[blakespot]

I have had my G5 2.5 for 2 days. No freezes or anything. But I am reading lots of people w/ freezing/locking problems. Anyway, I downloaded Hardware Monitor and have been looking at the thermal readings. I noticed something. The following sensor readings never change after boot:

Main Logic Board Backside
Processor Card A Ambient
Processor Card B Ambient

And it's not just on my G5... I've looked at CPU/Fan threads over at Apple's forums and people are posting temperatures here and there and in instances where people post set of running case examples, like this one pulled from the forum:

Anyhow, here are my numbers at idle:
Main Logic Board=46C
CPU A Die=71C
CPU B Die=65C
CPU A Ambient=53C
CPU B Ambient=48C
Memory Controller=68C

With visualiser running:
Main Logic Board=46C
CPU A Die=82C
CPU B Die=77C
CPU A Ambient=53C
CPU B Ambient=48C
Memory Controller=70C

And lastly, with the distributed.net client running (an excellent way to max out both CPUs):
Main Logic Board=46C
CPU A Die=82C
CPU B Die=78C
CPU A Ambient=53C
CPU B Ambient=48C
Memory Controller=67C

...note the values for those sensors aren't changing. Folks seem not to be noticing this. But if people are reporting freezes/lockups, is it due to the fans associated with these sensors not spinning up properly because they are not getting the accurate temp info for these areas?

Anyone else showing temp changes in these 3 sensors?

(Originally I was just browsing these topics to see if my CPU A/B Die Temperature settings were in line with other folks when just iTunes is running w/ vis window. Mine sit at 85C and 83C in that state which seems high to me but is in-line with what folks are reporting, so...)



blakespot

[blakespot]

And now I just got my reg. key for Hardware Monitor and installed it - so am running full version and on startup I got this alarming dialog stating that:

You are using an operating system version which might contain a defective component for fan control. Because Hardware Monitor has to communicate with Mac OS X fan control to get fan sensor readings, this could increase the likelihood the operating system crashes with a Kernel Panic.
. . .
If you want to avoid the potential risk of losing data it is recommended to deactivate access to fan sensors until you have upgraded to a correctly working version of Mac OS X.

Now this has me surprised! I am running the very latest version of OS X and have done a Software Update right after OS install on this dual G5 2.5. Does anyone else get this message on their dual G5 2.5? Of course...you won't see this message until you register the product for $8.95US.

Problem with the G5/OS X or with Hardware Monitor itself... ?



blakespot

[OzarkMtn]

From the Developer:

"Mac OS X 10.3.3, 10.3.4 and 10.3.5 contain a bug affecting the fan drivers of PowerMac G5 systems. If an
application (like Hardware Monitor) communicates with the fan drivers to get sensor readings, there is a small likelihood this will expose a bug in Mac OS X that could cause the OS to crash. Apple has been informed about the problem but they don't offer a fix so far.

You can either continue and the application will run normally (as the 1.1 version did before), or you can temporarily shut off access to fan sensors by Hardware Monitor and later switch it on again after Apple has solved the problem.

If you have further questions don't hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Marcel Bresink"

I have a Dual 2.0 GHz G5, I am running the program with no problems.

[Miniryu]

So what is the solution? Is there a way to shut off access to fan sensors if you do not own a registered copy of Hardware Monitor? Does shutting them down mean that the fans will be running more frequently than they need to be? Will having the application run all the time be a solution (I am not quiet sure if the app does more than monitor).

[cal6n]

I spotted the same 3 sensors "stuck" when I started using temperature monitor. The answer is in the FAQ in the hardware monitor help menu. These are ambient sensors and only take a reading when OS X starts up or wakes from sleep.

As to the error message, hopefully Apple will address this issue. I wonder if the Uniprocessor firmware covers it. Perhaps an owner could post?