be made initially and then go away minutes later. Subsequent attempts to connect usually do not work. When the connection disappears the DHCP information is lost and a dummy self-assigned IP address shows up on the interface."

For more information and fixes for this group of issues, see the wireless connectivity section of our special report.

Problems operating from battery Meanwhile, readers continue to report an issue where the MacBook Pro either goes to sleep or shuts off completely when disconnected from external power, despite the presence of a full battery charge.

As discussed in the battery section of our special report, this seems to be an issue that affects a limited number of units which Apple is replacing on a case-by-case basis.

One reader writes:

"I bought one of the first 2.0 GHz MacBook Pros available at the Las Vegas Apple Store. I had a problem with it that it sometimes would not run off of the battery. About 30% of the time if I were to unplug the MagSafe connector, the machine would just die. The battery indicator lights showed a full charge. If I put the machine to sleep and then unplugged it, it would usually not reboot from battery, and if it would it would come back from the Safe Sleep. Restarting using the power key while the machine was plugged it would restart using safe sleep. The battery didn't seem loose and the contacts looked ok. I took the machine back to the Apple Store where I was lucky to exchange it for another 2 GHz unit they had in stock."

Another reader, Wayne Franklin, reports an issue where his unit's battery was shipped completely defunct:

"I thought I'd add to your experiences quoted in the Friday 3/17 story. I just received my 2.0 GHz MacBook Pro yesterday. Not only would the battery not charge at all, what charge was on the battery actually drained the longer I left the unit plugged into AC power. The battery had only a minimal charge last night (indicated by a single, blinking LED), so I let it charge overnight. This morning, the charger showed a green LED, indicating a full charge, but the battery showed no charge at all. The unit would not even boot from AC power.

"I took it to a local CompUSA (no Apple Store in Birmingham, yet ;( ) and they were able to get the unit running on AC power, but said I would need to send the MacBook back to Apple for repair. Apple Care Support indicated that the problem could be the battery, the charger, the DC board or the logic board itself.

"What's most interesting is that the battery icon on the desktop does not show the battery level, but only has an 'X' inside the battery. Pulling down the battery menu reveals a greyed out top line reading 'No batteries available.' diagnosis."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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