2G5 2.7 - Fans start roaring when doing well, anything.

They seem to rev up to full speed and then stay like that for a good 30 seconds or so.
Margolotta wrote on :

Problem as subject. And when I say anything, I do mean anything, whether it's switching newsgroups in Hogwasher, clicking on a web-link, firing up an app, scanning, printing; well just about any task you might care to name. Even hitting apple+N to open a new message window in Hogwasher caused a flurry of activity.

They seem to rev up to full speed and then stay like that for a good 30 seconds or so. Whilst I realise their task is to cool the processors, or the HDDs, or whatever, I would have thought that was only necessary if performing a CPU-intensive task, which none of the aforementioned are, exactly.

I have had a good listen and I believe it's the 'exhaust' fan at the back, rather than the ones in the main body of the system (though I may be mistaken, of course, I'm not very good at identifying the location of noises). I have given it a good squirt with compressed air in an attempt to evict any dust bunnies that might have taken up residence but, either they're very determined to continue squatting, or that isn't the problem.

I'd sacrifice a couple of chickens, but I'm fresh out (of live ones at least). I do have some skinless (chicken) breasts in the freezer, would they suffice...?

Can someone please tell me where I might begin troubleshooting?

Cheers

Sarah

P.S. I have checked Activity Monitor and nothing appears to be putting the CPUs under excessive load.

Sorry Balloffur replied on :

In article 0001HW.C1BE35EC0100F4D3F0386530@redacted.invalid Margolotta naggingdoubt@redacted.invalid wrote:

Problem as subject. And when I say anything, I do mean anything, whether it's switching newsgroups in Hogwasher, clicking on a web-link, firing up an app, scanning, printing; well just about any task you might care to name. Even hitting apple+N to open a new message window in Hogwasher caused a flurry of activity.

They seem to rev up to full speed and then stay like that for a good 30 seconds or so. Whilst I realise their task is to cool the processors, or the HDDs, or whatever, I would have thought that was only necessary if performing a CPU-intensive task, which none of the aforementioned are, exactly.

I have had a good listen and I believe it's the 'exhaust' fan at the back, rather than the ones in the main body of the system (though I may be mistaken, of course, I'm not very good at identifying the location of noises). I have given it a good squirt with compressed air in an attempt to evict any dust bunnies that might have taken up residence but, either they're very determined to continue squatting, or that isn't the problem.

I'd sacrifice a couple of chickens, but I'm fresh out (of live ones at least). I do have some skinless (chicken) breasts in the freezer, would they suffice...?

Can someone please tell me where I might begin troubleshooting?

Do you expect us to do everything for you? Get off your lazy fat arse and Google it. When you find the answer, post back. We don't help people who can't find the answer themselves.

Cheers

Yeah, whatever.

Sarah

P.S. I have checked Activity Monitor and nothing appears to be putting the CPUs under excessive load.

Except your bone-idle fecking laziness.

Peter Kemp replied on :

In article 0001HW.C1BE35EC0100F4D3F0386530@redacted.invalid, Margolotta naggingdoubt@redacted.invalid wrote:

I have had a good listen and I believe it's the 'exhaust' fan at the back, rather than the ones in the main body of the system (though I may be mistaken, of course, I'm not very good at identifying the location of noises). I have given it a good squirt with compressed air in an attempt to evict any dust bunnies that might have taken up residence but, either they're very determined to continue squatting, or that isn't the problem.

Sarah,

Based on my experiences, (dual 1.8 G5), there will be an awful lot of dust inside your machine, even from a normal living room.

First suggestion is to take off the side panel and the inside perspex (?) one and remove the fans. (Easy - designed to pull out).

Give the front grille a thorough clean and - with compressed air - all the interior surfaces you can get to. (Dust layer on heat sinks might be the cause.)

Re-assemble and see how you get on.

If you're still getting problems, check the temperatures inside the machine. I use Temperature Monitor:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994

which might give some pointers as to why the fans are running full-tilt.

Hope this helps.

Regards Peter

Margolotta replied on :

On Mon, 1 Jan 2007 18:25:00 +0000, Peter Kemp wrote (in article 010120071829232552%peterk13@redacted.invalid):

In article 0001HW.C1BE35EC0100F4D3F0386530@redacted.invalid, Margolotta naggingdoubt@redacted.invalid wrote:

I have had a good listen and I believe it's the 'exhaust' fan at the back, rather than the ones in the main body of the system (though I may be mistaken, of course, I'm not very good at identifying the location of noises). I have given it a good squirt with compressed air in an attempt to evict any dust bunnies that might have taken up residence but, either they're very determined to continue squatting, or that isn't the problem.

Sarah,

Based on my experiences, (dual 1.8 G5), there will be an awful lot of dust inside your machine, even from a normal living room.

First suggestion is to take off the side panel and the inside perspex (?) one and remove the fans. (Easy - designed to pull out).

Give the front grille a thorough clean and - with compressed air - all the interior surfaces you can get to. (Dust layer on heat sinks might be the cause.)

Re-assemble and see how you get on.

If you're still getting problems, check the temperatures inside the machine. I use Temperature Monitor:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994

which might give some pointers as to why the fans are running full-tilt.

Hope this helps.

Regards Peter

Well, I've given the insides a thorough cleaning (though, tbh, there wasn't that much dust as it wasn't /that/ long ago since I did it last) and I then ran Temperature Monitor. This is what it told me: -

On-die temperature CPU A: - 65C On-die temperature CPU B: - 60C Drive bay: - 24.5C Main logic board: - 45C Memory controller heatsink: - 73C Processor card A ambient: - 22C Processor card B ambient: - 23C

Now, I don't know what's hot and what's not, IYSWIM, as I don't know the 'safe' operating limits for any of the above, though 60 and 65 degrees does sound a little on the warm side. Could someone with more knowledge than I possess (that's probably 99% of you!) tell me whether I should be concerned? If I should, what's the next step? I don't fancy having to remove the CPUs and reapply Arctic Silver (or whatever).

Cheers

Sarah

Roger Merriman replied on :

Margolotta naggingdoubt@redacted.invalid wrote:

On Mon, 1 Jan 2007 18:25:00 +0000, Peter Kemp wrote (in article 010120071829232552%peterk13@redacted.invalid):

In article 0001HW.C1BE35EC0100F4D3F0386530@redacted.invalid, Margolotta naggingdoubt@redacted.invalid wrote:

I have had a good listen and I believe it's the 'exhaust' fan at the back, rather than the ones in the main body of the system (though I may be mistaken, of course, I'm not very good at identifying the location of noises). I have given it a good squirt with compressed air in an attempt to evict any dust bunnies that might have taken up residence but, either they're very determined to continue squatting, or that isn't the problem.

Sarah,

Based on my experiences, (dual 1.8 G5), there will be an awful lot of dust inside your machine, even from a normal living room.

First suggestion is to take off the side panel and the inside perspex (?) one and remove the fans. (Easy - designed to pull out).

Give the front grille a thorough clean and - with compressed air - all the interior surfaces you can get to. (Dust layer on heat sinks might be the cause.)

Re-assemble and see how you get on.

If you're still getting problems, check the temperatures inside the machine. I use Temperature Monitor:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994

which might give some pointers as to why the fans are running full-tilt.

Hope this helps.

Regards Peter

Well, I've given the insides a thorough cleaning (though, tbh, there wasn't that much dust as it wasn't /that/ long ago since I did it last) and I then ran Temperature Monitor. This is what it told me: -

On-die temperature CPU A: - 65C On-die temperature CPU B: - 60C Drive bay: - 24.5C Main logic board: - 45C Memory controller heatsink: - 73C Processor card A ambient: - 22C Processor card B ambient: - 23C

Now, I don't know what's hot and what's not, IYSWIM, as I don't know the 'safe' operating limits for any of the above, though 60 and 65 degrees does sound a little on the warm side. Could someone with more knowledge than I possess (that's probably 99% of you!) tell me whether I should be concerned? If I should, what's the next step? I don't fancy having to remove the CPUs and reapply Arctic Silver (or whatever).

Cheers

Sarah

the G5 do seem rather hot running, hell the high end has water cooling and they have a monumental sized heat sink, all in all hot stuff.

drive bay seems quite cool, certinaly compared to my powerbook. the cpu is hot but realistily not exesivly so. i've heard talk of max 80'c or so but find someone with a simular mac if you can.

roger