You ever do a google search for "iMac fan"? Yeah. Pointless.

August 15, 2007 12:15 AM

So I just got the newest iMac today (the one that was announced last week). After 4 hours or so of use the fan has kicked on in a most noisy way and it won't shut down. Restarting does nothing. Take time to let it cool. Restart. Just more fan. So...anyone got a "here-n-now" fix or do I take it back to the store in the morning?
posted by sourwookie to computers & internet (15 comments total)

You might want to run Activity Monitor (in Applications/Utilities), and sort by %CPU to see what's causing your iMac to work so hard. It may be some initial startup thing like Spotlight or maybe some errant program is confused.
posted by todbot at 12:24 AM on August 15, 2007

Thanks..I just did that per your advice. Nothing was really using any resources .

I should mention I had a kernel panic this evening. I ran Software Update just as soon as I fired it up, and during the install process (right when I loaded Photobooth) it gave me the restart prompt.

I restarted; checked for new updates; apparently they all took.
posted by sourwookie at 12:41 AM on August 15, 2007

And this fan just keeps a whirrin'...alll night long.
posted by sourwookie at 12:42 AM on August 15, 2007

Give unplugging it for about 10 minutes a shot.
posted by iamabot at 12:49 AM on August 15, 2007

If the fans kick in right away at boot time (like when you see the Apple logo) then it's prolly hardware related.

Hold down apple command-V before the Apple logo appears and you might see a clue scroll by. This is also saved in the system.log which you can view using the Console.app in the Utilities folder.

One piece of hardware that makes the fan kick in is the hard drive thermometer (this is true at least for all the white g5/intel imacs. I can't verify this on the new ones). If it's not connected or broken or whatever the fans will kick it full blast. But these iMacs are such a massive pain just to open up, i'd just take it back to the store.
posted by sammich at 12:51 AM on August 15, 2007

And if you're getting kernel panics on a few days old iMac and you haven't loaded any third party drivers or running anything wacky I'd def. take it back or at least have them do a memory/hardware diagnostic. Assuming you bought this at the Apple store.
posted by sammich at 12:56 AM on August 15, 2007

www.apple.com > Support > iMac forums.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 1:30 AM on August 15, 2007

Take out any 3rd party RAM. Detach all USB and FireWire devices other than keyboard, mouse. Unplug the iMac. Hold the power button for at least 10 seconds, plug the iMac back in WHILE holding the power button. This is supposed to reset the power management unit.
posted by Gungho at 4:19 AM on August 15, 2007

If you aren't using processor-heavy applications, you might want to go to the options menu of the Energy Saver panel and set the processor performance to Reduced or Automatic. This quiets down the fans on my noisy iMac G5 immediately, though you will take a performance hit.
posted by betafilter at 5:00 AM on August 15, 2007

Powered it down overnight. Restarted in the AM and the fan is still there. Think I'm looking at a return and exchange.
posted by sourwookie at 6:32 AM on August 15, 2007

Brand new machine? Not working right? Take it back for exchange not repair. Their problem, not yours.
posted by plinth at 6:33 AM on August 15, 2007

Seconding the exchange. It's not even a week old!
posted by chunking express at 7:14 AM on August 15, 2007

Week old? This happened within the first couple hours of initial boot.

Going for the exchange.
posted by sourwookie at 7:55 AM on August 15, 2007

Sourwookie, what you want to do is go to Apple's support site and check out the page on reseting the SMC (System Management Controller).

This is not unusual on Intel-based iMacs and it should be taken care of if you follow the instructions.

As far as your kernel panic, that was a result of using software while the update of that same piece of software was being installed, idiot. I suggest you don't do that again.
posted by sourwookie at 8:57 PM on August 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks, sourwookie. That totally go it.
posted by sourwookie at 8:58 PM on August 15, 2007