UltraFan

[Blackberryroid]

Yes. I'll do the same for the manual-auto transition.

Another feature request: How about Multi-touch integration? On Manual And Automatic, it's great if it would increase/decrease the fan speed if I just scroll left or right. Kind of similar to Mac OS X's Volume Control on the Menu Bar when I scroll up and down.

UltraFan asks for a password whenever I open the app. Can you make that not happen?

And are you going to put this app in the Mac App Store? It could be a huge hit.

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For me SMC is now pretty much redundant with the latest release of UltraFan having manual control of the fans, and i am starting to uninstall it from my own Mac`s. SMC FC was a great app, however it`s functionality is no longer frequently updated.

SMC was a horrible app anyway. I looked at it and I can't believe what I was looking at. Complex UI. I can't find my way around. (Well, I did find my way but the thing looks horrible. I felt like I'm forced to learn C++ in just an hour. I don't know how to program but judging by it's looks, it must be hard work)Good thing UltraFan exists. I'm loving every moment of it.

 

[LostSoul80]

Another feature request: How about Multi-touch integration? On Manual And Automatic, it's great if it would increase/decrease the fan speed if I just scroll left or right. Kind of similar to Mac OS X's Volume Control on the Menu Bar when I scroll up and down.

UltraFan asks for a password whenever I open the app. Can you make that not happen?

And are you going to put this app in the Mac App Store? It could be a huge hit.

The multitouch integration is doable, but I'll have to check the different behaviours between SL, L and ML. Probably a feature for the next revision.

As for the password, it's not the first time it gets requested. I can do that, through some hack (normally, OS X requires authentication for what UF does). However, I like it in that it notifies the user about its execution.

I would put it on the AppStore too, but I should first check if it meets all their requirements. As an example, in order to retrieve S.M.A.R.T. information, I'm using an external official library, and I'm not sure that's allowed.

 

[Blackberryroid]

However, I like it in that it notifies the user about its execution.

Why? I think the user would know that he opened the app when he goes to Launchpad. Besides, the main purpose of that thing is to give permission to the app (In case there's some viruses in there), but of course there is no viruses in there. Every time the user launches the application, there is a 99.9% that he'll want to open the application and is no longer needed to be notified.

But if you want the user to be notified, add a "loading" animation screen on it, like the one on PowerPoint before it launches. It's much better than a password.

 

[LostSoul80]

Why? I think the user would know that he opened the app when he goes to Launchpad. Besides, the main purpose of that thing is to give permission to the app (In case there's some viruses in there), but of course there is no viruses in there. Every time the user launches the application, there is a 99.9% that he'll want to open the application and is no longer needed to be notified.

But if you want the user to be notified, add a "loading" animation screen on it, like the one on PowerPoint before it launches. It's much better than a password.

Unlike most applications, UF deals with your hardware, and in order to do that it needs privileges. As I said, unless I apply some workaround, the user has to give UF the permission to deal with their fans. This is how OS X behaves, and (un)fortunately I can't change that, if not using some sort of "hack". The positive aspect is that the user knows UF is going to deal with their computer.

I have already tried some workarounds, and they work in 10.5, 10.6 and quite well on 10.7. But I'm not sure if that's wise enough, I have to think about it.

 

[nokian93]

i just downloaded this app and installed it, i cannot get it to activate my fans. On the actual app when i press set it reverts the target temperature to 0.00. I monitor my fan rpm's with istat and they do not move even when the target is set at 40 degrees less than what they are at that time. I repaired permissions and reset smc and no dice. im trying to get a log report but its not showing up on my desktop even after letting it sit for 5 mins. Currently running ML on a 17" i7 late 2011.

 

[Blackberryroid]

What is Mac OS X's default maximum temperature before the fan kicks in?

 

[LostSoul80]

i just downloaded this app and installed it, i cannot get it to activate my fans. On the actual app when i press set it reverts the target temperature to 0.00. I monitor my fan rpm's with istat and they do not move even when the target is set at 40 degrees less than what they are at that time. I repaired permissions and reset smc and no dice. im trying to get a log report but its not showing up on my desktop even after letting it sit for 5 mins. Currently running ML on a 17" i7 late 2011.

First things first: what versions of UltraFan are you using?
Other questions: does UltraFan read the temperature correctly?
Can you tell me more about what happens when you hit "set"?
As for the log, which in this case would be very useful to me, you need to check the box, hit "set", wait some time (20 seconds is fine), hit "reset". Don't allow more than 1 minute (even 5 seconds are enough for the log to appear, but around 20 is best).

Revision 9 is now officially available, be sure to check it out.


Blackberryroid: that should be based on hardware, specs of fan, etc. OS X's management of fans is quite strange.

 

[Rijstkoek]

Hello LostSoul80,

I made an account on MacRumors just to post on this forum topic, you should feel special.

I've been using Ultrafan for a while now (Since Beta 4 was released) and I must admit that I like it very much. However, there are some suggestions that I like to make.

I'm starting with 2 bugs that are mostly UI related issues: annoying but not a show stopper. (these issues are both reported already in previous posts)

- When you've selected the 'Open at login' option it will prompt the msgbox when the user is trying to shut down his/her Macbook Pro. Like you've mentioned before it should pop up when the user selects the option.

- When you click next to the Ultrafan window is stays open, it should close itself.

Now I have something that I'm not sure if it's intended to work this way but if it's a bug I hope that you DON'T fix it (you could fix it but make an option somewhere to enable it again):

- When I put the fans on manual maximum speed and I reboot into Windows 7 using Bootcamp, the fans stay on maximum from the start. I LOVE THIS. I mostly use my Macbook Pro for graphics designing but sometimes I also enjoy playing a game on Windows. Because the MBP can get really hot while gaming it's awesome to be able to keep the fans on max from the start so it doesn't feel like I'm touching lava after 5 minutes. Without Ultrafan the fans will also kick in but it takes much more time and by then the MBP will be hot on the outside already. So this is an awesome feature (the biggest reason why I use Ultrafan to be honest)

As said before, since I'm an graphics designer I also go to clients with my MBP to show them the progress of my work. The problem is that, since I started using Ultrafan, my fans never stopped making noise. When I'm working I don't mind this (I usually have some music in the background) but at a client this is kind of annoying. I prevented Ultrafan from starting up, made sure the auto temperature was off and rebooted the MBP but the fans kick in immediately and start making noise. Since the MBP is only around 30°C at that moment it's not necessary that the fans spin so fast so could you make another option that when I enable it, the normal Mac OSX fan control takes over again (making the fans run slower and eliminating the sound) or that when I'm using auto temperature control and I'm like 10 degrees under the requested temperature the fans go slower than they are going now? It's just an feature that would make my life (and I'm sure also the ones of others) just a little bit better.

Thank you for reading this.

Rijstkoek

PS: I'm not English but I did my best.

 

[LostSoul80]

Hi Rijstkoek,

- When you've selected the 'Open at login' option it will prompt the msgbox when the user is trying to shut down his/her Macbook Pro. Like you've mentioned before it should pop up when the user selects the option.

- When you click next to the Ultrafan window is stays open, it should close itself.

When you check "Open at login", UltraFan wants to be quit with an active target (that is to say, auto mode enabled).
If "open at login" is checked, but no target is active, UltraFan will ask for instructions.

When you shut down your computer, OS X tries to quit all the open apps, and if "open at login" is checked without an active target, that window will spawn.
With the next revision I'm going to sort that out, possibly.

As for the second part, what do you mean by "next"? If you mean, I want UltraFan's window to close when I click somewhere outside, I can do it. I've implemented that behaviour in Beta 3, but I removed it for compatibility reasons (have to do more research; window management is not exactly the same with different OS versions).

Now I have something that I'm not sure if it's intended to work this way but if it's a bug I hope that you DON'T fix it (you could fix it but make an option somewhere to enable it again):

- When I put the fans on manual maximum speed and I reboot into Windows 7 using Bootcamp, the fans stay on maximum from the start. I LOVE THIS. I mostly use my Macbook Pro for graphics designing but sometimes I also enjoy playing a game on Windows. Because the MBP can get really hot while gaming it's awesome to be able to keep the fans on max from the start so it doesn't feel like I'm touching lava after 5 minutes. Without Ultrafan the fans will also kick in but it takes much more time and by then the MBP will be hot on the outside already. So this is an awesome feature (the biggest reason why I use Ultrafan to be honest)

Yes, that's expected. The manual settings stay active until you power off your machine, when using Bootcamp.

As said before, since I'm an graphics designer I also go to clients with my MBP to show them the progress of my work. The problem is that, since I started using Ultrafan, my fans never stopped making noise. When I'm working I don't mind this (I usually have some music in the background) but at a client this is kind of annoying. I prevented Ultrafan from starting up, made sure the auto temperature was off and rebooted the MBP but the fans kick in immediately and start making noise. Since the MBP is only around 30°C at that moment it's not necessary that the fans spin so fast so could you make another option that when I enable it, the normal Mac OSX fan control takes over again (making the fans run slower and eliminating the sound) or that when I'm using auto temperature control and I'm like 10 degrees under the requested temperature the fans go slower than they are going now? It's just an feature that would make my life (and I'm sure also the ones of others) just a little bit better.

When you quit UltraFan, when you disable the manual mode and when you reset your auto mode session, UltraFan gives the OS full control of your fans, always. It's designed to work only when you want it to.
As an example, opening and quitting UltraFan will give your OS fill control of the fans. If you do that, but your fans ramp up, blame OS X.
For reference, UltraFan's algorithm is dynamic, but usually it should set the minimum speed when the temperature stays under the target for some time.

 

[nokian93]

First things first: what versions of UltraFan are you using?I am using the beta 4, i guess now the second to latest relase.

Other questions: does UltraFan read the temperature correctly?Yes it does read the temperature correctly in the status bar

Can you tell me more about what happens when you hit "set"?When i hit set, the target temperature reverts to 0.00, but when i click the c degree bubble and then the f bubble, the target temperature appears correctly.

As for the log, which in this case would be very useful to me, you need to check the box, hit "set", wait some time (20 seconds is fine), hit "reset". Don't allow more than 1 minute (even 5 seconds are enough for the log to appear, but around 20 is best). I tried letting it sit for 1 minute and then another minute after hitting reset for that log to appear. And no luck. I will try this new update you released and see if this little glitches are fixed. Thanks

Revision 9 is now officially available, be sure to check it out.

 

[Rijstkoek]

Hi LostSouls80,

First of all: thanks for the quick response, I really appreciate it!

Thanks for clearing out the expected behavior when using the start at login, looks like I didn't fully understand it yet.

If you mean, I want UltraFan's window to close when I click somewhere outside, I can do it.

That's exactly what I meant! But as I mentioned before, it's only UI. It's not very important but it would make a nice addition to the program.

About the last point, it's because I think my fans weren't hearable when I first got my MBP. It might just be my mind that's playing tricks on me. However, thank you for that explanation aswel!

Kind regards,
Rijstkoek

 

[LostSoul80]

I can confirm that in the next revision, clicking outside will cause UltraFan's window to close, Rijstkoek.

 

[nokian93]

does the program take effect after a couple of seconds or should it start right away? When i activate mine (newest release) it takes sometimes about 5 clicks back and forth from reset to set for it to finally activate. Also when its active, my left fan spins 100 rpm's faster than my right one. Once its turned off all the fans go back to the 2000rpm mark. Weird stuff.

 

[Queen6]

does the program take effect after a couple of seconds or should it start right away? When i activate mine (newest release) it takes sometimes about 5 clicks back and forth from reset to set for it to finally activate. Also when its active, my left fan spins 100 rpm's faster than my right one. Once its turned off all the fans go back to the 2000rpm mark. Weird stuff.

From my own observations on the Retina`s fan rpm`s the left fan run 8% faster than the right throughout the rpm range, with a typical idle speed of 2167 & 2000 rpm, increasing cooling to the GPU.

 

[LostSoul80]

does the program take effect after a couple of seconds or should it start right away? When i activate mine (newest release) it takes sometimes about 5 clicks back and forth from reset to set for it to finally activate. Also when its active, my left fan spins 100 rpm's faster than my right one. Once its turned off all the fans go back to the 2000rpm mark. Weird stuff.

When you click "Set", UltraFan sets the target. Depending on the context, fans can take some seconds (usually between 1 and 4) to ramp up, if necessary. You really don't have to set and reset, that's just plain useless. Just wait up to some seconds, and you'll be fine.

As for the fans, that's normal. Fans are placed in different positions, and that affects the cooling process. Sometimes they'll run at the same speed, most of the time they won't.

From my own observations on the Retina`s fan rpm`s the left fan run 8% faster than the right throughout the rpm range, with a typical idle speed of 2167 & 2000 rpm, increasing cooling to the GPU.

That's due to UltraFan's algorithm.

 

[Queen6]

That's due to UltraFan's algorithm.

I have no doubt, however this is an observation across the board without UltraFan, equally i have no complaints

 

[Joesg]

Thanks for designing such a handy app! This was the only fan control program that I could get to work with my retina mac.

 

[Cassadian]

When you click "Set", UltraFan sets the target. Depending on the context, fans can take some seconds (usually between 1 and 4) to ramp up, if necessary. You really don't have to set and reset, that's just plain useless. Just wait up to some seconds, and you'll be fine.

As for the fans, that's normal. Fans are placed in different positions, and that affects the cooling process. Sometimes they'll run at the same speed, most of the time they won't.



That's due to UltraFan's algorithm.

I'm not sure it is due to UltraFan. If you check the Fanspeed without any third party programs the right fan and left fan seem to be always differing speeds. I'm just glad Ultrafan preserved that (to an extent, it doesn't fully follow the same mechanism) as there seems to be a reason for it.

I haven't fully experienced that percentage difference on my Retina. At this current point in time both fans are at 3154 RPM +/- 3 RPM, while when the OS has control there seems to be a larger difference. Is there any explanation for this?

 

[LostSoul80]

Thanks for designing such a handy app! This was the only fan control program that I could get to work with my retina mac.

Enjoy!

Is there any explanation for this?

I can think of a series of reasons.
In most Apple laptops, components are cleverly placed, so there's no need to run the fans at different speeds. However, the left fan is usually surrounded by CPU and GPU, while the right one is near the hard drive. Apple's cooling system, which I tried to replicate as long as it's useful, seems to "prefer" the left fan.
Now, that makes sense, but don't forget that fans are not perfect. You can't expect them to run at the exact speed you want (and by exact I mean without a single RPM of difference), and the controller can't always record the real, exact ongoing RPM speed. Accuracy could be improved, but there's just no valid point in doing that.

 

[carlgo]

This is all quite awesome and interesting. Ya'll work out this stuff and I'll buy it.

My only input: I hate passwords. Hopefully not a feature of the final product.

 

[Cassadian]

How does UltraFan check for temperatures? I've been utilizing several temperature monitoring applications (just as a precaution) and am wondering: does UltraFan (when you set the Target) just average temperatures or prioritize CPU versus GPU versus Heatsinks versus Diodes versus Battery?

And this application is great, I've heard that one of the biggest dangers to hardware is drastic changes in temperature quickly and am glad that you can prevent that through UltraFan.

 

[LostSoul80]

This is all quite awesome and interesting. Ya'll work out this stuff and I'll buy it.

My only input: I hate passwords. Hopefully not a feature of the final product.

Thanks for the feedback.

How does UltraFan check for temperatures? I've been utilizing several temperature monitoring applications (just as a precaution) and am wondering: does UltraFan (when you set the Target) just average temperatures or prioritize CPU versus GPU versus Heatsinks versus Diodes versus Battery?

It really depends on the data available and on the actual hardware. CPU and GPU have higher priority, yet under some circumstances averages are kept for both internal reference and display.

And this application is great, I've heard that one of the biggest dangers to hardware is drastic changes in temperature quickly and am glad that you can prevent that through UltraFan.

That's correct. Heat plays a very important role in a computer's life.
Glad you're using UltraFan!

 

[nokian93]

Hey lostsoul heres the problem im having...am i doing something wrong? Yeah i know i kind of switched the options around kind of fast, but usually once i set it i let it sit for about 10 mins and no activation of the fans even if the target temp is way below what the current temp is. Heres a vid of my problem
http://youtu.be/7PAzsz7_47A?hd=1

 

[LostSoul80]

Hey lostsoul heres the problem im having...am i doing something wrong? Yeah i know i kind of switched the options around kind of fast, but usually once i set it i let it sit for about 10 mins and no activation of the fans even if the target temp is way below what the current temp is. Heres a vid of my problem
http://youtu.be/7PAzsz7_47A?hd=1

Hi,
Fixed it. That behaviour only happens when the unit is not Celsius degrees.
As a temporary solution, use the Celsius temperature unit. I'll release Revision 9.1 which fixes that glitch and introduces a minor core improvement.

 

[LostSoul80]

[snip]

Revision 9.1 is now available. Check it out.