Intermittent fan noise

I've got a G5 quad, been running fine. Over the past 3 days the fan has intermittently come on. It "revs" up very briefly sometimes, other times it comes on strong for several seconds. Any ideas about what's happening. Environmental temperature hasn't change for several weeks.
Thanks

I have 2 Power Mac G5 and both have increased the fan speed since I last turned the "on" with the side covers opened. I tried resetting the SMU and PMU button on the logic board a few times, as instructed by Apple support with no success.
Annoying noise but I learned to live with it. Computers work fine, sleep mode and all. The only problem is the loud fan noise. Is there a software or something that can be done? I even thought about disconnecting the fans leaving without, but I suppose they will burn.

Similar Messages

Intermittent shutdown, fan noise

I have an iMac G5 ALS, 17", 1.8ghz that I bought new from Apple in August '05.
The serial # starts with W853.
It has always had an over active fan IMHO, but I've read of this complaint often on these forums, so I never paid it much mind. In June '07 the iMac started intermittently shutting itself down so I brought it in. I had Apple Care thankfully so they swapped out quite a few parts, including some sensors, the Logic Board, and PSU.
I brought the iMac home, and within a day or too the hyper-active fan noise was back. However, the iMac was not shutting itself down randomly anymore... until today.
The system log shows me, "AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110"
It happened once, I haven't been able to reproduce it yet, but it of course has me worried.
I have central air in the house, the room never gets above 75 degrees.
The CPU at rest/casual computing is around 65 degrees with the fan whirring away at 5600rpm.
Hard Drive at 44 degrees, fan at 3206rpm.
WDC 49 degrees, fan at 2500rpm.
What is the real story with the iMac G5? Are there things I can actually do to keep this machine running while avoiding intermittent shutdowns, and reigning in this fan noise?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your experiences and advice.

I'm having a similar problem with the sudden shutdowns but not with the fan noise. This just started today after being out for a few hours I noticed that the computer was shut down instead of asleep. I booted it up and it shut down within a few minutes. This continued for several attempts and now I can't even get passed the startup sequence before it shuts down. I can't run any tests on it 'cause it will shut down in the process if not before. I am still under the extended warranty so I guess I will be taking mine in as well. What could be the cause of this? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Intermittent metallic fan noise

Occasionally, I hear this metallic fan-like noise going on in my Mini. I have heard this on and off before, not on a daily basis though; rather it happens every few months. I called Apple Support around a year ago about it (before it was out of warranty), but I can't remember what it is or if I should be concerned about it.
This morning, it occurred upon waking the computer up for the first time from it's overnight sleep. The noise built up slowly, then went on for 5 minutes or so, and eventually stopped. This is the usual pattern; however, it can last much longer. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it happening, as I hadn't done anything other than wake the computer, and there isn't any specific time it begins. Sometimes, it will happen after the Mini has been working for serveral hours, and not necessarily doing anything that's very taxing, such as researching on the internet or while writing a document or email.
Any idea what it is and if I should be worried?

Just to clarify, this is a mid-2007 built Mini that I bought new at my local Apple store, in June 2008. The Optical Drive, SuperDrive 8x, was replaced in Dec 2009, after repeated failures to read discs that worked fine in my MacBook Pro, would not seat discs properly, and would not eject discs after they got stuck inside the drive.
This can't be an Optical Dirve issue, as there was nothing in the drive when this noise happened. It is very much a fan noise, but not sure why it would be happening so sparadically.

Are there fan noises from MBP retina 13inch?

i was thinking if i should upgrade to 15inch MBP retina (im within 14days of purchase), but there are lots, i mean LOTS of complaints about fan noises in 15inch
to me 13inch MBP retina has nearly non-existance fan noise which is good, has anyone who owns 13inch MBP retina experince any fan noises?
kind regards

Hi CouchP,
I know that there have been some reported issues of the fans running unexpectedly with the 15" retina display, but I stand to tell you that I have personally not had any issues. I've had my retina display since January and I use it all day for work and home and have not had any issues at all with my fan. I use istat Pro to monitor my fan levels and there has been no issue. Keep in mind that those who report issues here are because they actually have issues. Just think of the millions who do not report issues. Besides, the issues that have been reported are intermittent issues and have reported that the fans come on for 30 - 60 seconds and then quiet down again. It's no difference than if you were watching a movie or video which causes the fans to come on anyway.
Just my opinion on the matter. I LOVE my 15" book.

MDD G4 fan noise - suddenly

After a year or so of random, intermittent hangs and freezes and the occasional kernel panic on my DP 1.25GHz MDD G4, I have finally identified the culprit. My built-in FireWire 400 ports had been a bit flaky at times but now don't work at all. When starting in single-user mode (Cmd-S at startup) the following message would be displayed: "FWOHCI Error trying to clear PHY ports". After a lot of the normal software "fixes", such as resetting the PMU, resetting the PRAM, Open Firmware commands (reset-NVRAM, set-defaults, reset-all) at startup, Disk Utility verify/repair, etc., and even disabling then re-enabling the FireWire "extension" using Terminal, I am sure my diagnosis is correct. This was verified by checking the connectivity of external FireWire drives by using a "Combo" USB2/Firewire PCI card against the non-connectivity using the built-in FireWire ports. Definitely, the built-in ports are dead. Disk Utility would show nothing, and when opening up System profiler and selecting FireWire, most of the time System Profiler would crash.
Sometime ago I had purchased the same model (but in the single-processor configuration) as a "spare" in case my main one encountered problems. After checking the motherboards and making sure they had the same part number, I decided to swap the motherboards over. The dual-processor daughterboard connection to the motherboard is the same for both configurations, and the change-over was successful - the computer works as it did and I have Firewire back. Yay!
Up until the computer was "shut down improperly" (someone turned off the wrong power switch on the wall, causing sudden loss of power to the computer), it was going with no problems - probably about three hours of normal use. On restarting after this incident, the fans now run at a consistently high speed much faster (and louder) than before. I have tried all the above-mentioned software "tricks", but to no avail. I have run Applejack and I have checked the Firmware version - it is up to date (4.4.8f2). I even suspected a possible lessening of the amount of thermal grease between the processors and the heat sink during the changeover, but the fans had been working normally before the power-off incident. The ambient temperature is normal room temperature, possibly even slightly on the cool side. The fan "ramps up" to high speed (possibly full speed) about 15-20 seconds after pressing the on button and then stays at that speed with no variation.
Is there anything in these computers which acts as a thermostat and might possibly have been affected by the sudden loss of power. The power supply itself is good and I have had no problems with it. I do have a spare, as well as the one in the "spare" MDD, although I am reluctant to swap over the power supply as it is a fiddly job in confined spaces with many sharp edges to cut one's fingers on.
As mentioned earlier, everything (including fan operation) had been normal up until the power "went off". After that, the fan speed has been high all the time. Does anybody have any ideas as to what is going on and other things I might try?

Success - but not complete!
After cleaning off all the old thermal grease from the CPUs and the heatsink and applying a sufficient amount of new high-quality grease, there was no difference in the fan speed.
I put in the original motherboard (with the non-working FireWire ports), and the fans returned to operating as they should (ie at a speed proportional to the temperature). There was, however, a temperature increase reported by Temperature Monitor, most likely because of the slower air movement.
I found yet another motherboard which I had acquired in a non-working MDD G4 (dead power supply, dead hard drive, and a capacitor needing to be soldered back onto the motherboard, but the case was fine!), and tried it out. It has working FireWire ports and normal fan speed, but gives no sound through the front speaker. The front headphone socket and the rear headphone/speaker socket work, at least, although the extra socket for the Apple Pro Speakers appears to also be non-functional.
I have decided to stay with this motherboard for the time being as FireWire and quiet fans fall into the "must-have" category more than sound from the front speaker (which is mono after all - with a pair of Logitech speakers in either the front or rear headphone socket I can have glorious stereo).
To summarize the three motherboards:
1). The original: proper fan control, but non-functional FireWire ports;
2). First spare: functioning FireWire ports, but fans run (loudly) at full speed all the time;
3). Second spare: functioning FireWire ports, proper fan control but no sound through the front speaker.
The temperature readings with the "second spare" motherboard are:
37-38°C, 32-33°C and 29-30°C for the three drives (of the four) that it reports on, with this motherboard also giving a CPU temperature of 51-53°C (the others only gave readings for the drives). I don't know if these temperatures are "good" or a little on the high side, but the computer is working normally (apart from the front speaker), and the fan noise is mild/normal/acceptable rather than annoyingly loud.
I will probably investigate purchasing another, fully-functioning, motherboard, but the risk of faults is always present with older secondhand gear. Also, I would still like to work out what caused the fan-speed controller components to malfunction. I have had numerous incidents like this before - power outages, forced restarts by holding down the power button (after a kernel panic), etc. - but never had a hardware problem caused by the sudden loss of power. Maybe, in simple terms, its time was up.

MBP 2008 - Odd fan noise

Just yesterday, my MBP 2008 started making a strange fan noise, very intermittent and random, sounds like the fan is just a tiny bit out of alignment (or, forced out of alignment with small changes to the system's orientation). It's just loud enough to notice in a relatively quiet room, and at a particular pitch that's annoying as all get out.
Not sure if this is one of the noises that's been annoying MBP owners for years now. Doesn't seem like it, but if anyone else can provide an corroboration, that would be great.

If there's an Apple Store nearby, make an appointment at the Genius Bar and take it in. The only sound the fans should make is from the air movement/ Having said that, it's pretty difficult to diagnose sounds without actually being able to hear them - thus, get a tech to listen
Hope this helps...

Problems with new Yoga 2 Pro (battery, fan noise, yellow, screen orientation, on-screen keyboard)

I purchased the Yoga Pro 2 on Thursday October 17. I love the computer for so many reasons, (especially since it replaces my 4 year old Compaq that was 6.5lbs!) however, I am also having a few issues with it.
It is the i7/8GB/256GB model from BestBuy. I am experiencing the same yellow issue as is mentioned by many on here. I didn't realize it, though, until reading these forums and then comparing to my old computer and my ipad and iPhone. A little disappointed, though it looks like Lenovo may be working on a solution.
But the real reason I originally came to look at this forum is because of 2 things: my fan and battery.
The fan (on the right side of the keyboard) is always on! I didn't expect this, and am wondering if mine is a lemon or if others are noticing the same thing. It's pretty noticeable, especially in a quiet room. I was showing off my new computer to a friend and the very first thing she said was that it was loud! She was using a MacBook pro, which wasn't making any noise at all.
The second thing is the battery... I am attaching 4 photos all taken within a few minutes of each other. If you cant see them, they are all of the battery meter on my screen. I am listing the time of day (to show how much time passed), percent remaining, and time remaining:
10:04 (88%) 306 hr 15 min
10:05 (88%) 8 hr 48 min
10:09 (86%) 4 hr 54 min
10:29 (81%) 5 hr 12 min
I feel like my computer just cant make up its mind!!
Another issue I had... I turned on my computer to show it to a friend (same friend who said it was noisy) and the screen image wouldn't flip when in any of the modes. This means I showed her the stand mode with an upside down image. Even in tablet mode I couldn't get it to flip. I turned the computer off and then on again, and luckily it decided to work, but it was frustrating, and I hope it's not something that becomes an issue.
Also, when I have the computer in tablet mode, the keyboard automatically pops up when I click somewhere to type... but this doesn't happen in stand mode or tent mode. Is this normal? I would have thought that the keyboard would appear in any of those modes, since the real keyboard is not accessible in any of them. And of course now that I am testing it out while writing this, none of the modes (including tablet) is having the keyboard come on screen. Of course, I know I can always choose the icon on the task bar to bring up the keyboard, but it would be nice if the computer did it automatically since it knows there is no other keyboard accessible in those modes. Is this an issue anybody else has had?
I really do enjoy using this computer, but some of these issues really need to get worked out if I am going to keep it. I'd love to hear if anyone is experiencing anything similar, and if there are any good fixes!

I just got a Lemontine Yoga 2 Pro i5/8GB/256GB from lenovo.com and the silver one from BestBuy in the same configuraiton. The silver one has no issues except for the crazy number of hours remaining on the battery which is fine, doesn't bother me. The fan noise is very quiet, and you can only hear it if you put your ear up to the vents in a quiet room.
Now the Clementine one...It was heating up pretty good. I put my ear to it on many occasions and can hear nothing at all, the fan is either missing LOL or doesn't work. I had an issue where I left the thing on for 4 hours, but sleep is configured after 5 hours. When I tried to use it, it showed me the screen brielfy, then blank. Tried hard reset, called Support, nothing. Support says its dead. Ok, an hour later, it turned on. I'm guessing it was too hot and was in some mode to protect itself, like a smartphone that is left out in the sun for some time, it won't power on till its cooled down.
I'm still in process of trying to get a hold of Lenovo to swap it, but since they no longer sell this configuration, I doubt they'll be able to get me a new one.
The silver one from BestBuy us solid though, love it, best in class in my opinion...actually got it from Future Shop sorry...from Canada, but they're essentially the same store.

HP TouchSmart 610-1280qd CTO Desktop PC Fan Noise

Hi,
Can you tell me if a loud CPU fan is normal for this computer?
The CPU fan is working very hard and the CPU and GPU are all ~38 degrees Celcius. The bios reports 1100 CPU Fan Speed and 3800 system fan speed. It sounds like my CPU fan is actually spnning faster than that.
Thanks
SOLVED: I spent some time with technical support and they had a model in the lab and confirmed that the loud fan noise is not by design. I returned my Touchsmart and received a new replacement and it is almost silent. I checked the BIOS and the fan speeds are reporting 1100 CPU Fan Speed and 2100 system fan speed with the same low temps above. I believe in my original machine they did not install fans right by swapping the plugins on the motherboard; I do not have solid evidence of this though.
I hope this help and just know that these machines should be very quiet most of the time other than some low level harddrive access noise.

Hello sal4303. I understand your screen is going blank.
Have you tried changing the settings for how long it takes your monitor to turn off? Here are the instructions.
Let me know if this has an effect on your issue.
Have a lovely afternoon!
Please click the white star under my name to give me Kudos as a way to say "Thanks!"
Click the "Accept as Solution" button if I resolve your issue.

Big fan noise problem: the rear fan won't shut off, the BIOS won't update, systemupdate locks up

I received new ThinkStaion (oh boy, lots of memory and CPU speed, yay!)
I unfortunately left the originally installed Vista OS on there. Very much regretting that as I believe it contributes to the following problems (BIOS).
So the original problem was that after just a month of using my new ThinkStation, the System Board died, and it had to be replaced. Honestly, all I did was choose the sleep or hibernate option in Vista to shut down. Afterwards,poof! didn't even get the proper Power lights on the system. I diagnosed this with the online docs and then sat for a few hours on our tech support line doing all the same things to re-diagnose it.
So after the replacement, the rear fan will not shut off. Jet engine noise all day. I went into the system settings and selected "Quiet" for the Fan settings but that did not help.
Research on this forum resulted in the possibility of a BIOS update fixing the problem. Comparison to my co-workers systems which arrived at the same time shows this BIOS is woefully out of date, so even if it does not fix the fan issue I want to update it. However, everything I've tried to do is failing for one reason or another.
(The fan issue does need resolution since in one week I will end up sharing an office (first time in many years, thanks IBM for nothing!) so since I don't want us both to have to wear noise cancelling headsets, I'd like to fix this without having to just pull the @#$@ power to the fan. Grrrr. )
I downloaded what I felt were the appropriate Lenovo apps to update both the BIOS and the serial number but none seem to work properly from the command line in Vista. One of the two (can't recall which) asks me to reboot and it never actually shuts down. Eternal "Shutting Down" message. Ga! The other throws some gosh awful
systemupdate le
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-69701
eternal reboot
BIOSD attempt:" 2xjy26usa
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-69701
error 1275 no admin priv - I AM the administrator account, there is no other acct to use!
Then I decided Vista might be the problem and found sites recommending flashing the BIOS from a bootable USB. So I started down that path and after burning the wrong version, finally geting the AIK Vista tools installed and to the point of trying to make the USB bootable, it won't allow me to put the OS boot on it. Ah, for the days when a simple "sys a:" took care of that.
So, after reformatting the USB and pounding my head in the wall, keyboard, etc. I am at my wit's end. What to do. I just want the fan noise to go away.
This does seem to duplicate other forum messages but I can't get anywhere on this. Help!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

FYI to all the helpful folks here (and any looking to shut their jet engine off as well): Flashing the BIOS did the trick.
First I had to find a website with DOS OS files and put those on the USB instead of Vista. Oldie but a goodie, but at least it booted! No other versions would.
I had been intending to use the WinPhlash utility that Lenovo supplied with the BIOS update but since I was booting from DOS that was useless. However, I found a DOS version of it and used that instead. Boom baby! Flashed and rebooted.
It did take two boots to get it back to normal (first one gave very alarming messages about no operating system being found but I think it was just a remnant of the reboot that was triggered from the DOS session). A second boot returned life to normal and blissful silence from the server. And I was finally able to get the model and serial number back in there to get rid of the bootup message it throws for that too.
Ahhhhhhh.
Thanks to all for the hints - I believe I had gotten the idea of flashing the BIOS to solve this from some other thread I found here. This is a very nice forum to have bookmarked.

HT3964 How do I stop my Macbook from overheating and making a fan noise?

My Macbook Pro 17 Inch keeps overheating and making a fan noise after I use it for... say... an hour.
I use Windows on my Macbook, is this related to my problem? If not, do I need to get my fan replaced?
It gets annoying whenever I play a game, and then suddenly my Mac goes to sleep for no reason (probably due to overheating).
The fan noise is kept to a minimal when I use a web browser, or listen to music, but it goes up when I start an application.

Since overheating is something the computer tries to prevent, it will shut down if the temps get too hot, thus your experience is not overheating.
You can have a look at Activity Monitor (Menu Bar > View > Show All Processes) and then sort by CPU to see what the culprit is during downloading.
A hot Mac is not that big of a problem, the fan takes care of the heat and if you do not mind the noise, then that is it.

Macbook pro- OSX lion 10.7.2 fan noise

I just bought a macbook pro laptop, upgraded it to the Lion version, it is now 10.7.2, with processor of 2.7 GHz intel core i7, memory of 8GB, 1333 MHz DDR3. Whenever I am on a program like imovie, safari, iphoto, charging my smartpen...etc.... the fans goes off like crazy. It lasts for a very long time. Sometimes the noise get so bad, it goes from loud to louder...... I don't know what the problem is.
I am a new mac user, I have no idea how to install, delete, clean softwares. Please help?? Thank You ...

Thanks a lot for replying, but what exactly does the istat widget program do?
Also, the fan noise seems like a normal noise every time I launch a program, but it's getting to the point where I am frustrated(annoyed) of the fan noise. I would've thought that upgrading to a Mac book would cause less fan noise because of it's high processor. Sometimes I feel like I should go back to a Dell or HP because of this problem, but at the same time, I love my laptop. ;)

Mac Pro 2x2,8 Ghz - Fan Noise - Please help evaluate

Hi Guys,
Since yesterday, I'm the proud owner of a Mac Pro 2x2,8 - Really happy - really nice machine.
However I'm slightly irritated by the posts I've read all over the internet, saying that you can't hear the fans of this machine at all in idle.
As you may have guessed, my box is not silent at all - it is quite quiet compared to other noisy PCs, yes, but no match for the previous iMac 24" which it replaced. You could hardly hear the iMac versus now the Mac Pro... you notice it's there... sitting under the desk - audible.
I realize that fan noise is highly subjective, and I'm using the Mac in a completely silent environment. No AC, no nothing. I've tried the following: removing the hard drive and silencing the graphics card... Upon bootup the Mac would quickly "turbo" it's fans and then go to it's normal state. The loudest fan (which is drowning out all other noise) is the one at the bottom front (CPU?).
Looking at istat, it's in normal parameters (500rpm or so) and doesn't move up or down...
Comparing it to other devices, it would sound like a PS3 when having played 1 hour (fan speed at level 2-3) or an (quiet) xbox in idle mode (dvd not spinning). I know... geeky comparisons
Now, again - not close to my interpretations of "whisper quiet" "can't hear it at all"... "only hear it when I put my ear to the grill" "sounds like it's cooled passively"
Which makes me think that either
a) people out there are deaf /
or
b) my Mac needs a closer look by a genius
Would really appreciate your opinions.
Thanks,
Tom

hey tom,
you might have the same problem i have. I have the 2.8 octo 2008 mac pro. and it used to be whisper quiet. I was amazed. But recently as in the last few weeks the graphics card fan has become audible. I put in an e sata adapter last week and while inside the mac pro I took a look at the fan to see if it was dusty or visibly distressed. Nope. Couldn't find anything wrong with it. So now i'm just dealing with the noise. Which is too bad cause I really really really don't like fan noise. But the air conditioners on most of the time now so I really can't complain about a little fan noise compared to the ac's grumbling.
but i'd like to know if others are having this problem
thanks,
jayson
www.oldchildprojects.com
Message was edited by: woodybrando

T530: Unbearable fan noise

Probably similar to this thread, the T530 I recently received has fan noise issues. I've invested considerable time in solving this, but found that a solution can be achieved with reasonable effort only by Lenovo:
Introduction:
Most ThinkPad models do not provide the operating system (or the user) the ability to set the fan speed directly (e.g. in rounds per minute) or in a fine-grained way (e.g. as a percentage of maximum speed). Instead, there are "fan speed levels", usually 9 levels (level 0 through level 7 as well as the level "disengaged"). For each level, a particular fan speed is defined and the Embedded Controller tries to achieve this particular fan speed by measuring the fan speed and adjusting the electrical properties of the fan (e.g. voltage or pulse length or something like this).
The fan noise problem:
Every time the internal temperature sensor reaches 50 °C or so, the fan starts with about 1900 rounds/minute and then quickly goes to about 2737 rounds/minute, where it is loud. Then it takes about 20 seconds, the temperature drops to 45 °C, then the fan is switched off. Then, after maybe other 30 seconds, the cycle repeats and the fan is switched on again, ...
There are major problems with this behaviour, because:
The fan is not running continously, but pulsating.
The fan is running at level 1 at a much higher speed than needed, creating unnecessary noise.
I have measured the individual fan speeds for individual fan speed levels:
The fan speeds at different levels are as follows:
Level 0: 0 rounds/minute
Level 1: 2737 rounds/minute
Level 2: 2944 rounds/minute
Level 3: 3033 rounds/minute
Level 4: 3074 rounds/minute
Level 5: 3597 rounds/minute
Level 6: 3773 rounds/minute
Level 7: 3773 rounds/minute
Level disengaged: 4754 rounds/minute
Solution draft:
A minimum solution to the problem above would be introducing another fan speed level between 0 rounds/minute and 2737 rounds/minute, with about 1900 rounds/minute. The reason this makes a difference is that there is a fundamental difference between laminar flow and turbulent flow, where the laminar flow makes nearly no noise and the turbulent flow makes a lot of noise. (Whether an airflow is laminar or turbulent is easiest influencable by affecting its speed.)
As you can see on the observed mapping from fan speed level to fan speed, level 6 and level 7 map to the same speed.
Thus, no particular fan speed would be lost if the mapping would be changed to the following:
Level 0: 0 rounds/minute
Level 1: 1900 rounds/minute
Level 2: 2737 rounds/minute
Level 3: 2944 rounds/minute
Level 4: 3033 rounds/minute
Level 5: 3074 rounds/minute
Level 6: 3597 rounds/minute
Level 7: 3773 rounds/minute
Level disengaged: 4754 rounds/minute
Solution implementation by user is impossible:
The problem, however, is that, while a user can decide which fan speed level should be active at a particular time, the user cannot decide which fan speed should actually be achieved for a particular level. Thus, the user can either decide to have 0 rounds/minute (which is not particularly sustainable, because the equipment becomes hotter and hotter) or to have 2737 rounds/minute (which is not particularly sustainable either, because both the user and other people arund the user's Lenovo computer are distracted from work).
The mapping from fan speed level to fan speed is actually stored in the Embedded Controller Programm ("ECP"). This Embedded Controller Programm is freely changeable or configurable by the user. Only Lenovo has the source code to this Embedded Controller Programm, and actually only Lenovo may know how to disassemble such a binary Embedded Controller Program in case the user wanted to change it. Thus, even advanced users cannot fix this problem by fixing it where it should be fixed.
It should be noted that, because fan speed is a long lasting issue at Lenovo, a third party has been even developed an after-market hardware solution: TPFC. However, this solution probably voids the warranty, and it work arounds the problem at the wrong place, and it costs time and money and effort to actually install it.
Only Lenovo can fix this problem:
How Lenovo should fix the problem
Thus, this is my call to Lenovo to fix this problem (at least for the T530 series, but probably W530, T430 are also affected). Ideally, the solution should be as follows:
Change the Embdedded Controller Program such that the mapping from fan speed level to fan speed is as follows:
Level 0: 0 rounds/minute (no noise level)
Level 1: 1500 rounds/minute (low noise level, sweet spot)
Level 2: 1700 rounds/minute (low noise level, sweet spot)
Level 3: 1900 rounds/minute (low noise level, sweet spot)
Level 4: 2100 rounds/minute (some noise level)
Level 5: 2600 rounds/minute (high noise level)
Level 6: 3100 rounds/minute (high noise level)
Level 7: 3773 rounds/minute (high noise level)
Level disengaged: 4754 rounds/minute (high noise level)
The reasons for this fan speed design are as follows:
The "sweet spot" where both the fan will run most of the time and where the user would not complain is between 1500 rounds/minute and 2100 rounds/minute. If the fan needs to be faster to keep the system cooled, then the user is likely to run the system with considerable load to CPU or GPU. In this case, there is no option to reduce the fan speed, but also in this case, the user probably accepts the fan noise for the computing power delivered.
The "sweet spot" in terms of CPU load is where the users do not accept fan noise while actually generating only minute CPU load (e.g. during web browsing or writing documents, where the CPU and the GPU is mostly idle). For many users, this is their normal working state (e.g. working in a quiet office, a very quiet library, a quiet bedroom, a quiet boardroom, ...). These scenarios are where Lenovo ThinkPads currently fail to deliver, unnecessarily
The "sweet spot" needs higher resolution (more fan levels allocated to these fan speeds), because slightly different load patterns may make it necessary to go from one level to the next higher level, but then the next level still should be bearable. Conversely, the higher levels (e.g. from 2600 rounds/minute on) do not need such a high resolution, because for most of the users, these levels will be only attained rarely anyway, and then they are accepting the noise.
Currently, there is no fan speed level at the sweet spot. With the proposed fix, there would be 3 fan speed levels at the sweet spot, with a neighbouring fan speed level (2100 rounds/minute) still being bearable when considering the performance delivered.
There is no fan speed level below 1500 rounds/minute. This is ok, because the fan is nearly inaudible at this speed anyway, and below a certain speed, there is a risk (depending on the fan) for the fan to actually not rotate at all (e.g. due to friction).
How much time and effort would Lenovo need for fixing the problem:
The Lenovo engineer responsible for the Embedded Controller Program of the T530 should need less than one day to change the source code of the Embedded Controller Program and to recompile it. The engineer may need one additional day to test this program (e.g. for different types of fans), and there may be a need for an additional day to release the update to the BIOS and ECP. All in all, Lenovo should not need more than 3 engineer-days (maybe worth 1800 USD) to fix the problem.
Why Lenovo should fix the problem:
Probably the whole current T series (T530,T520,T430,T420) as well as the current W series (W530,W520) fails the users in any of these scenarios (among others):
User working in a quiet office.
User working in a quiet library.
User working in a quiet bedroom.
User working in a quiet boardroom.
Thus, the Lenovo T series is currently not usable for many business users and almost all students. This problem should cost millions of USD of revenue, while fixing it would cost it maybe 1800 USD.
Incidental remark: Lenovo subsidiary can do better:
Lenovo has bought the majority of the Germany consumer electronics company Medion. Medion currently offers a consumer level notebook "E7222" for 499€ including German VAT. Despite of this low price, this notebook delivers very good fan control (that is: the notebook is nearly silent when the CPU is near-idle). (However, being consumer-grade, it does not offer a docking-station or a FullHD screen or WWAN.)
What will I personally do:
Some weeks ago, I had a powerful W530. I returned it due to fan noise for cash refund. Now I have the T530 (Serial number: R9RRF26) which has exactly the same problem. The deadline until I can legally request a cash refund runs until 2012-09-07. I hereby ask Lenovo:
To fix the problem and release an ECP or BIOS update until 2012-09-06 (it is doable, see above) or
if the problem cannot be fixed in this time (e.g. due to bureaucracy): provide me with a written statement (e.g. e-mail or forum post is sufficient) that my legal cash refund deadline (German law: §355 BGB) will be voluntarily extended by Lenovo (to some date Lenovo thinks it needs to fix the problem).
If none of the above happens, I will have to return the T530 as well. This is the 2nd chance Lenovo has gotten from me, there will be no 3rd chance. I would have to turn to Fujitsu (they do have business-class machines with big batteries, FullHD, WWAN) and they probably have better fan control.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

kaawee,
Thank you for the considerable thought that you put into your summation / analysis and proposal for a change.
I don't agree that you are wasting your time as we did make EC changes on the X220 and T420s to change fan behavior (along with several other systems). However, not all customers agree that the changes made the system behave the way they wanted and were completely satisfied (hence some of the dissenting opinions expressed here).
We are interested in feedback on T530, W530, T430 fan concerns and we are investigating. It is possible that a future change might be made, but I cannot say for certain that it will, nor can we commit to making this change within 4 days (2 now remaining) from your original posting.
Best regards,
Mark
ThinkPads: S30, T43, X60t, X1, W700ds, IdeaPad Y710, IdeaCentre: A300, IdeaPad K1
Mark Hopkins
Program Manager, Lenovo Social Media (Services)
twitter @lenovoforums
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Vaio E series - Cooling Fan noise

Hello, 2 weeks ago I bought Vaio E series. I was very excited that I will have Vaio laptop. It was like my dream wish. According to our standard, we are poor country and the Vaio laptops are extremely expensive. But, Vaio laptops are know for high quallity laptops and great support from Sony. So, I bought it. I am very satisfied with the quality. But I have one problem. The cooling fan is making a lot of noise even the CPU usage its 10 %. I have the latest BIOS version. So, Sony I am expecting from you to release a new BIOS update fixing this issue.. I dont want to start thinking that I pay a lot of money only for the name. With that money I could buy a more powerful machine but I put my trust in Sony. The model number is Model # SVE17122CXB. PS. Don't say that I should go to service center because they can do nothing. I am an IT student and I know how this stuff works. And I dont want the fact that the new laptop will be repaired. So the only solution is BIOS update. Sony, do not make me regret that I have chosen you before other brands.
I am expecting a positive feedback.

t0n1,
Engineering came back saying that fan speed control is not supported on the SVE17 hardware so there is no way on this model to control the fan speed manually. I apologize for suggesting this initially, at the time I did not have your exact model at my desk but instead I had a very similar one (SVE14A)
I also received two SVE17 notebooks and both have extremely quiet fan (especially if CPU usage is very low). Loud fan noise is not a characteristic of this model.
If you feel that the fan on your SVE17 is abnormally loud, then you have two options at this point:
1) You can make a audio/video recording of this fan noise and post it for me to review; after that i can try to give you more suggestions or let you know if this is in fact normal or not. At this time you do not mention that your computer is shutting off, so the unit is not overheating.
2) Or you can consider service. (I realize you initially refused service in your original post, but sometimes some new thermal sheets or re-seating of the heat-sink can address these issues.

I changed permission setting on main disk...took forever now when I bootup I get the chime...apple icon...fan noise...thats it...internal drive is broken...no Mac install disk..I have a windows XP desktop with installation disk..if I was to get external d

I changed permission setting on main disk...took forever now when I bootup I get the chime...apple icon...fan noise...thats it...internal drive is broken...no Mac install disk..I have a windows XP desktop with installation disk..if I was to get external drive ...could I use windows XP styartup disk just to boot the "17"Powerbook-G4...have no intention of downloading XP on the Mac...just want to boot it up...or is there a way to boot the Mac from the XP desktop...cables...etc?

Hi Romko23, just pasted info from manual...PowerBook G4 "17" 5.3
Your PowerBook comes with a minimum of 512 megabytes (MB) of 533
MHz Double Data Rate (DDR2) Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory
(SDRAM) installed. Both memory slots can accept an SDRAM module that meets the
following specifications:
Â Double Data Rate Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module (DDR SO-DIMM) format
Â 1.25 inch or smaller
Â 512 MB or 1 gigabyte (GB)
Â 200-pin
Â PC2-4200 DDR2 533 MHz Type RAM
PS my keyboad is loose...I tighten the tiny screws...only...once ...tried all the key-strokes...Comand-option..P-R.....safe-mode... etc...Mac only reacted ...once...right after.. I tightend K-board >>C-OpT- P-R...mac chimed twice...the Apple icon in grey screen got smaller....now after trying ...keyboard .boot short cuts 10 times..nothing...it chimes ...grey screen....apple in window...fan noice ....thats it...do you think I need to tighten screws...again,
I actually think when I was changing permissions...on entire it was taking so ong...20 min...I just hit power,,shut it down...when it wasn't done...no patience.,...just thought of something ...sounds important...whern I resgisted on this site..I tried to use my Powrbook login name ..got message.... .. blocked...Secury problem....that has to be the problem..blocked..how do I unblock?
Message was edited by: CMK1

Intermittent fan noise

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