Today I connected my Mackie Onyx Satellite Firewire audio interface to my 2.4 Ghz 13" Macbook Pro for the first time. After it had been running for a while, I looked at iStat Pro, and it reported a CPU temperature of 67C, which is about 15 to 25 degrees hotter than this machine usually idles. Now I've looked around a little bit and found that it's a known issue and associated with the Agere Firewire chipsets. Is there any solution for this? Does it make a difference if you use a daisy chain setup with an external hard drive in between the computer and the audio interface, or a repeater cable, or anything of that nature?
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Plugging in external Firewire audio interface raises temps in 2010 13" MBP
- Thread starter Whoopysnorp
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miles01110
macrumors Core
I'd imagine nobody knows because it's more or less a specialty piece of hardware.
Seems like you could try this yourself?
Seems like you could try this yourself?
I'm not suggesting this problem relates to this specific Firewire interface, but any Firewire audio interface. I wouldn't call that a specialty piece of hardware. I will be attempting to solve this using an external hard drive as soon as I have one available to test, but at the moment I don't. I figured somebody here might be able to provide some useful information.
I use a Tascam FireOne firewire interface on my 2009 15" macbook pro (9400m). The computer gets pretty damn hot when I use it.
I really wouldn't worry about it...I really doubt apple would mass produce a pro grade notebook that can't handle a firewire audio interface. The people on this forum with all of their cooling gear and heat tracking nonsense are just way overboard.
If your computer ever REALLY got too hot, the security measures placed on the processor would shut it down. I highly doubt that will ever happen, but even if it did your computer would be fine.
I really wouldn't worry about it...I really doubt apple would mass produce a pro grade notebook that can't handle a firewire audio interface. The people on this forum with all of their cooling gear and heat tracking nonsense are just way overboard.
If your computer ever REALLY got too hot, the security measures placed on the processor would shut it down. I highly doubt that will ever happen, but even if it did your computer would be fine.
Considering that this is supposed to be a premium, professional machine, I don't really think that's an acceptable solution...if I am trying to play back a multitrack session full of effects plugins and virtual instruments that I know are going to be taxing the CPU anyway, I am uncomfortable with the prospect of the CPU being hotter than it should be (by a wide margin, I might add) to begin with. It's no comfort to me if it automatically shuts down--I need it to do what I asked it to do, not freak out and shut down. I switched from PC to Mac because I prefer OSX to Windows and the systems seem to be built nicely in general, but on the other hand, my Dell Inspiron's temperature didn't increase by 20 degrees simply from having a Firewire interface plugged into it. If I'm not able to work around the issue by putting a hard drive between the computer and the audio device, my enthusiasm for my new Macbook Pro is going to be severely shaken. I should know more within a few days.
...then get a pc.
My point was, your computer is acting normally. I experience the same heat. My computer is fine and so is our studio Mac, and my friends MBP with a firewire interface....and they all get hot. Computers get hot when you push them, I'm sure you know this.
My point was, your computer is acting normally. I experience the same heat. My computer is fine and so is our studio Mac, and my friends MBP with a firewire interface....and they all get hot. Computers get hot when you push them, I'm sure you know this.
Having a Firewire interface connected to a computer does not constitute 'pushing' it by any stretch of the imagination. I might add that in spite of the temperature rise, the reported CPU usage is hovering around 2-3%, like you'd expect. It's not an issue of the processor heating up due to usage. I wonder if it might have something to do with supplying power through the bus? I could see that. I love my Macbook Pro in most respects so far, but if I don't find a way around this, it's a serious flaw.
same problem here
i am having the exact same problem. just got my machine about a week ago. i get a very high pitched noise when running audio through firewire (motu ultralite interface). the area around the power supply/ports gets extremely hot as well.
i'm not doing anything that is taxing the CPU. something as simple as playing a single file in itunes triggers the heatup/noise and, within a few seconds, the fan. if i stop the playback, the noise and fan both stop within 10 seconds.
if i disconnect my interface and play a song in itunes through the factory speakers, no noise problem, no heatup.
heading to the apple store tomorrow. i just ran a the extended hardware diagnostic test. nothing turned up there. not sure how much more i can hope for at the store.
i am having the exact same problem. just got my machine about a week ago. i get a very high pitched noise when running audio through firewire (motu ultralite interface). the area around the power supply/ports gets extremely hot as well.
i'm not doing anything that is taxing the CPU. something as simple as playing a single file in itunes triggers the heatup/noise and, within a few seconds, the fan. if i stop the playback, the noise and fan both stop within 10 seconds.
if i disconnect my interface and play a song in itunes through the factory speakers, no noise problem, no heatup.
heading to the apple store tomorrow. i just ran a the extended hardware diagnostic test. nothing turned up there. not sure how much more i can hope for at the store.
I just hooked up my firewire interface to my i7 MBP and I noticed a rise in temperature as well. However, I also have the MBP hooked up to an external display, so that could be part of the issue as well.
My CPU is at 70 degrees. It's normally around 40 or so when idle.
My CPU is at 70 degrees. It's normally around 40 or so when idle.
i am also using an external display, but the problem still occurs when i disconnect the display (after letting things cool down).
Why exactly is it a problem? I don't use the laptop on my lap when I have the firewire interface connected.
just seems unusual that my computer gets very hot when playing a single audio file over firewire, but stays cool when playing it without the interface connected.
i'm mostly concerned that i am damaging/reducing the lifespan of my machine.
plus, i do a lot of recording, and the high pitched noise coming from near the port is very audible, and extremely irritating (comparable to the noise from older CRT TVs with the power on)
i'm mostly concerned that i am damaging/reducing the lifespan of my machine.
plus, i do a lot of recording, and the high pitched noise coming from near the port is very audible, and extremely irritating (comparable to the noise from older CRT TVs with the power on)
i should mention - the noise goes away as soon as the firewire device is turned off or audio output is stopped.
from a distance it sounds like a continuous high pitched tone.
from a distance it sounds like a continuous high pitched tone.
update: dropped my machine off at the apple store yesterday. just heard from them - turns out i have a bad logic board. fortunately it's under warranty.
I use an MBox2 through USB when running shows. Computer heats up a lot, but nothing out of an acceptable limit, in my opinion. If things get me uncomfortable, I lift up the computer just a little bit to get some air underneath. I have a 15" uMBP C2D and while it's a $3k professional machine, I'm ok with it getting hot when I use it. I am with you, when I use QLab it isn't doing anything necessarily that intense, but it does and I'm fine with it. Honestly bud, I don't think there's a solution cause I really don't think there's a problem. Best thing I could say is find a program that will let you kick your fans on sooner?
I get it as well on my 2007 MBP the fans are like a jet taking off and the heat!!!,
So bad I got my self a mac mini and so far it has been a LOT quieter.I use a Presonus Inspire 1394 ATM which is core audio driven so the OS definitely gets a workout, whereas some cards have their own drivers that may reduce some of the stress if written correctly.
Laptops are great, but considering the dimensions and limited heat dissipation its amazing that we can even run these programs without crashing.
So bad I got my self a mac mini and so far it has been a LOT quieter.I use a Presonus Inspire 1394 ATM which is core audio driven so the OS definitely gets a workout, whereas some cards have their own drivers that may reduce some of the stress if written correctly.
Laptops are great, but considering the dimensions and limited heat dissipation its amazing that we can even run these programs without crashing.
I was under the impression that USB devices require the use of the CPU while Firewire is supposedly better as it doesnt use the CPU?
So this doesnt explain the increase in CPU temps and Processes.
Perhaps the Audio Unit Drivers are to blame?
Over the years Intel Mac's have had several reports of Firewire "issues"
I have also heard that the Firewire Chip type makes a big difference also
So this doesnt explain the increase in CPU temps and Processes.
Perhaps the Audio Unit Drivers are to blame?
Over the years Intel Mac's have had several reports of Firewire "issues"
I have also heard that the Firewire Chip type makes a big difference also
as soon as i plug firewire my macbookpro 2010 whislte and it stop when i unplug, anyone else? check with your ears close to the firewire plug to be sure.
macpro had the same problem if i m right but a software update fixed it, but the update is not working for mbp.
cvcv,maybe bring your firewire device to try on the macbook pro their?maybe they all have this problem
cvcv,maybe bring your firewire device to try on the macbook pro their?maybe they all have this problem
Siriosys
Contributor
Like a lot of you, I'm using an external display (24" ACD) and a Firewire Audio interface - Apogee Duet.
I noticed exactly the same thing, but now I don't know what the hell I did to fix it, but the problem doesn't happen any more...........
However, my config is such that I daisy chain my Apogee Duet off an external FW Harddisk that has it's own power supply. IIRC, the problem disappeard when I made that change. I can't help but wonder if the power requirements of the sound device on your FW ports is what's pushing up the temps. The Apogee doesn't have it's own PSU so it's solely reliant on the FW bus. However, connecting it to a "powered" HD seemed to make the difference for me. I may be completely wrong in my summation and please correct me if I am, but I'm sure that's the steps that took place to resolve my prob.
FWIW, I use my Duet all day every day for not only recording, but as my primary soundcard.
I've bought one of these to keep my MBP cool by having it stand upright:
http://www.twelvesouth.com/products/bookarc/
........and it makes a hell of a difference.......
I'm playing music at the moment and typing this using my ACD and temps are 53DegreesC with Fan speed around 2000rpm.
I noticed exactly the same thing, but now I don't know what the hell I did to fix it, but the problem doesn't happen any more...........
However, my config is such that I daisy chain my Apogee Duet off an external FW Harddisk that has it's own power supply. IIRC, the problem disappeard when I made that change. I can't help but wonder if the power requirements of the sound device on your FW ports is what's pushing up the temps. The Apogee doesn't have it's own PSU so it's solely reliant on the FW bus. However, connecting it to a "powered" HD seemed to make the difference for me. I may be completely wrong in my summation and please correct me if I am, but I'm sure that's the steps that took place to resolve my prob.
FWIW, I use my Duet all day every day for not only recording, but as my primary soundcard.
I've bought one of these to keep my MBP cool by having it stand upright:
http://www.twelvesouth.com/products/bookarc/
........and it makes a hell of a difference.......
I'm playing music at the moment and typing this using my ACD and temps are 53DegreesC with Fan speed around 2000rpm.