About Sudden Motion Sensor

Lately, I heard about this thing which called as Sudden Motion Sensor. Yes I do why it’s built in mac but is there one in MacBook Pro 13 inch which comes with 2.66 GHz processor?
And I heard about the games that uses this sensor but when I downloaded neverball and tried it in my mac. It didn’t worked as I saw in youtube.com (in the video the man was moving his mac). So, does this mean that my mac doesn’t contain Sudden Motion Sensor? Or there’s something that I need to do to operate it with such games?
and thx in advance

People have used it for many different things. Just search for "sudden motion" at VersionTracker or MacUpdate, for example.
It's also been used for game control in the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Message was edited by: Kappy

Similar Messages

Sudden Motion Sensor on OSX 10.4.6 (iBook/PowerBook G4)

cheers!
according to http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303178, there is a problem with the sudden motion sensor on my ibook g4 14'.
my questions are:
1. is the sms really not working or is it just not showing up in the system profiler?
2. what should i do to bring sms (back?)to work? install a macosx-version prior to 10.4.3?
3. did the sms on my ibook ever work? bought it with 10.4.3 on it.
thanks for the answers.

Hi Mmkay,
Welcome to Apple Discussions
I am sorry, but just to make sure; Does the Sudden Motion Sensor not show up in System Profile (Getting Information About Your Computer (System Profiler)). In System Profiler > click on the Hardware tab > Look in the main window and you should seen Sudden Motion Sensor below Serial Number. Does it say State: Enabled? If it doesn't show up, bring it to your local Apple Store. I don't think that reinstalling the system software will make a difference.
Jon
Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

Drive Upgrade: Sudden Motion Sensor & SMART

Greetings,
I have a couple of technical questions regarding a Hitachi HD upgrade I am planning. I purchased the 5K500.B from Other World Computing (OWC) and had some concerns with the Apple Drive Utility when I went to format it.
I also purchased an external enclosure that I can mount my old drive in after I replace it. When I went to format the new drive (in the external enclosure) with Drive Utility, I noticed some differences between the old drive and the new drive. The original drive is a Hitachi 200 GB 7200 RPM which Apple supplied as an option. I will list my MacBook Pro information after this section. My questions are:
1) SMART status reads "Unsupported" on the new drive and "Verified" on the old drive. OWC said this is because SMART only works on internal drives and SMART will work after I install the new drive. I just want to check the accuracy of this statement.
2) My MacBook Pro has a Sudden Motion Sensor for drop protection. Is that built into the laptop or the hard drive? Will Apple's drop protection work with the new drive?
3) Is the 5K500.B really a direct replacement with all the functionality of the original drive.
My MacBook Pro information:
System Software Overview:
System Version: Mac OS X 10.6.6 (10J567)
Boot Mode: Normal
Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled
64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No
Hardware Overview:
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 5 GB
SMC Version (system): 1.28f3
Hardware UUID: 5BCEDD41-1B9B-5311-A21C-3638AEAEE5BB
Sudden Motion Sensor: State: Enabled
Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00:
Capacity: 200.05 GB (200,049,647,616 bytes)
Model: Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00
Revision: DC4AC77A
Medium Type: Rotational
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Available: 18.03 GB (18,027,290,624 bytes)
File System: Journaled HFS+

I read in one of your posts that the sudden motion sensor can be easily disabled. Could you please tell me how?
I can be online, or not, and the crazy spinning colored disc starts to spin, then if I pick it up and set it back down usually it stops and the macbook (4,1) continues with it's work. I guess that it is the sudden motion sensor although I could be wrong...Just seems strange that it normally stops when i pick it up, tap it, gently, etc.
Could you please advise? It shows enabled in 'about this mac' but I can't find anyplace to dis-able it.
It's almost impossible to stream video, although that may be from something else.
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB41.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.31f1
Serial Number (system): W8833DZ00P1
Hardware UUID: DE950BF6-E26F-5ACB-984B-5BB4E50816B2
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
On front of 'about this mac' it reads Memory 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, which I hadn't noticed before. It sounds like something from my old SONY VAIO!
Much, much appreciated for any help.
Thanks very much.

Should I disable the sudden motion sensor after upgrading to an SSD

I put a 1TB Samsung 840 EVO in my MacBook Pro (9,1). Should I disable the sudden motion sensor? Does it do anything else other than park the hard disk (like something with the fans)?

You may want to read up on the SMS here:
Mac notebooks: About the Sudden Motion Sensor
Sounds like you can safely disable it if you wish since MacBooks which ship with an SSD drive seem to have it disabled.

Logic 9 sudden motion sensor error.

Hi Guys,
my rig often gives me the "system overload, sudden motion sensor" error during playback, its driving me nuts, the thing that really gets me is that its a mac pro, booting off an SDD, audio is running off a fast drive and the whole lot is in a shockmounted flightcase, i have no idea how the sudden motion sensor could be doing anything at all.
does it have something to do with the 2.5" SSD the rig boots off?

Hi - I am experiencing this error as well. I believe the issue is due to Logic Pro not quite ready for Lion. I just bought a new iMac 2.5 GHz 4GB RAM. Got it to run Logic, and found 9.1.1 doesn't even run on Lion. After upgrading to 9.1.5 the first thing I tried to do was open the demo projects from The Killers and Lilly Allen, to see what this software is all about. Logic hangs somewhere while loading all of the tracks/software instruments, and needs to be Force Quit. The Santigold project loads but it gives me this error about a minute into playing it:
Disk is too slow or system overload
(-10010)
The sudden motion sensor may have parked the hard drive head, or the disk performance is not sufficient to read or write all audio tracks, or the system was not able to process all data in time.
I do not yet have an external drive and am not sure if running project files off a fast external (as opposed to the system drive running Logic) would resolve the issue. But I notice the error is broad and basically multi-purpose, not necessarily stating that your hard drive has parked for sure, rather that disc/system performance couldn't keep up. I haven't duplicated the error when playing my own projects, with less tracks/software instruments. I think that there may be a threshold where you can just push logic too far for Lion interoperability on this 9.1.5 release. Hoping for a new release soon! Good Luck!

Disable sudden motion sensor?

Does anyone know if there is a way to disable the sudden motion sensor? Often I get frozen for a few seconds and I think it's because of the sensor.
Suggestions?
Thanks.
Dual 1Ghz G4 MDD, MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6) Logic 7.1.1

I think it’s doubtful you’re experiencing spurious SMS activation, but I suppose it’s possible. The answer to your question about deactivating it is given on this Apple documentation page:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300724
Randall Schulz

Cannot see status of sudden motion sensor ( imac 5,1 )

Im using logic 9 and ive fitted a new hard drive to my imac i keep getting a warning notice in logic that the sudden motion sensor may be parked however when i open terminal to try and determine the status of the sensor eg: to turn it off i cannot see the sms status option so i do not know if the sensor is on or even if i have one at all. can anybody help me with this thanks.

iMacs don't have a Sudden Motion Sensor.
Apple uses a Sudden Motion Sensor only in their portable Macs Apple Portables: About the Sudden Motion Sensor and Apple Portables: Advanced tips for Sudden Motion Sensor
Plus 3.5" harddisks used/fitted in an iMac don't have Sudden Motion Sensors to my knowledge.
To be sure check the product details of the harddisk you fitted in your iMac.
Stefan

Tilted sudden motion sensor in MacBook ?

I have download an application called "AMSVisualizer" to monitor the current reading of the sudden motion sensor. It will display a MacBook Pro/PowerBook and also display the readings of the sudden motion sensor in real time. When you move the laptop (even very slightly like typing the keyboard), it will sense and display some vibration. But my result is strange : I run the program when my MacBook is place flat on the desk and the "x" reading is flashing between 13-15, and the MacBook in the display showing that it is placing on a "non-horizontal" posture. I have to lift the left portion a little bit in order to make the "x" axis reading to 0.
Here is the photo as what I described above:
Tilt
http://copo.myphotos.cc/cody/photos/MacBook/MacBook_tilt.jpg
Flat
http://copo.myphotos.cc/cody/photos/MacBook/MacBook_flat.jpg
Can some of the MacBook owner to test on this application to check your result ? The application could be downloaded here:
http://www.osxbook.com/software/sms/amsvisualizer/
Thanks!

Agreed with Jonas Hurtig. As you can see in my photo, I have to place the MacBook battery on the left side of the MacBook in order to have the reading looks normal. That is about 10-degrees tilt, there is no measurment needed for such situation if the desk is tilt like that, yor pens, desktop will slide off.....

Sudden Motion Sensor DISABLED?!!?

I am not sure what has caused this, but recently my sudden motion sensor in my 1 month old Macbook Pro has stopped functioning. I first noticed it being disabled under the system profiler. I looked how to re-enable it through console, but that did not work.
Anyone else having problems? I fear it may be related to high temperatures (80 deg Celsius playing Halo...
I will be calling apple tuesday about this, but worry that it may be a hardware repair issue.
Responses appreciated

No on the dropping. Definately would have mentioned that if I had...
Totally came out of the blue. Called the phone line and they referre me to my local service retailer...
They're looking at it and doing some tests I assume... I'll hear back when I hear back...
VERY dissapointed in this.

Sudden Motion Sensor (Mobile Motion Module)

Okay folks, it's my turn to ask a question this time.
I worried about upgrading my hard drive, fearing that the Sudden Motion Sensor was built-in to Apple's OEM installed drives. I researched on the web prior to doing the upgrade (myself, by the way) and all sources pointed to the Sudden Motion Sensor being a "software"--for lack of a better term--feature that was independent of the hard drive, and regardless of what hard drive you have installed.
I trusted that information, and now that I have installed, successfully, a new 160GB Seagate 5400.3 hard drive?
My Sudden Motion Sensor doesn't work. It doesn't show up in the System Profiler like it used to, and it won't work with VirtueDesktop where there was feature that allowed me to switch desktops by "flipping" the PowerBook (not violently). And the best tester of all was the program, Seismac. It simulates earthquake movement readings, and any type of reading using the motion sensor.
I just opened up the application, and it says there is a problem detecting the Sudden Motion Sensor feature and will not run.
My PowerBook is the 1.67GHz/1.5GHz model A1106.
Thanks for any suggestions, and help. (I put everything back together correctly, I believe, after the installation of the hard drive).

I don't remember where I read it, but I read that if you put in a hard drive--like the one you mentioned, but that can't work in our PowerBooks or any for that matter--that has its own built-in Sudden Motion Sensor type technology, it will conflict with Apple's "software"-based technology.
I wonder if Seagate's 160GB 5400.3 drive has it? I haven't read proving this.
Plus, since my last posting, it shows up, goes away, shows up, goes away. One day two weeks ago, the Sudden Motion Sensor showed up as being enabled in Apple System Profiler. Excitedly, I ran Seismac. It started up, but then?
FROZE. And the entire machine locked up as well. (PC?).
Now don't get me wrong, anyone reading this. This Seagate drive is fabulous. It is the conflict with Sudden Motion Sensor that I'm trying to decipher!
So again, anyone out there with similar findings, be it a similar Seagate drive, or any other hard drive upgrade, let us know your findings. =)

Sudden Motion Sensor - Is Mine Missing... Or Broken?!

Following the demise of my original build internal HDD, it's made me curious about the operation of the sudden motion sensor in my powerbook, or at least, the SMS that I thought was in my powerbook!
For clarification, it's a late 15" Al model (Apple website refurb), hi-res screen with dual layer SD and my understanding is that it should have an SMS.
I looked at System Profiler which told me nothing.
I checked the terminal with pmset -g which also told me nothing.
Then, I downloaded 'seisMAC' which said it was unable to locate any SMS.
Now, the HDD is currently absent (I'm running of an external FW) but my understanding was that the SMS should be on the logic board, not the drive. Is that correct?
Can anyone advise whether my powerbook should indeed have an SMS and/or whether a faulty SMS would show up as 'not found' in 'seisMAC'?
Many thanks.
Message was edited by: Zirynx

I believe the SMS in in the hard drive, enabled by electronics on the logic board. There was quite a thread on this a couple of years back, if you want to scan for it.

Sudden Motion Sensor (Mobile Motion Module) Part 2

OOPS...
I was trying out a suggestion to manually enable the Sudden Motion Sensor, and instead of typing in the command "pmset -g" I accidentally typed in "pmset =g" and came up with the following:
Usage: pmset [-b | -c | -u | -a] <action> <minutes> [<action> <minutes>...]
pmset -g [disk | cap | live | sched | ups | batt
-c adjust settings used while connected to a charger
-b adjust settings used when running off a battery
-u adjust settings used while running off a UPS
-a (default) adjust settings for both
<action> is one of: displaysleep, sleep, disksleep (minutes argument)
or: reduce, dps, womp, ring, autorestart, powerbutton, halfdim,
lidwake, acwake, lessbright (with a 1 or 0 argument)
or for UPS only: haltlevel (with a percentage argument)
haltafter, haltremain (with a minutes argument)
eg. pmset -c dim 5 sleep 15 spindown 10 autorestart 1 womp 1
pmset schedule [cancel] <type> <date/time> [owner]
pmset repeat cancel
pmset repeat <type> <days of week> <time>
<type> is one of: sleep, wake, poweron, shutdown, wakeorpoweron
<date/time> is in "MM/dd/yy HH:mm:ss" format
<time> is in "HH:mm:ss" format
<days of week> is a subset of MTWRFSU
[owner] optionally describes the event creator
Have I messed up my machine (I rarely use Terminal!), and do I have to do anything to fix this? Rather, what can I do to fix this?
I haven't logged out of Terminal yet nor have I found any problems yet, but I'm worried...
Message was edited by: Pismo 900
Note that that "http" above is not what Terminal reported, but because of the key characters and how the Apple Discussions forums can format things, it turned into a link.

I was about to help out in my own posting!! (I knew that thread was familiar).
I have since reformatted the drive and erased everything as I will be selling that 1.5GHz model having since bought a 1.67GHz Double-Layer SD one.
I didn't find any problems after doing that bit of experimenting.
However, never did find out why the SMS was malfunctioning, and whether it was due to the drive having its own SMS-type feature installed, conflicting with the Apple SMS, or whether installing the new drive caused some damage (or another conflict), or if the Apple OEM hard drives really do have a firmware or something that marries it to the logic board.
Thanks for your help.

Sudden motion sensor, should I (or can I) disable it?

hi there.
I've just upgraded the hard drive in my MacBook to a Hitachi 250 Gb drive (model number HTS542525K9SA00). I'm really impressed with how quiet it is. Compared to the Seagate Momentus 160Gb drive I've just swopped out, there's no vibration & hardly any noise!
I use my MacBook for DJing with, & I just need some information about any anti shock systems that this drive may have.
Now I know that some drives have shock protection built in, & I also know that the MacBook also has it's own shock protection as well. I'm sure I read somewhere that you can have problems if you have two anti shock systems working on your computer (hitachi's system on the drive, & apple's own sudden motion sensor), & that it's best to disable one of them.
Does anyone have any info about this at all?

The only problem I have heard with this is with the Western Digital 250 GB drives. That is why I picked the 320 GB WD. If you don't hear any clicking noise you should be OK. If your still concerned contact Hitachi customer service and ask them if it will be a problem.

Sudden motion sensor - hardware malfunction - beach ball lag related

Hello,
I have a macbook pro 13" bought in July 2009 with the 160Gb Hitachi 5400 rpm hardrive and 2Gb Ram. I also have the beach ball lag problem and have been reading many posts about it on this and other forums. However, I noticed today that in my System Profiler - Hardware overview, my sudden motion sensor (sms) is indicated as State: Disabled. I look at the state of the sms through the terminal window (sudo pmset -g) and is says sms 1!!! Something is wrong there! Then I executed "sudo dmesg | grep -i error | grep -i sms" to check whether there are any errors about SMS. and I get the following line:
SMS::checkForInvalidInts ERROR: we appear to have a hardware malfunction
SMS::setupInts ERROR bad hardware detected, disabling the interrupts
Then I looked in the Console at the System.log and realized that everytime the beachball lag was occurring, I was getting the same message in the system log:
Aug 23 17:07:28 localhost kernel[0]: SMS::checkForInvalidInts ERROR: we appear to have a hardware malfunction
Aug 23 17:07:28 localhost kernel[0]: SMS::setupInts ERROR bad hardware detected, disabling the interrupts
Although there are many posts on the beach ball lag and on the firmware updates, I don't seem to be able to find any information about this error what it means and how it might be fixed.
I also tried to test the SMS. When I enable SMS through the terminal command, I hear a click if I move my computer up and down through the air. When I disable SMS through the terminal command, I don't hear the click. So I'm very confused!
Has anybody got a similar issue with their sms and have they been able to resolve it?
Thank you very much.
Noemi

Hey, have you called Apple? I have the exactly same problem as you. Hope apple will give us a update for fixing this problem.

Sudden Motion Sensor -Disabled after fall?

Hello.
My Mac Book Pro had a short fall the other day. About a foot onto a carpet. Everything seems to be fine with it other than the Sudden Motion Sensor. System Profiler shows that it is disabled, and SeisMac gets no readings, but the terminal "pmset" shows that is is enabled. I tried turning it off and back on using the terminal commands, but it seemed to make no difference. Thoughts? Is it possible that the fall broke the sensor but nothing else?
Thanks
15" 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

It is possible that the drive was actaully damaged from the fall and it can no longer enable SMS. You can realisitcally do three things…
1) Replace the drive yourself
2) Do nothing
3) Call AppleCare and tell them that your SMS is not working (whether you tell tham about the fall of not is your business although is in part what the SMS is for)

About Sudden Motion Sensor

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for