TechTool Pro advice

[apanacci]

Hey guys wondering if any one can give me some info. I did a check on my 2009 MacPro with TechTool Pro 13 and it said one of the fans failed the test. Not sure what that means. Not sure what to do. Has anyone dealt with this before ? Thanks !

[mikehalloran]

After 12 years, it’s certainly possible. Is it a problem? Depends on which fan. If someone’s done work, it’s possible that one of the fan connectors or sensors wasn’t properly seated. They do go bad, too.

[apanacci]

Hey Mike I don’t think it is a problem. I usually don’t hear the fans working that hard . I guess if the overall temperature is fine I should be ok . When I did the test on it Techtool said one of the fans failed the test . Wondering if I need to get it checked out

[mikehalloran]

I'm guessing you ran the comprehensive test.

I'm running TTP 14 on my iMP and 11 on my MBP. Under Test Selection, scroll down and run the Fans Test separately. On both my machines, this displays a graphic showing and naming the fans — 2 each in my case. From there, Google is your friend as to which fan is which and where to find it. iFixIt and MacRumors should have this info—iFixIt will show you where it is and how to replace if need be.

Since the fans are triggered by sensors, you want to run that test separately as well in case one is close to out of range.

Fans are cheap if replacement is warranted. It's also a good opportunity to clear any dust from the CPU cooling fins.

[bayswater]

I did have a problem with a fan. It was getting noisy and the computer was getting quite hot. It was simply a deposit of accumulated dust, packed in densely in the exhaust vent.. Picked it out with a needle and all was fine. I expect if I'd tested the system, the fan would have shown up as a problem because it would have been running slow.

[apanacci]

Thanks guys ! Mike I will try that out !

[frankf]

It’s easy to access the fans in the macPro 3,1 and pretty easy to pop them out to clean them and the areas around them. I’m pretty sure the same for your model. It’s well worth it to clean them as it’s amazing the amount of dust that can accumulate. If you have card or dogs near the Mac, forget about it!


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[mikehalloran]

All great suggestions. The one thing I would not do is ignore the warning from TTP.

Just about the time I wonder why I still have this, something comes up and TTP helps me find the problem and I am reminded. TTP has never actually fixing anything and I've had it since v.1.

Oh wait, it did allow me to the run the first HDD attached to my Mac Plus and recover all but the last dozen FileMaker records when that drive died. I had paper copies of all and would have had to re-input otherwise. The tape backup I had purchased with the machine never did work properly. That and the 20MB drive cost me $2,250 in 1986 dollars. Yikes! Last year, I came across cases of the 3-part pin-feed invoice paper and letter stationery for my ImageWriter II used in that business and sent both to recycling.