Is it typical to have fans rev up when things plugged into USB ports?

[wwooden]

I have a self powered USB hub that I plug my iPod and other connecting cables into ( digital camera, PSP, etc). I also have a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse that connects wirelessly through a USB reciever. If nothing is plugged in, my fans are either off or hardly noticeable. If i plug in the powered USB hub, even without the iPod connected, the fans starts reving up and stay there. I usually plug the wireless receiver into the other USB port and the fans continue to get louder. If I then plug the iPod or a digital camera into one of the ports on the hub, they go crazy. So I ask, is this normal? It just seems weird to me to have a powered USB hub cause this because it shouldn't be drawing power from the PB and things like the digital camera and PSP don't draw power in the first place.
I don't recall this problem in the earlier panther updates (10.3.3 and such), only in the last very updates did this start. It drives me crazy!!

 

[840quadra]

I have a self powered USB hub that I plug my iPod and other connecting cables into ( digital camera, PSP, etc). I also have a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse that connects wirelessly through a USB reciever. If nothing is plugged in, my fans are either off or hardly noticeable. If i plug in the powered USB hub, even without the iPod connected, the fans starts reving up and stay there. I usually plug the wireless receiver into the other USB port and the fans continue to get louder. If I then plug the iPod or a digital camera into one of the ports on the hub, they go crazy. So I ask, is this normal? It just seems weird to me to have a powered USB hub cause this because it shouldn't be drawing power from the PB and things like the digital camera and PSP don't draw power in the first place.
I don't recall this problem in the earlier panther updates (10.3.3 and such), only in the last very updates did this start. It drives me crazy!!

Extra power output by your laptop to power the hub creates more heat. It may not be that much, but the powerbook is doing what it can to keep itself cool, while it's charging circuits are working harder to power your Hub.

 

[mad jew]

Yeah it's normal. I get it when I'm syncing my iPod through firewire too.

 

[beaster]

...
I don't recall this problem in the earlier panther updates (10.3.3 and such), only in the last very updates did this start. It drives me crazy!!

I have the same problem with my 12" PB Rev. D. It's only with USB 2.0 devices - my USB 1.x keyboard and mouse don't cause the fans to spin up, but my USB 2.0 digital camera and my external (AC powered) USB 2.0 hard drive do - almost instantly after plugging either of them in. I only noticed this happening after the 10.3.8 update, and it hasn't disappeared with 10.3.9.

I'm fairly confident that this is NOT normal since I took the same external hard drive to work and plugged it into my friend's 12" Rev. D PB running 10.3.8 and the fans did not spin up on his after 10 minutes. There are also some others in the Apple.com forums with the same problem on their PB's.

I'm hoping that Tiger will make the madness stop. That said, I did just get a new external firewire drive to replace the old USB drive, and it does not exhibit the same problem.

-Sean

 

[840quadra]

Ambient temperature will play into effect to the internal temperature of the powerbook. I would be curious to see the temperature readouts for internal components in both locations when these devices are connected. I would wonder if the office has dryer air, and possibly slightly cooler giving the powerbook no need to spin up the fans.

 

[beaster]

Ambient temperature will play into effect to the internal temperature of the powerbook. I would be curious to see the temperature readouts for internal components in both locations when these devices are connected. I would wonder if the office has dryer air, and possibly slightly cooler giving the powerbook no need to spin up the fans.

I ruled that out by brining my PB into the office that same day for a side-by-side test. Plug in the drive to my PB - fans go nutso. Plug it into my friend's, nothing.

It's also interesting to note that the temperatures registered by Temperature Monitor were very close to each other on both machines. Both machines started off at about the same temps in all categories, and showed a slight increase (a few degrees F) when the drive was plugged in (to be expected). But my machine sounded like a jet engine after about a minute, and his remained at a whisper.

-Sean

 

[wwooden]

I have the same problem with my 12" PB Rev. D. It's only with USB 2.0 devices - my USB 1.x keyboard and mouse don't cause the fans to spin up, but my USB 2.0 digital camera and my external (AC powered) USB 2.0 hard drive do - almost instantly after plugging either of them in. I only noticed this happening after the 10.3.8 update, and it hasn't disappeared with 10.3.9.

I'm fairly confident that this is NOT normal since I took the same external hard drive to work and plugged it into my friend's 12" Rev. D PB running 10.3.8 and the fans did not spin up on his after 10 minutes. There are also some others in the Apple.com forums with the same problem on their PB's.

I'm hoping that Tiger will make the madness stop. That said, I did just get a new external firewire drive to replace the old USB drive, and it does not exhibit the same problem.

-Sean

You might be on to something, I'll have to play around and see what happens. My USB self-powered hub is 2.0, maybe if I go find my old 1.1 hub, that might solve some of the of problem. I still think it has something to do with the lastest system updates.

 

[wwooden]

I think it might be the USB 2.0 stuff. All I have plugged into my computer right now is the logitech wireless receiver and the thing has not made a sound at all in the last 30 minutes. I really hope they fix his problem in tiger because it is quite annoying.