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Fix for constantly running fan after 10.3.8 update

February 11th, 2005 · 18 Comments

I got fed up with the fan that’s running constantly on my Powerbook 12″ rev b 867mhz after installing the 10.3.8 Update. So here’s how you do it:

  1. Download Update 10.2.8 and use Pacifist to extract /System/Library/ExtensionsAppleADM103x.kext from MacOSXUpdate10.2.8.pkg to the desktop.
  2. Do a backup of AppleADM103x.kext from your startup disk at /System/Library/Extensions to your home folder.
  3. Copy AppleADM103x.kext from your Desktop (the one you extracted from 10.2.8) to /System/Library/Extensions, you’ll need to enter the admin password to do that. Start Disk Utility and do a repair permissions on your start volume. Problem solved. Just for good measure, reset the parameter-RAM by holding down Command-Alt-P-R at startup. My machine now turns on the fans at 148 Fahrenheit instead of 125 Fahrenheit.
For some reason Apple choose to change the temperature when the fan starts on Rev.A Powerbook 12″ after Mac OS X 10.2.8 from 148 Fahrenheit to 125 Fahrenheit. This gives the result that the fan runs almost constantly due to the fact that the powerbook operates normally at 125 Fahrenheit. I did this hack back when Apple changed stuff in the 10.3.2 update, and they haven’t updated AppleADM103x.kext until 10.3.8.

Another thing to note is that I tried to do the Install option from Pacifist instead of the copy to the desktop. That didn’t work. My guess is that it has to do with the kextcache. maybe you just have to do a sudo kextcache -e or similar to get the kext cache to update? Haven’t tried it though.

Just a reminder, I take no responsibility if you do this hack and something goes wrong.

Tags: Technical stuff

18 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Atle Klovning // Feb 13, 2005 at 12:32

    Great! I’ve got the same Mac as you. I did this the previous time, and was greatly annoyed once again. I get an error message saying the ADM103 has been installed wrongly. I’ve zapped the parameter RAM as well.

    Nice web site!

  • 2 Atle Klovning // Feb 13, 2005 at 12:34

    I see I commented the wrong posting…

  • 3 Jacken // Feb 13, 2005 at 20:37

    I moved your posting to the right place.

  • 4 Jacken // Feb 13, 2005 at 20:38

    You should check that the owner and permissions are set correctly. You also need to make sure that the kext file was correctly copied with all it’s contents (yes, it’s really a folder) and it should work.

    Jacken

  • 5 Atle Klovning // Feb 14, 2005 at 21:36

    Excellent! I changed owner to system and group to wheel

    Atle

    

  • 6 Byron // Feb 18, 2005 at 13:38

    In order to get your temperature reading back, all you have to do is run Disk Utility and repair file permission. After it repairs, everything should work fine.

  • 7 jon // Feb 22, 2005 at 18:29

    I seem to have the same problem with my 867 tibook…15″….should this still work? thanks

  • 8 Jacken // Feb 22, 2005 at 18:36

    I don’t know. But you could always give it a try. Just do a backup of the file you replace.

  • 9 Atle Klovning // Feb 26, 2005 at 14:59

    10.2.8 AppleADM103x.kext returned my Mac to a noiseless working environment- thanks to Jacken!

  • 10 bart // Mar 8, 2005 at 13:09

    Thanks! It’s quite nasty of Apple, but anyway, your trick works perfectly! I’m very happy to be fan-less again :)

  • 11 wayne // Mar 23, 2005 at 4:45

    Wow, that fix of the 0.2.8 AppleADM103x.kext in my Panther did even more than fix the fan running. It actually made two more improvements. First it actually made the laptop cooler, since the fan motor isn’t heating up as much. But the most significant improvement was the greatly increased batter life (maybe 30 - 50% improvment, since i’m not wasting power by continuously running the fan. What was Apple thinking with that change? THANKS!!!!

  • 12 John // Jun 6, 2005 at 9:46

    Anyway to get this working in 10.4. I’ve searched for the AppleADM10xx.kext file and I can’t find it. Any hints??

  • 13 Jacken // Jun 6, 2005 at 10:08

    I’ve done this change with Tiger 10.4, and it seems to work.

  • 14 Jacken // Jun 6, 2005 at 10:09

    You’ll find the AppleADM103.kext in the folder /System/Library/Extensions

  • 15 Ben // Jul 13, 2005 at 7:18

    I have the newest version of the 12″ PowerBook (1.5 Ghz) and I can’t seem to get this hack to work on my computer. Do you know of anyone who has gotten this to work on the newest (Rev. D) version of the PowerBook?

  • 16 evgeni // Feb 27, 2006 at 14:00

    Thanks Jacken! Works like charm on my 12″ PB 1.5gHz! Keep up the good work. Regards, E.

  • 17 bart // Apr 28, 2007 at 17:43

    From an unknown source i can confirm that the hack also works in the current Leopard beta.

  • 18 Bondi_dan // Mar 26, 2008 at 13:57

    This is a fantastic fix and IT WORKS ! Thanks so much the fan noise has been driving me nuts.

    I have a PowerBook 867 running 10.4.11.

    Make sure you extract the file from the 10.2.8 image to your desktop as the first step or it wont work.

    Thanks again, you have made me happy :)

    Dan

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