“Apple today released Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0, addressing issues with certain hard drives on the latest MacBook Pros models. Apple had been reported last week to be working on the issue, which involves intermittent ‘beeping’ noises and occasional brief system freezes on machines using 500 GB, 7200 rpm hard drives.”
MacBook Pro Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0 reduces certain infrequent noises made by 7200-rpm drives.
Reduces, not fixes! We shouldn’t call something a fix if it simply reduces the symptoms.
I would love to know what Apple has actually done if this is a hardware fault, perhaps there is a way to reduce the symptoms or minimize the down times but I don’t see how software can fix mechanical fault (if there is one)
As the issue was first gaining attention in the first days after release, it was judged to likely be stemming from the G-Force anti-shock protection mechanism found in the Seagate Momentus drives used by Apple. The G-Force mechanism is essentially redundant to Apple’s own Sudden Motion Sensor technology included in its notebook computers, but it is unclear exactly what steps Apple took with this firmware update to address the issue.
Indeed!
…It probably tells the hard disk to do less of the thing that makes it make the noises…Just a guess…
Edited 2009-08-20 13:52 UTC
…and it was like “beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.”
I hear that Apple is going to release a fix for the “My Xserve is constantly running at 100% CPU and its memory is full” bug; FINALLY! The patch is going to close any programs that aren’t in use, if it detects that the memory is full, thus prolonging the uptime of the system by a couple of hours.
Seriously, Apple; don’t insult people’s intelligence.
It makes one wonder if Apple does any advance QA at all on their new models, or if they just ship ’em out and let their users do the QA work for them. How in the world did these units get shipped in the first place? Even Dell pays more attention to product quality than that, and at much more attractive prices.
Of course, the problem seems not to be limited to MacBooks. And the by-user QA testing can sometimes involve certain hazards:
http://tinyurl.com/l7cmwf
Edited 2009-08-22 16:59 UTC