Q: El Capitan, broken heat sensor and no fan noise
Hello. I have a mid 2010 Mac Mini running El Capitan 10.11.5 (15F34)
Tech Specs here: Mac mini (Mid 2010) - Technical Specifications
A few years ago, I opted to install a Samsung SSD into the mac mini myself. All went well, except I broke off a small heat sensor connector somewhere inside
(I can't remember which one). When I re-installed the OS, the fan was spinning uncontrollably at full capacity — until I found out about Macs Fan Control (MFC), used to manually override the OS's sensor(s) and fan, and provide a software based fan speed control that I can set at any given RPM value.
This solution has worked well enough for a few years. At times when I'd have to re-boot my machine, the fan would spin at full speed again, until MFC loaded again at startup, and within a few seconds, the fan speed would return the set RPM value I initially chose.
As of today, I finally installed El Capitan 10.11.5 with success. I also used the terminal command: sudo trimforce enable
in order to enable TRIM on the Samsung SSD. Since using my machine all day, my fan has remained at a very low constant speed, and barely audible. There is no annoying FULL SPEED fan blasting away, even though I don't have MFC installed - I simply forgot to install it.
QUESTION:
Why did I require MFC on ML, when without it, my fan would spin at full speed?
VS
Now, with NO MFC installed under El Capitan, my fan is very quiet, and my machine doesn't feel hot. It's as if MFC is no longer needed under El Capitan, or is it? Could it be that TRIMFORCE has made the need for fan control of the SSD redundant?
I'd love an answer from technical people in the know.
Much Thanks.
Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), Processor Type: 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz I
Posted on Jun 4, 2016 4:17 PM