MP 6,1 Fan is spinning but SMC reports 0 RPM (2667v2)

[crystalidea]

Hi all,

After successful (?) CPU upgrade to 2667v2, the fan is spinning fine at min rpm, but SMC reports 0 RPM.
Also can't control the fan manually. Wifi/BT are working fine. Tried re-connecting the fan multiple times, cleaned the connector, no success.
Reset SMC/NVRAM - no success.

Can anyone please help? Does anyone have this CPU installed?
Thanks.

Update: solved, probably bad connections with interconnect board.

 

[crystalidea]

please, does anyone have 2667 v2?

 

[tpivette89]

There are a few people here who installed this CPU (haven't heard much about it on these forums lately, though). Have you tried deleting the fan control software and re-downloading it/re-installing it?

I have never heard of this issue in a 6,1 before... I know it's a lot of work, but if removing and re-installing the software doesn't work, maybe try putting the old CPU back in place and see what happens?

Did a quick search, and at the end of this post a member mentions upgrading to the 2667 and using Macs Fan Control. Didn't report about any issues. I don't think it's the CPU that's causing your problems. Something else is going on here...

Thinking about upgrading processor in my 6,1

Two idle VMware VMs would be virtually no load. Two busy VMs would be a different story. What does OSX report for CPU load?

forums.macrumors.com

 

[crystalidea]

@tpivette89
Thanks a lot for the reply! Reinstalling the app as well as macOS didn't help.

Indeed, in the mentioned thread @sbarton reports that our app gives legit numbers for 2667 v2. Probably that did change with firmware upgrades since 2018? Well, I have 2 options

- try putting the old CPU back in place and see what happens
- buy a new fan assembly (around 100$) and see what happens.

I have to start with the some option... or maybe someone can show me a screenshot with legit RPM for 2667v2?

PS. Basically the cooling system of 6,1 is so good that fan spinning at min rpm is enough for CPU but can't be enough for GPUs under load I believe.

 

[Snow Tiger]

@tpivette89
Thanks a lot for the reply! Reinstalling the app as well as macOS didn't help.

Indeed, in the mentioned thread @sbarton reports that our app gives legit numbers for 2667 v2. Probably that did change with firmware upgrades since 2018? Well, I have 2 options

- try putting the old CPU back in place and see what happens
- buy a new fan assembly (around 100$) and see what happens.

I have to start with the some option... or maybe someone can show me a screenshot with legit RPM for 2667v2?

PS. Basically the cooling system of 6,1 is so good that fan spinning at min rpm is enough for CPU but can't be enough for GPUs under load I believe.

Well , your E5-2667 v2 processor upgrade is OWC qualified , so they successfully installed and tested it .

Have you tried placing your Mac at load in order to spin up your system fan ? You should be able to hear the difference in RPM .

There is another sensor utility called Hardware Monitor by Bresink .

Hardware Monitor: Description

Product description for Hardware Monitor

www.bresink.com

Your MP6,1 ( 2013 ) is supported and the latest version of the utility can be run with the following macOSes :

OS X Yosemite 10.10
OS X El Capitan 10.11
macOS Sierra 10.12

This would be just to verify your fan is working properly . The factory SMC should properly spin up the fan under any OS supported by Apple with this model ( 10.9.2 - 10.11.2 factory installed OS ) to 10.15.x .

 

[tpivette89]

I would be wary of testing my Mac under load with his current conditions (fan only spinning at idle speed)... I would maybe justify using Geekbench, which is a relatively quick test and probably won't hurt anything. If you couldn't hear the fans spin up at all during that test, then I would start to look more into hardware problems than an issue with Macs Fan Control.

It seems weird that its reporting absolutely NO rpm even though it's clearly spinning at idle. Alas, I don't have a 6,1 to do my own testing into this matter, so I cannot accurately give my opinion of what to do.

EDIT: I just purchased a 6,1... so in about a week or so, I will be able to confirm or deny whether or not the upgrade to the e5-2667 V2 CPU affects the operation of Macs Fan Control.

 

[Snow Tiger]

I would be wary of testing my Mac under load with his current conditions (fan only spinning at idle speed)... I would maybe justify using Geekbench, which is a relatively quick test and probably won't hurt anything. If you couldn't hear the fans spin up at all during that test, then I would start to look more into hardware problems than an issue with Macs Fan Control.

It seems weird that its reporting absolutely NO rpm even though it's clearly spinning at idle. Alas, I don't have a 6,1 to do my own testing into this matter, so I cannot accurately give my opinion of what to do.

From experience , when Hardware Monitor reports a system fan at 0 RPM , then it really has failed . That's why I am interested in him installing that utility and testing his Mac with it . It's a really nice program and I've used it to build many a Mac from scratch .

He's currently using the sensor report in Macs Fan Control , which is clearly failing to do its job . it's overriding factory SMC right now ( look at his settings - it's at auto and the fan is spinning but the utility is reporting a 0 RPM situation ( which is impossible ) .

If he's worried about running a load test , then uninstall and delete Macs Fan Control , run Hardware Monitor and see what speed it reports his system fan is running at . If it gives a positive RPM , then perform a load test .

There is the possibility his fan is experiencing wildly fluctuating rotationals and is in the process of failing , now that I think about it deeper . That would confuse the sensor and it might report a 0 RPM . This has happened to me maybe three times in 15 years . But I was not using MFC for the sensor report - I was using HM .

 

[crystalidea]

Thanks everyone for the input.

- It doesn't matter which app you use. SMC reports 0 rpm in every app, in every macOS version and even in Windows (our app has Boot Camp compatible port). GeekBench doesn't push the CPU hard enough to notice any additional noise. From my experience, in most cases 0 rpm means bad fan connection or fan failure, but I checked the connector maybe 10 times.

- I don't claim that 2667v2 is not compatible (yet). But OWC is not Apple, their "qualification" may not include extensive testing and reading of SMC. Most user wouldn't notice anything wrong unless running some app to read fan rpm. Frankly I do want to believe that this CPU is compatible, it would be easier to just replace the fan. Excluding CPU issue would narrow my options so I'm looking forward to tpivette89 findings! Thanks!

I just purchased a 6,1... so in about a week or so, I will be able to confirm or deny whether or not the upgrade to the e5-2667 V2 CPU affects the operation of Macs Fan Control.

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PS. GeekBench 5.1
- Stock E5-1650 v2 6-Core 869/5048
- E5-2667 v2 8-Core 906/6510. Roughly +4% single and 29% multi

 

[crystalidea]

More info: 2667v2 reaches 80C after 10min Handbrake encoding and the fan is still rotating at min speed. firmware version: 133.0.0.0.0

 

[th0masp]

Wait - that is the 8-core, the one everyone is recommending as the sweet spot aftermarket upgrade, right? There should definitely be some people in this forum able to test this. Why not search through the older threads for owners of it and contact them directly?

Great app of yours btw - I'm using it to keep my own 6,1 running smoothly (but only have the standard 6-core).

 

[crystalidea]

Wait - that is the 8-core, the one everyone is recommending as the sweet spot aftermarket upgrade, right? There should definitely be some people in this forum able to test this. Why not search through the older threads for owners of it and contact them directly?

Great app of yours btw - I'm using it to keep my own 6,1 running smoothly (but only have the standard 6-core).

Thanks! Yep, I also wanted this "sweet" spot found 3 people here but noone answered yet, unfortunately.

Will run the Apple Service Diagnostics soon.

 

[th0masp]

Will be interesting to see how it all works out, I'll keep my eyes on this thread for sure.

Btw. there seems to be a new firmware available, perhaps a remedy for this issue you're experiencing?

 

[tpivette89]

Got my 6,1 today... upgraded the bootrom and OS to the latest version (I'm not on the beta program... so bootrom 133) and so far everything works great with Macs Fan Control and the stock quad-core CPU (E5-1620 V2). It will be about a week or so before my 2667 CPU arrives from China. Sorry for the delay.

 

[crystalidea]

Thanks a lot, looking forward to!

 

[crystalidea]

One forum member informed me in PM that his 2667v2 works fine and SMC reports correct speed, looking forward to tpivette89 to confirm that.

 

[tpivette89]

I have a feeling your issue is probably hardware related... just double checking, but you're running the latest version of Catalina, correct? Just want to make sure our tests are comparable when my CPU arrives (Ebay says it's guaranteed on or before Jan 25th).

 

[crystalidea]

Just ran the Apple Service Diagnostics, bad(?) news: 2 failures, one for voltage sensor and the second for the fan.

 

[Snow Tiger]

Just ran the Apple Service Diagnostics, bad(?) news: 2 failures, one for voltage sensor and the second for the fan.

You'll probably get these results also with your factory installed processor ... time to swap out that fan .

It's a pretty rare event with used Apple workstations , but it does happen . Most system fan failures happen within one week of the workstation being brand new , once they are deployed . Apple's flagship computers have really nice system fans made by Delta , etc .

Your upgrade processor seems not to be causing the issue . Maybe some accidental damage happened during installation ?

 

[crystalidea]

Your upgrade processor seems to not to be causing the issue . Maybe some accidental damage happened during installation ?

What I did is just disconnected the fan assembly and reconnected it back. Looks like a have no other option than to order another fan assembly from ebay (it comes without airport/bt cards)

 

[crystalidea]

ok, time for surprising news. I got another MacPro6,1 (4-core base model), verified its fan is working 100% fine and swapped 2 fan assemblies.

Results:

My 8 core with a new fan - same problem
New 4 core with an old fan - fan working great

 

[Snow Tiger]

ok, time for surprising news. I got another MacPro6,1 (4-core base model), verified its fan is working 100% fine and swapped 2 fan assemblies.

Results:

My 8 core with a new fan - same problem
New 4 core with an old fan - fan working great

failed I/O board ?

 

[tpivette89]

That is extremely weird... maybe the cable is bad? Don't know if the cable is integrated into the fan assembly, or a separate piece, as I have yet to take apart a 6,1.

Sorry I haven't updated with my own install as of yet. I received the CPU on Wednesday, but have been getting a ton of OT at work and simply haven't had time to do the processor swap. I will finally have enough downtime tomorrow afternoon to do the install. Will post the results of my 2667 replacement tomorrow night.

 

[crystalidea]

tpivette89
Thanks I'm waiting for the results. The cable is integrated into the fan assembly so it's NOT the cable.
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failed I/O board ?

Once I know it's not CPU, I'll swap the board.

 

[tpivette89]

OK... finally got the CPU installed. Sidenote: after taking it apart, I can say... regardless of what the masses say, this computer is an engineering marvel!

Anyway, after installing the E5-2667 V2, everything functions as normal. MacsFanControl still recognizes and adjust fan speed as needed. Ran a Geekbench 5 test, and fan speed ramped up to about 1100rpm during the end of the test. Here are some screenshots:



And the Geekbench results:



So close to 900 single core! Will try a few more times to get the magic number.

Overall, My findings confirm that this CPU works with both MacOS and MacsFanControl. Sorry, crystalidea... seems you may be having other issues unrelated to the CPU.

EDIT: Wow... my multi-core score is WAY behind yours. How much RAM are you running?

Ah, I see... looks like for some reason, one of my RAM sticks isn't being recognized. Have to re-seat and re-test.

EDIT part 2: Damn... re-seated and registered as 16gb... but scores still don't come close to yours. Single is 898 and multi is 6105. What's your secret for the extra 400 points in multi-core?

 

[crystalidea]

@tpivette89

I swapped the I/O board between 2 computers and both fans work fine. I'm 99% sure that was a bad connection with the interconnect board. Now all good, thanks!

Regarding the GeekBench scores, I consistently have 900/6500, 64GB of RAM
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fan speed ramped up to about 1100rpm during the end of the test

My fan is always at min rpm during GeekBench. Actually, it starts to speed up only after ~15 minutes of Handbrake encoding when CPU temp is 70C+
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