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minellij

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 4, 2010
2
0
New Hampshire
Hi Folks, long time reader hoping for a little Air advice ...

I have a late 2008 Air - 1.86 and the SSD with Snow Leopard and 25 GB appropriated for Bootcamp and Windows 7. Had a problem a couple of weeks ago with the keyboard and key response. The keys were acting completely weirdly and Option on boot stopped working and it was also having boot problems. Apple diagnosed as a Keyboard issue and repaired the Top Case. Seemed fine and they did not reformat the SSD.

This machine has not ever exhibited overheating issues but what happens on the OSX side is that the computer rapidly (within 5 to 7 minutes) heats up to a CPU temp of between 75 and 80 degrees C, fan runs at max, and no programs are running. Using iStat for monitoring the temps and fans. What is puzzling is I don't need to run any applications - just sitting on the desktop starts this process. The computer will not cool down; quickly runs up to a high temp, bottom is hot, fan runs, stays at that temp.

Called Apple Care and they suggested SMC reset and PRAM and it did not fix it and they set up a ticket for a return this week. We took a look at Activity Monitor and nothing significant is going on - Activity Monitor was actually pretty much the largest thing using CPU cycles. So nothing apparent is running in the background.

Anyway - sorry for the length - before I mailed it in I figured to take a look at the Windows side and none of these symptoms show in Windows 7. Normal temps, almost no fan noise, ran applications just fine. Everything indicates there is not a hardware problem. It is heating up but the fans are running and only on the Mac side does the overheating continue unabated. If there was a logic board problem or another hardware issue, wouldn't it show on the Windows side, too?

My best guess is to do a re-install of Snow Leopard figuring that maybe with all the diagnostics and re-starts and everything that went into the first keyboard problem messed up my OS. It is going to be mid-week before box to send the Air to Apple Care shows up, so I hope to try a few things and see if I can fix it myself.

Anyone experienced something similar or could you suggest a few ideas before I mail the machine in?

Thanks much.
 

halledise

macrumors 68000
My best guess is to do a re-install of Snow Leopard figuring that maybe with all the diagnostics and re-starts and everything that went into the first keyboard problem messed up my OS. It is going to be mid-week before box to send the Air to Apple Care shows up, so I hope to try a few things and see if I can fix it myself.

Anyone experienced something similar or could you suggest a few ideas before I mail the machine in?

Thanks much.

I'd give that a whirl - backup, wipe and reinstall, then at least you know you've covered all bases b4 sending it in
 

xparaparafreakx

macrumors 65816
Jul 29, 2005
1,273
1
It been 2 years since you bought it, clean this part.
 

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