[Erck van Rijk]

I was wondering if someone found any reference if the Fan in the New Powerbook G4s can be activated by software/system commands.
I did some searching but returned up empty, maybe its a hardware only toggle on the main temperature.

Greets,
Erick

[Paul Crawford]

Hi Erick,

There doesn't seem to be any API available for controlling the fan on the PowerBook G3/G4 models... As you suggested, the fan appears to be hardwired to a temperature gauge on the CPU/motherboard; indeed, this is implied in Apple's TIL article (#30612) PowerBook G3 Series, PowerBook G4: Operating Temperature. (Although, it's possible to perform other energy-related tasks such as getting the CPU temperature or enabling processor-cycling mode, as described in Apple's Technical Note TN 1190: Power Manager 2.0, and in the 'Power Manager Dispatch Routines' section of 'Chapter 6 - Power Manager' of Apple's 'Inside Macintosh: Devices' manual.)

For the desktop G4 models, the 'Hardware Features' section of the 'Introduction' chapter of Apple's 'Power Mac G4' Developer Note states: "The speed of the fan is thermally controlled ... and is not under software control." This further supports the view that, like its speed, the fan's actual on/off operation isn't software-controllable. I would guess that the limitation also exists for the portable G4 models as well, although it isn't explicitly mentioned in the 'PowerBook G4' Developer Note.

Regards,

--Paul

[Erck van Rijk]

Well thanks for the info.

Looks like I just have to live with a hot laptop.

Erick

[ktolis]

Originally posted by Erck van Rijk:
Well thanks for the info.

Looks like I just have to live with a hot laptop.

Erick

rise it a bit (with two 0.5cm books-one on each side) and you won't heat any more..

works for me..

ktolis

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