MacBook Pro 8,3 max fanspeed changed after reinstall/smc reset

Late 2011 17" MacBook Pro 2.5 i7. I just reformatted and reinstalled 10.8.5 and all my software. All the software is the same. Now SMC Fan Control will only let me take the fans up to 5500rpm, not 6200rpm as was possible on my previous install. Would this have anything to do with having done an SMC and PRAM reset alongside the reinstall? Unfortunately I did everything at once so I can't actually pin-point which step caused this problem.

I have already tried opening package contents in SMC Fan Control/Resources/Machines.plist and replaced every instance of "5500" with "6200" and no luck. I have also made a MacBookPro8,3 entry as it was not specifically listed in Machines.plist and that didn't change anything either. (I may have done that incorrectly though.) When I enter 6200 manually into SMC Fan Control it says it's not a supported value.

I found a compiled version of "Apple System Management Controller tool" (the latest version of which is called SMC_util3) but when I run it, I get the list of commands and then "logout, process completed" and no chance to actually do anything.

Assuming the SMC reset caused this, would that tool let me write the correct values back to the SMC?

Any ideas on any of this?

Quick unrelated question. Why are you still on Mountain Lion? You've skipped 10.9 and 10.10 is currently out (Free upgrade).

I'm running a production machine for audio work and usually stay a step behind OS X updates. Now that Apple has moved to a yearly update cycle, I expect to be two steps behind. Most of the software I use isn't qualified for 10.10 yet.

Is there a reason you need it to be running that fast at all times? The SMC and temp sensors are supposed to control that and only ramp up when needed. I would say check for any updates available for your system

Archer1212 said:

Is there a reason you need it to be running that fast at all times? The SMC and temp sensors are supposed to control that and only ramp up when needed. I would say check for any updates available for your system

Click to expand...

All updates available to a 10.8.5 machine are installed.

6200 is faster than the SMC will ever spin the fans up to by itself (I believe 5500 is as fast as the computer will go by itself). SMC Fan Control which to my knowledge is getting it's maximums from the SMC was able to ramp up to 6200 before my reinstall. That was the machine as it was stock from Apple.

6200 vs 5500 gains me significantly more operating headroom in Pro Tools before I get CPU errors. I am already being frustrated by hitting the ceiling on my processor due to thermal limits being reached and the CPU going into protection mode. This is even with Turbo Boost Switcher installed and Turbo Boost off. My computer is essentially 20% slower now.

Are there any more technical forums anyone would recommend I post to?

I googled your issue because, unfortunately, I haven't used SMC fan control for a few years now so I can't go and fiddle with it nor do I remember the ins and outs of it

the code you found is no longer available. is it source to put into an Xcode project or what kind of source is it? I can likely get you in the correct direction if you still have that code and think it will resolve your issue and you're just hung up on compiling it

also, you have a clone of your old system
you can plug it in, hold option, and boot from it as if it was installed
if it works this should tell us whether the issue is OS X or if it's the SMC (it's firmware that loads, if I remember correctly, after EFI but before OS X)

that being said, it's not really necessary to have a "clean" install of OS X. it's not like Windows and doesn't need a registry clean or anything like that. you can essentially create a clean install by deleting ~/ and using some sleuthing and a couple programs I can direct you to if you choose to go this route)

finally, all that said, an install with some unwanted files that won't impact performance seems to be the lesser of two evils for you so it may just be where we have to go if that external clone resolve the issue. but I think we can get this thing hammered out.

aside from the places you've already posted I don't think there are any more tech inclined support forums. this is probably your best bet with what you're trying to accomplish

Teej said:

I have already tried opening package contents in SMC Fan Control/Resources/Machines.plist and replaced every instance of "5500" with "6200" and no luck.

Click to expand...

sorry I missed this

how did you edit the plist?
first thing is delete that plist so we can start with a fresh one

if you already have Xcode installed from when you were trying to compile the source code you found, you can open it in Xcode using Property List Editor

otherwise you'll need to convert it so open terminal and type (edit the name of the plist, if necessary)

plutil -convert xml1 $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.eidac.smcFanControl2.plist

open -e $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.eidac.smcFanControl2.plist

Click to expand...

then you should be able to edit it with textedit (that's what the "e" in the second line above does), bbedit, nano, vi, plist pro, or whatever your editor of choice is

you should be fine after editing the 5500 values to 6200
but if you'd like to convert it back, here is the code:

plutil -convert binary1 $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.eidac.smcFanControl2.plist

Click to expand...

I found these instructions here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/apple-mac-os-x/506146-smc-fan-control-q-2.html

Mope, thanks for taking the time!

mope54 said:

the code you found is no longer available. is it source to put into an Xcode project or what kind of source is it? I can likely get you in the correct direction if you still have that code and think it will resolve your issue and you're just hung up on compiling it

Click to expand...

Are you talking about the SMC_util3/Apple SMC tool? I found the original version of the tool before it was called util3 referenced on this subdirectory on the SMC Fan Control GitHub page: https://github.com/hholtmann/smcFanControl/tree/master/smc-command

You might be able to help me understand this further as well...is smc-command a component of the app SMC Fan Control?

also, you have a clone of your old system
you can plug it in, hold option, and boot from it as if it was installed
if it works this should tell us whether the issue is OS X or if it's the SMC (it's firmware that loads, if I remember correctly, after EFI but before OS X)

Click to expand...

I do have a clone of the old system but it's not bootable right now (just backed up to a folder using Carbon Copy Cloner...wasn't anticipating having to boot from it.) I could make it bootable to find out but my gut feeling is that the SMC reset is what caused this and it's not an OS or app level software problem. Do you have reason to suspect otherwise? I could probably find a moment tomorrow to boot into the old install to confirm this.

that being said, it's not really necessary to have a "clean" install of OS X. it's not like Windows and doesn't need a registry clean or anything like that. you can essentially create a clean install by deleting ~/ and using some sleuthing and a couple programs I can direct you to if you choose to go this route)

Click to expand...

I guess the feeling of wanting a clean install every so often comes from my Windows background, although I've been a Mac user for about ten years now. Didn't know about these workarounds to a "clean" install.

how did you edit the plist?
first thing is delete that plist so we can start with a fresh one

Click to expand...

I did this: Right click on SMC Fan Control, Show Package Contents, Resources, opened Machines.plist in text edit and tried replacing every 5500 with 6200. I'm assuming this will have resulted in a different outcome than using Xcode's Property List Editor or converting it first in Terminal? You're also referencing a different plist file than the one I edited...I guess the one you're referencing is the right one to be editing?

I have installed Xcode 4.6.3 since attempting to deal with this problem.

Thanks for the link to your Google findings...I'll read through that thread and see if I can fix this with a bit more of an understanding of what's going on.

Also to help my understanding: Does "plutil -convert binary1 $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.eidac.smcFanControl2.plist" convert a self edited version of that plist back to stock settings?

Sorry I'm out at the beach and won't be in front of a computer to really give good answers but yes the file is originally a binary you need to convert it to XML before editing or it'll mess up then use it that way or convert it back to binary with that final command. It should work either way.

You don't need anything special to boot into OS X. If the root structure is sound (looks the same as your current install and not in a root folder like Backup for example) then it'll boot. But after reading that thread I linked and your response I doubt it's the smc reset and more to do with editing your plist correctly. And that file is misnamed because I suspect it's an old version. Whichever plist you have is the correct one to edit.

Edited the correct plist (the one mope pointed out from the post on notebookreview.com), problem solved.

Awesome, thanks a lot!

For reference: I'm able to access 6200rpm again but it does not act quite as before:

Interestingly now when I start SMC Fan Control the two menu options which were user defined as "3000" and "5500" are now "3000" and "6200" (it changed the preset name AND operating RPM of the 5500 preset to 6200.) In the preset editor, I can still only define values up to 5500, but the 6200 preset in the menu works just fine.

Bottom line is I've got my performance back so thanks again!