Intel iMac fan problem?

my fan seems to be running all the time, is this normal? Its like a humming noise, i mean i can hear it but i'm just not sure if I'm suppose to be hearing it and if its suppose to be on all the time when my computer is awake.
can any users comment please?

Yes, this is completely normal. Because of the iMac's ultra thin design, the fans will always run at low RPMs to vent the heat created by the internal components, as well as to keep the air circulating inside the machine.

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Intel iMac sleep problem, need help !

My 17" Intel iMac has sleep problem past few days.
I use the Ctrl+Eject on the keyboard to put my iMac to sleep and it only needs 3 to 5 sec before.
But now I use same method, it got 30 sec. to sleep; same result thru Apple menu>sleep.
Used Onyx & repair permissions, still no change.
Anyone know what's the problem, how to fix it?
Plz help!
Thx!

Danlam,
A simple SMC (System Management Controller) reset is known to resolve a lot of sleep/wake related issues.
Here's how to do the reset:
- From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
- Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
- Wait at least 15 seconds.
- Plug the power cord back in, making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time.
-Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
- Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.
Follow this link to the Apple Article that describes the SMC and how to reset it in more detail: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303446
Hope this helps you out.

New intel iMac 20" problems...please advise.

I just purchased my first Mac last week. It is a 20" Intel iMac Core Duo with 2 gigs of RAM (apple RAM installed on site). After a day of use I began to have random kernel panics. Later, my system would shut down after two hours of use. I reset the SMC and that did the trick for 3 days. Now the top of the unit near the camera is getting hot and when I boot up from a shut down, the system does not boot to the desktop... it boots right into sleep mode, then takes about 15 to 20 minutes to wake from sleep mode where it goes into a couple of restatrs. Over the phone assistance has not been able to diagnose the problem and hardware tests all indicate that there are no problems. Furthermore, my work hours make it realy difficult for me to schedule time with a genius. I switched from a pc to a mac because I was tired of the problems with my pcs, but I am having far more trouble with my mac.

I will call apple when I get home. I have apple care for three years. The tech support has been good, but they are worried about the heat eminating from the area by the camera. Sadly, all the techs at my local apple store tell me that they are unfamiliar with the new intel iMac core duo and don't know what else to do. To top it all off, there was a popping sound from my mac and the the sound went out. I toggled the volume on the keyboard and the sound came back. I was told over the phone that I have to make an appointment with a genius to look at my system, but that they would only replace it if necessary. Sadly, my work schedule does not permit this. I wish I could just walk in and get the blasted thing replaced.

Intel Imac display problems

I have an old intel imac (17 inch white screen) bought just over 5 years ago. The imac has just 'died', the screen will not display anything. It will chime on starting up and I can hear activity but nothing displays on the screen.
I returned it to my local Apple store, upon investigation they said the graphics card had gone (£500 to replace) so I bought a brand new iMac a few days ago.
All of my data is backed to up an external hard drive.
I run a database programme on the old iMac called 4D, which has a huge amount of data stored in it (all backed up).
I have installed the most current version of 4D on my new Imac, but it will not open the data on my back-up (error message: data cannot be published).
I have installed my old original version of 4D from my original bought CDs, but again it will not read the data.
The guy in the Apple shop gave me instructions on how to link my old 'dead' iMac, to my MacBook Pro via a Firewire cable, and using Target Disc Mode, I should be able to access the dead iMac hard drive on my MacBook ... have just tried this and the dead iMac hard drive will not show up on my MacBook. It does not appear on the desktop as suggested by the guy in the Apple shop, nor does it show up in System Preferences > Start Up Disk as an alternative disc to boot from.
What I need to do is access the 4D database on the dead imac, so that I can export the data as a text file, to put into a new application on my new iMac.
Althought the data is backed up to the external hard drive, it is backed up 'in the database' ... and I need to EXPORT the data, which I cannot do unless I can open the database ... which I can't !
I'm going round in circles with this, so if anyone can please point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Rock of Ages.

make sure you execute the instructions for target disk mode properly, because your screen is dead and you won't see the icon displayed.
see here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8443.html
you may have to hold the T longer on the deadhead mac.

Intel Imac fan speed? normal ?

Hi guys , im a new mac user and i was wondering i downloaded istat pro
and i noticed a low humming noise when running so i lookd at the fan speed and
the
cpu 1200
harddrive 1600
optical drive 800
im not sure if those are good temps but liek some times after using for a couple hours while just webbrowsing and listening to music i feel the heat coming from like the screen and i touch it and its pretty hot!
an i just use it for webbrowsing and music and downloading like the only third party software i own is utorrent and handbrake..
i posted my computer stats below
are Overview:
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac9,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM91.008D.B08
SMC Version (system): 1.45f0
ATI Radeon HD 4850:
Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 4850
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB

Those look like normal fan speeds for the latest Macs. But you can use software that allows you to create different speed sets for different circumstances.
I use smcFanControl. The first time you start the app it reads your Mac's default fan speeds and creates a default set. But you can create more sets with increased speeds. I live in Monterrey, Mexico with no air conditioning, just fans. It has been around 40°C everyday for weeks on end, and lately hotter. So I have a Hot set where all speeds are ramped up 200 rpms over the default speeds. And I have a Really Hot set where they are all ramped up 200 rpms more over Hot. If I see the temps edging up I usually choose the next set and increase the rpms and that usually brings the temps down to normal. If I see the temps drop down below normal I back off a set on the rpms.
I think Handbrake is probably a bit CPU intensive, so it probably sends your temps up above their normal range when you are just surfing the net.
BTW, rpms are not temps, those are fan speeds. Revolutions per minute.
Dah•veed

Downgrading from Lion on Intel iMac (2008) problems

After upgrading to Lion on our iMac (2008) [Intel Core 2 Duo], which had been originally running 10.6.8, we began experiencing lots of strange problems (intermittent crashes, freezing). On Saturday, the whole computer just shutdown and couldn't be restarted.
I attempted to install a new OS from a Snow Leopard CD purchased when we upgraded from the original software (10.5.2) by first building a new partition (Mac OS Journaled, GUID) and then installing Snow Leopard, but at the very end of the process, got an error message stating the installation failed.
I then went back to the original installation disks that came with the iMac (10.5.2) and did the same process and have been able to get Leopard running. From that point, I thought I could pop the Snow Leopard install CD in and do the upgrade, but got the same error message stating the installation failed.
I'm now back to installing the original OS again (10.5.2), but am unsure how to go about getting Snow Leopard to install. Do I need to go through the software updates to get it up to 10.5.8 before installing Snow Leopard, or has Lion just done some irreparable harm to the system.
At various points during this whole process, I've sometimes been able to boot from the CD from startup by pressing C, but sometimes that fails, and I have to hold down the option key. Sometimes that even fails, and I've had to clear the memory, and restart, going through various iterations just to get the Mac to see the CD.
Any advice on how to get from Leopard to Snow Leopard would be much appreciated. Before Lion was involved, there were no problems in the upgrade process, but now that I'm trying to rebuild, it seems like things are going massively awry.
Also, it seems like the specs on Lion indicate it should be stable on this type of machine, but clearly it isn't. I've read about some incompatabilities with graphics cards (we have a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS), but I don't know if this was the problem or not. If anyone knows what could have happened with the Lion issue, I would be curious about that too.

After "successfully" installing a version of 10.5.2 onto the iMac, I ran a Verify Permissions and received a long list of Open Error 5 problems, which could not be fixed using the Disk Utility on the Mac itself, nor with a downloaded copy of DiskWarrior. Also, when verifying the hard drive, there was an invalid sibling link error, and it stopped the verification process - there was no option to repair.
I'm a little confused because I started the clean install from the Disk Utility via the installation CD by building what I thought was a "clean" partition.
Is the next step to try and run disk utility from the install CD to try and fix these errors?
I now have a copy of Disk Warrior (downloaded) sitting on another machine and my Time Machine. I'm not sure how these could be useful in the rebuild process, but if so, please let me know.
Thanks so much,
Marie

20" intel iMAC fan noise

My iMAC's fan has begun to make a clicking noise like a card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Sometimes it's louder and sometimes it gets softer. Any ideas on what is causing it and how to fix it? Thanks

If you are sure it's a fan there really isn't anything you can do other than calling Apple and having a it serviced.

Intel iMac Bluetooth problems - possibly a defective computer?

Hi there - we just got a new iMac and just took it out of the box to get it set up and the mosue and keyboard won't work with it. The bluetooth mouse will pair, but the connection keeps dropping. The keyboard won't pair at all. The bluetooth status icon on the screen altenately shows that it is not connected, that it is connected and that bluetooth is not available.
Has anyone else experienced this with a brand new iMac?
Thanks

Does this basically means that NO BLUETOOTH connection is available between iPad2 and MacBookPro (5.5)?
Because I just posted a question since I don't seem to be able to pair the above mentioned devices: my MBP shows "pairing successful", whereas my iPad says "not connected" and doesn't even discover/"see" my MBP.
(not only the MBP, but my Mac-mini as well, although I set it to "discoverable"-my MBP sees the Mac-mini....)
If you know the answer, could you also explain why my iPad doesn't seem to "see" other devices that are discoverable like that example with the Mac-mini?
Thank you very much!!!

No fan noise with new intel iMac?

My daughter's iMac G5 sounds quite loud when the fans kick in,but I haven't heard my intel iMac fans even come on. The loudest noise the thing makes is the hard drive writing occasionally. Is there any way to make sure the fans are working?
iMac 17 Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Did as you suggested and still cannot hear any fans. My first G5 unit was the same way till the logic board fried and was replaced. Now it sounds like a jet engine every time it starts to work hard. I hope this one doesn't turn out the same way. My first unit is in the shop right now for it's second logic board and a new power supply.

ID2 on Intel iMac 10.5.4

Will ID2 (not CS) run on a 2.6 Gb Intel iMac with OS 10.5.4. I remember seeing early on that it would have problems on Intel iMac, but have also heard it runs ok in that environment. Anyone using it with a Intel iMac without problems.

I can safely say that ID 2.0 (CS = ID 3.x) will run on an Intel Mac running OS 10.4.11. I haven't tested it for stability, but it runs.
I am not sure about OS 10.5.x
Considering that ID2 was build during the transition of OS 9 and OS 10.0, your experience may be less than ideal. Time to upgrade.
Unfortunately, the time to upgrade for a relatively low cost has come and gone.
-mt

Intel iMac randomly relaunching Finder. RAM problem?

Several months ago I bought a new 3.06 GHz Intel iMac with 2GB of RAM. I also bought CS4 so I maxed out my RAM at 4GB with a 2x2GB RAM kit from Other World Computing.
I've noticed in the lately that everything will suddenly hang, the Dock won't appear when I cursor to the bottom, and then my desktop pic will change. I have my prefs set to choose a random one each day but this isn't happening at the right time, it's random. Not only that but if I open Dashboard after that it has to reload all of my widgets again. Plus any docked Finder or app windows pop back out to the desktop. It's like the Finder is being relaunched or something.
I'm wondering if this could be an issue with bad RAM or not having enough. With email, browser, FTP, time logger, and a few smaller apps going I can never really have more than a couple of the CS4 apps open without things getting sluggish. I try to avoid having more than 2 open at any one time. I've even dropped Photoshop's RAM usage settings from 70% to 60% to see if it makes any difference.
The problem is still happening and it seems to be happening more frequently. Things just relaunched and I went into Mail to minimize an email window. As soon as I clicked the yellow button things hanged again but not in the same way. No windows would minimize, the Dock wouldn't appear and I couldn't switch Spaces. When I went to restart, as soon as my cursor rolled over the Dock item in the Apple menu it stalled there for a short time before I was able to go down to restart. Then the restart sequence stalled and I had to force a shut down.
This is really frustrating as I was expecting a great new machine and software to replace my aging PowerMac G4 and older apps. Is there a way to test for bad RAM or does this sound like a known issue with CS4 or iMacs in general? I don't have the original 2x1GB RAM sticks any more, I sold them after installing my new RAM.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've been trying a few things here and there when I've had time, giving time in between to see if the problem reoccurs. So far I've done the following:
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2. Used Onyx to clean the System, User and Font cache options listed by default. It also told me that S.M.A.R.T., startup volume, Permissions and Prefs are all ok. No effect.
3. I removed the RAM, inspected the boards and the slots. Can't see any sort of damage to either. I replaced the boards but swapped slots. Both boards are firmly seated. Also no effect.
I'm going to try running 1 board at a time, swapping slots if the problem continues. If it does I'll try creating a 2nd admin account and go from there.
I've also noticed at times when the hang happens it seems to be when I click on an item in my Dock (usually a folder of items). There have also been times that after it happens I'll switch to another space and the windows for different apps will have disappeared. The apps are still open but if I try choosing the missing window under View or Window they still won't appear. Same goes with trying to use Show All under the Finder menu.

Intel iMac 20' users - any problems with noise on your firewire interfaces?

Someone please tell me that they have a quiet intel iMac 20'/Firewire interface set up, I'm having problems with a lot of digital noise from my Saffire LE & badly am hoping it's 'fixable' or just a faulty unit but more so, praying it's not noise from the iMacs Power supply that will interfere with any firewire interface I get???
I've read many posts about G5's suffering from noisy psu's which was one factor in my choosing an intel iMac & I chose the Saffire on it's great reviews for sound quality, there's no way I can work with the noise I'm getting & I'm pretty much panicking that if it IS the iMac & firewire thats the problem I'll be screwed as i only have 6 pin firewire as a useable option (really don't want to use usb2)
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Would really appreciate hearing from anyone with similar troubles or even better anyone thats NOT having this problem with a 20' intel iMac & firewire interface so at least i know there's light (& quiet!) at the end of the tunnel
Adam
Intel iMac 20' Mac OS X (10.4.7)

funnily enough I'm going the other way, I have a rack of external modules/>sampler/fx etc & a crate of looms I've just unplugged as they've not been >turned on in so long!!!
I hear you there!
The noise is there without any inputs at all to the interface, its defiantely >digital though, its like a toned version of the sound of an old telephone >modem.
What I mean, is try disconnecting everything, drives and all. You might even disconnect the interface and crank up the iMacs volume to see if it is there. If it is, you can try the UPS and see if that takes care of it. Then add them in one at a time. All it takes is one cheap power brick in the mix to cause all kinds of trouble (if your using powered monitors, that brick too). Noisy components can actually send noise back into the source power.
I know it can be really frustrating, especially if you have noise coming from more that one source. The key is to strip everything until it is quiet and then add them back in to see where the worst is. Then come up with a plan to try to get rid of the noise.

Intel iMac; upgraded adobe flash; bluetooth keyboard no longer pairs but magic mouse still OK. With Bluetooth switched on the screen splits into 4 areas and open windows seperate and shrink. Switch off Bluetooth and problem disappears and iMac works OK

Intel iMac; upgraded adobe flash; bluetooth keyboard no longer pairs but magic mouse still OK. With Bluetooth switched on the screen splits into 4 areas and open windows seperate and shrink. Switch off Bluetooth and problem disappears and iMac works OK with plug-in keyboard and mouse

Hi, Derek -
...the screen splits into 4 areas and open windows seperate and shrink.
Sounds like Spaces is being activated somehow. With the wired keyboard and mouse in use, select the Exposé & Spaces control pane in System Preferences, click the choice in that pane for Spaces. See what the settings are. There are some activation settings in that pane - by default, F8 activates it.
It could be that the bluetooth keyboard has some stuck keys and is activating Spaces; or that the activation command has somehow been reset to something that the bluetooth mouse, or bluetooth itself, is triggering.

Intel iMac SuperDrive (Matshita DVD-R UJ-846) DVD Burning Problems

Hi there:
Having a strange problem burning DVD's now. I have a January '06 intel iMac Core Duo 2ghz, 2GB RAM. My DVD burner suddenly no longer will burn DVD's. When I put in a blank DVD-R, it just spins for a bit then spits it out, no prompt or error message. When I put in a blank DVD+R or DVD-RW, it gives me the usual prompt that a blank DVD has been inserted and asks how to handle it. But when I try to burn, it opens the session, then quickly finishes the session (without any burning) and spits the disc out with an error that burning failed because of an inability to calibrate laser power level for the media. Sometimes it says due to a media error. It also will not read a previously burned DVD data disc, including the OS install DVD that came with the computer. It will however, read and play movie DVD's, and also reads and burns CD-R's with no issues.
I've tried the following fixes with the following results:
1) Change media. Have tried several different types and different brands. No success.
2) Burn DVD's from an external firewire DVD burner. Works fine.
3) Hardware Test via the install DVD (on the external firewire burner). No problems found.
4) Did a fresh install of the Tiger OS onto an external firewire hard drive, booted from that, and tried to burn. No success.
5) Tried burning from Disk Utility and Finder. No success.
6) Put a cleaning CD into the drive and let it run. Still no success after.
System profiler says the drive is ready to burn CDs and DVDs. CDs work, DVDs don't.
Any ideas as to what could be causing this and how to fix?
Thanks!
--Equus

If you guys did a search on the optical drives you'll discover that they have a rather extensive
history for failure. the failing optical drive process starts off rather slowly and worsens over time.
You could replace the internal optical drive but rather than performing surgery on your Imac
you would be better off going with an external optical drive.
If your IMac is still under warranty you can have it replace but I would still pick up an external
as well, I have read a couple of threads where even after having the internal replace the same issue
happened yet again.
I ordered a LaCie that does rather well.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P5C9S0/ref=oss_product
I did however discover a couple of minor issues with my LaCie...
1) When the mounts a disc , for some reason the mechanical ejection button
on the face of the enclosure is disabled. This is not a major issue right click and eject or, drag the
icon into the trash
2) if you are wanting to lightscribe be sure to go to the LaCie website and download the latest
lightscribe app, the one that came with mine was out of date and did not work in Mac OSX 10.6
3) My lightscribed DVD's had a problem , the images where filled with rings from the center of the
disc out, I have discovered this is due to calibration , Amazon has shipped me a new Lacie that
I have sitting in a box next to me, I have not had a chance to test out the new unit yet.
You may also look at OWC's optical drives
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/
Either way make sure that you go with an optical drive with Firewire.
James

Printing problems with HP laserJet 1320 and new Intel iMac

My new Intel iMac won't print to my HP 1320 from Eudora or from web browsers. The applications "quit unexpectedly". From Safari, nothing happens.
I can print PDF documents and Office documents with no problems. The Intel is connected to a router via Airport. The printer is connected to the router via Ethernet. My old G4 iMac prints fine (connected to router via Ethernet) as does my G4 laptop (connected via Airport).

A post from another threat that might help.
From Payson
Solution!!!
Just spent 90 minutes with some nice folks in level 1 and level 2 support.
Problem seems to be that I used migration utility to import the soul of my old machine into the new machine. When you do that, you bring along the old print system (PPC vs Intel).
I had upgraded to 10.4.5 after the migration and assumed that it would correct any problem like that, but it had not.
After a great deal of trial and error, the solution was to go to move disk/library/printers to the desktop and restart the system
Then use the the install disk 1 that came with the iMac and use the OPTIONAL INSTALLS package to reinstall the printer drivers.
Worked like a champ.
Suspect similar problem might happen for any of you with I/O drivers.

Intel iMac fan problem?

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