iMac 27 SMC Firmware Update : Fans at maximum speed

I just got off the tepehhone with Apple Technical Support - who insist that they send an on-site technician to replace the mother board on my i7. This is madness. Apple, this is going to cost you a fortune. Why can't you just reverse the firmware install, or issue a fix.

Regards...

Thanks Mitch! Problem Solved!! I can now stand to work with my iMac. Quietly, I might add. Fan functioning quietly and flawlessly now. Saved me tons of time and trouble. I just burned Refit to a cd, booted from that and did the rest as you laid it out, using only the k23.smc and the SmcFlasher.efi since i have the dual core 3.06. SMC went from 0.000 to 1.53f13. You made it simple as pie!

Thanks again.
Respectfully,
Preston

Dave,
In response to your email, refer to Mitch's most recent post if you haven't already. It works flawlessly! It is sad that Apple Support just wanted to argue the issue and of course sell me Apple Care. And by the way, you can't trust the forum here. No one knows anything here, according to the Apple Care folks!

Regards,
Preston

i reflash the smc and the fans go normal...then i format and install OSX again for the cleaning...well, when i use the backup and restart the fan are going full again but in the snow leopard not when i power on.

seriously i dont know what to do 😟

Reset the SMC
• Shut down the computer.
• Detach the computer's power cord.
• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
• Release the power button.
• Reattach the computers power cable.
• Turn on the computer.

David,

I tried resetting the SMC using the process you describe above. It was not successful. The Apple tech also talked me into doing it again... Still no luck. The apple tech also told me that using "refit" would invalidate the apple care warranty. They (apple support) prefer to send a dealer tech out to replace the mother board. Interestingly, the apple dealer told me that apple don't pay them for software faults, only hardware faults. Does an SMC firmware issue constitute software or hardware? The dealer who has been passed my warranty job doesn't want to do it because he says that the job takes an hours labour, which he thinks may not be a recoverable labour cost. In the mean time, I have an two month old iMac, which is unusable in a small residential room. Please Apple, can you sort the politics out & give me a procedure to backout the SMC firmware.

I was telling fmelipin to reset his SMC. That is a bit of the issue when other folks sort of threadjack someone else's post instead of either just reading along or starting their own post with their separate issues, things start getting confusing as to who is responding to whom.

As long as you have not used the "refit" solution, then your warranty is valid and Apple is choosing to deal with the issue by replacing the logic board, which is their choice under the wording in the warranty. However, the 3rd party repair shop needs to get on the same page as Apple Care and get this fixed under the warranty. So report to Apple Care that they are refusing to do the warranty repair and that Apple needs to solve that issue themselves with their authorized shop.

If you get grief from the Apple Care rep, calmly ask to speak to a customer relations agent.

Hi,
I am reading this with interest, trying to solve my VERY loud hard disk fan (see my other posts).
I checked my SMC version just now, and it's 1.54f36 - and I still have the fan problem.
Will run AHT diagnosis soon and then contact my Apple store at Lakeside, UK.
Cheers

Just an update here. I finally gave up on reversing the firmware update on my ad consented to apple directing a dealer t take the iMac away. They're apparently going to have it for 3 days (pending delivery of spares) and to be honest (listening apple) the hardware is fully functional. I'm curious how many people have had this issue. I can't grumble becaue Apple have offered a resolution to the issue; albeit a completely inappropriate one (replacing the entire mother board o my 2 month old iMac.
So, Im witout the PC for a week & hopefully, it will be sorted... 🙂

I am new to the group but ran into the same problem as well after the SMC update. I walked through all the usuals and wound up taking it in to the store for a logic board swap. My system is fine now but of course they did not apply the firmware updates on the new logic board.

So I think I am going to wait until I hear somebody say they applied the SMC update without issue.

One question I have for people is did you pull all your external connections before applying the update?

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!

So I think I am going to wait until I hear somebody say they applied the SMC update without issue.

This is a user to user technical help forum. That is an unrealistic expectation here. It is like sitting in the waiting room of the hospital waiting for someone to walk in and announce that they are well. It rarely happens.

Thousands of owners of the newest iMacs have applied those updates without issue. It is always a good idea to disconnect everything from the iMac except an Apple USB keyboard and mouse and apply the update manually after you have downloaded from the Apple Downloads site, following the instructions to the letter.

Hi Preston,
I am having the same problem with my Imac27 i7.
How did you get the Mac booting from your CD?
I have burned a CD from the .dmg and tried to boot from that. But my screen stayed black all the time.
Did you used enable.sh or just did a boot and you came into the efi menu?
Thanks,
Peter.

I have exactly the same issue with SMC 0.000 after the update, and the fans are at max speed now. No way to go back says the tech guys in here on the phone and they want to take back and check the system. Has anyone somehow solved this stupid update problem up to now.

I have a couple of issues here. Firstly, it's wise to wait until someone tells of a successful experience when updating the SMC firmware - especially after a failed attempt resulting in the return of a two month old i7 mac for a logixc board replacement (taking 5 days). The last thing I want to do now (that I've had the board replaced in my iMac) is re-run the SMC firmware update.
Secondly, as far as I can remember, there was no warning at all to remove ALL external cabling / devices before running the firmware update.

I'm with the waiters on this one. Maybe we wait until there's another SMC firmware update, who knows. The main disappointment I have is that I'm now very conscious of whether to / not to run the apple software update. How long do we wait until the discussion forums shed light on the issues & resolutions to the problems. I'm sorry if I'm sounding overly cautious, but I've lost a lot of money this week - in NOT having my mac - and that's after I spent the extra dollars on the Apple "Care" package.