Finally a permanent fix for the MBP whine issue + other info !!

[nylon]

So it seems that someone on the official Apple MBP forums has found a permanent fix for the whine issue.

1. Find the file 'IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext' in the /system/library/extensions folder.

2. Make a copy and place it on the desktop or another safe backup place.

3. Trash the file from the system/library/extensions folder.

4. Repair permissions.

5. Reboot.

Caveats:

1. 1st boot after this will be about 30-45 seconds longer.
2. You will lose about 30 mins of battery life.

Positives:

This proves that the whine is due to a poorly written power management driver. The 'IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext' controls the 'Speedstep' function on the MBP i.e. CPU throtteling under battery power.

The good thing about this is that my whine is completely gone and the computer is dead silent!!!

Now I just hope that Apple can write a decent power management driver so that I can get my 30 mins of battery life back and so that my system can boot in the 30 seconds that it used to. Until then this method suits me just fine.

 

[treblah]

Read about this earlier from:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=461317&tstart=0
http://digg.com/apple/MacBook_Pro_Whine_Issue_Solved_

Lets hope someone at Apple is working on this because this 'solution' isn't that great.

10.4.7, I'm looking at you.

 

[BurtonCCC]

My last name spelled backwards is "trebla."

That is all.

Daniel.

 

[tonyl]

This proves that the whine is due to a poorly written power management driver. The 'IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext' controls the 'Speedstep' function on the MBP i.e. CPU throtteling under battery power.

The good thing about this is that my whine is completely gone and the computer is dead silent!!!

Now I just hope that Apple can write a decent power management driver so that I can get my 30 mins of battery life back and so that my system can boot in the 30 seconds that it used to. Until then this method suits me just fine.

Is it a easy thing for Apple to write a driver? Or it's because of hardware?

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

Is it a easy thing for Apple to write a driver? Or it's because of hardware?

It's not the hardware, which is the good news. How do we know? Because, when you delete that particular file, the whining stops. Oh, and it doesn't whine on Windows.

 

[AJ Muni]

Doesn't this solution affect BATTERY LIFE ?

 

[Koodauw]

why not just open comic life. two seconds. boom its done. go on with your business, and dont lose 30 mins of battery life.

 

[gekko513]

The discussion in that thread suggests that this disables CPU throttling.

It will remove the whine permanently and it looks like it may fix Airport problems for those that had that. On the downside. it will kill around 1/3 of the battery life.

 

[scokim]

why not just open comic life. two seconds. boom its done. go on with your business, and dont lose 30 mins of battery life.

why not write a script to do just that in the background at login.

 

[generik]

What's so magically about comic life?

Either way I will stay away from the MBP until either the 13" model comes out or the Merom versions are released.

 

[TWEO]

Why would this mean that it's just a software flaw ? I'm sorry to say but I believe it's a rather silly conclusion. There is most probably a hardware flaw in the power supply circuitsthat causes the whine when the processor or one of the cores is idle. Of course, disabling power management could fix that, but that doesn't mean it's a software flaw.

Remember the F00F-bug in the pentium CPU ? It could cause the system to freeze under certain conditions. As the wikipedia article mentions, software vendors responded by making workarounds. That doesn't mean that it was a software flaw. It was a hardware flaw for which a workaround was made in software.

 

[jb84]

Exactly. I believe it is a hardware flaw in the circuitry which supplies power to the CPU.

Tinkering with the software which controls the hardware doesn't change it from a hardware problem to a software problem...

 

[generik]

Exactly. I believe it is a hardware flaw in the circuitry which supplies power to the CPU.

Tinkering with the software which controls the hardware doesn't change it from a hardware problem to a software problem...

Why is it that other systems using the Core Duo aren't affected? Such as the Mini or the iMac? Does the issue lies with Apple's end? Because quite obviously judging from the "good" Core Duo systems it is definitely not Intel's fault...

 

[jb84]

Why is it that other systems using the Core Duo aren't affected? Such as the Mini or the iMac? Does the issue lies with Apple's end? Because quite obviously judging from the "good" Core Duo systems it is definitely not Intel's fault...

You'd be right about that. It's not Intel's fault at all, the problem is how the laptop's circuitry is providing power to the CPU.

The fact that it affects only MBP and not the Mini or iMac points even more strongly to a hardware problem specific to the MBP, and not a software problem.

 

[jb84]

why not just open comic life. two seconds. boom its done. go on with your business, and dont lose 30 mins of battery life.

Because Apple's recent 'Keyboard Update' prevented this workaround.

I've uploaded the previous version of the relevant kernel extension, from before the update, which will allow this workaround (along with the Mirror widget/Photobooth force-quit) to be used again.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2358875

 

[gekko513]

TWEO, jb84, generik: Maybe the Mac mini and the iMac don't have to throttle as far down in CPU speed since they are desktops.

So it could be Intel's fault and a software issue, although it is more likely that it is some of the hardware components that are unique to the MBP that resonates with the down throttled frequency.

 

[nylon]

You'd be right about that. It's not Intel's fault at all, the problem is how the laptop's circuitry is providing power to the CPU.

The fact that it affects only MBP and not the Mini or iMac points even more strongly to a hardware problem specific to the MBP, and not a software problem.

I disagree, why is there no whine when the machine is using XP under Boot Camp. The cpu is throttled under XP just like it is under OSX. Seems like a driver issue not a hardware issue.

Additionally there is no requirement for cpu throtteling on an iMac or on a Mini so its not a valid argument.

 

[Marlon_JBT]

Hmm... loss of 30 mins of battery life or a whine I never pay attention to?

I'll take the whine.

 

[jb84]

It's easier for some people to ignore than others. Personally, I find it unacceptably annoying, especially when trying to concentrate, and when in any quiet location.

People on this forum will say "stop complaining", "just put on music", "wear earplugs", "ignore it", "don't pay attention and you wont notice it", or "it's all in your head", etc. but f*ck em -- I paid 3.4k for my machine, I should be able to work in peace and quiet with it.

Given a choice between loss of 30 minutes' battery, or the whine, I take neither -- I use the Mirror widget hack

 

[dailo]

I've done this and I haven't noticed a loss in battery life.

 

[bdugan]

why not just open comic life. two seconds. boom its done. go on with your business, and dont lose 30 mins of battery life.

the comic life thing has never worked for me

 

[Sutekidane]

Can anyone please send me/upload the IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext file from 10.4.6 on a macbook pro 1.83ghz? I deleted mine and now see my battery life dropped to 2:30 on lowest brightness. :-(

Since my whine only occurred on battery, this kinda complicates things...