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Turning off HDD fan in 27 Imac

M

MacRuler

macrumors 6502
Original poster
How would i turn off the hard drive fan in the new 27 imac, i put the ssd in and the hard drive fan is loud ! i dont think i need it, how would i turn it off? Preferably not by a software, would disconnecting the hard drive fan temp sensor wire disable the fan? If not could i disconnect the fan? If so where is the fan? and the wire that connects it? also i do not care if it is not 'safe'.
thanks 😀
 
If you disable the Temp wire then the fan will run at the max all the time. You could unplug the fan. But in my opinion leaving it plugged in would be the best.

One question: Is the fan currently running at the idle speed or the max?
 
thanks for the quick response its running at like 4,000 rpm when all i have opened is safari and itunes
 
It sounds like the fan is in the fail safe mode. The temp sensor either isn't attached to the SSD or it can't get a proper reading. If it is attached to the SSD then you might want to try placing it on something else. The target temp for a HDD is about 113F. So if you can find something about that temp and stick the sensor to that it should keep the fan down at idle.

EDIT: Just what what is posted in the link above. ^
 
intell you seem to know your stuff, thats a smart idea but do you have any idea where would be the best place to place the sensor? also would i just tape it down to that place/area? thanks
 
You could try sticking the temp sensor onto the heat sink. It will be hot enough to keep the fan on idle. But it might also get to hot. If the heat sink is too hot the iMac will think the HDD is overheating and rev up the fan. If that is the case just move the temp sensor around different parts of the iMac until it keeps the fan on idle.

I do recommend reading at least the first three pages of this https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/808178/. It'll help you greatly.
 
I was reading elsewhere about a guy who installed an SSD HD into his 27" imac and found the same problem. He then opened his iMac up again and found the cable running back to his motherboard. Instead of attaching a sensor he simply shorted the cable, bypassing the sensor, and this 'turned the fan off'. I think it still runs, just on idle instead of max - and that would be an ideal fanspeed for an SSD drive anyway.
 
Just to clarify on this topic, there is NO temp sensor itself for the HDD. It is simply a wire that connects to the jumpers on the hard drive. So in essence, it's just a wire, and when it's not connected, the fans turn full on. When I performed my SSD install, I found this out the hard way.

Need to short the wire as described in the links provided in previous posts.
 
Instead of dissabling the fan you could try using SMC fan controll to keep the fan running at 800rpm. You wont hear that at all. The Mac Pro's have 5 fans for the single cpu models and i still hear the HDD over them.
 
ZeD X said:
WTF, $10 for this?

Just use the iMac Fan Control, it's free and much better.
Click to expand...

Sorry ZeD but you seem to be missing the point!
if you have a original drive your solution works well I'm sure, but your fix does NOT read the correct temperature when a drive has been replaced, thats why HDD Fan Control is needed, it uses SMART to obtain the CORRECT drive temperature instead of apples sensor and cable and allows adjustment from that.
As can be seen on your iMac Fan Control thread there is a difference in reading even with original drive.
With a replaced drive the reading you will get from that sensor is rubbish and bares no relation to the temperature of the drive. So running imac fan control is actually quite dangerous as will NOT correct the fan speed for drive temperature.
 
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ZeD X said:
You are wrong.

The minimum fan speed is faster than Apple's default, so, you should not have any problem.
Click to expand...

ZeD please please check your facts before posting.

When you replace the drive the value from the sensor is no good. Its way off, SMC knows this and sets the fan speed to full speed, so your fan wil run at 6000rpm all the time. Yes you will be OK as in your drive wont over heat BUT and its a big but, you would have a fan blasting at full speed all the time, this is what I mean you do not understand the problems when you replace the drive.

Please read this Macworld article or TUAW report or OWC post and then comment.

I still maintain that your solution is great for a apple original drive, but will NOT work for a replaced drive. Im not making this up its true, and this is what HDD Fan Control is made for.
 
Just as the great Marsellus Wallace said to Butch, he should have also said to Zed.

'You may feel a slight sting. That's pride ********** with you. ******* pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps.'
 
Blue Fox said:
Just to clarify on this topic, there is NO temp sensor itself for the HDD. It is simply a wire that connects to the jumpers on the hard drive. So in essence, it's just a wire, and when it's not connected, the fans turn full on. When I performed my SSD install, I found this out the hard way.

Need to short the wire as described in the links provided in previous posts.
Click to expand...

Is there a way to 'reconnect' said wire when putting a new drive in the new 2010/2011 iMacs? It's these two recent years that are having the issues, right? I had an '09 iMac that I upgraded to a 1tb drive myself and NEVER had this issue. And I was ignorant to anything to do with opening my iMac🙂. It was the first time I'd ever opened it. Worked and still is working Great!

I've got two 21.5 2011 iMacs and a single 2010 21.5"...I'd like to put a 3tb in each iMac. In fact, one of my 2011's was actually recalled by Apple due to a fail prone lot of drives from Seagate. I brought it in a couple weeks ago for the swap, and I'd ordered a 3tb drive from Amazon (Seagate--same as stock model), brought it with me to the Apple store...and they wouldn't put it in. Claimed the same thing as you guys are discussing...led me to this thread. One of our two Apple resellers in town says they CAN do it...however, I'm not willing to sacrifice more capacity for hyper fans. We use all the iMacs with an audio program called Serato. We do 120-130 live events a year and rely on our iMacs for big, live performances many times. I can't chance having fan noise problems and/or failures do to over heating. First REAL frustration with Apple...for me, since switching over 7 years ago...

...knowing hard drives do and will fail many times...why in the world did they make them such a PITA to switch out?

J
 
From what I understand.... and experience for myself.

In the '09 iMac when I switched out the HDD for an SSD there was an extra wire that plugged into the stock HDD from the logic board, a wire other than power or data cable. This is the plug you could "short" together with a piece of wire to trick the machine into thinking it was still connected.

On the new '11 iMac I just installed an SSD into, this wire is no longer present.
Just download an install http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/Site/SSD_Fan_Control.html
it was made exactly for this reason. To quiet the fan down to a whispering 1,400-1,500 rpm.
 
mmomega said:
From what I understand.... and experience for myself.

In the '09 iMac when I switched out the HDD for an SSD there was an extra wire that plugged into the stock HDD from the logic board, a wire other than power or data cable. This is the plug you could "short" together with a piece of wire to trick the machine into thinking it was still connected.

On the new '11 iMac I just installed an SSD into, this wire is no longer present.
Just download an install http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/Site/SSD_Fan_Control.html
it was made exactly for this reason. To quiet the fan down to a whispering 1,400-1,500 rpm.
Click to expand...


I'm going to get ripped and laughed at or whatever.....but would someone please explain how to "short" the wire or the plug. I just changed my HD cause it failed on me to a SSD. I like how the machine is performing but the noise is driving me freaking crazy.
 
Just short out the HDD temperature sensor with a bit of wire. Works great. The sensor has two wires, you simply put a short length of wire across the header contacts and tape it up.
 
.

If I remember correctly, SMC Fan control software ( http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol ) will force the fans to run faster than minimum RPMs set by its hardware controls. This software cannot force the fans to run slower (slower then Apple Defaults). To eliminate H/W controls, short out the HDD TEMP pins. I too see this trick (fix) as a common theme when upgrading to SSDs.... Program called HDD Fan Control works. re: http://www.hddfancontrol.com/ (without shorting out the wire).

To short out the temp sensor, simply leave the little wire connected to the mother board pins, cut the wire approx 3/8" away from its connector, strip its plastic - to expose its bare wires, twist its wires together, paint some finger nail paint on the bar wires (or liquid electrical tape - which is much better), then reassemble the iMac chassis. This works for me...
 
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why do all that hdd fan control fix the problem with a program.. if there is someone that knows a lot about program building we should figure out how they did it... i would love to know...
 
Spike88 said:
.

If I remember correctly, SMC Fan control software ( http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol ) will force the fans to run faster than minimum RPMs set by its hardware controls. This software cannot force the fans to run slower (slower then Apple Defaults). To eliminate H/W controls, short out the HDD TEMP pins. I too see this trick (fix) as a common theme when upgrading to SSDs.... Program called HDD Fan Control works. re: http://www.hddfancontrol.com/ (without shorting out the wire).

To short out the temp sensor, simply leave the little wire connected to the mother board pins, cut the wire approx 3/8" away from its connector, strip its plastic - to expose its bare wires, twist its wires together, paint some finger nail paint on the bar wires (or liquid electrical tape - which is much better), then reassemble the iMac chassis. This works for me...
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1531797141][/doublepost]just use a small staple. Bend it into a "U" and that will do the trick.
 
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