Can't get a temperature (cpu) reading on MacBook

[Zyzzyva100]

I have had my MacBook for about 3 weeks now (my first mac) and I am loving it, but I have been curious to see how hot it is truly running. Previously I had a ultra portable thinkpad that ran incredibly hot, so the heat doesn't bother me, I am just curious.

I have tried every temp or stat widget I could find as well as Coreduotemp, but none of them give me a plausible temperature. Coreduotemp generally reports the temperature to be 9-12 degrees C (so like 48 degrees F), which is well below ambient conditions.

Is there something different about the latest MacBooks? Or did a software update kill this? I am just curious to see what the actual temperatures are. I am hoping that the software is just reading them wrong, and that the actual thermistors aren't faulty (or else it may just melt).

Anybody else had this problem?

 

[7on]

This is usually a "fore-runner" of the RSD issue. The Heatsink melts the thermal sensor and it can't get an accurate reading.

 

[Zyzzyva100]

Hmmm, I have yet to have a random shutdown, and I have been pretty taxing on it at times (converting dvd's with handbrake for several hours, or playing rise of nations -which uses rosetta- for several hours on battery and plugged in without issue.

So then is this worth calling apple about? Or will they say tough luck since its a third party program (unless there is something from apple that will let me see the temps, maybe probe directly from terminal?) I do have a backlight issue, but its somewhat minor so I was trying to avoid sendin the unit back.

 

[Ovs]

My Macbook has the same problem with temp readings. At this very moment its showing 13C. Not very likely!

Although at the expected times, when its performing intensive tasks, the fan does come on - which leads me to believe that the Macbook is getting a more accurate reading from somewhere.

I read somewhere online (sorry can't remember the link) that it's a bug with the intel chips on the more recent Macbooks (mine's a few weeks old). It also mentioned that it will be fixable with a firmware update. Hopefully the fix, if it exists, will arrive soon.

I know what you mean about showing it Apple. I thought about it too, but I'm sure they'll dismiss it as a 3rd party app problem.

 

[sulhaq]

I had the same problem with my macbook, which is now returned but not because of the temp. issue, although I'm sure I should have returned it for that in the first place.

In any case I tried every single temp. monitor as well, as well as manually doing it with speedit in xterm. Every single time I would get the exact same reading. i.e. the temperature when i FIRST pinged the temp. monitor. Then it would stay at that temperature no matter what I did until I restarted.

My fan always came on when I was cpu intensive which lead me to believe that the internal monitor was working however this was not the case. I noticed that I would be working on my macbook for hours and the fan wouldn't come on. Then suddenly I'd have to restart the laptop and suddenly the fan would come on and STAY on for a long period of time until the laptop felt much much more cooler than what I was working with before I restarted. This leads me to believe that the fan comes on for two things. A: When the computer is hot and B: When youre really pushing the cpu it comes on anyway.

In any case I would get your laptop checked out and make sure it doesnt have that fundamental flaw that many core duo cores suffer from where when the cpu returns from a certain state it stops updating the temperature until the computer is restarted. Mine was certainly this case and I can tell you I verified it on several occasions. Every single time I'd be working for hours on end with no fan and moderately hot laptop surface, then I'd restart and suddenly the fan would come on for a LONG time and after it went off the surface would be MUCH cooler proving two things.

1. When I restarted the comp. the temperature would update to its true value and the fan would immediately rev up to cool the computer down.
2. Since the fan always came on when I was cpu intensive, and clearly my internal monitor was malfunctioning as proved by 1, I'd assume when you're cpu intensive the fan comes on anyway.