UltraFan

[Joesg]

I'd like to report 2 issues, one minor and one major.

Minor:
The temperature reported by UltraFan is of the CPU heatsink, rather than the CPU temperature itself. I find that my CPU tends to be about 10-15°C higher than the heatsink.

Major:
Every once in a while, one of my fans will ramp up to full speed(6200 RPM), while the other will be low (~2100). This seems to continue until I intervene. The most I've let it run like this is about 20 seconds. Closing and reopening UltraFan or reseting the auto control fixes this. I've seen this happen 4-5 times over the last couple weeks.

Using UltraFan 9.0 on 2.7 Ghz Retina Mac.

PS- Thanks for making UltraFan! It's the only functional fan control program I've found (and I've tried MANY).

[Queen6]

Originally Posted by Joesg

I'd like to report 2 issues, one minor and one major.

Minor:
The temperature reported by UltraFan is of the CPU heatsink, rather than the CPU temperature itself. I find that my CPU tends to be about 10-15°C higher than the heatsink.

Observed this issue myself on my Retina LostSoul is looking into this one. Looking at the system temperature with Bresink`s Temperature Monitor, UltraFan is picking up the CPU proximity sensor the cores in general are 10-15C hotter, it`s down to the architecture of Ivy Bridge. Sandy Bridge has CPU proximity, CPU Diode and Core temps.

Originally Posted by Joesg

Major:
Every once in a while, one of my fans will ramp up to full speed(6200 RPM), while the other will be low (~2100). This seems to continue until I intervene. The most I've let it run like this is about 20 seconds. Closing and reopening UltraFan or reseting the auto control fixes this. I've seen this happen 4-5 times over the last couple weeks.

Using UltraFan 9.0 on 2.7 Ghz Retina Mac.

Upgrade to 9.1 works perfectly on my own Retina, on 10.8.2 with latest EFI update applied.

Originally Posted by Joesg

PS- Thanks for making UltraFan! It's the only functional fan control program I've found (and I've tried MANY).

Without any doubt

[Joesg]

Originally Posted by Queen6

Observed this issue myself on my Retina LostSoul is looking into this one. Looking at the system temperature with Bresink`s Temperature Monitor, UltraFan is picking up the CPU proximity sensor the cores in general are 10-15C hotter, it`s down to the architecture of Ivy Bridge. Sandy Bridge has CPU proximity, CPU Diode and Core temps.



Upgrade to 9.1 works perfectly on my own Retina, on 10.8.2 with latest EFI update applied.



Without any doubt

I upgraded to 9.1 and already have 10.8.2. Soon after I upgraded to 9.1, I had the same problem again. See screenshot of fan speeds: http://i.imgur.com/rpNge.png

This time it slowed down to normal temps eventually. It actually started at 6600 RPM and went down from there. I wasn't quick enough and only caught it at 5900. It took about 20 seconds to go back to normal.

[Queen6]

Originally Posted by Joesg

I upgraded to 9.1 and already have 10.8.2. Soon after I upgraded to 9.1, I had the same problem again. See screenshot of fan speeds: http://i.imgur.com/rpNge.png

This time it slowed down to normal temps eventually. It actually started at 6600 RPM and went down from there. I wasn't quick enough and only caught it at 5900. It took about 20 seconds to go back to normal.

I guess you will have to wait until LostSoul replies in the meantime what I recommend is to log the issue and send the data to him. Only other suggestion I have is a SMC reset.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?v...S&locale=en_US

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

• If you experience unexpected behaviours (not a crash, but fans ramping up or not; for example a fan is not very responsive; etc), save a log and send it to me (via forum, email, website uploading etc). How to save a log? Check the dedicated checkbox, set a target temperature, let the unexpected behaviour happen, and reset UltraFan. Simple as that. Check your desktop for the log file I need.
  
• If UltraFan crashes, report what happened in this thread, making sure to post your: computer, OS (10.6, etc), version of UltraFan, and a crash log.

Suggestion: If UltraFan crashes, make sure to open it again and quit it. This assures UltraFan isn't controlling your fans from the dead.

[Cassadian]

For some reason I keep getting this error where I can't open up Ultrafan while it's running. So now I'm stuck with it's last setting until I restart which is a hassle.

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by Joesg

The temperature reported by UltraFan is of the CPU heatsink, rather than the CPU temperature itself. I find that my CPU tends to be about 10-15°C higher than the heatsink.

I'm going to release very soon revision 9.2, which fixes the sensor priority on Retina MBPros.

Originally Posted by Joesg

Every once in a while, one of my fans will ramp up to full speed(6200 RPM), while the other will be low (~2100). This seems to continue until I intervene. The most I've let it run like this is about 20 seconds. Closing and reopening UltraFan or reseting the auto control fixes this. I've seen this happen 4-5 times over the last couple weeks.

Originally Posted by Queen6

I guess you will have to wait until LostSoul replies in the meantime what I recommend is to log the issue and send the data to him.

That's totally correct. A log would most certainly help when unexpected behaviours happen.
I'd need more information, such as the target you set, along with the system temperature when fans ramped up. Also, whether the context (system load, temperatures) is, from what you can see, the same every time that behaviour occurs.

It's worth to mention once again that by clicking "Reset" or quitting UltraFan, everything goes back to the default, so in general there's no need to reset the SMC.

Originally Posted by Cassadian

For some reason I keep getting this error where I can't open up Ultrafan while it's running. So now I'm stuck with it's last setting until I restart which is a hassle.

The window appears behind some active-priority ones, that is due to OS X's window management. Simply freeing up a little space will let you click on UltraFan's window, and bring it up on top of the others.

[Joesg]

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

That's totally correct. A log would most certainly help when unexpected behaviours happen.
I'd need more information, such as the target you set, along with the system temperature when fans ramped up. Also, whether the context (system load, temperatures) is, from what you can see, the same every time that behaviour occurs.

Here is another screenshot with some more info provided by istatmenus:
http://i.imgur.com/edyhv.png

The target temperature was 36 C, but as you can see, the current CPU temp was below that at 34 C. This screenshot also demonstrates that it can be either the left or right fan that has this behavior. I don't recall it ever happening in both fans at the same time.

This only happens on auto, and I now believe that this has only happened when my target temperature was above my current temperature. Now that I think about it, it has only ever happened in the first few minutes of waking my laptop from sleep.

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by Joesg

This only happens on auto, and I now believe that this has only happened when my target temperature was above my current temperature. Now that I think about it, it has only ever happened in the first few minutes of waking my laptop from sleep.

That's perhaps the key. I'm going to work on it. Thanks for your feedback! Keep it up should you encounter other problems. If I detect the cause of that behaviour without a log, I'll release it in Revision 9.2. If you can, save a log and send it to me.

[ronswanson]

Is this program safe for the mid-2012 13" Macbook Air?

It only has 1 fan from what I understand.. and the max rpm for this machine is 6500. This program quickly took the rpm up to 6200 under load when I shut it down, unsure if the program knows its limits.. can someone confirm that this program is meant to be used with the Air?

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by ronswanson

Is this program safe for the mid-2012 13" Macbook Air?

It only has 1 fan from what I understand.. and the max rpm for this machine is 6500. This program quickly took the rpm up to 6200 under load when I shut it down, unsure if the program knows its limits.. can someone confirm that this program is meant to be used with the Air?

As I have stated many times, every time you Reset or quit UltraFan, the fans management goes to OS X. If the fan ramped up, you should ask Apple the reason.
Notice that UltraFan's transitions are gradual, so in certain occasions it can take some seconds before the fans fully ramp up. It's a matter of seconds.

As for the "limits", every information of the system is retrieved directly from the machine, just like OS X does.

[ronswanson]

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

As I have stated many times, every time you Reset or quit UltraFan, the fans management goes to OS X. If the fan ramped up, you should ask Apple the reason.
Notice that UltraFan's transitions are gradual, so in certain occasions it can take some seconds before the fans fully ramp up. It's a matter of seconds.

As for the "limits", every information of the system is retrieved directly from the machine, just like OS X does.

Sorry, could you please tell me if this program is intended only for the Pro or if it is designed to work with the Air as well?

I think you misunderstood my statement above - Ultrafan was running when my fan ramped up to 6200 rpm - which is a good thing under load unless Ultrafan is unaware of the 6500 rpm limit for macbook airs. Hence I quit Ultrafan at which point things went back to normal as they should.

My q is simple: is ultrafan meant for macbook airs as well? have other people run it/tested it?

Thank you very much for sharing your program!

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by ronswanson

Sorry, could you please tell me if this program is intended only for the Pro or if it is designed to work with the Air as well?

I think you misunderstood my statement above - Ultrafan was running when my fan ramped up to 6200 rpm - which is a good thing under load unless Ultrafan is unaware of the 6500 rpm limit for macbook airs. Hence I quit Ultrafan at which point things went back to normal as they should.

My q is simple: is ultrafan meant for macbook airs as well? have other people run it/tested it?

Thank you very much for sharing your program!

UltraFan is meant for every Mac, iMacs, Mac Minis, Mac Pros as well.
If the app isn't running the fan at the maximum speed, that means it's not necessary, target temperature wise.
As I said, the specific information of every fan is retrieved from the machine, and is the same OS X uses for its own fans management. (This means that if OS X is programmed to run your fan at a maximum speed of 6500, UltraFan knows that 6500 is the maximum speed in rpm too)

[LostSoul80]

For anyone experiencing erroneous temperature readings on MBPr, be sure to check out the new Revision 9.2.

[nokian93]

thanks for the update lostsoul, works great now!

[diselsamm]

Hello,

First, I want to thank Luca for the development of this great application. I am running the current 9.2. version.

I would like to kindly ask the following. My situation is the following. I have a Macbook pro A1211 "Core 2 Duo" 2.33 15" model late 2006. It is running on Lion v. 10.7.5. I am also running from time to time Parallels Desktop 7 (running Windows 7, the 64-bit). I upgraded the HD to the 500 GB ST9500420AS HD. And I have upgraded the RAM to 4 GB, 2 GB for each slot (type DDR2 SDRAM, at 667 MHz)

My question is what target temperature should I set Ultrafan to aim at, in your opinion. I am occasionally using the laptop for web browsing, pdf reading, and text editing, and running the Parrallels Desktop. I set the target temperature at 60 C. What do you think, am I doing it right?

Cordially thank you!

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by diselsamm

Hello,

First, I want to thank Luca for the development of this great application. I am running the current 9.2. version.

I would like to kindly ask the following. My situation is the following. I have a Macbook pro A1211 "Core 2 Duo" 2.33 15" model late 2006. It is running on Lion v. 10.7.5. I am also running from time to time Parallels Desktop 7 (running Windows 7, the 64-bit). I upgraded the HD to the 500 GB ST9500420AS HD. And I have upgraded the RAM to 4 GB, 2 GB for each slot (type DDR2 SDRAM, at 667 MHz)

My question is what target temperature should I set Ultrafan to aim at, in your opinion. I am occasionally using the laptop for web browsing, pdf reading, and text editing, and running the Parrallels Desktop. I set the target temperature at 60 C. What do you think, am I doing it right?

Cordially thank you!

Hi,
There isn't a particular rule to follow, really. A target of 60 C while running demanding applications like Parallels seems ok to me. For normal usage, like web browsing and other light tasks you may want to set a lower target (personally I used 45 C when reading on my laptop; but then again, consider noise and whether your laptop is on your lap or not).
I can't suggest a fixed target, because you may want to set it basing on the context (noise, computer load, etc).

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you're liking it.

[diselsamm]

Hello,

Thank you for the prompt answer. I tried now to set the target at 45 C and doing a light work on the computer (Safari opened) and the temperature went down cycling between 46-47 C and never reaching the set target temperature. The implication of this being that the fans are working continuously. I suppose I am not able to maintain 45 C because the laptop is considered old (5 years). But to be honest I do not like the way the newer macpros perform in terms of responsiveness and I do not like the bigger trackpad with integrated buttons. And I also do not like the type of keyboard that is used nowadays. The new macs look like Sony Vaios. This is of course subjective. Anyway, I am trying to be reasonably gentle to my laptop.

I think I will maintain the target of 60 C when doing light work. I will do experiments with setting different target temperatures while running Parallels Desktop. Probably I will use a set target of 70 C. I will report on this additionally.

I noticed one thing now. When I restart the laptop Ultrafan is requesting me to retype my administrative password. Maybe it is enough to prompt for the administrator password only when you reset the target temperature or run the software for the first time. I do not know, I think, if the objective to replicate the behaviour of mac software it is necessary to prompt for administrative password only when you attempt a resetting of some feature.

Thank you!

[Queen6]

65C for my Late 2011 2.4 i7 15" MBP under moderate load, running both internal & external displays is a good number, lower temperature setting and the fans noise becomes intrusive.

55C for my early 2008 2.4 Penryn 15" MBP "Classic" (pre unibody) running a light load these days, pretty much retired with my daughter using it most.

70C for the Retina, this more to do with Ivy Bridge`s sensor architecture and effectively equates to 60C operating temperature.

As ever you have to balance the systems load versus the fan activity and your usage, lower system loads allows you to set a more aggressive setting for UltraFan, unless the fan noise is of no concern.

[jdavtz]

Is there a way to set target hard drive temperature rather than CPU temperature?

I'm more concerned about slowly frying my hard drive with continuous temps of 55+degC, than transient raised CPU temps.

Many thanks.

[Queen6]

Originally Posted by jdavtz

Is there a way to set target hard drive temperature rather than CPU temperature?

I'm more concerned about slowly frying my hard drive with continuous temps of 55+degC, than transient raised CPU temps.

Many thanks.

Not with UltraFan, I would be more inclined to find out why your HD temps are so high, possibly you need more RAM to reduce paging. 55C is pretty close to the upper limit for most HD the Mac i am presently on the HD is idling at 32C and it has been running continuously, elevating you machine will help.

[jdavtz]

Originally Posted by Queen6

Not with UltraFan, I would be more inclined to find out why your HD temps are so high, possibly you need more RAM to reduce paging. 55C is pretty close to the upper limit for most HD the Mac i am presently on the HD is idling at 32C and it has been running continuously, elevating you machine will help.

I don't know why they're so high either, I have 6GB RAM (max possible in iMac 2008); I wonder whether the HDD is absorbing heat from the power supply which is often over 70degC.

[Marseill8]

Works like a charm but the required password thingie at startup ruins it.

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by Marseill8

Works like a charm but the required password thingie at startup ruins it.

It's a choice at the moment. I can't decide to change it.
The technical reason goes something like this: making UF run without a password would require to overwrite system information at every operation (info related to the fans themselves). I can make this process perfectly safe, but am not sure whether it's worth the work.

[sltyler1]

Is it just me or does it not save a 'set' temperature even after it's rebooted? When I reboot it doesn't seem to save the temperature setting. Tried multiple times.


Macbook Pro 13" late 2011. ML.

[Wakefield]

An excellent program, thank you!

Here is my little problem: I run a few games on my macbook and the fan noise is higher than I would like. I noticed that with manual settings with Ultrafan (set at 65%) the temperature hovers around 81 C, which is OK with me. So, could you, please, expand the available temperature range in automatic mode to, say, 82 C? It is still not too hot, but it will make this gaming experience slightly more enjoyable since I will be able to use automatic mode all the time. Right now it runs fans too aggressively to keep temperature at 80 C.

Thanks a lot,
Wake.