rMBP 15" loses battery power quickly and getting noisy

[hajime]

Hello, I have been using my rMBP for many months without major issue. For the past two days, I noticed that the power drains quickly, it gets hotter and sometimes kicks in loudly. I have never had the noisy fan issue under Mac OS. Know any way to resoluve the issues? Could this be due to a recent thunderbolt upgrade?

 

[Macman45]

Your first port of call should be an SMC re-set:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US


If things remain the same, check your Activity Monitor Log for anything that might be running to cause this.

Common culprits are AV software ( not required with OSX)

Little Snitch

And others.

Try the re-set and post back with your AM log. Ensure that you select "All Processes" from the AM menu bar.

 

[Weaselboy]

Hello, I have been using my rMBP for many months without major issue. For the past two days, I noticed that the power drains quickly, it gets hotter and sometimes kicks in loudly. I have never had the noisy fan issue under Mac OS. Know any way to resoluve the issues? Could this be due to a recent thunderbolt upgrade?

It sounds like maybe you have some app running away chewing up CPU resources, causing the fans to kink on and run down the battery,

Start Activity Monitor and tell it to show all processes, then sort by CPU usage tell us what you see there.

 

[hajime]

It sounds like maybe you have some app running away chewing up CPU resources, causing the fans to kink on and run down the battery,

Start Activity Monitor and tell it to show all processes, then sort by CPU usage tell us what you see there.

Thanks. Enclosed is he screenshot. The fan is kicking in. Never had this issue under Mac OS until few days ago.

 

[B...]

Thanks. Enclosed is he screenshot. The fan is kicking in. Never had this issue under Mac OS until few days ago.

Well, did you just recently install Outlook? It's using around 70% CPU.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks. Enclosed is he screenshot. The fan is kicking in. Never had this issue under Mac OS until few days ago.

It looks like for some reason Outlook is really eating up CPU cycles. Also looks like you have a Flash video or something playing in Firefox there.

Try quitting both Outlook and Firefox then see if the issue goes away after a minute or so. If it does, you need to figure out what is going on with Outlook that is making it do this. I'm not an Outlook user, so don't have much to offer you there. I did see this MS support info. Some info here also that might help.

 

[hajime]

It looks like for some reason Outlook is really eating up CPU cycles. Also looks like you have a Flash video or something playing in Firefox there.

Try quitting both Outlook and Firefox then see if the issue goes away after a minute or so. If it does, you need to figure out what is going on with Outlook that is making it do this. I'm not an Outlook user, so don't have much to offer you there. I did see this MS support info. Some info here also that might help.

Thanks. After I quitted Outlook and the CPU-hogging Firefox process (still using Firefox now), the fan slows down in about 10 seconds.

I have been using Outlook for a few months. I installed the latest version of Firebox V21 recently. I think also few days ago. Could processes being run on another person's account on the same computer affect this?

 

[swerve147]

Look at the threads Weaselboy linked to. Have you deleted a lot of emails in Outlook recently? If so, have you emptied out your Deleted Items folder?

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks. After I quitted Outlook and the CPU-hogging Firefox process (still using Firefox now), the fan slows down in about 10 seconds.

Okay... so now we know what the problem is.

I have been using Outlook for a few months. I installed the latest version of Firebox V21 recently. I think also few days ago. Could processes being run on another person's account on the same computer affect this?

As swerve147 mentioned, try the suggestions I linked to in my previous post. From a Google search it looks like you are not the only person having this problem with Outlook. Read through everything in both links and try the suggestions there.

If another account it logged in with apps running in it, yes that could possibly cause a problem, but based on the fact the problem goes away when you quit Firefox and Outlook in your account.... I doubt anything running in another account is causing this.

 

[hajime]

Your first port of call should be an SMC re-set:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried a few times but it seems that SMC re-set was not done.

According to the instruction, I shut down the computer. Press Shift+Control+Option+Power at the same time using the built-in keyboard. Then, press Power.

The rMBP just rebooted and asked me to choose Mac OS or Bootcamp Windows as if I did not go though the above step. I think I have EFI installed to choose the partition.

 

[swerve147]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried a few times but it seems that SMC re-set was not done.

According to the instruction, I shut down the computer. Press Shift+Control+Option+Power at the same time using the built-in keyboard. Then, press Power.

The rMBP just rebooted and asked me to choose Mac OS or Bootcamp Windows as if I did not go though the above step. I think I have EFI installed to choose the partition.

Before you try the SMC reset let the battery run down to 95-97%. Then shut down the MB and you'll see the light on the Magsafe plug turn orange.

Then, press and hold down Left Shift+Left Control+Left Option+Power simultaneously, then release. You should see the light on the Magsafe turn green briefly, then back to orange. That is your visual cue that the SMC reset worked.

Then wait 5 seconds and turn on your MB.

 

[hajime]

Before you try the SMC reset let the battery run down to 95-97%. Then shut down the MB and you'll see the light on the Magsafe plug turn orange.

Then, press and hold down Left Shift+Left Control+Left Option+Power simultaneously, then release. You should see the light on the Magsafe turn green briefly, then back to orange. That is your visual cue that the SMC reset worked.

Then wait 5 seconds and turn on your MB.

Thanks. It turned green and then back to orange. So, the reset has been done? I recall that it was not that simple on the MBP I bought five years ago.

Why do we have to wait for 5 seconds before turning it on?

 

[swerve147]

Thanks. It turned green and then back to orange. So, the reset has been done? I recall that it was not that simple on the MBP I bought five years ago.

Why do we have to wait for 5 seconds before turning it on?

Yes, the SMC reset is that simple. Now you don't have to discharge the battery before doing it either, discharging only gives you the visual confirmation that it worked.

I wait 5 seconds just to make sure whatever I'm doing has taken its full effect and everything has settled in before proceeding, just as a general precaution.

You don't have to, though

 

[hajime]

Yes, the SMC reset is that simple. Now you don't have to discharge the battery before doing it either, discharging only gives you the visual confirmation that it worked.

I wait 5 seconds just to make sure whatever I'm doing has taken its full effect and everything has settled in before proceeding, just as a general precaution.

You don't have to, though

Thank you very much.