We have discontinued this forum and moved support tickets to the GitHub issue tracker. More info

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Control fans on Apple hardware: iMacs, Macbooks, etc

Moderator: Steven

Post Reply
mrl
Posts: 1
Joined: 23 Apr 2015, 21:04

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by mrl »

A dead power supply in a 5 year old 27" imac was replaced, and now there is very noise fan in the bottom left hand corner of the imac.

Mac Fan Control does not show the speed of the CPU fan. There is an orange icon there instead. What does that mean? Thanks.

Mark
Untitled.jpg
Untitled.jpg (79.83 KiB) Viewed 10604 times
User avatar
Steven
CrystalIDEA Developer
Posts: 2294
Joined: 21 Dec 2009, 11:48
Location: CrystalIDEA headquarters
Contact:

Re: No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by Steven »

wiimixer
Posts: 6
Joined: 02 Sep 2016, 10:16

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by wiimixer »

Exactly the same symptoms here. CPU fan speed not showing in the control panel, just an orange marker.

The log file is reporting the CPU fan running at around 1550 (min/max are 800/3600 respectively). Temperature is reported 42c-50c and I'm hearing an annoyingly loud fan at all times other than when iMac is asleep.

ODD & HDD fans are running at minimum values.

I followed the FAQ link in this thread. The link appears broken, but reading through the FAQs for Macs Fan Control on the website I didn't find anything specifcally relating to the above issue.

The only suggestion I see which may have been the reason for the link refers to Apple Hardware Test, to determine if there's a hardware fault with the fan/sensor.

Happy to try that, once I've dug out the install disk(s) - unfortunately I'm stuck on Snow Leopard on an early 2006 model, so the disk isn't immediately to hand! I know, maybe it's time to let the iMac go peacefully - but it's serving as my daughter's study machine, and serving her well.

MFC is clearly a great tool, and giving me some small hope that this iMac can be resuscitated - even if it means a new fan is needed.

Can't say I'm excited about disassembling it - so could someone confirm this is the necessary course of action? (subject to results of AHT of course)

Or does the Orange marker in MFC indicate soimething else I missed in the FAQs?

Thanks to all for any help given.
wiimixer
User avatar
Steven
CrystalIDEA Developer
Posts: 2294
Joined: 21 Dec 2009, 11:48
Location: CrystalIDEA headquarters
Contact:

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by Steven »

wiimixer wrote:The log file is reporting the CPU fan running at around 1550 (min/max are 800/3600 respectively).
Which log?
wiimixer
Posts: 6
Joined: 02 Sep 2016, 10:16

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by wiimixer »

MacsFanControl.log - which I enabled via Preferences->Diagnostics

Maybe this is a strong indicator as to the problem: when I select to 'Fan - CPU' in Preferences -> MenuBar Display. it shows 0rpm.
User avatar
Steven
CrystalIDEA Developer
Posts: 2294
Joined: 21 Dec 2009, 11:48
Location: CrystalIDEA headquarters
Contact:

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by Steven »

0 means that SMC reports 0 for this fan (normally).
Please attach here the log.
wiimixer
Posts: 6
Joined: 02 Sep 2016, 10:16

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by wiimixer »

Please see log file attached. Thank you for any help you can offer.
MacsFanControl.log
(49.08 KiB) Downloaded 628 times
wiimixer
Posts: 6
Joined: 02 Sep 2016, 10:16

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by wiimixer »

Quick update: the CPU fan is now intermittently spinning down, whilst at the same time the rpm for it is displaying a value other than zero in the Menubar and Mac Fan Control dialog. This state persists for around one second before the fan spins up (to what sounds like max) again, and the displayed value returns to zero.

The behaviour isn't predictable, though I'd guess it averages out at once every 30-60 seconds or so.

It gives me hope that the fan isn't defunct, but does it suggest the sensor is faulty?

My only other thought is to take steps to clear out any accumulated dust I can from the iMac. Once again though, I anticipate basic disassembly to achieve this might be complex - and I don't want to cause mre issues if the fault can be isolated without doing so.

Thanks again for any help offered.
User avatar
Steven
CrystalIDEA Developer
Posts: 2294
Joined: 21 Dec 2009, 11:48
Location: CrystalIDEA headquarters
Contact:

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by Steven »

wiimixer,

MFC for OS X 10.6 is somewhat deprecated and is no longer updated since 22 May 2015. I do recommend updating to OS X 10.7 or later and use the latest version of MFC which has had lots of improvements since then.
wiimixer
Posts: 6
Joined: 02 Sep 2016, 10:16

No CPU fan speed shown, only an orange icon??

Post by wiimixer »

Thanks Steven.

I appreciate I'm running very old software (OS X 10.6) but this specific iMac can not be updated to 10.7, so I'm also stuck with the legacy versio of MFC.

I'm thinking that the fact the rpm of the CPU fan reports, say, 800 then zero indicats the fan isn't defunct. And I trust MFC is reporting correctly, as when it records other than zero the fan noise goes back to normal.

Wouln't that all suggest the sensor is either faulty, or possibly disconnected from the CPU?

wiimixer
Post Reply