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fan-problem even after upgrading from MBA 1st Generation to new 11" MBA

M

matc

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2008
70
76
Hi!

I just got my brand new MBA 11" and got my files via Time Machine from my old first generation MBA. With the old MBA I had the problem, that the fan started immediately every time the MBA was running - even if there was nearly no programs running. Now I have the same problem with the new MBA so I guess it may be a software issue. Any idea what I can do??

Thanks!
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
30
located
Use iStat Pro to monitor the fan speed and the CPU temperature (Celsius or Fahrenheit) and then report back.
I don't know the idle fan speed of the MBA, but the MB and MBP have idle fan speeds of 2000RPM, therefore I conclude the MBA also has a minimum fan speed, to prevent the MBA from overheating somehow.
 
H

HiddenGem

macrumors member
Jun 20, 2007
55
0
It maybe doing an initial index of your files. I think some mdx... process may be running that increases the CPU usage and hence triggering the fan. Run the 'activity monitor' to see what is running.
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
30
located
HiddenGem said:
It maybe doing an initial index of your files. I think some mdx... process may be running that increases the CPU usage and hence triggering the fan. Run the 'activity monitor' to see what is running.
Click to expand...

The process is called "mds" and is the Spotlight indexing service, which may cause a temperature rise due to higher CPU usage.
Normally it is not visible in Activity Monitor, as the standard process view is set to MY PROCESSES. To look if it is "mds", one has to change to SHOW ALL PROCESSES.
Acitivty_Monitor.png
 
M

matc

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2008
70
76
simsaladimbamba said:
Use iStat Pro to monitor the fan speed and the CPU temperature (Celsius or Fahrenheit) and then report back.
I don't know the idle fan speed of the MBA, but the MB and MBP have idle fan speeds of 2000RPM, therefore I conclude the MBA also has a minimum fan speed, to prevent the MBA from overheating somehow.
Click to expand...

thanks for your help!

it´s 4336 at the moment and the macbook is not hot at all - it doesn´t seem necessary to cool it... I don´t want to tweak it with some fan tools, I only want to run it "normally"
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
30
located
matc said:
thanks for your help!

it´s 4336 at the moment and the macbook is not hot at all - it doesn´t seem necessary to cool it... I don´t want to tweak it with some fan tools, I only want to run it "normally"
Click to expand...

Then have a look at Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities /) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example
Acitivty_Monitor.png


Maybe even an SMC reset could help: Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
 
M

matc

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2008
70
76
here we go - rpm between 3300 and 4300 at the moment. :( even after restarting my macbook. please have in mind, that I had the same problem with my MBA before - so it must be a software issue, right?
 

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M

matc

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2008
70
76
at the moment I have 3.600 rpm at 40° CPU
CPU is nearly 0% right now - is 3.600 rpm normal in this setting?

btw: thanks for your help, I really appreciate that!!!
 
M

matelot

macrumors regular
Aug 16, 2010
113
0
NY
matc said:
here we go - rpm between 3300 and 4300 at the moment. :( even after restarting my macbook. please have in mind, that I had the same problem with my MBA before - so it must be a software issue, right?
Click to expand...

how do you find the rpm ?
 
M

matc

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2008
70
76
simsaladimbamba said:
3.600RPM at 40°C is quite fast.
Did you try the SMC Reset yet?
Click to expand...

I tried but I´m not sure if it worked - shouldn´t I get a kind of status message or something?

I attached a screenshot of my istats, maybe this provides some information for solving my problem?
 

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A

ansalmo

macrumors regular
May 23, 2005
140
1
matc said:
here we go - rpm between 3300 and 4300 at the moment. :( even after restarting my macbook. please have in mind, that I had the same problem with my MBA before - so it must be a software issue, right?
Click to expand...

So, mdworker and mds using 57% CPU between them and next up is - ah - Flash Player :)

I'm not sure why you would still have high fan speeds at 0% CPU, but your first screen grab definitely shows high CPU usage caused by the md* jobs and Adobe's finest. You'd do well to install the ClickToFlash Safari extension and only use Flash when you really need to.
 
Burnincoco

Burnincoco

macrumors regular
May 6, 2007
117
104
It's always a good idea to have a clean install instead of copying everything from time machine. Or so I've read.
 
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