Post mini bugs on this thread

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Bug #1 - shutting down the mini, sound forgets powered speakers



Are the other macs like this? All of the macs sounds come from

my powered speakers once I plugged them in. If you restart the

computer, it forgets the attached speakers and the sound comes

from the computer speaker.



I used to love the stereo "PING" that came from my 9500 when

I restarted.



Bug #2 - Fan goes crazy



From other thread, before I thought to consolidate in this thread.

The fan periodically ramps up to maximum.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    Bug #1 - shutting down the mini, sound forgets powered speakers



    Are the other macs like this? All of the macs sounds come from

    my powered speakers once I plugged them in. If you restart the

    computer, it forgets the attached speakers and the sound comes

    from the computer speaker.



    I used to love the stereo "PING" that came from my 9500 when

    I restarted.



    Bug #2 - Fan goes crazy



    From other thread, before I thought to consolidate in this thread.

    The fan periodically ramps up to maximum.




    I don't think these are really bugs. I'd much rather have the start up sound come out of the interal speaker, than my big speaks that I left on the night before at 1/2 volume.



    The fan is the same way in my iMac G5- if you're pushing the computer's processor the fan will kick in until it cools down.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    snoopysnoopy Posts: 1,901member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tacojohn



    . . . The fan is the same way in my iMac G5- if you're pushing the computer's processor the fan will kick in until it cools down.




    I'd say it's a design deficiency. Fan speed can be increased gradually as the processor dissipates more power, making fan noise less noticeable. However, it must be designed to work this way. I used a workstation, now obsolete, that had a very smooth fan controller.



    Since I'm planing to buy a Mac mini, I'm disappointed to hear this report. Yet, to be fair, it may have been designed to work at just two speeds for lower cost. A simple, two-state temperature sensor is likely cheaper than one sensing a range of temperatures.
  • Reply 3 of 47
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by snoopy

    I'd say it's a design deficiency. Fan speed can be increased gradually as the processor dissipates more power, making fan noise less noticeable. However, it must be designed to work this way. I used a workstation, now obsolete, that had a very smooth fan controller.



    Since I'm planing to buy a Mac mini, I'm disappointed to hear this report. Yet, to be fair, it may have been designed to work at just two speeds for lower cost. A simple, two-state temperature sensor is likely cheaper than one sensing a range of temperatures.




    apples <---> oranges



    A decent workstation usualy costs the better part of $2500 or more...A mac mini is $500



    Kinda like saying "My old Rolls Royce ran smoother than my new Kia...this sucks..."
  • Reply 4 of 47
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a_greer

    apples <---> oranges



    A decent workstation usualy costs the better part of $2500 or more...A mac mini is $500



    Kinda like saying "My old Rolls Royce ran smoother than my new Kia...this sucks..."




    my $400 compaq does not have this problem...
  • Reply 5 of 47
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    my $400 compaq does not have this problem...



    How big is that thing again?



    Oh yeah- I can fit 7 minis in the same space. huh.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    my $400 compaq does not have this problem...



    the 400$ compaq that has mac osx (or equivelant BSD platform), cdrw/dvd, ilife and a tiny it-fits-anywhere and looks nice enclosure? that compaq? does such a think exist?
  • Reply 7 of 47
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a_greer

    the 400$ compaq that has mac osx (or equivelant BSD platform), cdrw/dvd, ilife and a tiny it-fits-anywhere and looks nice enclosure? that compaq? does such a think exist?



    You are changing the subject. I am not saying that the

    compaq is better, it just does not spin the fans up like

    the mini does. I was replying to the earlier post that

    implied that an expensive workstation was required for

    quiet fans.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    You want a crazy fan....listen to my quicksilver. In fact my mac mini is silent and now my quicksilver annoys me Constant noise vs noise once and awhile..hmmmm. I think the fan noise complaint is lame to be honest.



    Anyone that complains about an imac fan or a mini fan has no idea what fan noise is. Trust me you have it great. In fact i can never hear my mac mini over my quicksilver..EVER
  • Reply 9 of 47
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by SQUÅSH

    You want a crazy fan....listen to my quicksilver. In fact my mac mini is silent and now my quicksilver annoys me Constant noise vs noise once and awhile..hmmmm. I think the fan noise complaint is lame to be honest.



    Anyone that complains about an imac fan or a mini fan has no idea what fan noise is. Trust me you have it great. In fact i can never hear my mac mini over my quicksilver..EVER




    I think it depends on your general noise environment. I never

    noticed my wife's emac, but we moved to a new office room in

    the house, and now (in the quieter room) her machine is

    very loud.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    maybe try music...I think you are too sensitive and you may want to seek help before you hear voices Just kidding...no honestly my mini is 20x's quieter than my quicksilver
  • Reply 11 of 47
    idaveidave Posts: 1,283member
    Wasn't the Quicksilver like, the loudest Mac ever? Not a good comparison.



    My mini running at 1.42Ghz is much louder than my PowerBook at 1.33Ghz. I wouldn't think the 7% processor difference would make such a difference in heat. I don't buy the argument that because it's a cheap computer you should expect noise. It's just a fan! I'd expect fan noise from a G5 but thought Apple had minimized the noise with G4s, particularly when you're just surfing or emailing. This was part of the reason for my decision to buy a mini.



    This might be one more reason the mini's case should have been designed slightly larger; more room for memory, ports and cooling.
  • Reply 12 of 47
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Don't get me wrong, I love my mini. The noise is a small

    annoyance. If you guys get all defensive whenever

    somebody points out a problem, then the problems

    will not get reported as often.



    I imagine that the apple developers read these forums,

    and we are kind of like a 2nd layer of product test

    as early adopters.



    My mini just did the airplane taking off thing again

    as I was typing this.
  • Reply 13 of 47
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    I have one and the noise to me is nothing. That's what I'm stating and comparing it to a laptop...LOL. Anyways, i'm curious where they said or told you it would be dead silent?
  • Reply 14 of 47
    idaveidave Posts: 1,283member
    No one told me the mini would be dead silent. I'm just surprised that the fan seems to run all the time, unlike my PowerBook which is dead silent while surfing and emailing. That's all.
  • Reply 15 of 47
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    bug #3 Power off mini and unplug everything, you lose your display settings



    I have a 21 inch crt (mitsubishi 91txm) attached.



    - booted mini

    - changed display settings to 1600x1200 75hz

    - shut down, unplugged everything

    - re-plugged, powered up

    - display settings lost, back at 1024x768 or something



    Shouldn't they store these settings in flash or on the

    hard drive?
  • Reply 16 of 47
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    Curious why you'd unplug everything? i unplug my clock radio it forgets time. I'm so pissed!!! Maybe the standard settings for your diplay are what it booted up to. I personally don't find that to be a bug. I'm also mad that I put popcorn in the microwave and it doesn't set time and auto pop it.



    Sorry to joke with you, but i thought you were talking about bugs. So far not one of these is.



    The speaker sound deal is normal. That 1st sound is a boot/start-up sound, before the standard usb/micro/firewire or any extension, internet, anything has been loaded by the OS at start-up



    The second the ?¿?¿? Not one spot on the Apple page says anything about silent or low fan noise.



    3rd....I unplugged everything and wonder why it won't remember. hmmm..wait i see a cockroach
  • Reply 17 of 47
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by SQUÅSH

    I have one and the noise to me is nothing. That's what I'm stating and comparing it to a laptop...LOL. Anyways, i'm curious where they said or told you it would be dead silent?



    I believe the term was "whisper quiet"
  • Reply 18 of 47
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    I believe the term was "whisper quiet"



    That's the spirit.... and I'm not trying to be a macfoolio, i just think the things you speak of are pretty small and not worth calling bugs per say
  • Reply 19 of 47
    snoopysnoopy Posts: 1,901member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by SQUÅSH

    . . . i just think the things you speak of are pretty small and not worth calling bugs per say





    Not bugs, but design deficiencies for sure -- at least the fan behavior, which I would find very annoying. I would rather have a little louder fan running at a constant speed than a whisper quite fan that periodically revs up to top speed. If Apple makes the effort to have a variable speed fan, at least the job should be done right. It is not that difficult.



    My guess is that fan speed is controlled digitally, by modulating its supply voltage -- turning it on and off. In this way it is only a matter of controlling the on-off ratio to get any speed you want, between min and max. The most difficult part is sensing heat. For a smooth control you would need at least four temperature points: lower than normal, normal, warmer than normal and very hot. From this information it is not too hard to come up with a very smooth control logic scheme.
  • Reply 20 of 47
    OK, how about a *real* bug?



    I get video noise on my display whenever there are big chunks of solid black. Intermittent horizontal streaks, generally in bright colors; kind of like very colorful horizontal static.



    I've heard two other reports of this on Ars; anyone here seen it? Any thoughts on what it is? It makes me think of that warning that the mini wouldn't work with "some" 22-inch Cinema Displays, but none of the people I've heard reporting this problem are using that display.



    My setup is 1.42 GHz mini (Airport, no Bluetooth) --> Dr. Bott DVIator --> 17" Apple Studio display (with ADC connector)



    Apart from that, I'm pleased as punch with this little guy.
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