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MacBook and FireWire Audio issues.

R

rainydays

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 6, 2006
886
0
I've been having a lot of problems with heat in relation to my firewire audio interface on my MacBook.

Initially I thought it was my external monitor that was the main problem. Well, it does add some heat. The temperature raises about 5-6 degrees celcius and the fan speeds up to 2400rpm when idling. This I can live with.

However, when connecting my firewire audio interface the heat and fan speed becomes unacceptable. The heat raises about 10 degrees, and the fan speeds up to about 5500rpm. After about half an hour of regular use, like browsing, the temperature goes up even more (as expected) and the fan starts blowing at full speed. And this by just browsing the web.

At first I thought it was a driver issue since it's a known problem that the firewire audio driver in Mac OS X uses an unreasonable amount of CPU and causes CPU spikes. This would explain the heat issues I though and traded my Presonus Firebox for a Focusrite Saffire LE which has a fixed drived.
Well, the driver issue seems to be cured, now using about 4% of the CPU. However, the heat issue is just as bad as before.

I'm sure there are other MacBook owners with firewire audio interfaces here. Do any of you have any heat problems? if not, which interfaces are you using?

I'd like to know if my macbook is faulty somehow. Everything is working really well except for the heat/fan issue.
And it is a real issue. I cannot stand they whiny fan. It even cuts through music.

I thought I would be able to use the MacBook as a desktop computer, but it seems that I will have to get an iMac after all.
 
I've got the same problem

rainydays said:
I've been having a lot of problems with heat in relation to my firewire audio interface on my MacBook.

Initially I thought it was my external monitor that was the main problem. Well, it does add some heat. The temperature raises about 5-6 degrees celcius and the fan speeds up to 2400rpm when idling. This I can live with.

However, when connecting my firewire audio interface the heat and fan speed becomes unacceptable. The heat raises about 10 degrees, and the fan speeds up to about 5500rpm. After about half an hour of regular use, like browsing, the temperature goes up even more (as expected) and the fan starts blowing at full speed. And this by just browsing the web.

At first I thought it was a driver issue since it's a known problem that the firewire audio driver in Mac OS X uses an unreasonable amount of CPU and causes CPU spikes. This would explain the heat issues I though and traded my Presonus Firebox for a Focusrite Saffire LE which has a fixed drived.
Well, the driver issue seems to be cured, now using about 4% of the CPU. However, the heat issue is just as bad as before.

I'm sure there are other MacBook owners with firewire audio interfaces here. Do any of you have any heat problems? if not, which interfaces are you using?

I'd like to know if my macbook is faulty somehow. Everything is working really well except for the heat/fan issue.
And it is a real issue. I cannot stand they whiny fan. It even cuts through music.

I thought I would be able to use the MacBook as a desktop computer, but it seems that I will have to get an iMac after all.
Click to expand...

I've got the same problem. I sent in the FireWire audio interface for a check, but they didn't find any problems with it. I more and more think it's something wrong with my macbook. Too bad it's not covered by any isurance or warranty. ****... Everything worked just fine until this winter.
 
Over at www.gearspace.com there are a bunch of threads on this. Apple went with the cheaper Agre firewire chipsets on the MBP's and is causing quite a stir. The Apogee Symphony Mobile is the real deal though. You ought to check it out. It's amazing.
 
Just a heads up:

My new MBP 2.5 has a TI firewire chip. I've seen a couple of other new owners also with TI chips. I know this doesn't help your situation, but if you were considering upgrading then this is a good reason to. The Agere chips caused a huge problem for audio people. It's good to know that Apple switched back. I am planning to get an RME Fireface 800, and I was holding back until I could check my new machine.
 
I have firewire noise too

Hello I have the same problem.
When i playback music in logic using internal audiodevice, there is considerable low temperature on cpu though logic reveals high cpu-load. As soon as I connect the firewire device (RME fireface 400) the cpu load falls, but the temperature rises and the fan becomes very noticable. As soon as I unplug the ff400 the temperature falls again.
I have not tried with other audio devices.
 
noise and firewire issue SOLVED

With the danger of being mistaken for an advertiser from the company, I will mention a 10$ program that SOLVED so much called coolbook (while testing states and voltages it can restart a couple of times; not because of overload but because of "under"load). I have teted my new confThis makes batterylife longer and the book a lot cooler(in some cases 15celsius), and therefore much more quiet. The program is only really usable if you register. I underline: I am no advertiser, but I just solved a lot of problems with this programs and it works so well.
 
I have the same problem with my Macbook, a late 2006 model. Happens with both Apogee Duet and Presonus Firebox. Has anyone resolved this issue?
 
crazycarl said:
I have the same problem with my Macbook, a late 2006 model. Happens with both Apogee Duet and Presonus Firebox. Has anyone resolved this issue?
Click to expand...

I believe the new Penryn's have TI chipsets so you should be OK...I think.
 
tremendous said:
reboot and hold down s as the computer starts. this puts it in single user mode and will display a bunch of text. half way(ish) down it will tell you what chipset it uses.
Click to expand...

1) No HOLD COMMAND+S when restarting.

2) I checked and I have the TI chipset and my Audio interface works fine but I still get high fan speeds when it's connected. Any info about this issue?
 
I too have the TI chipset and whenever I connect my m-audio Firewire 410, the fanspeed goes 6000 rpm within few minutes and stays there...

So over the course of the last 1.5 years :) has anyone managed to find a solution besides throw the old MBP out and buy a new one? (not currently a viable option for me)
 
I hope everyone suffering from this issue has filed a bug report at bugreport.apple.com. It's definitely not acceptable for fan speeds to rise so drastically by merely plugging in an audio interface.
 
same fan problem here

I recently purchased an apogee duet and I have the same fan noise problem whenever I plug in the duet. The fan stays on high and makes too much noise that is picked when I record. My fan comes on often when using safari and garageband w/ the internal mic.

I haven't yet seen any remedies for this yet. Coolbook seems like an option but there must be another way without having to resort to that. I have contacted apogee and will hear back soon. Next is to contact apple. I am sure they must know about this by now.

If anybody has a solution please post it. Thanks
 
JosephB said:
I recently purchased an apogee duet and I have the same fan noise problem whenever I plug in the duet. The fan stays on high and makes too much noise that is picked when I record. My fan comes on often when using safari and garageband w/ the internal mic.

I haven't yet seen any remedies for this yet. Coolbook seems like an option but there must be another way without having to resort to that. I have contacted apogee and will hear back soon. Next is to contact apple. I am sure they must know about this by now.

If anybody has a solution please post it. Thanks
Click to expand...

Dang, that's annoying. I'm also running an Apogee Duet into a 2010 MPB. CPU temp usually rises to about 71˚C during tracking (DP7) but I've seldom seen the fans hit even the 3000rpm mark. From a hardware standpoint, this computer feels pretty solid so far (knock on wood).
 
JosephB said:
I recently purchased an apogee duet and I have the same fan noise problem whenever I plug in the duet. The fan stays on high and makes too much noise that is picked when I record. My fan comes on often when using safari and garageband w/ the internal mic.

I haven't yet seen any remedies for this yet. Coolbook seems like an option but there must be another way without having to resort to that. I have contacted apogee and will hear back soon. Next is to contact apple. I am sure they must know about this by now.

If anybody has a solution please post it. Thanks
Click to expand...

Here is what I heard from Apogee support:

"We've only encountered this issue rarely and seems to have begun with the Leopard OS on certain MacBooks. Unfortunately there isn't anything we can suggest, since the issue can occur with other bus powered Firewire peripherals besides Apogee."
 
I have same problem with my macbook pro late 2008 with KORG ZERO8 firewire interface. It seems not fixed even latest Mountain Lion.

I've reported it Apple. I think Apple will fix if may peoples report.
 
kyab212 said:
I have same problem with my macbook pro late 2008 with KORG ZERO8 firewire interface. It seems not fixed even latest Mountain Lion.

I've reported it Apple. I think Apple will fix if may peoples report.
Click to expand...

If it's a chipset or hardware problem, there is nothing for Apple to fix.
 
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