Snow Leopard & Air Fan Issues

[Spyderturbo007]

I already posted, but forgot to include system specs and the type of installation.

Report Form:

AFFECTED: No
MODEL: MacBook Air REV: A
CPU: 1.6 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 2Gb
CLEAN INSTALL OR UPGRADE: UPGRADE

 

[ratkat]

I have the same problem with fans and high CPU usage, upgraded to Snow Leopard last friday, worked fine until Monday, when the fans went into overdrive, restarted, and no difference

iStat reports a process called 5A5A6F46.. (doesn't show the full name) running at 98% and fans running at approx 4500rpm, strangly Activity Monitor with all processes shown, doesn't show the process at all, have reset SMC and PRAM which worked for a while, but then put macbook to sleep and woke it and the rogue process returned again.

AFFECTED: YES
MODEL: MacBook 13" Late 2008 Unibody
CPU: 2.4 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 4 Gb
DRIVE: 250 Gb HD
CLEAN INSTALL OR UPGRADE: UPGRADE

 

[Microcuts]

AFFECTED: YES
MODEL: Alu MacBook 13" Late 2008
CPU: 2.0 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 2Gb
DRIVE: HD
CLEAN INSTALL OR UPGRADE: UPGRADE

So far the SMC reset helped, but as others note that the problem returns, I'm still posting.
I hope there will be an SMC update or something soon.

 

[ddaymace]

mds and java process cpu hog

Hi guys I have also had high cpu utilization from mds and java under SL.

I came across this in the CrashPlan (backup service) support forum:


https://crashplan.zendesk.com/forums/30387/entries/50927



I don't use it but I had a demo on my machine once. I was thinking it is in relation to their app, which uses java.

(If it was just Spotlight/Apple, why is the java process spiking, which is what is confusing me!)

Worth a try, maybe CrashPlan leaves some crap on my system. I will check my logs when I get home.

 

[ratkat]

I have the same problem with fans and high CPU usage, upgraded to Snow Leopard last friday, worked fine until Monday, when the fans went into overdrive, restarted, and no difference

iStat reports a process called 5A5A6F46.. (doesn't show the full name) running at 98% and fans running at approx 4500rpm, strangly Activity Monitor with all processes shown, doesn't show the process at all, have reset SMC and PRAM which worked for a while, but then put macbook to sleep and woke it and the rogue process returned again.

AFFECTED: YES
MODEL: MacBook 13" Late 2008 Unibody
CPU: 2.4 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 4 Gb
DRIVE: 250 Gb HD
CLEAN INSTALL OR UPGRADE: UPGRADE

I've just upgraded snow leopard again over the top of the previous upgrade and it appears to have cured it for now. fans and temp running normally.

 

[macnfab]

I haven't noticed a loud fan, but how do I check the speed? My battery is horrible in SL

 

[Greg Aurand]

Resolved My Fan Issue—FinderPop Uninstall

Hello All,

After installing Snow Leopard, I was experiencing the fan running constantly @ 6200 RPM on my black MacBook. I did the PRAM and NVRAM reset—as suggested on this board and via apple support—but this didn't correct the problem. I spent 2 hours on stand-by at the Genius Bar, and their best suggestion was to reload Leopard if the constant fan running was a problem for me.

As one last-ditch effort, I installed the iStatPro Widget, which showed something called "FP-Injector (707)" using 99% of my CPU. I couldn't find anything about this online, but eventually I tracked the parent application down to FinderPop. I went to the finderpop.com website, and in big letters across the top it reads: FinderPop 2.2 is not compatible with Snow Leopard 10.6.

I uninstalled FinderPop (from the Preferences Pane), and now Snow Leopard is running cool and quiet I hope this info is useful to someone out there.

 

[Scottsdale]

Hello All,

After installing Snow Leopard, I was experiencing the fan running constantly @ 6200 RPM on my black MacBook. I did the PRAM and NVRAM reset—as suggested on this board and via apple support—but this didn't correct the problem. I spent 2 hours on stand-by at the Genius Bar, and their best suggestion was to reload Leopard if the constant fan running was a problem for me.

As one last-ditch effort, I installed the iStatPro Widget, which showed something called "FP-Injector (707)" using 99% of my CPU. I couldn't find anything about this online, but eventually I tracked the parent application down to FinderPop. I went to the finderpop.com website, and in big letters across the top it reads: FinderPop 2.2 is not compatible with Snow Leopard 10.6.

I uninstalled FinderPop (from the Preferences Pane), and now Snow Leopard is running cool and quiet I hope this info is useful to someone out there.

You went to a Genius Bar and they didn't even check Activity Monitor to see what was hitting your CPU so hard? That's pretty sad. If my computer runs slow the very first thing I do is check to see what is utilizing the CPU, RAM and etc. Pretty sad if an Apple genius couldn't figure that out in less than one minute.

Sorry to read such a terrible story. There are some dumb arses at Apple. Glad u figured it out.

 

[GoCubsGo]

reset your smc after you install or upgrade.

Thank you for this tip! I believe it worked perfectly. The temp continued to drop but the fans stayed at 6200. What was odd is that I did not hear the fans as I would have under Leopard. They're never noisy, but I wonder if my perception of noise varies from others.

Anyway, I'm at 52º C and 3500 RPM. So the fans are going a little faster than normal but I am sitting on the couch with a pillow on my lap.

 

[three]

Mine still does it, goes to about 6230 RPM max and stops eventually. Same as with Leopard.

 

[masic]

MBA heat issue

I just upgraded to Snow Leopard and so far it works great. Much quicker and more room on the hard drive. I had my MBA for about a year and a half. I was having over heating problems when a lot of programs were running or the temp in the house was on the warm side. The computer would slow down and felt very hot. But now everything seems very good. I do not know what the fan speed is.

For those of you upgrading your MBA on Friday to Snow Leopard, I'd love to know if your fan revs up to 6200rpm and if it ever drops back down even if it's just idling. It seems to be a bug on the Air.

 

[lagenomai]

SL 10.6 on MBA

Nope my 1.6/ssd is running like a charm since SL. G chat is out for a while but putting Safari in 32bit mode fixes it while they do an update.

I miss the hard drive on the desktop though.

 

[Gadgetman99]

I got my new rev B MBA at Best But Thursday. The clearance sign said it comes with SL, but of course being a box about 5 months old, it did not. So yesterday I went back and got them to give me a free copy of SL. I installed it last night and have not had an issue with heat. The fan winds up when time machine does a backup, but slows back down when toime machine is done. Temp is normally 50-55c when doing web, email etc. When time machine is running, it spikes at about 78c.

AFFECTED: No
MODEL: MacBook Air rev B
CPU: 1.6 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 2 Gb
DRIVE: 120 Gb HD
CLEAN INSTALL OR UPGRADE: Clean install

Of course I got the "cannot install to this HD because the computer cannot start from this drive" error and had to repartition and clean install. But with
this awesome program called Time Machine, restoring all my settings was a breeze (well, kind of). So far SL has been OK, but does not seem that different to me (of course I am a Mac newbie anyway). Animations and speed is a little faster. Now I plan to get a Time Capsule since I now know how well Time machine works and how handy it is.

 

[fr4c]

Nope my 1.6/ssd is running like a charm since SL. G chat is out for a while but putting Safari in 32bit mode fixes it while they do an update.

I miss the hard drive on the desktop though.

You can have the HD show by checking it in Finder > Preferences.

 

[PimpIntInxs]

how do you check your fan speed? I havent upgraded yet but am going to and I would like to know my fan speed before i upgrade and after. I am running a MBA rev C SSD 2.16 i believe

 

[provda]

Fan issue

My fan also went crazy after Snow Leopard on my MacBook, it it cleared up with simply repairing permissions. Hope this will help someone else.

 

[VS007]

how do you check your fan speed? I havent upgraded yet but am going to and I would like to know my fan speed before i upgrade and after. I am running a MBA rev C SSD 2.16 i believe

iStatPro (installed on dashboard)

 

[slapguts]

I thought I ws doing pretty well until the iStat Menus update came out. My fans stick at 6200, and temp at 63 degrees, no matter what. Even with nothing running besides iStat, and Jaadu VNC. I've tried an SMC reset, made no changes. Might try disabling Dashboard, not sure what else to do.

AFFECTED: Yes
MODEL: MacBook Air Rev. A
CPU: 1.6 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 2 Gb
DRIVE: 80 Gb HD
CLEAN INSTALL OR UPGRADE: Upgrade

EDIT: I forgot to mention, this is with the CoolBook Snow Leo beta running.

EDIT2: I shut down everything but iStat Menus, including CoolBook, repaired permissions, and did an SMC reset. Still getting screaming fans, that never go back down. Doesn't seem to matter what the temps are, once the fans get to 6200, they stay there.

 

[Budan]

Possible pillow problem

Thank you for this tip! I believe it worked perfectly. The temp continued to drop but the fans stayed at 6200. What was odd is that I did not hear the fans as I would have under Leopard. They're never noisy, but I wonder if my perception of noise varies from others.

Anyway, I'm at 52º C and 3500 RPM. So the fans are going a little faster than normal but I am sitting on the couch with a pillow on my lap.

You do have a rigid/hard surface between your Air and the pillow? If you're just using a pillow it will block the air vents and cause heating to occur.

 

[cjonesva]

After an hour on phone support with Apple and the solution was to take in to the apple store I used this work around until a future update is available.

Download and install fan control
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23137

adjust base speed to 1000 RPM
Lower Threshold to 40. c
Upper Threshold to 70 c

my desktop (mac pro) usually runs between 35 and 42 degrees c
after a few seconds the fan spun down and only kicks in when the temp reaches the lower threshold of 40 degrees C

mac pro

 

[throttlemeister]

I don't have the problem, but man, y'all temps are low. Mine runs between 60C and 65C idle and fans at 2000rpm.

 

[President]

I thought I ws doing pretty well until the iStat Menus update came out. My fans stick at 6200, and temp at 63 degrees, no matter what. Even with nothing running besides iStat, and Jaadu VNC. I've tried an SMC reset, made no changes. Might try disabling Dashboard, not sure what else to do.

AFFECTED: Yes
MODEL: MacBook Air Rev. A
CPU: 1.6 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 2 Gb
DRIVE: 80 Gb HD
CLEAN INSTALL OR UPGRADE: Upgrade

EDIT: I forgot to mention, this is with the CoolBook Snow Leo beta running.

EDIT2: I shut down everything but iStat Menus, including CoolBook, repaired permissions, and did an SMC reset. Still getting screaming fans, that never go back down. Doesn't seem to matter what the temps are, once the fans get to 6200, they stay there.

how u get that temp to be on the menu bar?

 

[stoconnell]

iStat Menus FTW

how u get that temp to be on the menu bar?

He installed iStat Menus.

 

[still in school]

man, I hope they come out with a patch soon. mine is at 6200 rmp on idle and my temp is only 52C.

 

[Scottsdale]

man, I hope they come out with a patch soon. mine is at 6200 rmp on idle and my temp is only 52C.

Some people with original and SMC fan control running say you have to reset the SMC to fix it... hard to tell since you have given no info about your MBA.