UltraFan

[4evaevo]

thanks heaps this little program works like a charm.

[imswimmin]

Wow, great app! Working well on 2011 Macbook Air (10.7.2).

[Queen6]

Thx great job, works as advertised;

On my Early 2008 MBP 4.1 2.4Ghz C2D, fans are ramped up to 4K, would be good if the increased fan RPM was user selectable, 3K, 4K, 5K, Max etc. option to display fan RPM would be an an added enhancement.

Battery & mains supply profiles would also beneficial as the additional cooling is welcome, however it will consume more power reducing run time on battery.

FWIW I am also running SMC Fan Control, and have observed no issue...

[ReggaeFire]

Would it be possible to make the target temp 'stick' after reboots? As it is it seems to open on boot, but not retain the target temperature.

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by Queen6

Thx great job, works as advertised;

On my Early 2008 MBP 4.1 2.4Ghz C2D, fans are ramped up to 4K, would be good if the increased fan RPM was user selectable, 3K, 4K, 5K, Max etc. option to display fan RPM would be an an added enhancement.

Battery & mains supply profiles would also beneficial as the additional cooling is welcome, however it will consume more power reducing run time on battery.

FWIW I am also running SMC Fan Control, and have observed no issue...

Hi,
the maximum fans speed is determined basing on Apple's specification on a per fan basis and is set only if necessary. The goal of the app is to run without any user's effort, so letting him manually set the speed defeats the goal itself. As for the showing part, yes, that's doable. The only problem is the placing. Please, feel free to suggest.

As for the battery, yes: if this is what you mean, I can make the app select higher speeds only if the target temperature is quite far while running on battery, and earlier when on ac/dc power. Will implement this in the next revision.

Thanks for the feedback.

Originally Posted by ReggaeFire

Would it be possible to make the target temp 'stick' after reboots? As it is it seems to open on boot, but not retain the target temperature.

Of course, I can save the target set. However, after the app's launch, you'd still have to click "set target temperature" in order for it to actually work.
Or do you think I should implement an auto-start feature and let the user decide?

Again, thanks for your feedback.

[eoslady]

My 2007 MacBook Pro is running hot as heck. I swear there is no fan running at all, which may explain why I've had two batteries expand to death in less than 3 years time. I don't see ANYTHING under 'help' on his machine that tells me squat about fans, much less RPM, temps, etc. LostSoul, you said you can do this great app for 10.5? I'd love to give it a whirl if you'd be so kind. Other insights would be appreciated, too. Thank you!

[Queen6]

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

Hi,
the maximum fans speed is determined basing on Apple's specification on a per fan basis and is set only if necessary. The goal of the app is to run without any user's effort, so letting him manually set the speed defeats the goal itself. As for the showing part, yes, that's doable. The only problem is the placing. Please, feel free to suggest.

Agreed I see your point on preemptive RPM setting, manual setting is clearly moot. Placement of the fan speed would work with a option menu, single line; temp, target, RPM variations of. Multiline, of course a compromise; temp & target, temp & RPM, etc.

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

As for the battery, yes: if this is what you mean, I can make the app select higher speeds only if the target temperature is quite far while running on battery, and earlier when on ac/dc power. Will implement this in the next revision.

Thanks for the feedback.

Sure the concern is power consumption, an option to disable while running on batteries would also be advantageous. Perhaps the use of power profiles;

Charging = Agressive
Mains supply= Moderate
Battery = Minimal and option to disable

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

Of course, I can save the target set. However, after the app's launch, you'd still have to click "set target temperature" in order for it to actually work.
Or do you think I should implement an auto-start feature and let the user decide?

Again, thanks for your feedback.

Auto start, as the user already has the option to open "UltraFan" at log in, program retaining the value and starting is more logical and reduces user intervention, unless they choose to change the target temp

Once again thank you for spending your time to develop this app, the concept of little or no user intervention is great

[Dhelsdon]

Is this still in beta testing, I'd love to try it out!

[LostSoul80]

Thanks for the reply, Queen6. I'm working on the revision 7, which will implement some of the features you suggested. Will publish it when I've finished and debugged it.

eoslady: I'll upload the correct version for 10.5 as soon as I can (have to actually find that sdk).

Dhelsdon: Revision 6.2 is not currently a beta, it is a Release Candidate. Revision 7 is going to be a beta for the new features.

[vitzr]

To LostSoul80

First off, I just came across this thread and I want to _congratulate_ you for your exemplary communication with others here, as they have provided feedback to you. I am very impressed with your attentiveness, and positive attitude displayed while interacting with others.

You've peaked my interest, I've used other utilities on my 15" Mid 2010 core i7 MacBook Pro. None of which have been ideal.

Therefore I am going to try yours in a few days, just as soon as I return home from the business trip I'm on. It sounds like just what I've been looking for.

Cheers

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by vitzr

To LostSoul80

First off, I just came across this thread and I want to _congratulate_ you for your exemplary communication with others here, as they have provided feedback to you. I am very impressed with your attentiveness, and positive attitude displayed while interacting with others.

You've peaked my interest, I've used other utilities on my 15" Mid 2010 core i7 MacBook Pro. None of which have been ideal.

Therefore I am going to try yours in a few days, just as soon as I return home from the business trip I'm on. It sounds like just what I've been looking for.

Cheers

Wow, thanks! Much much appreciated.
As said, feel free to suggest anything you'd like to see in the app when you can use it.

[CodeBreaker]

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

Hi everybody,
I've designed this app to be very easy to use. You tell it a target temperature, and it'll adjust the fans accordingly. I've coded it for my personal use, but since it's useful, I feel I should share it!
The version attached works with 10.6, and probably 10.7 (feedback appreciated). 10.5 is not supported, but if you have 10.5 tell me and I'll upload the right version.
Thanks in advance!

Edit: Revision 3 improves speed regulation.
Edit: Revision 4 adds a more gradual automatic speed change.
Edit: Revision 5 adds the "open at login" feature and fixes a display problem.
Edit: Revision 6 implements S.M.A.R.T. reading and small core changes. 6.2 provides a fix for certain machine's behaviour when no temperature sensor is found.

Great work! Can you make it more gradual? For example, if I set it to 50 C and the temp rises above just a bit, the fans shoot to max speed. So can it be gradual when both accelerating as well as decelerating?

[imac wannabe]

Thank you for this app sir, your work is appeciated!

Is there any "recommended" temp I should set it at. 40c seems to be the default. Do we have any recommended temp from Apple? I have a 2011 Imac i7 btw.

Paul

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by CodeBreaker

Great work! Can you make it more gradual? For example, if I set it to 50 C and the temp rises above just a bit, the fans shoot to max speed. So can it be gradual when both accelerating as well as decelerating?

Yes, that's doable. I'll code it. But bear in mind that a certain gap is built-in, so when there's a change of RPMs over a certain threshold the fans seem to kick off at max speed (whilst they're not).

Originally Posted by imac wannabe

Thank you for this app sir, your work is appeciated!

Is there any "recommended" temp I should set it at. 40c seems to be the default. Do we have any recommended temp from Apple? I have a 2011 Imac i7 btw.

Paul

Hi Paul, I'm not aware of any specific recommendation by Apple on this. Technically, it really depends on your HDD (you can find online suggested ranges), but I haven't looked much really into it. If anything, 40°C is ok.

[LostSoul80]

Revision 7 is available, I've also uploaded the Leopard version.

[Queen6]

Originally Posted by imac wannabe

Thank you for this app sir, your work is appeciated!

Is there any "recommended" temp I should set it at. 40c seems to be the default. Do we have any recommended temp from Apple? I have a 2011 Imac i7 btw.

Paul

For me 60C is a good number as the program is monitoring CPU temp, setting it to 40C will only result in the fans running a high RPM`s for far longer periods. As with all much is going to depend on the load you are putting through the machine, 40C might be a good number for very light use, for heavy work the fans will be at maxed out

[LostSoul80]

When available, the HDD temperature is displayed, when not the CPU one. It depends on your machine.
Queen6's suggestion sounds fine to me.

[freepeacesweet]

OK, been doing some testing on the 27" iMac with no temp sensor on the hard drive following replacement. I now have a temperature being read of about 31c but the fans are still whirling round at top speed. When I set the temperature above the current temp say 40c the fans that are going continue at the same speed and some other ones kick in. Sounds like an aircraft now :-)

I found this program iMac HDD Fan Control which seems to "fix" the fan problem on this machine. Maybe this will give you some ideas.

I also ran in on a 2007 mac mini in my media cabinet which does get hot. The temp reports back at 64c and it won't go any lower than 61c so the fans run fast permanently.

Keep up the good work!

[ndbarras]

I love this tool! I have been searching for a tool to calm my fans down, my macbook pro fans kept going to 6000 and there was nothing I could do to slow them down. I tried resetting the smc (a bunch of times), fan control and smc fan control nothing had any effect on my fans! My cpu could be 35 degrees and they were still full speed! I downloaded this, set my pref. temp. and down they went to 1250 rpm. I thank you so much for creating this because honestly I did'nt know how long i could take the fans blazing like that, they were driving me insane! I do have one small request though, I was wondering if there was any way to change the minimum speed from 1250rpm to around 2000 or 2300rpm? Reason being I think it would keep it from kicking up to full speed less often while still being relatively quiet. I know from reading previous posts that the 1250 is probably the factory low speed for my macbook pro and you may not want to change any factory setting speeds but I would love my mac fans to run a little higher speed at idle and while cooler than the set temp. You are a life saver either way and I want you to know I LOVE THIS TOOL!

[LostSoul80]

Originally Posted by freepeacesweet

OK, been doing some testing on the 27" iMac with no temp sensor on the hard drive following replacement. I now have a temperature being read of about 31c but the fans are still whirling round at top speed. When I set the temperature above the current temp say 40c the fans that are going continue at the same speed and some other ones kick in. Sounds like an aircraft now :-)

(I assume you've tested RC2)
An information is missing here -- 31°C is the reported temperature, but what about the target speed set? Keep in mind that if the temperature is way under the target set, the app lets the system manage the fans at low speeds. That may cause the "jump" in terms of noise you're experiencing. If you can provide more detailed data I can work on it.

Originally Posted by freepeacesweet

I also ran in on a 2007 mac mini in my media cabinet which does get hot. The temp reports back at 64c and it won't go any lower than 61c so the fans run fast permanently.

This can be explained by
- the temp sensor has some problems
- the fans can't cool the computer efficiently.
and unfortunately I can't fix that, as that's hardware-related.

Originally Posted by ndbarras

I love this tool! I have been searching for a tool to calm my fans down, my macbook pro fans kept going to 6000 and there was nothing I could do to slow them down. I tried resetting the smc (a bunch of times), fan control and smc fan control nothing had any effect on my fans! My cpu could be 35 degrees and they were still full speed! I downloaded this, set my pref. temp. and down they went to 1250 rpm. I thank you so much for creating this because honestly I did'nt know how long i could take the fans blazing like that, they were driving me insane! I do have one small request though, I was wondering if there was any way to change the minimum speed from 1250rpm to around 2000 or 2300rpm? Reason being I think it would keep it from kicking up to full speed less often while still being relatively quiet. I know from reading previous posts that the 1250 is probably the factory low speed for my macbook pro and you may not want to change any factory setting speeds but I would love my mac fans to run a little higher speed at idle and while cooler than the set temp. You are a life saver either way and I want you to know I LOVE THIS TOOL!

As you said, 1250 is the safe minimum speed (presumably of one of your machine's fans, as usually they come in different capacities) as indicated by Apple. I can lower the threshold (calculated per fan) under which that speed is set, but as a downside that'd probably contribute to "eat" power if you're on battery. Setting this behaviour while not on battery, however, would be ok. Is this what you'd like to see in the next revision?

Again, feel free to suggest anything you like!

[ndbarras]

Yes! I would love the ability to raise the minimum fan speed, I think if the fans were set to 2000-2300 rpms rather than 1250 rpms (apple pre-set minimum speed for my macbook pro), the desired temp that I have set on ultra fan would rarely be reached.

[Queen6]

I would like option to display fan RPMs if possible, I presently use SMC Fan Control for this and would like to only run the one app. It`s more out of curiosity than anything else and it helps to see how aggressively the program is working...

[CodeBreaker]

Originally Posted by LostSoul80

Yes, that's doable. I'll code it. But bear in mind that a certain gap is built-in, so when there's a change of RPMs over a certain threshold the fans seem to kick off at max speed (whilst they're not).

This is perfect now. Thanks a lot

[quickmac]

Thanks for this! This program seems to be really easy to use and no nonsense.

I'm running Folding@Home on a 2009 MBP (only uniprocessor folding as SMP gets wayy too hot) and SMC FanControl kept messing up my settings and not working right. Fan Control worked alright but was a pain to disable when needed.

Ultra Fan set to the max upper limit (70C) is keeping my CPU cores below 85C and the diode below 89C most of the time running one processor core on F@H. I'm seeing average ranges at max usage of 80-86C on the cores and 82-90C on the diode. A huge improvement over SMC fan control when used.

[LostSoul80]

Glad you're using it.

Originally Posted by quickmac

Ultra Fan set to the max upper limit (70C)

I'll do some research about the hardware and raise the upper limit a little bit.
Would you find it useful? Do you think 70°C is a bit too low?