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Macbook Fan won't shut off

PecanEater

PecanEater

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 11, 2007
283
0
I have a 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook (Black). Unfortunately the fan is always running while the machine is operating. I know there have been some heat issues with these computers and I found a post suggesting that Apple's fix was to alter the software to keep the fan on all the time. Is this accurate? Is there anything I can do to get the fan to shut off? Its driving me crazy! Help! :eek:
 
Virtually all laptops have at least one fan on, at a low speed, all the time. Do you mean the fan is on, which would be perfectly normal, or do you mean the fan is on at full blast all the time?

By the way, the hard-drive spinning, which is also constant, sounds nearly exactly like a fan too.
 
Its going full bore!

I actually have two of the same computer b/c I just got the exact same computer from my job. The one I have from work is very quite but the older one is always making noise. Maybe its the hard drive? How can I tell the difference? Why would the hard drive always be spinning?
 
Its the fan...

So I just installed Fan Control 1.1. The fan on the offending computer is running at 6000rpm and the temp is 83C. In contrast the other computer (same exact model) is 1600rpm and 50C. WTF?
 
Does the Mac feel that much hotter than its counterpart? You might have a dodgy internal thermometer or perhaps it's genuinely having heat issues.
 
PecanEater said:
So I just installed Fan Control 1.1. The fan on the offending computer is running at 6000rpm and the temp is 83C. In contrast the other computer (same exact model) is 1600rpm and 50C. WTF?
Click to expand...

I've got a MacBook too, I loaded a widget AirTrafficControl I think the other day and it sent my fan ***** mental until I deleted it. Have you got any widgets that show as hogging the CPU and/or memory in Activity Monitor?
 
It's definitely much hotter

Based on what I read I assumed that the temp was just the normal "hot" temp that everyone was remarking about. But, now that I've got this new computer its clearly not the same. I think there's a heat issue. The problematic computer was purchased in Nov '06 (first gen) where as the newer one was recently purchased. Perhaps the issue was resolved. Is this a warranty issue?
 
50% CPU Usage at baseline!

OK, something is very wrong. Activity monitor is showing 50% User CPU usage when nothing is running. By way of comparison, the other computer is only showing 2%.
 
But what process?

The weird thing is no process is registering as using that much CPU power. If I sort by %CPU, Activity Monitor is the highest with 0.7%? Where is the CPU usage coming from?
 
It could be covered by warranty, but we don't really know what it is yet... Follow the finely-sculpted mpw's advice and check Activity Monitor to see what the rogue process is that's using a lot of your CPU cycles. Make sure you're looking at All Processes, not the default My Processes. What apps do you have running on the hot machine?
 
OK now were getting somewhere...

Thanks, I was looking at "My Processes". So the culprit is PrintJobMgr. User is "lp"?
 
Woah, slow down there mate. Okay, do you have any fax software installed? I know there was a bug a while ago with PageSender and HP printers. Do you have a printer plugged in? Do you have printer-related apps running? :)
 
Canon MP830 and software

I use a Canon Pixma MP830 multifunctional printer/scanner/fax. No software or print jobs are running that I can see but I definitely have drivers and software installed. The program the printer/scanner uses is called MP Navigator 2.2
 
Well, get all the latest software. It's up to version 2.2.2 for Navigator. Download all the latest version for Mac OSX on that page, not just Navigator. :)


Here, I made some pecan pie for you while you wait...


250px-Pecan_pie_slice.jpg
 
I killed the process

Now the CPU usage is down to base line and the temp is dropping rapidly. The question is how does this get turned on and why won't it shut off? I'm thinking I should reinstall all current drivers and software from Canon and then pay attention to see if it doesn't shut off when I finish using it. Comments/suggestions?
 
Peace!

Wow! Its so nice not to listen to that fan spin. I bet that process has been running for 6 months! Its a miracle the computer didn't burn up. Thanks for the help. That "All Processes" tip saved me. I'll post an update if things are fixed. I'm buying beers next time I'm in Adelaide!
 
same problem

I had the exact same problem, turned off print job manager, and all better now.
 
I've had the same symptoms for months now...and have been searching for a solution since it started. I won a PC laptop :eek: earlier this year and have even had to move over to using that as my main one on a daily basis even though I hate it. :(

Its not the print manager thing for me alas - wish it were that easy - main CPU process is Firefox at about 5.60 %CPU - fans are running full pelt 95% of the time - running now temp is 59˚c - fan speed currently as I type 6196 and increasing..... :(
 
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