The Ever-present Fan Noise Issue

Has there been a definite resolution to the fan noise issue on the iMacs? My 20' started after about a week while I was watching a movie. I can't really work on it without having iTunes (or some other noise) in the background.
A while ago, I read a post about having it narrowed down to the "Optical Drive Fan" (or something like that) being loose/broken/cheaply built (perhaps a combination of the three) and it made sense when I looked at the back of my mac and covered the vent to listen to the difference.
I haven't heard about anyone getting this fixed and the problem being solved, but I would certainly like to. From the sounds of things, some Apple techs are a little premature to replace logic boards and mid-planes and things of the like. The one that I talked to "hadn't heard" of any noise issues and thought it might be a power supply, but I haven't had the time to take it in yet.
If someone has a definite solution (more than just speculation or complaints), I would appreciate hearing. I don't feel like waiting 1-2 weeks for a part that I don't need, if I just have to take it in to the tech for 45 minutes to tighten a fan.

programs it didn't open: limewire, clamav,onyx, menumeters, my driver for my mouse, and a few others.
CS2 took a while to load as did mac office.
the rendering in CS2 was aweful! now i know why steve said it was no good for pros.
the native apps were quick but not enough to sell me on it.
i had a rev a imac g5 with 2 gigs of ram and it screamed.
i plan to make out my new 2.1 with 2.5 and she will scream as well.
the intel duo is nice..if you like to look at activity moniter and see to cpu's but to me its not worth the hassle of dealing with beta apps and all that.
the g5 is more than capable of handling all my tasks and themsome.
i'm gonna wait to upgrade. unless they come out with something amazing this year.

Similar Messages

Is normal in the mac book pro with the retina make fan noise al the time ?

Is normal that the new macbook pro with retina make fan noise all the time?

Hi everyone.
I just bought an mac book pro retina , 15 inches , 2 GHz, Core i7, 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3. I'm a programmer , so, I really don't give to the mac book an exhaustive use, so the performance of the machine is good for me. But recently , I discovery some kind of issue : a noise fan when I reproduce a video from Internet, in full screen mode.
I download the iStatus Menus program for mac, to has a complete dashboard of the situation , and I got this :
1) When recently start the mac book, the statistics are
All in order, the revolutions of the fan are OK, no fan noise at all.
But , just opened a video in full screen , a few seconds after opened start it, the machine increase the temperature from (normal) 40° to 98° (so high), and the statistics change dramatically , as follow :
As you can see, the fan revolution increase 3x , from 2000 to 6000 . The use of Google Helper increase over 200% . And obviously the noise fan make me crazy,
I've only seen this "issue" on that scenario, ( internet video full screen reproduction ). That's not happen , even when many applications are open.
Should I worry about this ?, or, this is a normal behaviour on the machine ?.
I'll appreciate any advice or answer.
Kindly regards.

What is causing the very Loud Fan noise everytime I use the computer? What is causing the Heat as well? Please help

Please Help!
My computer has been making very LOUD fan noises. I know this cant be normal. How can I fix this issue?
This has been going on for a while now. As soon as I turn on the computer....the noise starts.

Go check out Activity Monitor on your Mac. It will show you which programs are running, and how heavy their use of your CPU is.
When mine does this, for some reason, I have a bunch of "Managed Clients" running at once. I use Act. Mon. to shut them down, and my Mac runs normally.

TouchSmart IQ546t fan noise issue

In the least several weeks, I've noticed that my IQ546t keeps the fan at a high speed pretty much all the time. The ambient (room) temp is around 60-70F, and I have it set for "Power Saving" power control, with the screen turning off at about 15 minutes. But even after a long time with the screen off, the fan is whizzing away.
I am a fairly experienced computer tech, so I'm wondering if I need to take off a panel or two and just blow dust out of the machine, but this is such a compact and high-tech device, I wanted to bounce the problem off the board first.
Ideas anyone?
thanks!

Hi - did you ever resolve the fan issue? I've had the same problem for a long time and I am sick of it! By the way, I did take it apart once to blow dust out. I don't believe that is the problem.... could be wrong, though

Is my mac overheating? How to solve fan noise issues?

I have an early 2011 macbookpro 13 inch that came with lion installed. Especially for the last couple of days I realised my macbook is overheating. I'm using a hard surface lapdesk (the logitech model) at all times.
Today my computer was open only for half an hour and only chrome open (twitter for mac is running on background and that's it) istat nano shows temperatures for cpuA of 190 degrees and the fan starts to make lots and lots of noise that I had a trouble hearing the low levels of music. idle memory is shown to be ranging from 20% to 95%, generally around 55%. fans go way above 4000rpm. This is not consistent though. It happens from time to time.
Also, from the beginning my computer makes a click clack noise when I first press the start button. I thought this was normal but I read somewhere in this forum that it is not. Is it really not normal?
What you think I should do? Shall i go to geniusbar to have it looked at? Is there really a problem?
Thanks a lot!

You're quite conscientious about heat, and although your levels seem high, it's hard to validate what's normal and what's not with a computer. Go to a Apple Bar, and they'll probably say, "that's normal."
I do believe that you should visit your Genius Bar - but come prepared. Log regular temperatures, with and without a lapdesk. Note the click/clack noise. But unless you can suggest there's a problem, you might have a difficult time proving there's a problem.
One thing you can improve: boot time. If you're pressing the start button, you might sleep your machine, instead. No start up time, less wear on your machine, reduced heat. Also, you might want to look into GFXCardstatus to reduce your heat http://codykrieger.com/gfxCardStatus.
Oh...and post how things went at the Apple Store.

T420s Fan noise Issue

Hi JameZ, I just PMed you with the requested information. I didn't figure out what "MTM" is.
Thanks for the support.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I found a temporary fix for our hair dryer issue.  There's a German guy who calls himself "troubadix" (the bard in Asterix) who developed an application to adjust the fan speed on ThinkPads. The application is called TPFancontrol. It's latest version is 0.62 and is set up for his T60.  The latest version can be found at troubadix page from uni-marburg right here.  Donations are welcome to him.  Discussion threads are here and here.  And below are the settings I use in the TPFancontrol.ini file to run my ThinkPad T420s quietly when on the go (passive until 50°C). When docked in the Advanced mini 3 plus docking station and using two external monitors (1920x1200 + 1050x1680) the discrete graphics kicks in and the CPU is always near the 60°C mark. With the settings below you should be able to keep the temps around 60°C with moderate office work. The fan spins between 2900 and 3700 RPM.  Settings: //// >>>> Celsius / Fahrenheit: temperatures in °C (active) / °F <<<<
// !!! Temp of lowest Level > 79 -> switch to Fahrenheit !!! see below
// ATTENTION: example temp values are for my T61, especially// BluetoothEDR=1, SensorName5=no5, IgnoreSensors=no5 too // temp levels 10 degrees centgrade higher than in T4x, R5x,// change for your purposes.// Achtung: die eingetragenen Temperaturwerte benutze ich beim T61,// speziell hier: BluetoothEDR=1, SensorName5=no5, IgnoreSensors=no5// Für T4x, R5x können die Temps 10 Grad niedriger eingetragen werden.// Bitte alles für die eigenen Zwecke anpassen.
// advice for programmers: TPFanControl must acquire mutex named// "Access_Thinkpad_EC" to get access to embedded controller// Hinweis für Programmierer: TPFanControl muss den Mutex // "Access_Thinkpad_EC" aquirieren können um Zugang zum embbeded // controller zu bekommen.
// with Active=3 & ManFanSpeed=0 & ManModeExit=78 you can have a nice// quiet time until temps reaches 78 deg. centigrade :-))// mit Active=3 & ManFanSpeed=0 & ManModeExit=78 kann man nach dem // "Kaltstart eine schöne ruhige Zeit haben, bis die Temps 78 °C // erreichen und das Programm auf smart mode schaltet.
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// -----------------------------------------------------------------// "Active=0" program just reads config. // "Active=1" allow program to modify fan.// "Active=2" program will come up in smart mode.// "Active=3" program will come up in manual mode.// bei "Active=0" wird nur die Konfiguration ausgelesen. // bei "Active=1" die Veränderung des Lüfterverhaltens ist aktiviert.// bei "Active=2" startet das Programm im "Smart"-Modus. // bei "Active=3" startet das Programm im "Manual"-Modus.
Active=2
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// manual fan speed at program start// Lüfterstufe beim Programmstart
ManFanSpeed=7  // -----------------------------------------------------------------// Program exits manual mode and switches to smart mode with last chosen// profile, if this temp (degrees Centigrade or Fahrenheit) is achieved.// default= 80 degrees Centigrade / 176 degrees Fahrenheit.// Das Program verlässt den manual mode und schaltet auf smart mode mit // letztem gewähltem Profil, wenn diese Temperatur erreicht ist.// default= 80 Grad Celsius / 176 Grad Fahrenheit.
ManModeExit=78 //ManModeExit=172 // with Fahrenheit
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Window stays on Top if StayOnTop=1, normal behavior =0// Programmfenster bleibt im Vordergrund bei StayOnTop=1, ansonsten =0
StayOnTop=0// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Set to 1 for slim widget// Schmales Programmfenster bei SlimDialog=1, ansonsten =0
SlimDialog=1    // -----------------------------------------------------------------// set to 1 for bluetooth with enhanced data rate (i.e. T61,// X61 for T4x, R5x set BluetoothEDR=0 )// BluetoothEDR=1 für bluetooth mit enhanced data rate (EDR, z.B. T61,// X61 für T4x, R5x BluetoothEDR=0 setzen)
BluetoothEDR=1 // -----------------------------------------------------------------// Windows Priority of Process (0-5, normal=2), increase if fancontrol has // big delays in response while other processes consume performance.// Windows-Priorität des Processes (0-5, normal=2), ggf. erhöhen, falls // Reaktion des Programms zu träge wegen Resourcenverbrauch durch andere// Anwendungen
ProcessPriority=2
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Show no icon ballons: NoBallons=1, show icon ballons: NoBallons=0// Icon Sprechblasen anzeigen mit NoBallons=0, keine bei NoBallons=1
NoBallons=1
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// check temperatures every x seconds (default 5)// Überprüft die Temperaturen alle x Sekunden (Standard ist 5).
Cycle=5
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// For Thinkpads A2x,T2x,X2x set NoExtSensor=1 to exclude reading // of extended sensors to prevent program errors. Attention 570(E) // is NOT compatible. Fan speed is not available on all models.// Bei Thinkpads A2x,T2x,X2x NoExtSensor=1 setzen: die Sensoren 9-12// werden nicht ausgelesen und dadurch Fehlermeldungen vermieden. // Funktioniert NICHT bei 570(E), Fanspeed nicht immer verfügbar.
NoExtSensor=0
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Minimize to systray immediately when starting// Minimiert das Programm schon beim Start in die Taskleiste.
StartMinimized=1
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// check icon of tpfcicon.exe (optional) every x seconds (default 1)// Überprüft das Icon von tpfcicon.exe alle x Sekunden (Standard =1).
IconCycle=1
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Show new icon with max. temperature / sensor name// Zeige neues Icon mit Max. Temperatur / Sensorbezeichnung
ShowTempIcon=1
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Save the icon by a start delay of the program/service of // "SecStartDelay" (sec.) within "SecWinUptime" (sec.) after (re)boot// Delete slashes '//' at next 3 parameters.// Das Problem der nicht erscheinenden Icons wird durch eine // Startverzögerung um SecStartDelay (Sekunden) innerhalb einer Zeit von// SecWinUptime (Sekunden) verhindert. Kommentarstriche "//" entfernen.////SecWinUptime=120//"SecWinUptime" (sec.) after (re)boot//SecStartDelay=60//start delay of the program (sec.)//NoWaitMessage=0//set to 1 to avoid sleep message//ReIcCycle=600//rebuild TempIcon every xxx secs.
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Temperature thresholds for turning the taskbar icon// yellow orange red (Smart and Manual mode only and// only together with MinimizeToTray=1)// Temperaturgrenzwerte, die das Symbol in der Taskbar gelb,// orange bzw. rot färben. (Nur im "Smart"- und "Manual"-Modus // in Kombination mit "MinimizeToTray=1" verfügbar.)
IconLevels=65 75 80 // Fahrenheit: IconLevels=122 140 158
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Beep frequency and duration (in ms) for successful// fan state changes. (Set either or both to zero to // disable)// Frequenz und Dauer des Piep-Signals (in ms), das eine erfolgreiche// Änderung des Lüfterzustands ankündigt. (Um den Piepton abzuschalten,// setzen Sie entweder einen oder beide Werte auf 0.)
FanBeep=3 2
// --------------------------------------------------------// If this max number of consecutive EC read errors occur// program will switch fan back to bios mode and exit// Sobald die maximale Anzahl aufeinanderfolgender EC-Lesefehler// erreicht ist, schaltet das Programm auf den BIOS-Modus um // und wird beendet.
MaxReadErrors= 10
// --------------------------------------------------------// Log2File=1 enables, Log2File=0 disables writing to TPFanControl.log// Start program with admin rights.// Log2File=1 aktiviert, Log2File=0 deaktiviert// Schreiben nach TPFanControl.log, Programm benötigt Admin-Rechte.
Log2File=1
// --------------------------------------------------------// Log2csv=1 enables, Log2csv=0 disables // writing to TPFanControl_csv.txt renamed to // TPFanControl_last_csv.txt after restart of TPFanControl// rename to *.csv for use with excel// Start program with admin rights.// Log2csv=1 aktiviert Schreiben nach TPFanControl_csv.txt// Programm benötigt Admin-Rechte. Datei wird umbenannt in // TPFanControl_last_csv.txt nach erneutem Start von TPFanControl// In *.csv umbenennen für anschliessende Bearbeitung mit excel
Log2csv=0
// --------------------------------------------------------// List (separated by comma) of sensors to ignore when// determining the max. temperature. (Use lower case,// e.g "IgnoreSensors=pci,aps")// Liste der Sensoren, getrennt durch Kommata, die bei der// Ermittlung der Maximaltemperatur ignoriert werden. (Verwenden// Sie kleine Buchstaben, z.B. "IgnoreSensors=pci,aps".)
//IgnoreSensors=no5
// ---------------------------------------------------------// List of new 3 letter sensor names, delete leading // slashes to aktivat. Don't use capital letters for readability // of temp icon.// Liste von neuen Sensorname (jeweils 3 Buchstaben), zum// Aktivieren die Schrägstriche löschen. Kleine Buschstaben // wg. der Lesbarkeit im TempIcon gebrauchen.
//SensorName1=cpu//SensorName2=aps//SensorName3=pcm//SensorName4=gpu//SensorName5=no5//SensorName6=x7d//SensorName7=bat//SensorName8=x7f//SensorName9=bus//SensorName10=pci//SensorName11=pwr//SensorName12=xc3
// ---------------------------------------------------------// calculating Highest Temp with: // temperature of sensor no. = real temp minus SensorOffsetno.// Default SensorOffset1-12=0 , Capital O in SensorOffset,// to activate delete slashes '//',// Negative SensorOffsetno. values increase temperature values.// Berechnung von Highest Temp mit: // Temperatur des Sensor Nr. = reale Temp minus SensorOffsetnr.// Default: SensorOffset1-12=0 , Grosses O in SensorOffsetnr.// zum Aktivieren Schrägstriche '//' löschen,// Negative SensorOffsetnr-Werte erhöhen den Temperaturwert.
//SensorOffset1=20//SensorOffset2=20//SensorOffset3=0//SensorOffset4=2//SensorOffset5=1//SensorOffset6=5//SensorOffset7=5//SensorOffset8=4//SensorOffset9=3//SensorOffset10=2//SensorOffset11=1//SensorOffset12=5
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// set to 1 to show calculated temps for sensors// =1 gesetzt zeigt die Temperaturen mit Offsetkorrektur an
ShowBiasedTemps=0
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Show all/active sensors at start up. all=1 only active=0// Zeige alle/aktive Sensoren an: alle=1, nur aktive =0
ShowAll=1
// --------------------------------------------------------// temperature levels 'Level=' with associated fan levels// (for the fan to come back, temperature must fall// down to previous level). There may be more or// less levels in this list. The first one should// have a fan speed of zero and is the "turn off"// temperature.// Fan speed of 64 is extreme and may be an *unsupported*// and *damaging* mode. A fan speed of 128 setting is// not really a fan speed in itself but will instead switch// fan control to BIOS mode (0x80). The idea of this// is to let the program get out of the way and let the// BIOS handle extremes.(and then switch back to smart if// the temperature is okay again)//// Im Folgenden sind die Temperaturpegel samt den jeweils// zugeordeten Lüfterstufen aufgelistet. (Sobald die Temperatur in// den Bereich eines niedrigeren bzw. höheren Pegels wechselt, wird// die Lüfterstufe automatisch angepasst und folglich verringert bzw.// erhöht sich die Geschwindigkeit des Lüfters.) Diese Liste kann// weniger oder auch mehr Stufen beinhalten. Sinngemäß sollte die// erste Stufe die gewünschte Temperatur definieren, bei der sich// der Lüfter ausschaltet (Lüftergeschwindigkeit 0)// Die Lüftergeschwindigkeit 64 ist ein Extremwert und könnte somit// eine von IBM nicht unterstützte und sogar schädigende Betriebsart// darstellen. Die Lüftergeschwindigkeit 128 ist an sich keine eigene// Geschwindigkeitsstufe, sondern gibt stattdessen die Kontrolle// des Lüfters an das BIOS (BIOS mode, 0x80) zurück. Der Hintergrund// dieser Einstellung ist die Möglichkeit, das Programm auszuschließen,// um Extemfälle wieder vom BIOS steuern zu lassen. (Sobald sich die// Temperatur wieder im Normbereich befindet, wird erneut der Smart// Modus aktiviert.)//// Temp of lowest Level (commonly set to fan speed zero) of profile // "Smart Mode 1" will switch from Celsius to Fahrenheit if set higher // than 79 degrees. Temps of higher levels have no influence on F/C. //// profile "Smart Mode 1"// change values and number of items for your needs// Celsius: // Fahrenheit:
MenuLabelSM1=Smart Mode 1/ Label for Icon Menu, must be terminated by '/'
Level=45 1// Level=140 0Level=50 2// Level=150 1Level=55 2 // Level=165 3Level=60 3// Level=175 7Level=65 4// Level=195 64Level=70 5Level=75 7Level=90 128
// optional 2nd profile "Smart Mode 2", switched by icon menue// change values and number of items for your needs// to deactivate, insert leading '//' into following lines
MenuLabelSM2=Smart Mode 2/ Label for Icon Menu, must be terminated by '/'
Level2=22 0// Level2=70 0Level2=33 1// Level2=90 1Level2=38 2// Level2=100 2Level2=44 3// Level2=110 3Level2=55 7// Level2=130 7Level2=66 64// Level2=150 64Level2=77 128// Level2=170 128
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// IconColorFan=1 digital Icon will turn green while fan is running. // IconColorFan=1 Digitales Icon wird grün während der Lüfter läuft.
IconColorFan=1
// -----------------------------------------------------------------// Lev64Norm=1 : Fan level 64 acts as normal level with hysteresis, // fan will run till next lower temp step is reached (no pulsing fan). // If set to zero fan level 64 acts as emergency level without hysteresis,// fan will run till level64 temp is reached again (pulsing fan can happen).// Lev64Norm=1 : Fan level 64 arbeitet mit Hysterese, Lüfter läuft, // bis nächst tieferer level erreicht wird. Lüfter pulsiert nicht.// Falls Lev64Norm=0 gesetzt, arbeitet level 64 als Notfallkühlung oberhalb// der Temperatur von level 64. Ein Pulsieren des Lüfters ist möglich.
Lev64Norm=1 I hope this helps. I wish you a great sunday.

GT 70 missing graphic card and constant fan noise Issues

Not even sure if this is the correct place to post this thread if not could someone move it to a different section.
So today for some odd reason my laptop decided to freak out on me. I get a bluescreen saying VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE, I have GT70 NVIDIA GTX 675m I was doing a scan on my computer and the lower right hand corner it said Application has been blocked from accessing Graphics hardware. So before it kept saying that over and over again. The computer basically just lagged out and I did a hard shut down to turn it off. I turned it back on and it started up to the BIOS for some unknown reason I didn't press any button so then I go over to Save & Exit and it said do you want to save the changes, I said no and it started up again to the desktop but very slowly.
Then my desktop finally shows up but now I hear what appears to be my video card fan or the fan that turns on when you are overclocking or just when you hit the fan button on the keyboard constantly running. I am freaking again myself because I don't want this laptop to die on me. My NIVIDIA card is no longer even showing up on the taskbar, even when I go to control panel I click on the NIVIDIA control panel and it doesn't even come up. So I try doing a system restore, after it restarts the video card is showing up I do a couple of restarts to get things back in order again. Even the fan is no longer blasting like before which puts me at ease.
I go to watch a YouTube video and then the video freezes then in the lower right hand corner I couldn't see what it was because it faded away something about the video card crashing so then after it crashes my fan starts to go off again and I am freaking out again. I tried to do another system restore but it seems that it's not working any more. Is my video card dying or do I need to install new drivers for it.
How come it's no longer showing up on my device manager? Did it die or something?

It has been acting very strange today. I turned it off last night and went to sleep, woke up a couple of hours later to turn it back on and it went to the desktop very slowly but my GTX 675m card showed up in the display under device manager also the fan was working normally like it usually does and not constantly going. I was sort of shaking my head not understanding how it showed up again.
So I took it into a computer repair place to see what they might make of it. Won't get any word until tomorrow or Monday to see what it might be, strange enough when they booted up the system at the computer place it booted up quickly and he told me that the GeForce Experience thing opened up and all that. But I don't really trust the laptop, I told them I would still like for them to check it to see if my GPU is really dying. They said they will run some tests to see if it's a hardware problem or software problem.
As for buying a new GPU I am not sure i want to pay that much, is there something more cheaper that might be better than 675m? I keep hearing people saying how bad the 675m is and how NVIDIA does not care much for that particular card. Also my 2 year warranty for the laptop just expired in January and I have no idea why this always happens to me once the warranty expires something wrong happens, not sure if it's a coincidence or just bad luck.
Guess I will see what happens when I get the computer back from the repair place, paid $89 dollars just for them to check it which they say is a lot better price than Geek Squad cause they would have me paying $200. Ugh! This crap makes my anxiety go sky high. Hate to lose my laptop, I mean it seems to boot up to the desktop but that stupid cooler fan going full blast is what concerns me.

Tired of broken promises and the ever present carrot on a stick

My advice to Verizon at this point is to not be AT&T, don't tell us we are going to get Tethering and WiFi hotspot with Android 2.2 (Froyo) unless you are willing to GIVE it to us at no cost.
You have a lot of customers that have left AT&T because AT&T they act as if they are the only Wireless company available, there are more companies that have Android devices now so we (the current Verizon customers with Android devices) have choices.
Get your stuff in one sack, back up what you say you are going to do, put us (your customers) first as you say you do, and do something that the other companies don't.......
GIVE US THE THINGS YOU PROMISED US WITHOUT ALL THE DRAMA!
And make the Tethering and WiFi hotspot free because we are ALREADY paying for UNLIMITED DATA!

Phones and not just smart phones have able to tether for years. It has always been more expensive for that option. I guess it just bothers me that people act like they are just giving Verizon money and getting nothing in return... we are carrying some of the most reliable amazing mobile equipment on earth and all I read on forums is gimmie more...
Don't get me wrong, I want this update so bad I have been dreaming I have received it just to wake up and find its not there.. its like the dreams I usually have about finding money..
What comforts me is knowing that this device will be receiving support from its users long after Motorola and Verizon have wrote it off.
Bottom line is its the best device I have ever owned. If I never knew about an update I would be completely content... ignorance truly is bliss I guess.

The ever popular newbie EQ issue

Hi all... as an experienced musician who's been dabbling in the DAW world for about a year I thought I'd share my EQ learning experience with my fellow newbies (pros, feel free to laugh! I can take it.)
Anyway, I spent many months rendering my brilliant noodlings into absolute mud through complete lack of knowledge of what all them knobs and waves meant But now I;m now getting tracks that to my ears (and people other than my mom) sounds pretty good -- sounds the way I want it -- and getting mixes that sound fairly clear, at least not totally chaotic and muddy.
As Bee Jay pointed out earlier, there is no "right" set of EQ settings that will work for every song (unless you can afford the Awesomizer!). But there's general frequency bands in which instruments (and I'm thinking of basic rock and roll instrumentation, eg Zeppelin, Sabbath, loud English-American blues) live the best, those are the bands where to begin EQing the signal.
"The Mixing Engineer's Handbook" breaks out this info pretty well, I think. It also includes helpful interviews with a lot of well-known pros, and describes how they build their mixes. The book also describes places to cut and boost for each instrument that tend to have worked in the past -- and explains why those tried and true methods work. it helps one understand why the Logic presets are the way they are. I'll use those bands as a starting point, then tweak from there, depending on the composition.
As for doing the actual EQing, I can't praise PSP Audio's MasterQ highly enough. It's a parametric EQ with a great interface (knobs for freg/Q/gain) and a nice big graphical display. What I will do, when EQing kick/snare/bass is have each channel's MasterQ instance simultaneously on my screen to ensure they're not crowding each other out. (Also highly recommend PSP's MixPressor and Vintage Warmer, and their Neon Linear Phase EQ!)
So it's not totally mysterious... you just have to arm yourself with a bit of theory and get a EQ that functions and communicates in a way that's good for you. And futzing around, a lot.

I find the best tool in this respect is the analyser, plus your ears of course.
My latest remixes on Peter Gabriel"s Real World Website:
http://www.realworldremixed.com/remixer.php?remixer_id=oqkx--xChQR1ZrHX8kI.

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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DM3 (New 2010 model) - FAN NOISE - Constantly Running LOUD

This is the first HP to use "Cool Sense" technology. Yes, it is cool but at the expense of FAN NOISE. The fan runs constantly even when Thermal Assistant is set to "Quietest." Just an open browser window at 0-10% cpu makes the fan run all the time! PLEASE READ my Notes below.
After monitoring the temps, the fan still needlessly runs on medium speed even after the temperatures drop (CoreTemp gives [core#0 28C & core#1 37C] at idle powersaver). Anyone can comment on the 9C difference?
I believe hp still need to tweak the "Thermal Assistant" fan controller or raise the temperature thresholds. PLEASE HELP - VERY ANNOYING PROBLEM
Note: Latest F.08 bios & Turned OFF "Fan Always On." Computer is NEW (no dust). Used on Tabletop. Used both powersaver mode & balanced.

Try doing a SMC AND PRAM reset by:
1. Turn off your iMac and unplug everything from it for 30 seconds.
2. Plug in the power cord, keyboard and mouse only.
3. Press the power button and immediately hold down the Option, Command, P & R keys until you hear the second gong then release the keys. Your machine will start up normally, then check for the issues you are having.

HP ProBook 4230s - Fan Noise

Hi,
01. I have a HP ProBook 4230s notebook with Win 7 running, PC fan is much noisy since the boot up is this normal? if it is not what should I do to resolve this issue.
02. I have started a "Run-In Test" from System Diagnostics, it runs Memory Test and HDD Test for sevaral iterations but gives no result, both tests are completing up to 100% and again restart the tests, is this normal?
Much appreciate your valuable advice on above.
Tnx.

Dear Customer,
Welcome and Thank You for posting your query on HP Support Forum
It looks like your Notebook has Fan Noise Issue due to which the Notebook keeps might be turning itself OFF at times
We will surely assist you with this issue
Please perform the below shown steps to resolve the issue:
1. You should clean all the Vents and Openings really good with a can of compressed air
2. Check if the Fan is spinning when AC Adapter is connected
3. Boot into the BIOS >> System Configuration >> Device Configuration >> Enable "Fan always ON"
4. Update the latest BIOS and Graphics Driver
Note: Incase even after these steps if the same issue persists we need to remove and reseat the Fan
Please click on the below shown link to find more troubleshooting steps involved to fix the issue
http://tinyurl.com/q85565f
Hope this helps, for any further queries reply to the post and feel free to join us again
**Click the KUDOS star on left to say Thanks**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.
Thank You,
K N R K
Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP

Finally ready to fix my cpu fan noise - can someone PM?

So I have a 17" rev a imac (1.8 ghz) - now that my 3 year Apple Care plan is up (a new power supply, 2 new logic boards, and a new hard drive later) - I am ready to do anything to fix the model airplane fan noise/whine coming from the CPU fan. I know when the issue has at the forefront a couple of years ago, there was a housing modification that seemed to work for a lot of people, but I haven't been able to find it again. Could someone PM me with info about it if you know of it?
Thanks!

"Could someone PM me with info about it if you know of it?"
Sorry, Apple Discussions is a user to user message board without a PM feature. Reason is this: we (all users) ask that you post all questions to the appropriate discussion forum. This allows other users and other helpers to have a chance to view and respond to your post. *That way, everyone benefits from the exchange.*
Except for the keyboard & mouse, disconnect all devices from your computer.
See Knowledge Base Article: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301733 iMac G5: How to Reset the SMU (iMac G5, the iMac G5 (Ambient Light Sensor), and the iMac G5 (iSight)).
See if your computer qualifies for the G5 iMac Repair Programs
**WARNING: DUE TO SECURITY REASONS, PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR COMPUTER'S SERIAL NUMBER ON THESE MESSAGE BOARDS.**

Any luck on fan noise?

Seems like I am having the same issue with my high fan speeds as others on this board. Before I call Mac, I wanted to know if anyone had any luck getting this issue resolved. Through Mac that is. Not planning on modifying my Mac to silence it.
It's in warranty but I don't want them to replace my fan then the same problem show up again 6 months later.
With iTunes, iPhoto, Mail, and Safari open the thing will run at 4500 RPMs.
thanks!

Vondy,
We just had our logic board and power supply replaced a couple weeks ago because after being unplugged a couple days, when we plugged it back in it was dead. I went through the diagnostics, reset the SMU only once, as it can cause problems to do it more, then called Apple and got a case number---they were great. All is well now, and it is amazingly quiet. Evidently, we had just gotten use to the increasingly loud fan noise.
I can't say for sure if Apple will replace the logic board based solely on loud fan noise, but you should call them. If my fans start running loudly, again, I know I won't hesitate to call. It's so nice to listen to iTunes without the background noise. It's the Mac experience we initially expected: Lovely.
Good Luck.
Dawn
iMac G5 17" 1.8 gHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Probook 6360b: Permanent fan noise

Hi all,
I have bought my Probook 6360b a few days ago and I like the performance and the sturdiness of the body.
However, the constantly buzzing fan is annoying me now already.
The quick facts:
- I have disabled 'Fan always on while on AC Power' in the bios (bios version F.03 (27 Apr 2011))
- CPU usage is <5%, CPU temperature is < 100F / 38C
- Power consumption is 8-9W (according to 'HP Power Assistent')
- SSD hard drive (i.e. no hard drive noise)
Basically, the fan is pretty silent; however I am working in a (very) quiet environment where I can constantly hear the permanently buzzing fan, which has become annoying after just a few hours.
Is the permanent low fan noise considered 'normal' for the Probook 6360b?
If so, is it possible to reduce the noise even further or switch off the fan at times of low CPU usage?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Chris

Hello RobotWong
Welcome to the HP Forums I hope you enjoy your experience!
I am sorry to hear that the fan in your HP Probook 6360b has become as loud as you have described. I have a couple of ideas to assist with this issue,
First, this is probably the most important part of my post is to ensure you are not overheating. To do this I am posting the HP Support document: Reducing Heat Inside the PC to Prevent Overheating. This document was designed to help prevent overheating, and according to the document one of the symptoms of overheating is "Fans inside the computer become louder because they are spinning faster to remove the heat". Be sure to review this document and ensure this is not the case.
Second, I am providing you with another HP Support document: HP ProBook 6360b Notebook PC Maintenance and Service Guide. If you refer to page 74 you will see the part number for the fan as well as instructions on how to replace the fan. The fan can be ordered from the HP Parts Store. Now I am not saying you need to replace the fan (it is an option), but I would advice cleaning out the Thermal Paste and replacing it with a good quality Thermal Paste. This can get contaminated with dirt and dust and not glide as smoothly over time.
I believe if you follow the advice above you will resolve your excessive fan noise. Thank you for bringing this issue to the HP Forums. Have a great day!
Please click the "Thumbs Up" on the bottom right of this post to say thank you if you appreciate the support I provide!
Also be sure to mark my post as “Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others who face the same challenge find the same solution.
Dunidar
I work on behalf of HP
Find out a bit more about me by checking out my profile!
"Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong." ~ Donald Porter

The Ever-present Fan Noise Issue

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