Question about the iMac

[ouruniverse06131986]

So, I have an iMac Late 2012 3TB Fusion. but whenever I turn it on there’s clicking sounds (6 sounds to be exact) and after that it continues to start perfectly normal with no issues at all after that it doesn’t even turn off by itself when I’m using it.

It’s 3TB fusion drive but, after it started doing clicking sounds when turned on the 3TB just…disappeared I followed the instructions to rebuild the 3TB using terminal when booted into recovery mode But, still nothing. Now instead of having 3TB the hard drive shows 120GB.

My question is could I leave it on 24-7?
Or is it dangerous cause there’s clicking sounds when I press the power button then the sounds go away?

 

[DeltaMac]

Keep in mind that the Fusion drive in your iMac is actually 2 separate devices: a 3TB spinning hard drive, and the 2nd device is a 128 GB SSD. The two devices are combined through software, and the two devices are seen as a single drive.

The SSD won't make any noise (no moving parts) -- but the clicking sounds, followed by the disappearing 3TB, likely means that the hard drive has failed - so you only have the SSD now. The clicking is typical of the kind of sound a failing hard drive might make.

 

[ouruniverse06131986]

Keep in mind that the Fusion drive in your iMac is actually 2 separate devices: a 3TB spinning hard drive, and the 2nd device is a 128 GB SSD. The two devices are combined through software, and the two devices are seen as a single drive.

The SSD won't make any noise (no moving parts) -- but the clicking sounds, followed by the disappearing 3TB, likely means that the hard drive has failed - so you only have the SSD now. The clicking is typical of the kind of sound a failing hard drive might make.

so could I leave it on 24-7?
Or is it dangerous cause there’s clicking sounds when I press the power button then the sounds go away?

 

[BrianBaughn]

I think the point is that your mechanical drive is failing. Leaving it on will not keep it from dying. You need to take action…backup if you haven't…and take steps replace the drive or start using an external drive.

There is nothing unusual about a mechanical drive dying after nine years.

 

[ouruniverse06131986]

I’m just paranoid because Apple chat support told me to keep the iMac off when not in use. I didn’t believe the person so I’m asking here cause I have more faith here. I just wanted to see what the Apple chat support person would tell me.

I’m just paranoid that it’ll start a fire if I keep it 24-7 on cause of the clicking noises at the beginning?

 

[DeltaMac]

If the hard drive is clicking/failing, then it is reasonable to shut your iMac off when not in use. The hard drive will continue to fail, but powering off might prolong the life - a little. Not much you can do now, as it seems to have failed already.
Leaving your iMac powered on, with a failing hard drive, would be counter-productive (not useful in the end) but (probably) not leaving you open for a fire, or some other catastrophic result. A failing hard drive can run very hot. Not likely to cause a fire, but still much hotter than normal. If the drive is now not working for storage, then I think you should open up the case, and at least disconnect the hard drive. Of course, if you do open the case, then you might as well replace the drive with new...

 

[ouruniverse06131986]

If the hard drive is clicking/failing, then it is reasonable to shut your iMac off when not in use. The hard drive will continue to fail, but powering off might prolong the life - a little. Not much you can do now, as it seems to have failed already.
Leaving your iMac powered on, with a failing hard drive, would be counter-productive (not useful in the end) but (probably) not leaving you open for a fire, or some other catastrophic result. A failing hard drive can run very hot. Not likely to cause a fire, but still much hotter than normal. If the drive is now not working for storage, then I think you should open up the case, and at least disconnect the hard drive. Of course, if you do open the case, then you might as well replace the drive with new...

Exactly what I wanted to know.
I would open my iMac late 2012 but, I feel like if I do I’ll f u c it up Then I’ll have no Mac.

the quration for me now is:
——————————————
do I take a chance.

 

[MacGizmo]

Shutting off the computer with a spinning hard drive that's failing is the worst possible thing you can do. The spin-up process hits the drive the hardest and increases the chance that it dies completely. Back up your data and have the drive replaced (the spinning drive can be replaced by an SSD).

 

[ouruniverse06131986]

Shutting off the computer with a spinning hard drive that's failing is the worst possible thing you can do. The spin-up process hits the drive the hardest and increases the chance that it dies completely. Back up your data and have the drive replaced (the spinning drive can be replaced by an SSD).

Well, I’m poor so I might replace it with just a hard drive.