help on monitoring dual core working condition

[jordan2xyx]

sorry to ask a maybe silly question as I am a beginner user of os.
Can I ask how can I monitor how many cores I am using and in which way can I trace down if one core is down within my MBA?

Could anyone give much better details, e.g. which program or keys I need to open?
Thanks.

 

[macsimonwoo]

download this istat pro from

http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=7

installed and after that go to system preferences, under istat menus, click CPU on your left, click show CPU in menu bar...then you will see both of your cores processing on the top...you might want to change the settings to "update every 0.5s" so that you can a better picture of your cores processing...

try play youtubes more than 5 minutes full screen mode...the temperature will go up...and then at about 70 C , your mac will freezes then unfreezes then freezes again...due to one of the core shutting down...

the theory i believe after reading so much is the temperature dissipation causing core shut down.
and temperature dissipation not good might be caused by fan not strong enough, design not good, thermal paste too much.

I have not tried, but maybe running macbook air in a freezer compartment maybe will not cause this problem. you never know. There is no standard test here, some users say they run very smoothly without core shutdown, maybe they stay in cold countries. I from Singapore, temperature maybe slightly higher here.

 

[isdereks]

Download and install Onyx: http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html

There is a preference pane parameter in there that will add a core monitor. (see screenshot)

 

[shreddog]

I have both programs but can't seem to see what's going on with each processor. iStat only shows the temps of CPU A, I can't figure out how to see CPU B.

In Onyx, I can't seem to find the preference pane shown above. What am I missing?

Thanks.

 

[sammich]

I have both programs but can't seem to see what's going on with each processor. iStat only shows the temps of CPU A, I can't figure out how to see CPU B.

In Onyx, I can't seem to find the preference pane shown above. What am I missing?

Thanks.

All of Intel's new chips are 'Dual-Core' meaning that there a two 'processor' cores on each chip, that means there is only one physical processor/CPU in the computer. Thus iStat will only show 'CPU A' and no more. (CPU A/B must be for the Mac Pro which actually has two physical processors).

Btw, that screenshot is from a System Preferences pane which comes with the installation of the Apple Developer Kit on your install DVD's.

 

[NC MacGuy]

I would think the easiest way would be to open up Activity Monitor in your Utilities folder. That gives you options to monitor cpu and core usage.

 

[macsimonwoo]

I have both programs but can't seem to see what's going on with each processor. iStat only shows the temps of CPU A, I can't figure out how to see CPU B.

In Onyx, I can't seem to find the preference pane shown above. What am I missing?

Thanks.

Try this...

1. Go to system preferences
2. Click istat menu
3. on your left navigation, click CPU
4. on your right, check "show CPU in menu bar"
5. uncheck "show multiple CPU cores as one item"
6. set mode to "text" or "history graph"

did you see 2 extra graphs on top or 2 running numbers on the top of your os?

 

[isdereks]

Btw, that screenshot is from a System Preferences pane which comes with the installation of the Apple Developer Kit on your install DVD's.

Sorry, my fault. I neglected to include the fact that XCode is required. A whole headache in itself because I had to download the developer tools rather than being able to install them from disk. Onyx includes an option to enable the preference pane option.

 

[shreddog]

Try this...

1. Go to system preferences
2. Click istat menu
3. on your left navigation, click CPU
4. on your right, check "show CPU in menu bar"
5. uncheck "show multiple CPU cores as one item"
6. set mode to "text" or "history graph"

did you see 2 extra graphs on top or 2 running numbers on the top of your os?

When I go to System Preferences, I don't see an iStat menu. Where is this? Maybe I installed it wrong, it is just a widget. When I go the widget ans try to set the preferences there, I don't get an option for multiple cpu's or show cpu in the menu bar.

 

[raremage]

When I go to System Preferences, I don't see an iStat menu. Where is this? Maybe I installed it wrong, it is just a widget. When I go the widget ans try to set the preferences there, I don't get an option for multiple cpu's or show cpu in the menu bar.

The widget is different from the system preferences plugin. I ran the widget for a whle but it only appears to show a composite of the two cores, not indivdual core stats.

FOr that (as others have said) you need the version that installs into preferences and enables menu bar items.

Having said that, you already have a programcalled activity monitor installed (by default) in your utilities folder. Go to your programs | utilities folder (Or from finder, try Go -> Utilities) and run that, you can see the activity on both cores.

 

[macsimonwoo]

When I go to System Preferences, I don't see an iStat menu. Where is this? Maybe I installed it wrong, it is just a widget. When I go the widget ans try to set the preferences there, I don't get an option for multiple cpu's or show cpu in the menu bar.

my fault...you should installed the istat menu..here is the link

http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=28

 

[shreddog]

Thanks all for your help. I'll do this when I get home tonight.

 

[Scottyk9]

Open Activity Monitor (nothing new to install, no 3rd party programs, located in Applications > Utilities folder)
Right click the Activity Monitor dock icon, select "dock icon" and select "show CPU history)

You will then have a nice graph of ongoing CPU activity of each core constantly updated in your dock.

As mentioned by NC Macguy, this is probably the easiest method

 

[shreddog]

my fault...you should installed the istat menu..here is the link

http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=28

OK, tries this and it doesn't work. It just keeps telling that it couldn't load extras. I then get sent to Unsanity's website to a program that is not supported by Leopard.

Oh well. I'll use the activity monitor dock thing.

 

[D-FENS]

It would seem that installing the CPU utility in Onyx breaks iStat Menus.

I currently don't have a fix but will update if I find one. If anyone else knows, I'd love to hear it. iStatMenus are very sorely missed.

ETA: Ok, I've got my iStatMenus back. I was reading that in the System Preferences, in the Processor you can uncheck the 'Show in Menu' or whatever it is. However, this wasn't present. It had disappeared. Uninstalling Xcode Tools did the trick.