gillian smith1
Level 1 (20 points)
Mac OS X

Q: The fan on my Macbook Air seems to be going all the time

I'm not sure if this is a problem, but my Time machine log said: "Time machine does not back up; says Not starting automatic Time Machine backup: High system thermal level. Backup failed with error 102: 102. "

 

I checked the internal temperature on a widget I have and the highest temperature is 53 degrees--memory bank A1. I don't know what it should be.

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Apr 8, 2016 2:06 PM

by theratter,Apple recommended
theratter theratter
Level 4 (3,917 points)
Desktops
A:

Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan acti…

Posted on Apr 8, 2016 2:09 PM

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gillian smith1

Q: The fan on my Macbook Air seems to be going all the time

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  • Helpful answers

  • by theratter,Apple recommended

    theratter theratter Apr 8, 2016 2:09 PM in response to gillian smith1
    Level 4 (3,917 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 8, 2016 2:09 PM in response to gillian smith1

    Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan acti…

  • by OGELTHORPE,Apple recommended

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 8, 2016 4:19 PM in response to gillian smith1
    Level 9 (52,793 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 8, 2016 4:19 PM in response to gillian smith1

    The fan speed is controlled by the OSX.  As temperatures increase inside the MBA, the fan speed should increase.  It is a question if the fan is spinning as it should under the given conditions or not.  Another possibility is that the fan motor is defective and as a consequence has become more audible.

     

    Install a temperature/fanspeed application and report the CPU temperature(s)

     

    Try a SMC reset:

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

     

    If there is no change, run an Apple Hardware Test:

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

     

    Ciao.

  • by gillian smith1,

    gillian smith1 gillian smith1 Apr 8, 2016 11:38 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 8, 2016 11:38 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    The temperatures, an hour after restarting from cold are much the same as last night after all day working  :

    Hard disk            48C, 119F

    Airport card        39C, 99F

    Enclosures         33/33/30C 90F

    Heat sink B        43C, 110F

    Membank A1      59C, 139F

    Mem controller   38C, 97F

     

    Fan speed 6501 rpm

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 9, 2016 3:58 AM in response to gillian smith1
    Level 9 (52,793 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 9, 2016 3:58 AM in response to gillian smith1

    What are the CPU and GPU temperatures?

     

    Ciao.

  • by gillian smith1,

    gillian smith1 gillian smith1 Apr 11, 2016 1:56 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 11, 2016 1:56 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    The TG Pro app reports cpu temperature in the 90-105 C, and fan speed at max, even when it has been shut down for a time. I've backed everything up and I'm going to get the computer looked at— it's still under warranty. Thanks for your suggestions.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 11, 2016 3:34 AM in response to gillian smith1
    Level 9 (52,793 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 11, 2016 3:34 AM in response to gillian smith1

    When the CPU/GPU temperatures go past the high 90°c range, then the heat is excessive.  DO have the MBP examined.

     

    What applications do you have open when you have the high yemperatures?  Look at Activity Monitor set to ALL PROCESSES and CPU set to display values from high to low.

     

    Ciao.

  • by gillian smith1,Apple recommended

    gillian smith1 gillian smith1 Apr 14, 2016 9:45 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 9:45 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    I checked on activity monitor and found that Sym Daemon seemed to be going crazy: up to 200% of CPU use.

    I found a thread on the Symantec forum (https://community.norton.com/en/forums/symdaemon-frying-my-cpu). I thought I would try uninstalling Norton. However, I found I couldn't switch off Norton (the switches on the window didn't work, and I couldn't uninstall it with the installer, getting an error message saying uninstallation failed). So I went to support on the Norton site and started a chat session, allowing the agent to control my computer remotely. He or she very efficiently uninstalled the Norton antivirus I had (dated 6 Feb 2016) using Terminal to delete the many lurking files, and downloaded and installed a new version. It took quite a long time but now it seems to be working OK. There's no Sym daemon going crazy, the cpu temperature is down to 50 C with a fan speed of 2000rpm—inaudible.

    So, I'll see if this stays this way. Thank you for your pointers: they led me to what seems to be the solution.

  • by gillian smith1,

    gillian smith1 gillian smith1 Apr 14, 2016 10:04 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 10:04 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    I realised that this was probably a software, not a hardware problem because I had backed up my hard disk and copied it onto an emergency computer. And exactly the same thing was happening.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 14, 2016 10:27 AM in response to gillian smith1
    Level 9 (52,793 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 10:27 AM in response to gillian smith1

    Never install any AV software because the Mac has built in protection in the OSX.  AV software can do damage to the OSX by deleting necessary files.

     

    Letting someone to operate your MBP remotely is a practice that should be avoided.  It opens your MBP to having malware installed and that important information can be obtained, such as your banking records.  One would like to think that the Symantec assistant was ethical but I still would reinstall data from a Time Machine backup the day before this event.  I would also change any bank passwords, and credit card numbers.  Contact your bank for guidance.

     

    Ciao.

  • by gillian smith1,

    gillian smith1 gillian smith1 Apr 17, 2016 4:51 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2016 4:51 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thanks, I took your advice and I also deleted Symantec, following the link found here: http://www.macexpertguide.com/symdaemon-mac-os-x-cpu/

    It seems to be running under the danger level now.

  • by gillian smith1,

    gillian smith1 gillian smith1 May 9, 2016 2:47 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 9, 2016 2:47 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    I discovered, checking Activity monitor and Console, that Textedit was giving problems, putting up repeated error messages and using a lot of cpu. I closed it and now everything OK