G5 dual 1.8 with incredibly loud fans!

S

SamuraiSam

Registered
I just bought a Dp G5 via ebay; I got a great deal, but the mac was packed atrociously and although it appears to work fine, all the fans come on as soon as I boot up and stay at full speed for as long as the machine is on. they soon quiet down when the mac is put into sleep mode, but while the mac is being used the noise is beyond a joke. especially as I bought the mac to use as a digital audio workstation, and the silent running of the mac is one of its selling points to me.

This is my first mac after years of PC use so troubleshooting is proving to be tricky. I've tried removing both the fans next to the ram, and the fan in the above bay with a speaker next to it, and the machine runs just as loud with the both of them removed. Which leads me to believe that either the fan on the graphics card, or the hard drive bay fans, or the PSU fans are the culprit, but I have no idea how to access/monitor/adjust the speed of any of these fans.

alternatively, the temperature sensors could be screwed/playing up; when the mac arrived, it had obviously had a nasty bump, and the rear bottom foot has become bent away from the main housing, and when I initially botted the machine up, it registered as only having 1 GB of ram as the DIMM's had come loose.

The machine is running panther 1.3.9, is a dual 1.8 with 2GB ram if that helps. Any suggestions/comments/tools eagerly awaited! thanks!
 
You could try checking under System Preferences>Energy Saver>Options make sure the Processor Performance is set to highest which should slow the fans a bit.
 
Keep in mind that the clear side panel must be closed when the power is on, or the fans will always stay at full speed.
There should be a silver tape on one of the tabs on that clear door. That will fit in the slots on the bottom of the door opening. That tape blocks an optical sensor, and allows the fans to operate normally (quietly).
You should have the Apple Hardware test CD, that came with the G5 originally. You could try booting to that test.

If the system was knocked around enough to dislodge a memory stick, then it's possible that one of the processors may not be seated properly now. You should have this checked at an Apple authorized service. They can make sure the processor is fully seated, and look at the operation of the side door closed-sensor. They can also run the calibration procedure on the processors, and do other hardware testing.
 
There's also the possibility it had that problem to begin with, and the seller deliberately packed the thing badly. He'd have his money, and it would be up to you to accept or fix the problem, or try to collect insurance from the shipper.
 
in a limited way, you can turn the fans down in Sys Prefs, in Energy Saving, turn the processors down to Reduced, and the fans shut up, as does a whining from the graphics card.
 
Make sure you clean the Mac out. The G5 is a notorious dust collector. I have to clean out my G5 once every couple of months.
 
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