Filed under: Hardware, iMac, Mac mini, Macbook Pro
Intel Mac SMC firmware update
The folks at Apple are busy little bees. Not only did they release the MacBook and update the MacBook Pro, but they also had some time to release a firmware update or three.The SMC firmware update for Intel iMacs, MacBook Pros, and Intel Mac minis addresses boot issues with all of them. Get to updating!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rob said 7:51PM on 5-16-2006
I wish they would give a little more information that "Boot issues".
(wishful thinking) I hope it might make things run a little cooler. Since that is the only issue on this W8613.
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Mark Gilbert said 7:54PM on 5-16-2006
When I ran the firmware update I was a little concerned at first, I have never heard the fan in my Mac Mini spin so fast and produce so much noise. I just prayed that it wouldn't be a bug in the firmware which would cause this behavior to continue.
Luckily it wasn't and the fan speed returned to normal, so don't let it worry you when doing the update.
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wastern said 8:45PM on 5-16-2006
Mark, if you read the screen that came up before doing the update (which you should have) it said the fans would ramp up to full speed during the update
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Josh said 10:02PM on 5-16-2006
My Macbook Pro Core Duo 2.0 is running cooler after the firmware update. Around 40 C when idle. Good deal.
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Mike said 10:12PM on 5-16-2006
Mine's still sittin' around 65C...I'm seriously thinking of doing that cpu goop mod.
Really, for the number of reboot required updates, my three week old MBP hasn't had an uptime of more than a few days at a time. I suspect the guys at Apple are scrambling to pound out a BUNCH of bugs.
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Mark D. said 11:15PM on 5-16-2006
Well, I ran the system with one core under full load and the fans kicked in right away and seemed to be stronger, but kept the temp, which used to skirt 73c in the same situation down to a much nicer 65-8c. I also idle at 53-4c instead of my previous 58-60c, sometimes dropping down to 48-51c at about 4% load (oddly the average idle for my PC desktop, too.) The update was much-needed.
As an aside, when using the Mirror Widget trick to cut the whine, the temp still raises a solid 4c while idle at least. I think I can take the whine now if it means I don't have to use a buffering material to place my MBP on my lap.
I have a feeling the full fan during the firmware update might be a way of calibrating the system, of course this is just wild speculation, but considering what it affects and the lack of such fan reaction during the previous firmware updates it seems plausible. Now if only there was a way to control fan speed manually, I'd like to see the temps you could pull with the fan at full load speed while idling.
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marcello said 2:38AM on 5-17-2006
are they busy little bees or they just simply rush to the market unfinished products and use the paying customers as beta testers?
M
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Henri said 3:32AM on 5-17-2006
Here is a clip of the update with the fan noise!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLcXsrwNx8s
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Mark Gilbert said 4:49AM on 5-17-2006
Oh ok then, cheers for that information Wastern. I have an awful habit of doing silly things firmware updates when I'm more than a little drunk. So i just merrily click through warnings and advice because I'm drunk, and I am invincible..... or not as the case may be. this time though it all went well, and, touch wood, it always has.
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Thomas said 8:03AM on 5-17-2006
My spotlignt no longer works on my Intel iMac. :(
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SS said 9:23AM on 5-17-2006
I tried to run it on my Intel iMac 1.83 and it said it wasn't needed on my machine. I thought it was for ALL Intel macs?? Anyone??
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MahRain said 10:39AM on 5-17-2006
It's always scary to see an update that updates something to 1.0... it means before that, we were running with a 0.x version :-S
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Roland said 12:39PM on 5-17-2006
#11, make sure your Utilities/Installer isn't set to run in Rosetta. I had the same issue, until I realized I had done that for another app I installed, and forgot to change it back.
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SS said 2:01PM on 5-17-2006
Thanks Roland--
I don't think I've changed the Installer (manually at least), but I'll check that when I get home. Thanks again for the suggstions.
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Devilfish said 4:49PM on 5-23-2006
Incase you guys didn't know, a way to get rid of the whine on the MBP is to run Photo Booth. As for the heat issue, I spoke with a mac vendor regarding the exterior of the MBP. Apparently, the MBP was designed with a metalic exterior to act as a heat sink. But, it seems, the effect has been the opposite. A real shame because the MBP looks, feels and runs great. If Apple could iron out these very small problems they would have developed a perfect machine. As it is, I'm completely content with my machine and endorse it to everyone.
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henryaj said 9:16AM on 5-27-2006
Wow, doing that update was so fun... I've never heard my iMac's fans running so loud! Uhm, I know this is sad, but... is there any way I can replicate that? Is there some app that will spin the fans up to full speed? Thanks.
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