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New AIR and About the Old Ones?

We have a new MAC Air on the street, that is really nice, but what happens with "us" that have the "old" model and still have issues with kernel, over-heating, etc ?

Yes, I know, "Apple knows the issue, and we are working on that".

I hope the new one, does not have all the "issues" we had on the "old" ones, and we are not left behind.

Regards,

MBA 1.6, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Oct 14, 2008 1:20 PM

Reply
38 replies

Oct 14, 2008 2:17 PM in response to Mario Arruda

Yeah I really hope Apple does something for the old users that are still struggling! I hope to see a statement from Apple coming out that provide some kind of upgrade path, motherboard swap or something like that.

Because I know a lot of users that bought the Air over the last year and they all behaved very patiently for a solution from Apple. But I think it is time that Apple comes now with a solution for us.

Oct 14, 2008 3:56 PM in response to Mario Arruda

Sorry, and I don't mean to trivialize, but - what issues?

If you are having Kernel Panics and constant over-heating issues, take it in for warranty work. We have rolled out several and I have one myself. Between the firmware update and OS updates, I have neither issues. Kernel Panics are usually hardware related or can be 3rd party hard- or software connected. Overheating.... in extreme heat, the 2nd core shuts down, but since the last firmware, my systems stay functional and 'fine'... ?!
I don't see there being a systematic problem with 'all' airs, frankly....

Cheers
dan

Oct 14, 2008 5:00 PM in response to dosers

dosers wrote:
Sorry, and I don't mean to trivialize, but - what issues?

If you are having Kernel Panics and constant over-heating issues, take it in for warranty work. We have rolled out several and I have one myself. Between the firmware update and OS updates, I have neither issues. Kernel Panics are usually hardware related or can be 3rd party hard- or software connected. Overheating.... in extreme heat, the 2nd core shuts down, but since the last firmware, my systems stay functional and 'fine'... ?!
I don't see there being a systematic problem with 'all' airs, frankly....


We are not talking about kernel panics here. We are talking about the situation that kernel_task occupies 150% of cpu resources when the computer gets hot, and the computer consequently slows down to snails pace. This has replaced the previous core shutdown issue after the MBA update. Judging from the forum, it is a relatively widespread problem. It may be even more common than realized. For example, when I use my computer in an air-conditioned place it never happens. Only at home without air-conditioning is it a problem (after placing a desktop fan behind the computer, it has become less of a problem). People in cooler climates may not experience the problem.

As for warranty work, there has been many reports on the forum about people trying to get Apple to fix the problem, and all reports except one has been negative. Logic board replacement seems not to solve the problem. So, Apple needs to address the problem (the fact that they released the MBA update shows that they're aware of the problem). I for one do not want to go through the hassle of repair unless there is a high chance of success. Plus, I would have a hard time proving the problem in an air-conditioned Apple store.

Still, after the solution with the desktop fan, my computer has become much more useful.

Oct 14, 2008 5:02 PM in response to dosers

Hi Dosers:

Then let clarify to you:

I can simulate the issue in the following way:

a) room temperature is warm (to be specific more then 76 Fahrenheit/26 Celsius)
b) I use iChat Video and after xx minutes.
c) Kernel_task (NOT PANIC) jumps in (this is process that Apple added in the specific Macbook Air System update) After a few minutes it takes over 100 to 150% of the cpu and then cutting my iChat Video. I can't do anything. Before this update my system was having core shutdowns.
d) I went already 3x times to Apple Store Genius and they told me several times (also with his super visor) that Apple knows about this issue and that Apple is working on a fix.
This was about 2 weeks ago.

So I'm wondering now what the solution would be now that new Macbook Air is out, i'm assuming that Apple fixed it in this new Macbook Air, I learned today that the CPU consumes only 17W instead of the 20W today, etc....,
because I personally believe (from my background as 20 years and MacOS software engineer) that software can't fix this issue.

just my 5 cents on this,

marc

Oct 14, 2008 5:56 PM in response to Marc Van Olmen2

I have the same exact problem, maybe they fixed the problem in the new MacBook Air, but I was wondering what Apple is going to do with the old ones that have the problem. Software does not seem to fix this issue. First I was having core shutdowns and now this process kernel_task consuming all the CPU (with the 10.5.5 update).

I just hope that Apple does not forget about us.

Oct 14, 2008 11:53 PM in response to cesar_g

cesar_g wrote:
I have the same exact problem, maybe they fixed the problem in the new MacBook Air, but I was wondering what Apple is going to do with the old ones that have the problem.


They haven't made any formal announcement with regards this. As with most other Macs, though, there is a logic in keeping the firmware up to date.

Oct 16, 2008 10:47 PM in response to cesar_g

OK. I may have been having the same problems with a new MacBook Air replacement (had a drive failure). Since setting it up last week, I have been having strange things occur with fans going crazy, and CPU usage quite high, indexing issues, etc. It is a SSD model, and has FileVault running.

After a few calls to AppleCare, we solved the issue. The final tech who helped me did a great job, and we narrowed it down to an update that did not apply or was missing. Here is what fixed it:

Check in \Macintosh HD\Library\Receipts\boms\ and the following three files should exist: com.apple.pkg.MacBookAirBluetoothFirmwareUpdate.bom, com.apple.pkg.MacBookAirSMCUpdate.bom, com.apple.pkg.MacBookAirUpdate.bom

If not, then go to the Apple downloads and find all updates related to MacBook Air. http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ (MacBook Air Update, MacBook Air SMC Update 1.0).

We ran the SMC update, but it was already updated. I restarted, and all heat/CPU/fan problems were resolved.

Oct 31, 2008 10:16 PM in response to ColieX

So the new MacBook Air seems to be good:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/31/new-macbook-air-hits-the-streets-actually-cap able-of-this-whole/

What should we the owners of the MacBook Air 1.0 do? This is a frustrating piece of aluminiun junk that can't process anything. No matter what Steve Jobs said that they didnt't want to sacrifice performance, this ******* machine DOES sacrifice performance.

New AIR and About the Old Ones?

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