G5 Dual 2.7Ghz Constant Noisy Fans

Hi there,
I'm really annoyed with this whole situation since Apple don't appear to have publicly acknowledged the noisy fans/chirping noise problems G5 users (with varying spec hardware) have been experiencing and posting about for over a year.
Anyway, here's the deal:-
My main spec is as follows: G5 Dual 2.7Ghz/4.5GB RAM/Mac OS X 10.4.6 installed on the shipped Western Digital 250GB SATA, 2nd internal 250GB SATA (Maxtor DiamondMax), 20" aluminium Apple Studio Display.
Since I performed the upgrade to 10.4.4 back in early May 2006 the fans have been constantly on as soon as the login window appears and remain at full pelt all the while the machine is on - clearly unacceptable and unusable. Fortunately for me it's not my only Mac although this is besides the point as I have now had an unusable machine for over a month and not been able to do any work with it - it is a production machine used for making music with Logic.
The bottom line is that I've not been able to make any music!
None of the suggested resolution methods that have been written about in the forums or elsewhere on the 'net (eg. installing CHUD tools etc) have made a blind bit of difference.
Furthermore, I have always had the chirping sounds since I purchased the machine in person from the Apple Store in July 2005.
For the past few weeks I was convinced that the fan problems were caused by the 10.4.4 update (when it started) and that the subsequent 10.4.6 update hadn't cured the problem.
Prior to this, I hadn't run a software update since December 2005 purely because I had heard horror stories from friends and other G5 users posting to forums etc. - if it ain't broke, don't fix it right?
I haven't really had the time to devote to trying to sort the problem out but I decided earlier today that tonight was the night to have a look at it.
Having spent all evening trying various things I am now convinced it is a hardware problem as opposed to being software related.
Here's what I tried earlier with the machine spec as above:-
1. Booted the G5 with Disk Warrior 3.0.3 boot CD
2. Ran all Disk Warrior tasks on both drives - eg, 0% fragmentation
3. Re-booted, fan noise still there from login window
4. Manually ran daily, weekly and monthly CRON jobs from Terminal - OK
5. Ran Disk Utility on main HD, repaired permissions - OK
6. Ran Disk Utility on secondary HD, verified disk - OK
7. Powered down
8. Removed all leads incl. power, monitor, all USB and Firewire
9. Removed 4GB RAM leaving 500MB stock RAM, reset the PMU
10.Ensured the removable fans (covering the RAM) were re-seated firmly
11.Replaced plastic 'door', attached monitor (DVI only) and keyboard USB
12.Re-booted, same problem, fan noise still there from login window
13.Attached Firewire HD with Mac OS X 10.3.8 installed
14.Selected Firewire HD in the Startup Disk system pref
15.Rebooted into Panther, same problem, fan noise still there from login window
AAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
The last time I booted my G5 from the Panther Firewire HD (which incidentally hasn't been used since) was prior to me doing the 10.4.4 update on my G5's main boot drive and there was NO fan noise whatsoever!!!!!
Clearly I need to call and speak to someone at Apple tomorrow as the G5 is nearly one year old and I need to get this problem sorted out before it's out of warranty.
It just seems an odd coincidence that the problem started when it did!
Anyway, if any Apple techs or other G5 owners with a similar setup (specifically the dual 2.7) are reading this I'd appreciate a response or some advice for other things to try.
I'm just really frustrated and a little annoyed that having been a very content Mac user for years this is the first and only time I've ever had a problem with a piece of Apple kit.
Like I said at the top of the post, I can't believe the lack of acknowledgement on Apple's part as it would appear to be a known/common issue.
Just my £0.02.
Thanks for reading/listening.

Ok, take a look on your plastic shield, one of the bottom "tabs" should have a shiny metal coating of some sort, if it's gone or moved, then this could be the reason your fans are going "turbo".
If your fans are just at a high speed all the time, consider lowering your room temps to about 75ºF and see how it goes after a few hours/days.
It's most likely a wise decision to have the G-folks take a look at it anyway before it gets out of warranty. you might need a fan calibration or firmware change.
You still have a chance to buy AppleCare and get it registered before the 1 year warranty expires.
The Dual 2.7 is the hottest PM of the bunch, overclocked I would think.
You said the WD drive was OEM correct? Came with the PM stock?
Because the newer WD drives now have a new SATA spec that requires a SATA PCI card to function correctly in PM's.
Have you tried a complete reinstall of the OS?
Did you upgrade Tiger over Panther? (not good, less secure, previous exploits)
Do a backup, a clone of your boot drive to a external using Carbon Copy Cloner (check in the forums for their advice!) would be better.
the c boot off of Tiger install disk (not upgrade version) and from the installer menu Disk utility Erase w/Zero the boot drive (takes longer but writes are more reliable) and then reinstall Tiger, software update till clear, reinstall iLife '06 and all apps from fresh sources, avoid Migration Assistant (too blind, no app DRM copies) install files and see if your fan problems return.
Sometimes if Mac OS X is not operating correctly it won't tell the hardware to turn the fans down.
Don't install any OS/root level/admin password type programs or hacks until you've had a chance to clone that pristine puppy to a external drive (preferably 2) and keep it disconnected for safekeeping.
It's takes practically no time to option boot off a clone to recover, repair or reverse clone to the original drive. If your exploited, first c boot and Zero the infected drive before hooking up and option booting off the clone of course.

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Dual 2.7GHz PPC G5 - Fan Problem

Hello,
I have an Early 2005 Dual 2.7 GHZ PPC G5 running 10.5.8. Recently, my fans have started operating at a high speed. This now happens every single time I boot and it happens immediately after pressing the start button (before the OS loads). Because of this, I would guess this is a hardware problem. I have done everything I know to do and nothing has fixed this problem. My system temperatures appear to be normal but the fan noise is annoying. Here is what I have tried:
Zapped PRAM
Replaced PRAM Battery
Reset NVRAM
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The system even passed the Apple Service Diagnostic 2.5.8 with no issues.
I didn't see any evidence of a coolant leak but I did not dismantle that system to inspect the processors/board under it.
The plastic air deflector shield is in place and the sensor appears to be working because the red light illuminates on the board when I remove the shield.
I have not tried Thermal Calibration because I have read about a possible bug with that process (ASD 2.5.8). Not sure if that process is safe or not.
I have not modified the boards or processors (or anything) to warrant Thermal Calibration so I'm not really sure if it is needed.
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Chris Ratchford
Columbus, OH

Hi Chris,
I think Thermal Calibration is the only thing that would help, but I doubt any Apple Store still works on G5s... no idea on the concern about the bug bricking it, have not personally seen it, but have seen many successes.

PowerMac G5 Dual 2.7ghz FAN Noise

Hello,
I'm starting to get tired of the fan noise in my Dual 2.7ghz.
It simply goes up and down........like waves.
It spools up then calms down, I don't know what to do: I reset the PMU, NVRAM, cleaned with compressed air(DUSTER) all the fans, heatsink/radiator on CPU's and still the same annoying noise.
I also installed the latest CHUD but then the spooling of the fans was more frequent so I removed it.
It is sad because, the G5 is quiet besides that but becomes unbearable when the fans kick in.
I browse the net.....the start spooling!!!
At the moment I write this the G5 is quiet but if I'll move to another task they'll start the up and down music
Is there something I missed here...Firmware, etc......
Thank you very much.

Flocarino-
Mine does the same thing. Especially when surfing the web. Best thing to do is set processor speed to highest or lowest in the Energy Saver preference panel. It isn't elegant, but lowest is sufficient for web surfing and keeps the fans from ramping. I guess this is the reason that Apple migrated away from the G5 processor.
You do not indicate how much RAM you have, but increasing it to 2MB will help, 3 or 4MB will help even more.
I tried to mask the noise with iTunes, but the latest version is the worst yet at causing the effect.
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

Power Mac G5 Dual 2.7GHz Processor L.E.D indicator

I got a power mac g5 dual 2.7GHz here and it is acting weird. I found out it is the liquid cooling system that causes the problem. I took out the whole lcs unit and fix it. But when I put everything back, turn it on, there is no display and chime sound. The fan seems to run at the normal speed and when I check the processor board, there is a red l.e.d light at the bottom, which i didn't notice it before. Could that mean one of the processor is having error? Please advise me of what to do. Thanks.

Well, sorry if I didn't stated it clearly. It is not the L.E.D that we normally found on the motherboard. It is the one that on the processor board itself, which attach to the bottom of the liquid cooling unit. There is two processor board in my case, which one of it got the red l.e.d lights up. Could it be the processor problem? I can't get any display or chime sound when booting it up, even though the fan and everything seems to be running properly. I wonder if you ever encounter such problem?

G5 dual 2.7GHz refuses to get past the grey apple logo screen no matter what I do!

Hoping that someone might be able to help, as I think I have tried pretty much everything and I’m running out of ideas now!
It’s a G5 dual 2.7GHz that refuses to get past the grey apple logo screen no matter what I do!
everything passes the extended apple hardware test (2.5)
3GB of RAM (2x1GB brand new from crucial)
won’t start from a original OS 10.58 disk
passes disk utility when connected to another mac via FW target mode
nothing other than keyboard/monitor attached
all of this done; http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
tried alternative HDD’s without any joy
won’t safe boot
stays at the grey apple logo screen and the fans then start revving up excessively
Any other suggestions or advice very gratefully received!

BDAqua wrote:
Seems strange that it's trying to invoke "AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement" on a G5, but maybe it's all inclusive???
Though it exists on my Universal 10.5.8 Install, it does NOT appear to be a loaded extension....
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext
BD, is that showing up in your PM's extensions folder? I wouldn't expect to see it loaded in a PM, but I wonder why the installer loads it unless the 10.5 installer loads a system that could boot an Intel, too, when it installs on a PM. (I read somewhere this weekend that an Intel will actually boot from an APM formatted disc as well as a GUID formatted disc) Curious.
I recall seeing yesterday or Saturday on one of the discussion threads someone having that extension show up in a verbose boot on a PM that was having problems booting into Leo. I think I advised trashing the kernel caches and touching Extensions in that one, but it is puzzling that it shows up here as well.
This is the other discussion: https://discussions.apple.com/message/15161427#15161427

G5 Dual 2.7Ghz

I already have a Dual 1.8 and consider to upgrade to a used dual 2.7Ghz.
I've heard that the 2,7Ghz is noisy. Probably cause by the cooling system !!!!
Any feedback about that concern.
Thanks

I've had similar problems, i.e. a coolant leak and break-down of two G5 duals within two months. The first one was replaced by Apple with a Quad G5. The second Dual G5 I picked up from the local Apple store yesterday and it seems to be working fine. So far.
I am running Temperature Monitor 3.7 (Marcel Bresnik SW) and iStat Pro as part of Dashboard. The Quad G5 CPU temperatures are ~36-42'C, however, the CPU core temperatures on the recently fixed Dual G5 are twice as high and peak at about 83'C.
Should I be worried??
Dr_JJ

G5 Noisy fan Fix

OK, I think I may have finally found the answer to the G5 Dual fan 'ramping' fan problem.
As many G5 users are aware, excessive fan noise has been an issue for years. Here is my fix, I can't say for sure it will work for you, but it did for me.
Firstly you need to do some basic stuff, clean the dust from your mac, fans, radiator and especially the PSU, It's a pig to get out but it's worth it. Check the LCS for leaks, remove the processors and apply new thermal paste. There are lots of other things you can try (Google 'G5 Noisy fans'), I tried them all but none of them worked for me.
I decided that the 'ramping' fans must be a heat issue, so with that I mind I attached a fan from a gaming PC to the front of my G5 (see pic), and connected it to the free molex connector on the hard disk to power it. On re-start the fans ramping stopped.
OK, I know what you're thinking, I don't want that ugly fan sitting on the front of my beautiful mac! neither do I. I intend to buy a super quiet 140mm fan and install it on the inside of the the front grill to keep my mac cool, and quiet!
I hope this may help other G5 users to have a 'fan' free day!

Great work, thanks for the post!

Noisy Fans

I have owned my dual G4 since 2002, and its still going strong!!. I want to replace the noisy fans, so I did abit a research and came across an apple web page about apple replacing the fans for $20. The problem I have is that the offer ran out in 2003 anybody got a idea of where I can pick up some fans cheap.

Hi there! Welcome to the forums!
I am glad to hear that your machine is going strong!!! Mine is also.. the MDD's just won't die without a fight given the intel macs of today. However, back to the topic.
What kind of power supply do you have in your MDD? First off, if its the 400 watt power supply, I would suggest trying to find the 360 watt power supplies. Those are the much quieter ones that Apple sent to customers back in 2003 to relieve the noisy ones - also the pabst fan was a replacement as well.
Once you do this.. get then a PCI slot fan to help in cooling the machine down. Next step is to mount(like I did) a 120MM power fan on top of the optical drive roof and have it blow the air out towards the back - this will aid in cooling down your system DRAMATICALLY. My pabst fan is close to silent now, though I can hear it sometimes, but I also have the power to control the fan's speed as well. Sometimes to get rid of dust and foreign particles which could hurt my system, I rev the fans for awhile in HURRICANE mode. I guarentee that your MDD will love the fans. Oh, one more thing.. Put a small 60MM fan underneath the front drive bay. + GET THE COPPER HEATSINK - this will further aid in cooling the system down.
Right now my dualcpu temp is: 90 degrees fahrenheit.

Extremely noisy fan and burning motherboard

Hi, I got HP dv5 2070us laptop a couple years ago and decided to dust out the fans and stuff. So I brought my laptop to the computer service office to clean it.
After the clean up, my fan got even louder than before! Roaring like crazy.
So I tried to figure out what was wrong with it. Downloaded some software like Speedfan and Aida64 to check out the temperatures of the CPU, motherboard and so on. Both mentioned programs shows that my motherboard is 87C (189F) ! and this temperature is fixed, doesn't change all day long, while the CPU temperatures are changing.
Maybe this is the reason of the noisy fan. What is more, computer doesn't shut down. The screen is black but fans are working even after 10mins. The only way for a completely shut it down is to press the power button.
Does anyone one how to solve this problem?

Hello Merc,
Try figuring out what's causing the noise.
Is it a vibration? Try a mechanic's stethoscope if you can find one; or just use a thin, long bladed screwdriver to amplify the noise. Cleaning the fan blades of accumulated crud will improve their balance. Occasionally, sheet metal or a loose screw will pick up the vibration and amplify it.
Is it a bearing or bush that's starting to wear? Maybe it's new fan time - nothing is forever!
Is it the rush of air? They make quieter fans, although the quiet ones don't always cool as well. (I have a dual 800MHz Quicksilver that was fitted with a quiet fan, and you could have grilled bacon on the heatsink - I wound up with a high-powered fan that I can hear in the next room.... but a cool Mac!)
Try measuring your fan (in mm) and searching for fans; I don't remember my exact parametres, but I turned up quite a few. Compare using RPMs, dBs, and CFM as guides. Come back and make us all experts!
HTH ..... Jon

Why Hp does not find any solution for Noisy Fan systems ?

I got DV6t core i5 6gb ram + 1gb Ati Radeon Graphic Card (6490m) + bluetooth + Bluray
I have to return it because of that noisy fan ; i was a new member of Hp family and i never investigate about that product for Laptop. After it got that gorgeous Laptop , i got this fan issue ; and i research that fan is working normal/anormal ; what i find out is Hp has a Noisy Fan Issue on all of the Video clips , Forum Websites even its own website ; I realy didnt know till i got it. If that is a common issue , Why that big brand HP doesnt solve that problem since many years ? I sincerely doesnt want to return this item because of fan ; because there is no comparative product in others company has .... (Bluetooth + Bluray + Finger print + 1gb (Integrated Graphic) and $749 ; i can not find any brand or product which includes that options in this price ..... So UNFORTUNATELY i am returning that Beautiful Laptop Because of ridiculous fan noise ; is that really hard to install a fan which is really silence ??? I have a Toshiba brand laptop , even the fan is working hard there is no bothering noise at all (Even its 4 years old) . I was thinking that Hp product has high performance equipment thats why this fan works hard or noisy because it could be stronger than my Toshiba which has core 2 duo technology 256 mb graphic card ; But i was wrong because of this video clip ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yLEXZGRGPY

I got DV6t core i5 6gb ram + 1gb Ati Radeon Graphic Card (6490m) + bluetooth + Bluray
I have to return it because of that noisy fan ; i was a new member of Hp family and i never investigate about that product for Laptop. After it got that gorgeous Laptop , i got this fan issue ; and i research that fan is working normal/anormal ; what i find out is Hp has a Noisy Fan Issue on all of the Video clips , Forum Websites even its own website ; I realy didnt know till i got it. If that is a common issue , Why that big brand HP doesnt solve that problem since many years ? I sincerely doesnt want to return this item because of fan ; because there is no comparative product in others company has .... (Bluetooth + Bluray + Finger print + 1gb (Integrated Graphic) and $749 ; i can not find any brand or product which includes that options in this price ..... So UNFORTUNATELY i am returning that Beautiful Laptop Because of ridiculous fan noise ; is that really hard to install a fan which is really silence ??? I have a Toshiba brand laptop , even the fan is working hard there is no bothering noise at all (Even its 4 years old) . I was thinking that Hp product has high performance equipment thats why this fan works hard or noisy because it could be stronger than my Toshiba which has core 2 duo technology 256 mb graphic card ; But i was wrong because of this video clip ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yLEXZGRGPY

After 10.4.4 Update the noisy fan bug is still there ! Who else ?

Hi !
After 10.4.3 my G5 Dual 2Ghz starts spinning the fans high for only scrolling in Safari or opening apps. This was not befor 10.4.3. The same error was after a 10.3.x update but the next update (10.3.x+1) spöved it again.
Now i hoped they would correct it in 10.4.4...but no way !
Hey come an Apple...thats no fun...please correct it again !

I would say just the same.
Since I heard about the fan-problems after updating to 10.4.3 , I just updated my OS X on my second internal HD, and yes, the fans were revving up.
Now, I just did the same : I updated only the OS X on my second drive and unfortunately there was no change : Safari still causes noise.
More, when I move my curser across a Safari page, it leaves a bunch of the character 'l'. Strange.
So, I'm asking with you, when is Apple repairing this bug as they did after 10.3.8.
In the mean time, I keep using 10.4.2 on my main disk, hoping Apple will fix it with the 10.4.5 update ...
G5 2x2 Mac OS X (10.4.2)
G5 2x2 Mac OS X (10.3.8)

Noisy fans on all the time

I have come over from the dark side today (PC to Mac switcher). I got a second hand Mac Pro 2.66 quad with four HDD and 4GB ram and i seem to have very noisy fans. I did find this article
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/intel/fan/
which mentions that extra drives cause more noise due to extra heat and less airflow but this is just silly, they sound like they are on full ALL the time.
I have alread tried resetting the smc_rst button on the logic board but that did nothing. I also tried restarting the machine with command, option, p, and r down before the grey screen on startup and that did nothing.
Is this normal. is it just down to lots of HDDs/RAM or should i be worried?

Mac Pro most likely for "MP" shorthand.
Considering how the drives are placed, can't see that they block air, though they may not get direct ventilation.
FBDIMM memory needs to be kept cool and the top memory Riser and higher density DIMMs do tend to be as much as 10C higher (with 2GB DIMMs running the hotest).
I wonder if you got it with a system already installed? or did a full 'wipe' of the system drive and started fresh. There is a little program most people now use smcFanControl which can force the fans to run at a minimum rpm (though not the PSU fan, either software defect, or the logicboard won't allow forcing it if the sensor doesn't register a higher temp).
SFC would put a little menu item on the menu bar and to acces the program preferences. There would also be a log-in] in user accounts, and a startupitems in the top level Library/Startupitems usually.
Also, look on the Dock for items that can be controlled from there to "open at login" or disabled without having to open any control panels.
If it was me, and I bought a used system, other than direct from Apple Store (Specials, great deals on refurd equip.) I would start over with installing the system.

Trouble running hardware test on 07 iMac with noisy fan

Hello
I have an 07 iMac with a noisy fan- I've tried vacuuming out dust from the back but want to avoid taking it apart if possible...
I read online I should run the hardware test, but since I am running Mavericks the Apple support advice is to run the original OS X install disc and restart (holding down D or Option+D)...
Long story short I got a replacement disc from Apple (I'd lost the original) but the iMac ejects it when I restart following the process above... could it be my bluetooth keyboard? Hopefully not since I no longer have the original hardwired one... or does anyone have any other ideas for either how to get to the hardware test... or fix the fan (without a third party app just stopping it)
Thanks!

Try holding down the Option key to get the one time boot manager screen then select the AHT. Not sure as Apple moved it around on different install discs but it might be on the Applications discs and not the OS X discs.

Noisy fan (or fan-like) sound coming from machine. Thoughts?

My macbook pro is from 2008 to start. I had the computer completely refurbished back in August 2011, though.
However, in the last two days, it has twice produced this impossible-to-miss noisy whirring/rattling sounds that sounds a lot like a very noisy fan. The first time, it last for about 5 seconds just as the computer was starting up after I'd left it closed and off all night (leaning against the wall). The second time, however, the computer had already been on for several hours, always upright, and just for some random reason started making the same noise. This time it lasted for a good 15-20 seconds.
Any thoughts on what could be causing this sudden noisiness? Whatever it is doesn't appear so far to be affecting the actual functions of the computer itself.
Thanks!

HI,
Probably a good idea to run the Apple Hardware Test just in case and make sure you have all your important files backed up to an external source.
Carolyn

Will my G5 dual 2.7ghz run OS X 10.5.6 Leopard

will OS X 10.5.6 Leopard run on my G5 dual 2.7ghz?

Hi Misha,
10.5 Install is not available for download, you must purchase a Disc.
Leopard requirements/10.5.x...
    * Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
minimum system requirements
    * 512MB of memory (I say 1.5GB for PPC at least, 2-3GB minimum for IntelMacs)
    * DVD drive for installation
    * 9GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)
Classic/OS9 Apps no longer supported.
Trouble is Apple no longer sells it, check eBay & such for the Retail version, not the Gray Discs...
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=mac+os+x+leopard+retail+10.5
There are workarounds if the 867MHz CPU is the only hangup...
http://sourceforge.net/projects/leopardassist/
http://lowendmac.com/osx/leopard/unsupported.html
List of Applications Not Compatible with Leopard...
http://guides.macrumors.com/List:Applications_Not_Compatible_with_Leopard

G5 Dual 2.7Ghz Constant Noisy Fans

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