I have a new Santa Rosa MacBook and when started in Firewire target disk mode, the fan runs at a high rate all of the time. This is even when there is no disk activity. Is this normal?
I've never tried it, but look at your Activity Monitor and see what processes are running a lot of CPU power.
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There won't be any processes running when started in TargetDisk Mode. Drive activity alone shouldn't cause that much heat (although, you mention that this happens when there is no drive activity as well). I don't see any reason why the firmware shouldn't be able to properly manage the fans... even in TargetDisk Mode... the OS should not be required. I haven't yet used my MacBook in TD mode... so I can't say for sure how the fan should sound. I'll check when I get home from work and follow up. I'd imagine there is a chance someone may chime in before then.
Checking the Activity Monitor won't help, it will only report the activity on the host Mac, not the target Mac.
I think the fans run because there's no Mac OS telling them what to do. I think the firmware will try to overestimate instead of underestimate the need to cool the computer. I don't think it's abnormal. Sometimes the same thing happens when running the Apple Hardware Test on some Macs.
The iBook is a totally different animal. For the most part, fans seldom came on in the iBooks. The G4 (or G3 depending on how old your iBook is) processor was much less powerful than the current Core 2 Duo processors... as a result, they ran much cooler and you could get away without always running the fan. I would say comparisons on any MacBook (SR or pre SR) would be fair (especially since you are making a comparison to an iBook). I would say that if your fan behavior is okay when you are actually using your MacBook (as opposed to having it in TargetDisk mode)... you should be fine.
The fan response on a Mac in FireWire Target Disk mode varies from model to model. Some Macs have the fans blasting at full speed. Some Macs have the fans running at a medium speed and some Macs have fans that vary in speed. This is normal behavior, nothing is wrong with your MacBook. (Although, it's probably a little annoying.)
Why not just call AppleCare Support and get the answer directly from the manufacturer? Even if someone else with the exact same model replies, how do you know their MacBook doesn't have the same defect yours does? Maybe they're all "defective" and that's the only response you're going to see here and everyone thinks it's "normal"?
Tel. support can't really hear how much noise is being produced by the fan, so that isn't a very useful option. (I tried holding the phone on keyboard and the support guy thought it should be taken in, but that doesn't mean much.)
So, you won't listen to us and you won't listen to AppleCare Support? I'm not sure why you're posting here if you're not going to accept
any of the advice anyone is giving you here or on the phone.
I have the same problem, well, not sure whether it's a problem but it's certainly annoying to have the fan going for no apparent reason in target mode. This is a MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz with 4 Gigs of RAM, not sure whether it's a Santa Rosa. I bought it in September 2007. Have not called tech support but finally got around to checking online first. Does anyone have an explanation that makes sense? Why would the fans run if there is no processing going on on the target machine?
You don't have a problem. That's what we've been trying to explain to davidss. If there's no copy of Mac OS X running on your Mac, the fans are not being managed. While there may be some very basic instructions in the firmware (for example, "turn on") for enabling or disabling the fans, there will be no standard control. What instructions are there vary from Mac model to Mac model (you do not have a "Santa Rosa" MacBook, by the way, they weren't released until November, 2007). The fans turn on because it would be better to over-react to dissipate heat rather than to under-react.
The above is incorrect. Fans are manageable in Target Disk Model. I know for sure this is true on the G4 iBook and I don't see why it should be any different for Intel Macs.
