Loud Cooling Fan

[JamesS]

Hi,

I currently have a '06 MBP 17" and the cooling fans have been hitting high RPM's (6000) almost instantly. Temps are around 104-110F. Ive tried SMC resest. Checked my activity monitor and nothing is consuming CPU usage. The fans are running loud due to the high RPM's. I have smcFanControl and have them set as default 2000RPM's. Im running Mac OS X. Anyone have any insight on what's making my fans run so high and loud? Thanks. Also I noticed my battery not holding a charge. I have ordered a new one but doubt the battery has anything to do with it, but maybe im wrong.

 

[Kaveman]

Sounds like you have a run away process somewhere. It's normally the GPU that generates the heat not the CPU, so it might not show as CPU usage.

 

[JamesS]

Sounds like you have a run away process somewhere. It's normally the GPU that generates the heat not the CPU, so it might not show as CPU usage.

How would I find the runaway process? I'm running ATI Radeon X1600 for graphics. I've tinkering with the graphics with no change

 

[Cory Cooper]

If the battery is exhausted and constantly charging, it could, not likely but could, cause excessive fan speed.

In Activity Monitor, make sure you have All Processes selected, and sort them by % CPU with highest percentage at the top. Also, check your printer's queue to see if there is a print job that never completed - that will always cause the fans to ramp up.

C

 

[JamesS]

If the battery is exhausted and constantly charging, it could, not likely but could, cause excessive fan speed.

In Activity Monitor, make sure you have All Processes selected, and sort them by % CPU with highest percentage at the top. Also, check your printer's queue to see if there is a print job that never completed - that will always cause the fans to ramp up.

C

Just got a new battery didn't help needed one anyway though. Sprayed excess dust out of fans didn't help. The only thing in my activity monitor that has any usage is the activity monitor when it's running everything else is zeroed out and I don't have a printer linked to it.

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK.

-Have you tried resetting the SMC and repairing disk permissions?
-Does it happen if you startup with no applications running?

C

 

[JamesS]

Yea tried the SMC reset. Not sure what the repairing disk permissions is. Yes it happens as soon as I start up. I'll let it sit without opening anything and the fans spool up. Temps maintain average 108 F.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Repairing disk permissions is done with Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.

1. Open Disk Utility
2. Click on your HD in the list on the left, the one with the name of your HD - i.e. Macintosh HD
3. Click Repair Disk Permissions button
4. When complete, restart your Mac

Side note: Have you installed any drivers for any peripherals like scanners, audio devices, third-party keyboards/mice, etc. that may need updating?

See if that helps,

C

 

[JamesS]

Tried the repairing disk permissions with no luck.

 

[Cory Cooper]

My 17" MBP (Mid 2007) averages the following temps:

CPU 0 Diode - 137º F
CPU 0 Proximity - 132º F
GPU 0 Diode - 162º F
GPU 0 Heatsink - 139º F

L/R Fans - 2000 RPM

There's obviously something we're missing here, but what?

What peripherals are connected?

C

 

[JamesS]

That's the thing. I don't have anything connected.

 

[Kaveman]

Time to take it to an AppleCare Service Centre, this is hardware not a lot more we can do.