[zakmac]

I've recently noticed that the fan in my Powerbook 12" in just always running. I'm sure this eats up more battery power. I especially notice it whenever I need to use the on-board microphone, since all it seems to pick up is tons of fan noise.

Anyone have any thoughts? Is there a preference I am missing somewhere? Or is this everyone's problem perhaps? I just extended the warranty with AppleCare, so maybe I need to bring it in?

BTW, it is a first-generation 867Mhz G4 12" with 640MB of RAM, combo drive and the stock 40GB hard drive.

Thanks!

[chabig]

Apple's 10.3.2 update changed the temperature at which the fan turns on. This affects everyone. It keeps the machine cooler, but at the expense of fan noise. I run my machine on the reduced speed setting when it's on battery power and the fan doesn't turn on very often. On AC power, the fan runs a lot because I use the faster speed.

Chris

[Tek]

This is probably the main reason i have not upgraded my revA 12" PB to Panther... It's so silent right now w/ Jaguar and all i hear are stories of loud fan noise on Panther that i think i can sacrifice not having expose for a quieter laptop... especially since i take it to all my classes and i know some of my peers get pretty annoyed at the louder fanned laptops - in fact so have i in the past....

May God Be With You.
-Mat

[chabig]

I wouldn't let that stop you from experiencing the improvements in Panther. There is already a small utility called Silent Night that restores the original fan logic.

Chris

[DanielPritchard]

Originally posted by chabig:
There is already a small utility called Silent Night that restores the original fan logic.

Chris [/B]

Any tips on how to proceed when Silent Night doesn't have any effect?
Yes, I've rebooted and zapped the pram.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally posted by chabig:
Apple's 10.3.2 update changed the temperature at which the fan turns on. This affects everyone. ...

Chris

This does not exactly affect everyone. My 2nd generation Powerbook (12 inch, 1GHz) runs like it did before.

I was also hesitant to make the upgrade because of the posts here. But I found out that 10.3.1 tried to start applications on network connected windows machines with firewall mess and angry calls from their users :0).

A bug that is fixed with 10.3.2 and a security update (that only applies to 10.3.2).

[chabig]

Yes. You're right. It mainly affects the 867 MHz Powerbooks, I guess. As for the rebooting, I remember I zapped the PRAM and had to reboot several times before it worked. Then it was just as quiet as before.

I have since removed the Silent Night mod because I realized 1) I preferred the cooler machine, 2) Apple's engineers made the change for a reason.

Chris

[thisisjames]

Silent Night wouldn't work for me either originally, but that automated fix was based on the instructions from

http://www.deleet.de/ray/pbfanfix.html

So try following them, that worked. And as for the changes being made for a reason, I'm guessing they can't be that urgent or surely they'd have released an update for all PowerBook owners on Software Update rather than slipping it in an OS update...

...or maybe not.

James

[legacyb4]

I found that simply putting something like a yearly calendar organizer or something of relatively the same thickness does wonders when working on a desk or flat surface.

By just getting the underside of your Powerbook (especially beneath the left palm) up off the desk allows enough heat dissipation to stop the fan for general use.

This is especially true when you are in a centrally heated apartment that stays toasty warm all through winter!

Start playing games and it's a different story though...

[after reading about the glass, granite, and other passive cooling methods, I've temporarily put my laptop on a small baking pan to see if that changes things much. So far, no significant difference...]

Originally posted by zakmac:
I've recently noticed that the fan in my Powerbook 12" in just always running. I'm sure this eats up more battery power. I especially notice it whenever I need to use the on-board microphone, since all it seems to pick up is tons of fan noise.

[Kenstee]

Originally posted by Tek:
This is probably the main reason i have not upgraded my revA 12" PB to Panther... It's so silent right now w/ Jaguar and all i hear are stories of loud fan noise on Panther that i think i can sacrifice not having expose for a quieter laptop... especially since i take it to all my classes and i know some of my peers get pretty annoyed at the louder fanned laptops - in fact so have i in the past..

The problem is NOT with Panther. It is a problem with the 10.3.2 update. 10.3 and 10.3.1 work just fine with the Rev A. No excess fan noise just like in Jaguar.