Re: Off-Topic: G5 Open Firmware instability
Hi Tony,
tonyj@suse.de wrote:
> Right now it's running 3.0 Linux kernel. It's overheating. It will
> boot into X11 and remain up pretty much indefinitely if the load
> average remains under 1.5. If I start Firefox I'll get a spike
> (log warnings from Windfarm that the temp is "overtemp" followed by
> it returning to normal). If I really load the machine (run a prime
> factoring load test) i'll get a "critical" warning from Windfarm
> followed by an immediate power off.
partially perhaps unrelated, but I run 5.x series kernel on my iMac G5,
which is of course not liquid cooled and single-CPU only, but I too get
weird messages from the windfarm.
Up to now I never got critical, but I get very frequent overtemp messages.
I never did run MacOS on it, so i cannot compare. I got this machine
with MorphOS which was running fans at full speed always, like a vacuum
cleaner.
What happens to me is that on boot up to promp, all is fine, no messages
and I hear the fan spinning "very low", the computer is quiet and nice.
Now I can get several scenarios
1) I do nothing serious, just use the shell or even leave it there. I
can get an overtemp messages, which *usually* clears after a few seconds
of fan at full speed(=vacuum cleaner). Sometimes not, the fan gets stuck
high.
2) I do serious stuff, I compile stuff like ArcticFox which takes
several hours. Here two there are several scenarios
- Nothing happens for minutes, hours, fans stay low!
- promptly an overtemp message comes, fan full speed.. and it may
disappear and fan go normal after a few seconds and compilation continues
- fans may remain stuck high and stay so even after compilation finished!
Together with the fan burst, also the message of clocking down appears.
Is there a way to monitor easily the CPU clock like with "apm" equivalent?
so... I wonder if anybody with an air-cooled iMac with mac knows if
there is any intermediate fan setting - I am used that PCs since many
many years have variable fan speeds, same goes for many Suns, etc.
I'm suspicious, if a burst of just fan and a second of clock down is
enough... it is stupid thermal regulation. It could be even unreliable,
that is shutting down too early, sicne sometimes it never does!
I also fear that this way performance is suboptimal.
Riccardo
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