Power Mac G5 (June 2004) Firmware Update 5.1.8f7 (#4)
We continue to cover issues with sleep and excessive fan activity after installing the recent Power Mac G5 Firmware Update 5.1.8f7 (only for June 2004 Power Mac G5 models). The most common symptom of this issue is an unexpected, unresponsive blank screen accompanied by excessive fan noise.
It appears that in at least some cases, these issues are a variation of a previously reported problem with "thermal runaway" that causes another problem where some G5s fall asleep right after waking up.
In addition to "thermal runaway," some users have found their system logs riddled with hundreds of "forced thermal sleep" messages.
We're not sure why the G5 firmware 5.1.8f7 update is triggering a re-occurrence of these problems. And while users who haven't installed the recent firmware update are also experiencing the problem, there are a significant number of data indicating that there is at least some link between the firmware update and the kernel panic/sleep issues.
Operating environment temperature If you're experiencing a similar issue, you might want to experiment with the ambient temperature for the space in which your G5 is operating. Some users have found that "thermal runaway" instances -- as indicated in the Mac OS X log -- are less frequent when their G5s are operating in a cooler environment.
Known Issue? Several readers now report that Apple is, on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging the existence of this issue. In some cases, the company is replacing processors or other system components.
In addition, a few readers report that Apple technical support is asking readers to check their system logs (easily accessible via the "About this Mac" > "More Info" pane) for "thermal runaway" or "forced thermal sleep" messages.
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using as a server. On two occasions, the fans have been going full blast when
I arrive in the morning and I have had to shut down and re-start. And in the
last couple of days, it shuts itself down several times during the day and
shows a "termal runaway" message in the Server Admin log. It re-starts
immediately and the G5 doesn't seem particularly hot from outside.
My "old" original issue G5 does the same thing, and has since the beginning.
Once a week or so the system locks-up and all the fans run full blast. It might
be a coincidence, but every time it happened iTunes was running...
---
abandon cliches
night, even though there is no such setting in the Energy Saver Control
Panel.! <p>---<br>George Oster<br />
University of California, Berkeley
The computer is in a airconditioned room so I can't see it being to hot for it. I haven't checked the logs to see what it says yet.
- by brianles November 29, 2004 6:20 PM PST
- I started having problems after I applied the firmware update. I have not had
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(5 Comments)any thermal runaways as far as I know according to my logs and when my
machine freezes it's not just asleep.
So far, the days I don't have any problems I've turned off folding proteins via
InCrease. Now I was running this for over a month solid before the firmware
and didn't have any issues. I was running near 86 degrees C on the
processors. Did the firmware change the threshold for prolonged high temps
or high CPU loads? I know there are still people running InCrease to fold on
both processors that don't have any problems - how many of them have
installed the firmware update I don't know.
I would almost rather have my machine shutting down all the time with TRs
then I would definitely KNOW there's a problem. Now, I'm left to wonder if
my processors are fine or are in some limbo-land.
How many people are doing something processor intensive when having
problems? InCrease using 96-98% of both processors all the time.