Mac Heating up???

Question

Level 2

395 points

Mac Heating up???

Is your Mac running twenty degrees hotter or freezing up due to running to hot? Well here's a problem that I found in mine and it was simple to solve. I don't know if it applies to anyone else, but here it is.

When I saw that my iMac 2009/1 was running hotter than usual, I opened the Activity Monitor and noticed that a file "hpdot4d" was using 102% of the CPU (don't mention over 100% can't be, that's what it read). By turning my HP 8250 printer on then off the usage went down to .2% and the iMac temp dropped like a rock back to normal. This happens about once or twice a week even with the printer turned off.

I called HP to inquire what this "hpdot4d" program was, and was told that it's just a "port" designation. And it should be causing no problems. They had no idea why it would cause so much CPU drainage. I left it at that.

In summary...if you have a HP printer and are experiencing over heating problems occasionally, check your Activity Monitor and see if this same occurrence is happening. If so, turn on the printer and then shut if off and see if it goes away like mine.

Just a little hint that may or may not apply....

virg

iMac 24" 2009'1, Mac OS X (10.6.3), 40G Firelite Smartdisk, 8250 HP printer. 3ea, 3G Shuffles and 1ea, 5G Nano.

Posted on Jun 7, 2010 7:33 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jun 7, 2010 8:18 AM in response to virg

Just FYI, if you have a Core i5 or i7 CPU, the 102% CPU reading could easily be explained by Turbo Boost, the dynamic overclocking of individual cores to meet short term processing needs. Activity Monitor things you have say a 2.5GHz CPU, and so when Turbo Boost kicks in to bump you to say 2.7GHz, the only possible interpretation for CPU monitoring software (unless it's specifically written to be aware of Turbo Boost) is to say it's over 100%. Which, technically, it is.

As for the rest... Ever since the joys that were the Carly Fiorina years at HP (and may any and all deities that ever were, are, or will be, help us if she wins that election)... HP drivers appear to be written by people I describe as dyslexic masochists with a bad attitude. The reality is more likely that about 5 different departments at HP send competing specs to some Indian or Chinese software outsourcing company, paying maybe 75% of what it'd cost to have the job done well, and what you get is the predictable steaming pile of excrement. If CUPS, which is included with OS X, supports your printer, you should move to that driver ASAP. Those are developed by people who will actually be using the thing, not some anonymous developer in some developing nation who is just looking to get a paycheck, and could care less about the overall quality of the finished product.

Reply

Answer 2

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

Jun 7, 2010 9:46 AM in response to Scott Billings

Scott Billings wrote:
Just FYI, if you have a Core i5 or i7 CPU, the 102% CPU reading could easily be explained by Turbo Boost, the dynamic overclocking of individual cores to meet short term processing needs.

You can see the same thing on any Dual Core iMac. Basically, each core can go to 100% usage, so if for instance a multithreaded process is using 90% of one core & 12% of the other, Activity Monitor would show it using 102% in the "% CPU" column.

Reply

Answer 3

virg Author

Level 2

395 points

Jun 7, 2010 10:35 AM in response to virg

Nope, just have the 2.66G Intel core 2 duo processor. The occurance does not affect the performance of the computer or the printer. The temp rise I speak of is from a normal (in my case) 96 degrees F, to about 106-8 degrees F. Not enough to worry about.

Thanks for the input...virg.

Reply