Filed under: How-tos, Troubleshooting
Powerlogix problems: overheating and kernel panics
If you have upgraded your Mac using my semi-cracky
How-To you may have also upgraded your Powerlogix CPU Director
software as time went along. Recently I updated to CPU Director 2.3b2, and when the drop down menu in System
Preferences > Energy Saver > Options > Processor Performance disappeared, I was worried. My CPU was no longer
dynamically changing speed up and down from 1GHz to 2GHz and was staying solidly at 2GHz.I eventually did what my father always told me: "When all else fails, dig the manual out of the garbage." I went to the Trash and grabbed the READ ME FIRST.rtf.
The readme for the newest CPU Director includes this pithy statement:
Note: DFS and Power Management functions require Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, and require a PowerLogix 7447A CPU card. If you purchased a PowerLogix 7447A CPU card prior to July 27, 2005 your card requires CPU Compatibility Updater, which will be sent to existing customers. (If you have a PowerLogix 7447A CPU card and the thermal pane does not appear in CPU Director, or Processor Performance does not appear in the Energy Saver System Preference, you need the CPU Director Compatibility Updater.)
I dutifully emailed Powerlogix support to ask for the CPU Director Compatibility Updater. They sent me the program, I ran it, and System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options > Processor Performance reappeared. The problem is, since this upgrade my machine systematically overheats when I tell it to choose Processor Performance: Automatic. My G4 has not had problems this bad (and subsequently caused kernel panics) since the update to 10.4.3.
The ultimate solution to this problem would be dynamic CPU switching but also failsafe temperature monitoring that allowed CPU Director to force the computer down to the lower speed if overheating becomes imminent. Apparently this exists for some of the Powerlogix CPUs but it sure doesn't show up in my CPU Director software (I have the Powerlogix 7447A).
There has been no word yet from Powerlogix about this issue and I'm going to have to step back in CPU Director versions. Hopefully the CPU Director Compatibility Updater won't make my setup incompatible with previous version of CPU Director. If anyone else has had similar issues and/or has a solution, feel free to post in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gus Jenkins said 11:41AM on 2-23-2006
..."The ultimate solution to this problem would be dynamic CPU switching but also failsafe temperature monitoring that allowed CPU Director to force the computer down to the lower speed if overheating becomes imminent."...
Wrong!
The ultimate solution is to fork over the $$$$ and get a brand new fully decked out MacBook Pro!!
Reply
Jumi said 11:54AM on 2-23-2006
Unfortunately Powerlogix makes flawed products. I had two of their units, both had to be returned under warranty, one twice. I finally cut my losses and sold the replacements on eBay instead of continuing to wallow in the Powerlogix-induced h*ll my life had become. Took over a month each time from when they received the bad units to when they shipped out replacements. Used faster Macs are a better option for upgrading than Powerlogix if you can't spring the dough for a fully new unit.
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SubGenius said 12:35PM on 2-23-2006
"Recently I updated to CPU Director 2.3b2..."
Gee, I wonder what that "b" in 2.3b2 means?
Hmmm, It probably stands for "better"!
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mig said 5:25PM on 2-23-2006
Check out CHUD tools, and NAP. Results should be similar in regards to cooling. I'm using 3.5.2 on my cube.
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Stork said 5:28PM on 2-23-2006
I've lucked out and had good experience with Powerlogix cards. However, their s/w - CPU Director and it's predecessors - have always be a step (or two!) behind Apple's s/w updates. A couple of years ago I final gave up and paid my $20 for XLR8's MAChSpeed Control for OSX and OS9. It just plain works on all my cards (Powerlogix, Sonnet and XLR8) w/o major updates. But, I don't have a 7447A, yet.
It would be interesting to see if someone has compared cache/CPU s/w for upgrade cards.
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Robert said 3:35PM on 3-10-2006
XLR8's software won't support 7447 CPUs.
Your system probably is running OX 10.4.5. CPU Director needs to be updated to support that release.
OWC should update CPU Director shortly. Until then follow these instructions to use CHUD and an applescript to keep the temp down:
http://www.cubeowner.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11299&view=findpost&p=73636
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Fabienne Serriere said 4:20PM on 3-10-2006
Robert: No actually I'm running 10.4.4, I haven't upgraded to 10.4.5 yet.
Cheers,
Fabienne
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Jason said 1:09AM on 3-11-2006
God, don't even get me started on Powerlogix upgrades... I stuck a 1 Ghz upgrade into my Sawtooth, and ever since then if I don't have L2 and L3 Cache disabled at all times, the thing overheats about every 45 minutes.
Back earlier in the 10.4.x series I made the mistake of installing an update before making sure it was compatibile with CPU Director... when it wasn't I was stuck doing all my work on my old Lombard Powerbook for a week while waiting for a new version.
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Robert said 1:19AM on 3-12-2006
Fabienne, Does the thermal pane show up in CPUD?
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Robert said 1:20AM on 3-12-2006
Also have you tried going back to v 2.3b1 of CPUD?
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Filip Roose said 3:00AM on 5-13-2006
Stay away from Powerlogix! The only time that it went wrong when I installed a CPU upgrade was with a Powerlogix ZIF. I lost all my money, because the seller OWC told me that I didn't install the CPU correctly... (although I installed several Daystar, Sonnet and OWC opgrades successfully before I bought a Powerlogix upgrade)
Don't waste your money. Visit the forums at xlr8yourmac.com (CPU database) and you will know enough. The installation with a crappy thermal pad is a hit or miss, and the instructions are confusing.
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