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MacBook (not Pro) temps, mooing, whining

JamSandwich said:
I don't recall where I read it (probably a download site), but someone was questioning the need to enter admin access when installing CoreDuoTemp, and the insinuation seemed to be it might be spyware or in some way malicious.

Normally I don't think about such things, but then again, I don't normally download a lot of software. And I certainly don't track outgoing web traffic on my Macs the way I do on my PC desktop, which is in a perpetual state of lockdown :)

Any thoughts? I wound up downloading it from the "blog" of Jonathan Pepin, the author.
Click to expand...

I looked into this (was affected by the Leap-A virus and am very concerned), apparently, it needs the password to perform an Apple Script script. I looked in package contents and it has an apple script in there. The script can't be opened. I am now felling very questionable on the safety of this product. If anyone can help me get into the apple script to see what it needs, it would be appreciated. I don't believe it needs a script to check the temperature and CPU usage (previous widgets and such on my PB didn't need them…)

-yankeefan
 
I still would like someone who knows more than I do to comment, but from the FAQ at the author's site (obviously translated from French):

How works CoreDuoTemp ?
CoreDuoTemp include the SpeedIt framework from Increw Team, this framework allows to obtain the temperature and the frequencies of the processor

Why CoreDuoTemp demande asks my administrator password at every startup ?
CoreDuoTemp must load SpeedIt in the system components at every startup of the Mac, so administrator privileges is necessary.
Click to expand...

http://macbricol.free.fr/coreduotemp/index.php?rub=faq
 
yankeefan24 said:
I don't believe it needs a script to check the temperature and CPU usage (previous widgets and such on my PB didn't need them…)
Click to expand...
Thats because CoreDuoTemp installs a kernel extension to your computer. Thats right....remember OS 9 and all the extensions that went with virtually every application, and what a pain that was? This is similar to that in a basic way (from what i understand). I believe the password is needed to install the extension.

That said i dont like the idea of adding an extension just to check my temperatures, and i refuse to do so until a more traditional temp checking program comes along that does not install a kernel extension.
 
spaceballl said:
my macbook makes no bad noise... but it sure does get hot. But only on the bottom. The palm rest never gets hot really.
Click to expand...

Is it so hot that it's unbearable to hold on your lap?
 
Im on my second Macbook.

The first one idled mid to high 60s - but the case got so hot on the palms it was really distracting - and the top left and mid-back felt as hot as the bottom.

My second idles around 55-60, when running alot - including Parallels - will get up to about 75-80 - but drops quickly when utilization slows down (the first one took a really long time to cool down).

So Im pretty happy with the second one - but has anyone else noticed a harddrive "click" intermittently (the same noise the drive makes when parking on shutdown) - it didnt do this for the first two days - and now does (after editing in IMovie) - now does it all the time (every 20-60secs) - doesnt look good for the hd - no read or write errors or crashes yet - and SMART is still verified (for what its worth)

Did we all jump in too soon?

JM
(btw - mine makes a slight 'mooing' sound - when the fan pulses - if you can call it that and a faint whine - these dont really bother me - overheating and clicking harddrives (not seeking - but head parking) are annoying)
 
Moo.

I bought mine last week (1.83, 512MB), and it has been mooing pretty much from the get-go. If the room has any noise at all in it, I pretty much don't notice, but it turns out I spend a fair amount of time in a fairly noiseless room, and there the moo is quite noticeable. Running CoreDuoTemp, the computer on my desk in a 70F room idles at around 62C, and the fan/moo seems to start up at around 64C or when the CPU usage hits around 20%, so it happens fairly often. I'm waiting to see whether the annoyance waxes or wanes.

The heat doesn't bother me (I got used to it with my TiBook), as long as it's not damaging the computer. There is a super-faint whine that does disappear when Photobooth is launched, but that is almost indiscernible even in a silent room. The mooing, though, bugs me...

(Not to derail the thread, but the one other glitch seems to be that the mouse button sometimes crunches while clicking if you click towards one side or the other; this is quite noticeable if you click on the far right and then click on the far left. It's a sufficiently unpleasant sensation that I've turned on trackpad clicking, which I had always avoided before.)
 
I went to the compUSA tonight.. to look at the macbook a second time. I'm getting close to being able to make the purchase.. but still not quite there.

I would have bought tonight if not for two things:

1. The sales guy was a tool. I didn't want to give him the commission of the sale.

2. He told me I had to buy the applecare at the same time as the macbook, otherwise I could never get applecare. I wasn't sure if this was true or not. Anyone know?

I'll be getting the 1.83 in white... then maxing out the ram. :) Maybe tomorrow night I'll swing by apple cinci.
 
should i return as well?

I just recieved my Macbook today. Beautiful machine -- but it does moo and it is warm, warm enough to be concerned. I bought the base model with a hd and ram upgrade. Is everyone returning theirs? Can i send it into Apple to get it fixed?
 
clang clang clang went the trolley...

Is it just me, or is the slot-loading optical drive a rather noisy apparatus? My MacBook was first noticed "mooing" after i had it running about an hour or so out of the box...hadn't noticed the heat until i used it for a while this first night. My ibook G3 was rather warm, too, though, so I'm not sure if I should worry about this hot potato...:confused:

When i popped the RAM modules out, one of the levers(closest to the HD) did not spring back like the first...although I did manage to get both modules successfully popped out and the new ones in. The metal bracket was difficult to get back into place because the insulating foam mesh would not fit back over the new modules, and the screws would not cooperate very well either, although they did remain in the bracket after i removed it. Not sure if they are designed that way or if i just got lucky. Either way, much easier to upgrade than my G3 ibook.
 
I don't mean to poke fun at you guys but, my ancient prehistoric G4 is as cool as a cucumber and as quiet as a church mouse with its lips glued shut. :p

Ok, so maybe I did mean to poke some fun. :D
 
yankeefan24 said:
I looked into this (was affected by the Leap-A virus and am very concerned), apparently, it needs the password to perform an Apple Script script. I looked in package contents and it has an apple script in there. The script can't be opened. I am now felling very questionable on the safety of this product. If anyone can help me get into the apple script to see what it needs, it would be appreciated. I don't believe it needs a script to check the temperature and CPU usage (previous widgets and such on my PB didn't need them…)

-yankeefan
Click to expand...
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/osxleapa.html
 
bankshot said:
Moo: Huh? Nothing of the sort, as far as I can tell. Is this some sort of fan noise gone horribly wrong? The fan comes on when the machine is working hard, but it's actually quieter than the fans on either the PowerBook or the iBook. Sounds like a normal fan to me.
Click to expand...

The mooing is the fan switching on and off every few seconds, therefore simulating a mooing cow. It seems that the temperature at which the fan goes on and the temperature at which it goes off are the same rather than being spaced a few degrees apart, so if the computer is doing something that happens to hold it at about that temperature, it will "moo".
 
what are the contemporary tricks to silencing the noises?...the whine in particular. I used to use the mirror widget, but it does not seem to work since I updated the keyboard driver from software update.

any way to turn back the driver to the previous version? thanks!:rolleyes:
 
indigoflowAS said:
what are the contemporary tricks to silencing the noises?...the whine in particular. I used to use the mirror widget, but it does not seem to work since I updated the keyboard driver from software update.
Click to expand...

quietMBP will work. But it uses CPU, so it will reduce battery run time somewhat. This assumes we're talking about the very soft noise that I call a hissing. There was also a whine due to a bad inverter. That's bad hardware, and Apple will fix it.
 
Got my (white 2.0GHz) MacBook yesterday (CTO, Week 20). No whine yet that I can hear (one too many rock concerts might have something to do with that). I do hear the "mooing" -- my wife's HP notebook (with a 3GHz Pentium 4) does the *exact* same thing, except the HP is much louder.

CoreDuoTemp reports an idle of around 50C, and it'll get up to 78C with 100% CPU usage (with the fans running flat out). The bottom left does get rather toasty, but I set it on an old cutting board and it was fine for laptop use. It's probably not a good idea to set it directly on a soft surface, anyway, since the vents might get blocked up.
 
hedrick said:
quietMBP will work. But it uses CPU, so it will reduce battery run time somewhat. This assumes we're talking about the very soft noise that I call a hissing. There was also a whine due to a bad inverter. That's bad hardware, and Apple will fix it.
Click to expand...
yes, it is that abnoxious scratchy hiss...definitely software based because until recently it could be suppressed. I really would enjoy reverting to the earlier keyboard driver if possible.
 
wpwj40e said:
Bought the white low end MacBook for my 17 yr old son Weds.

Took it back this morning. The laptop itself was great. No weird noises and keyboard/screen etc were really nice. However it go so hot that you literally could not touch the bottom. Holding it on your lap was completely out of the question and it was so hot it left "marks" on one of my end tables.

We checked out two others while at the Apple store this morning and they were just as hot. (Both white BTW)

We were 1 of 3 people at the genius bar complaining about heat from the MacBook. When it came to our turn (we were the 2nd "heat complaint") and had been waiting about an hour. We also had the MB plugged in and ready to go - the genius picked it and stated that it was "defective" immediately by just how hot it was when he grabbed it. No further conversation etc. Told us he would exchange it and then I pointed out the others there for the same reason and the issues with the ones on the floor. Went over to the "display" I had pointed our - genius picked it up and made some "noise" regarding that it was pretty hot. ANyways...ended up with just getting a refund. No real hassle and no restocking fee as they could not find a SINGLE MB on the floor that wasn't running extremely hot. I might add the other two folks also got refunds.

So maybe there are some bad batches out there.

This really stinks - 'cause my son really, really wanted an Apple laptop and I was planning on picking up one as well to go with my iMac. We have decided to wait a few months to see if this gets sorted out. At least until August.

I wanted to LOVE this new laptop and except for the heat issue it was great. And it even played (while dialed down) many of the games my son plays and he was pleased as punch.

Hope Apple sorts this out. It took many revs of my iMac to get it right. Not gonna go through this again. This time gonna wait it out.
Click to expand...

I think that kind of sums up the situation pretty well. I always wonder if it's not that peoples laptops actually are any different, it's just people have different levels of tollerance when it comes to heat/sounds. Dissapointing to say the least as I was hoping to order one of these shortly :(.
 
Idles at 50*C? That's madness!!! My dual core Presler (Pentium D 9xx) aka one of the hottest processors out there idles at 38*C (granted there's a massive heatsink on it) and under load gets to around 60*C tops. But still.. for the Core Duo that's total crap.
 
how long for Rev B

My girlfriend really wants to dump her ancient Thinkpad and pick up a MacBook. With all these stories, I'd rather tell her to wait until Rev B, but does anyone have any idea how long that usually takes? She's only going to be in the states until sometime in July, then Bejing until August...should she wait til August? Is there a good chance for a Rev B MacBook and back-to-school special?

sps
 
buckuxc said:
My girlfriend really wants to dump her ancient Thinkpad and pick up a MacBook. With all these stories, I'd rather tell her to wait until Rev B, but does anyone have any idea how long that usually takes?
Click to expand...
Go ahead and get one now, thats my opinion. That way she cant test it out before she leaves, and get any necessary repairs done if needed. Either way get her to buy Apple Care before the first year is over so that any future problems will be covered.
The MB is the best computer buy i have ever made. The power of a Dual 2GHz G5, but in a laptop. That makes me smile!:D
 
stefan15 said:
Idles at 50*C? That's madness!!! My dual core Presler (Pentium D 9xx) aka one of the hottest processors out there idles at 38*C (granted there's a massive heatsink on it) and under load gets to around 60*C tops. But still.. for the Core Duo that's total crap.
Click to expand...

Then I guess everyone with MBs and MBPs that idle at 65C are *really* screwed. ( http://www.intelmactemp.com )

And you seem to have a very cool Presler. ( http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20692 )

From reading around, it seems that 40-50C is considered a fairly normal idle for the Core Duo, at least in notebook applications (that's about what the Thinkpad T60 runs, apparently). It's rated to 100C, while the Presler tops out around 70C, I think. The (in)famous thermal paste swap took idle temp for most users into the mid-40s, so 50 doesn't seem terribly out of line.
 
Just a couple of data points for comparison.

I have had a Macbook for one day now. I'm currently calibrating the battery, so I have wifi and bluetooth on, screen at maximum brightness and I'm running a DVD.

The DVD has been running for an hour and the time left on the battery is apparently 1:20 (I guess that's not accurate until it's calibrated).

The laptop is quite warm on the left underside and along the top between the function keys and the screen, but not excessively so, ie. it's bearable to the touch (as a comparison, my Dell D810 laptop is unbearably hot on the underside). I would compare the MB to a hot but not boiling cup of coffee. The wrist area is very cool, barely above the ambient temperature.

CoreDuoTemp shows the CPU temperature to be 60˚C while playing the DVD. In comparison, my Core Duo iMac is currently at 30˚C. Edit: playing a DVD is not a particular CPU intensive task.

There is no whining or mooing from the laptop, but while charging the battery yesterday there was a whine from the power supply. But this stopped once the laptop was fully charged and I haven't heard it since. The whine was similar in tone to one I hear from the Dell and from a Thinkpad I had previously. It's louder though, ie. I could hear it from about four feet away, while I can hear the whine from the Dell only if I lean close to it. And since it's from the power supply only while charging, I can live with it.

Edit: as for construction, it appears to have been put together well, nothing is out of line. No gaps. Now, the battery life is 1:01 after 1:25 minutes of DVD+wifi+BT+max screen brightness.
 
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