Upgrading now to El Capitan

[mikehalloran]

Yes, there's a freebie app that works nicely. I'm working on my iPad and don't recall the name but it lets you select the temperature where you want the fans to kick in. It is a must if you install an SSD or non-OEM HHD in an iMac without the correct temperature sensor (2009–2010 or 2011-on). I'll find it for you.

Make certain your heat sink isn't chocking with dust. Also, the SMS Controller may need to be reset so check those first.

Resetting the SMS Controller is really easy on a Mac Pro.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

[Shooshie]

Make certain your heat sink isn't chocking with dust.

THAT is worth checking. I haven't done that in a while. Thanks for reminding me, and thanks for the link.

Shoosh

[musicman691]

Make certain your heat sink isn't chocking with dust.

Agreed, and the iTrashcan isn't immune from collecting dust as well. Friend of mine had one that was chock-full of dust and was getting strange anomalies as a result of overheating.

[mikehalloran]

Yes, there's a freebie app that works nicely...

Here it is.
http://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control


Every model of iMac, MacBook (Pro/Air), Mac mini, Mac Pro is supported!

Software solution to:

Noise problems e.g. caused by iMac HDD replacement
Overheating problems e.g. on Macbook Pro
Change fan speed:

Set any constant value to any fan (e.g. minimum)
Control fan speed in relation to a temperature sensor (e.g. 3rd party HDD)

The implied caution is that this will to override your built-in hardware protocols. If you have a mechanical issue causing the fans to come on to keep your Mac cool and you bypass them anyway, it can cause damage. So be careful: clean your heat sinks, reset the SMS and then use this carefully.

With 2009 - on iMacs, replacing an HHD or hybrid drive with anything other than the same Apple drive, you either need the correct OWC replacement temp sensor or you need to install this. Otherwise, your fans will operate at full speed if the Apple sensor is removed or not connected—worse, there are three OEM suppliers, each with a different temp sensor and they aren't interchangeable neither can you buy them in the aftermarket. With Macs Fan Control, your Mac can now stay quiet although the roar of the fans on startup will be a little annoying till it loads.

On a 2009-on iMac, if you replace the HHD or Hybrid drive with an SSD, you can short out the OEM temp sensor. This is what Apple does. Then you shouldn't need Macs Fan Control. I buy the OWC replacement sensors anyway*:

2011-on: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD11/

2009-2010 21.5" and 27" only: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD09/

Nothing needed for the 2009 and earlier 20" & 24" iMacs.

*I recommend buying the OWC sensor for 2011-on iMacs anyway. For the 2009-2010 iMacs, the HHD sensor is separate and identifying the two wires to short out is very easy (only do this if installing an SSD. Don't short the sensor if installing an HHD or Hybrid Drive). If you plan to use Macs Fan Control anyway, you do not have to buy the OWC temp sensors—if the roar of the fans for a few seconds is too annoying, you can purchase and install them later.

As long as I am at it, here's are adapters that let an SSD replace any 3.5" HHD in any Mac with an SATA mount. I like these as they allow for better cooling than the trays and fit any Mac other than the new Mac Pro.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/ADPTADRV/

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Desktop-C ... .5%22+SATA

[Shooshie]

Again, thanks for the links and the education. Your Mac experience is invaluable. I used to stay on top of that stuff, but since I no longer maintain any music clients' Macs, I've kind of tapered off all that. Well, that and the fact that for the past 5 years, at least, OS X has made it easy to ignore a lot of stuff for a long time without getting into much trouble.

Just one thing, though... Any idea why the last Yosemite update would have changed the fan speed? It used to stay off unless it got really hot, and since we rarely use heat in our house, it's been pretty cool. For it to suddenly go all jet-engine on me is weird. Maybe that's what the SMC controller reset is about. I haven't checked out that link yet, so I'll go do it now. Thanks again.

Shooshie

[mikehalloran]

The only Mac OS that I know changed fan speeds were 10.2.3 and 10.5.2 (don't hold me to those version numbers). Both were done to increase fan speeds on the G5. Apple was having a hard time keeping the hard drives from failing due to overheating on the early ones (10.2) and the CPUs from doing the same on the later quad-cores (10.5).

I don't know of any fan speed increase in OS 10.10.5. This is why I suspect the SMC or a heat sink problem. If you haven't changed the NV RAM battery in the last 5 years, it's time to get a CR2032.

[Shooshie]

Well, that was a wild ride. I couldn't open my Mac until late this evening (Saturday night), even though I'd planned to follow Mike's advice and clean it out even Friday. But I was working Friday evening, then again Saturday morning, and basically was using the Mac all day Saturday. The fan kept reminding me, though. In my imagination it was screaming "Sssuck out the duuussssssssst!" Finally, I did an SMC reset, then the PRAM, and shut 'er down. Opened the side, pulled out the processor tray, and... JEEZ! I've never seen a computer so packed with dust. I admit it's been a long time. The past 2 years have been difficult, filled with multiple life-changing events, extreme responsibilities, and outside projects. So, I probably haven't cleaned it as often as I normally do, but I've gone longer in the past, with other Macs. I've never seen one like this, though.

There's no telling what may have broken from overheating. It looked more like insulation in the attic than dust in a computer. I vacuumed it endlessly with a crevice tool, and once it looked clean, I blew another round out with a can of compressed air, then vacuumed some more, since that left another layer on everything. What a mess.

The good news? The fan has stopped. It was the dust. I don't know why I didn't even think of it. The neighborhood has been undergoing transition to one of those cracker box McMansion communities, and over half the houses have already been bulldozed and rebuilt into big boxes that fill the lots from fence to fence, and sell for into the Million$. It used to be the best-kept secret in Dallas. Great place to live. Then someone found out about it and said "why are all these artists, writers, sculptors, musicians and teachers living here when we could be selling these things to millionaires?" So, out came the bulldozers, down came the houses, in came the dump trucks and loaders and trucks and builders and workers, and mud, nails in the tires, conflict, intimidation, pressure, and DUST! The air is just filled with dust all the time. Shine a light at night, and it looks like you're under the ocean. (It also brings arrests — it attracts drug dealers laundering their money with construction companies under-building vastly overpriced houses.)

That dust is what my Macs have been breathing for the past five years. Incidentally, I'm one of the last musicians left in the neighborhood, and yet now you see so many front rooms with a picture window and a grand piano behind it, unused, never played, just sitting there as decor. You used to hear them more than see them. And trumpets and drums and saxophones, and fiddles... but no more. Oh... I play my saxophones as loud as humanly possible with the doors and windows open, in defiance of the takeover. Turns out, I'm part of that neighborhood "artistic flavor" you read about in the real-estate brochures. Of course, they pay for it; many of their property taxes would buy them a new Tesla Model 3, annually. Not that there is anything wrong with it. And we pay for it, too. Our property values are limited, since it's only going to be bulldozed when we move out. People who took out home mortgages to remodel and add-on are now stuck with the bill. They can't get their money out of it. Their houses literally have no value; just landfill material to be hauled off at the expense of the next owner. Not to go off on cultural trends in the Attorney Mecca of the West, but it's all connected to my Mac... through DUST! That can't be healthy for your Mac OR your lungs. I guess there's a very literal meaning to the words "eat my dust." Where people come in and force you to move on and leave behind your home and way of life, it involves dust, and lots of it. We haven't left, but it's only a matter of time. They're starting to raise OUR taxes, now. It's the polite way of saying "your time is up, bub. Don't let the bulldozer hit you on the way out." Never is it more real than when you see your Mac full of someone else's property.

Shooshie

[HCMarkus]

Glad you de-dusted Shooshie.

Although your new neighbors might consider more modest homes as mere fodder for the bulldozer, property values may well go sky high, at least partially compensating the long-term residents. That is what happens in California when"gentrification" occurs. Hopefully it is happening in your community as well.

[mikehalloran]

Glad you de-dusted Shooshie...

As am I—glad to help. Since the fans did calm down, it is unlikely that damage was done. Component life may have been shortened here and there but nothing to worry about now.

As for the rest... living in California and owning a couple of modest homes in the Silicon Valley, I dare not comment. It would be way, way too political.

[Shooshie]

Yeah, I thought about you guys in sunny CA, with the property values out there. It's just that we're getting California prices without the views. And the tear-down property prices are not keeping up with the increase in house prices. Those of us choosing to stay a while longer, however, are living in destruction zone. That's the worst part of it. This was the quietest neighborhood in Dallas, upscale, with a strong professional artist/writer/creative community, and only 7 minutes to any museum or performance in the city, also 7 minutes to any of the party zones, and right next door to our huge White Rock Lake Park and the Arboretum, which are also in the city. The only tradeoff was that the houses were relatively small, though deep in history and design. History and design, however, means "tiny closets." But that was a small price to pay to live in such a great place. My kids went to the best elementary school in Texas and the best high school in the USA, public or private, according to Newsweek and US New and World Report, as well as the College Board. (Science & Engineering Magnet High School of Dallas, rated #1 or #2 each year they attended, along with another magnet school under the same roof which competed for those same two positions.)

So, you can see why everyone wanted to live here once the secret got out. Best views in Dallas, great hills, great access, and a golf course on each end of our street. Even wildlife; we live next to the main tributary to the Trinity River Greenbelt, thus the lake, arboretum, biking/skating trails, and so forth. Truly a great place to live if you have to live in this nut-case city. But my real home is on the ranch. They just don't have broadband out there and all the other things I just mentioned, so I'm enjoying this city house until it's time to go back to the ranch.

They have made it as difficult as possible to enjoy it. I can't even remember how many tires we've replaced due to construction nails and debris. When I asked a crew to stop working at 10:00 pm one Thanksgiving, I got 2 big, square flooring nails driven into my tires from the sides, plus my dog got poisoned with a potato soaked in anti-freeze. (a big girl, she survived, but had kidney damage) And that's just the start. I've spent many thousands of dollars repairing cars, yard, house, fences, trees, sidewalks, and curbs that these crews have damaged or destroyed over and over again. Not to mention the dust in my Mac. I should have taken a picture. You wouldn't have believed it.

I'm about ready to go back to the ranch. If I could talk my wife into it, I'd be there yesterday. She's just not ready to leave. Who can blame her? This is a nice place to live when the destruction crews go home. And we do have season tickets again to the opera... can't leave yet! (front-center mezzanine!)

Shooshie

[mikehalloran]

And we do have season tickets again to the opera... can't leave yet! (front-center mezzanine!)

Oooooh! I feel for you on that.

Ours for SFO are Orchestra Row waaaaay back. For the first few years after my stroke, they let us sit there at our old Balcony (waaaay up and waaaay back) prices. Eventually, they gave us the choice to keep our new seats at the regular price or head back up three flights (Mezz/Boxes, Grand Tier, Balcony). We decided to find the $$$$ to stay put. 'Tis only money, right?

[bayswater]

Yeah, I thought about you guys in sunny CA, with the property values out there. It's just that we're getting California prices without the views. And the tear-down property prices are not keeping up with the increase in house prices. Those of us choosing to stay a while longer, however, are living in destruction zone.

You ain't seen nothin' yet.

In my neighbourhood, places on narrow city lots are selling for up to $15M, and being torn down and replaced with concrete bunker houses by people who are here a couple of weeks a year. If you're already living here, it's great for a while, but sooner or later the property taxes go higher than a big mortgage and you have to start looking around.

Someone a block away from me bought 3 adjacent lots and spent $50M building his house. The neighbourhood was in chaos for 2 years, and then when he moved in he had a party and flew in the Hot Chilli Peppers. A few doors down they had Tom Jones. I didn't get invited to either party.

[Shooshie]

Someone a block away from me bought 3 adjacent lots and spent $50M building his house. The neighbourhood was in chaos for 2 years, and then when he moved in he had a party and flew in the Hot Chilli Peppers. A few doors down they had Tom Jones. I didn't get invited to either party.

You know, you may not even have liked the party or the people, but at the VERY least, they should have invited you simply for forcing you to eat their dust for 2 years. They should have invited everyone in the neighborhood who had been affected by such a massive project.

Nobody wants to pay for the chaos they create. It has cost us many thousands of dollars to deal with this destruction/construction, but there's not even a company to sue for damages. The company was dissolved when its owners went to prison for a large scale drug running operation. This construction company was just a money-laundering venture. Most of that money was spent repairing our yard, fence and house after the 8-foot high clay slab they imported in dump trucks washed over into our yard and buried our grass under a foot of mud. Nobody offered to fix it. I could never find the owners of the company. When I finally did find the #1 guy, his response was, "JEEEZ! You know what? I've heard that 30 times. Everyone complains about that. They all just complain and complain. And we get the house finished and the grass up and fences and walls, and it doesn't happen any more. So can you just be patient until we're done?"

Of course, my response was that he was dodging the issue. But before I could get anywhere with him, he'd been picked up and put on trial, then prison. The sadistic part of me hopes that his cell-mate is a 300 lb lonely linebacker.

Shoosh

[bayswater]

This construction company was just a money-laundering venture. Most of that money was spent repairing our yard, fence and house after the 8-foot high clay slab they imported in dump trucks washed over into our yard and buried our grass under a foot of mud.

Cripes! We haven't have those types around. Ours run mines and yoga apparel chains. I guess they can be annoying too.

[Shooshie]

And we do have season tickets again to the opera... can't leave yet! (front-center mezzanine!)

Oooooh! I feel for you on that.

Ours for SFO are Orchestra Row waaaaay back. For the first few years after my stroke, they let us sit there at our old Balcony (waaaay up and waaaay back) prices. Eventually, they gave us the choice to keep our new seats at the regular price or head back up three flights (Mezz/Boxes, Grand Tier, Balcony). We decided to find the $$$$ to stay put. 'Tis only money, right?

The way I see it, that's what money is for. Life's too short not to go to the opera. I just try to pretend that I never even saw that money. (technically that's accurate) There's nothing like great opera seats. I used to get center orchestra, about row L. That's close enough to see the sweat dripping off their noses, yet far enough not to get spit on. Also, any closer and you can't see the back of the stage. But those seats are just astronomical in price. Besides; I kind of like looking down on the whole setting. And front-row mezzanine is really close.

I can't remember all that's on the season, but it includes Norma, which I've never seen, but I've practiced a lot of excerpts from it in exercise books. Moby Dick by Jake Heggie. Madame Butterfly, which will be my 3rd time to see. Always a sad one, though its settings and situations seem more remote to me now than the first time I saw it 30 years ago. Eugene Onegin, and Turn of the Screw (Britten). That's probably all of them. It may be our last season in Dallas, if we go to the ranch, so I wish it had Mozart and Wagner, but I've seen 'em all, so I guess I'm good. Of course, we could always make a trip to Dallas for the opera.

Shoosh