Resetting the SMU on a Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

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Level 1

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Resetting the SMU on a Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

Guys,

I was just reading the "How to reset the SMU on a Power Mac G5 (Late 2004/2005)" page http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300341 and am now a little confused.

I own a Power Mac G5 (Late 2005), and every night before bed I turn it off and take the power plug out of the wall. In the instructions to resetting the SMU on a Power Mac G5, it states to remove the power cord from the computer for 15 seconds and then plug it back in.

By me always taking the power away from the computer, is this resetting the SMU every time? If so, can this cause problems?

Regards,

Daniel

Dual-core 2GHz PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6) 1GB 533 DDR2 SDRAM

Posted on Apr 11, 2006 4:23 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

maclover

Level 4

3,850 points

Apr 11, 2006 5:06 AM in response to IlMolto

No, unplugging it shouldn't cause problems. But you may find the internal battery that retains the G5 settings (date, etc.) may not last as long as if you left the G5 plugged-in when shut down.

If you are concerned that it uses a lot of planet unless unplugged, it uses about 2W - see para 5.1 here

http://images.apple.com/environment/resources/pdf/apespmacg5_11_105.pdf

If you are concerned about night-surges, you could consider a surge-strip or a UPS. Hope that helps.

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Answer 2

Apr 11, 2006 11:46 PM in response to IlMolto

Don't do this if there is no problem with your G5. This is only if you had a kernal attack or major problems where your fans go off like an airplane. Usually thats a good indicator of a hardware problem. Check your memory if this is the case. Resetting the SMU requires you to push a little black button on the mother board to reset it to default. Plugging your computer on and off for no reason can only cause problems down the road.

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Answer 3

IlMolto Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 12, 2006 7:08 PM in response to SlickRick

Thanks for your replies,

Reason why I unplug it of a night time is because I need to use the power point for my phone charger. It won't reach from the power board that my Mac is plugged into.

If this is the case, I might have to re-position my room so I can have the phone charger and computer on at the same time.

And what is that click sound coming from my Power Mac when I plug it and unplug it from the power point? Is this supposed to happen?

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Answer 4

maclover

Level 4

3,850 points

Apr 13, 2006 12:21 AM in response to IlMolto

Presuming that you are referring to the 'relay click' sound when the G5 is first connected to mains power -

I have not seen an Apple Official mention of this initial relay sound, let alone an explanation of what the initial relay does; but, over the course of two years in the G5 Usage forum, the absence of it is invariably bad news for the Power Supply Unit(PSU)(or other major bits). So - yes, it is supposed to happen.

If you have no economic or environmental objections, and you can arrange for the G5 to remain plugged-in and the mains turned on, that should alleviate premature internal battery drain.

Personally... I leave it plugged-in because the G5 is on a UPS, and also it would mean foraging in the jungle of wiring under the desk...

BTW If you don't already - as the G5 is not on 24/7 the OS X maintenance scripts will not run; you may wish to consider running 'sudo periodic' from Utilities - Terminal occasionally - as explained in the thoughts of Dr. Smoke here

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html

Trust this helps.

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