# Cooling Fan Problem



## JeffL (Mar 11, 2018)

Operating System:
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info):7.2 [ 1156743 ]

I have a brand new iMac which I bought 3 months ago: 27" iMac Retina 5K Display; 4.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 40GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Radeon Pro 580 8GB (2017). 

Over the last couple of weeks I am having issues with the cooling fan running fast whenever I use LR. Initially it was sporadic but now is quite frequent. LR can be opened in the background without issue, but as soon as I click on it the cooling fan will start running high and get quite noisy. It can last from 30sec to about a minute and then slow down, only to recur a short while later. It will happen if I am in the Library module just culling through pics or in the Develop module. 

I brought it in to Apple to check it out and they can find nothing wrong. The activity monitor shows that LR can be as high as 650% usage. I had my catalog in Dropbox and thought that might be causing this, but took it out of there. Also tried resetting preferences, uninstalling/reinstalling LR. 

Any thoughts would be appreciated
Jeff


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## stevevp (Mar 11, 2018)

Same problem here. Same spec iMac.Same experience returning it to Apple. Reinstalled LR and trashed the previews to eliminate that potential problem. LR is fully up to date as is the OS. My post here:
Lightroom Performance on a new iMac?

Whilst I now largely ignore the noise I am struggling with poor Lightroom performance: frequent spinning beachball and mouse briefly freezing when using the adjustment brush. Personally I'm not at all happy but haven't taken the next step eg changing my editing software or going back to a PC. It's all too annoying, difficult and time consuming ...


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## JeffL (Mar 11, 2018)

stevevp said:


> Same problem here. Same spec iMac.Same experience returning it to Apple. Reinstalled LR and trashed the previews to eliminate that potential problem. LR is fully up to date as is the OS. My post here:
> Lightroom Performance on a new iMac?
> 
> Whilst I now largely ignore the noise I am struggling with poor Lightroom performance: frequent spinning beachball and mouse briefly freezing when using the adjustment brush. Personally I'm not at all happy but haven't taken the next step eg changing my editing software or going back to a PC. It's all too annoying, difficult and time consuming ...



I feel the same way. Ironically I had a 2012 iMac before this one, and it NEVER did this. I had no idea upgrading to the latest and greatest would cause this kind of trouble.


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## stevevp (Mar 11, 2018)

From various exchanges I've had on another forum, I believe the fan noise is probably a "feature" of this particular iMac with a fast, hot processor in too small a housing - hence the revised design for the iMac Pro. Conversely, I'm told that this LR performance is not normal and following your post I am now wondering if there could perhaps be some conflict with our specific build of iMac. It's been suggested that I go back to the Apple Store again and get them to run some overnight diagnostics (rather than the standard diagnostics and just listening to it!) and also reinstall the OS. This is a real nuisance for me but I might have to do so when I have time.


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## JeffL (Mar 11, 2018)

Interesting. The Apple guy I spoke with did the usual basic testing. He also said there was a specific diagnostic test you can do for the fan, but did not recommend it since he never saw an issue with the fan. What you said about the design makes sense, but wonder why it happens only with LR and not when I use other programs, even PS. My local shop is about 30min away so its a real nuisance for me as well. I may try it when I get some time off from work. I will let you know if any developments, I hope you will do the same. Jef


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## Ian Hutchinson (Mar 11, 2018)

I run an app called Macs Fan Control on mine which does a better job of controlling when the fans in an iMac run, I have used it for a number of years makes it a lot quieter as it also controls the speed of the fans which normally run at full speed no matter what.

Macs Fan Control - control fans on Apple computers, also on Windows via Boot Camp


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## stevevp (Mar 12, 2018)

I certainly will Jeff.

@Ian Hutchinson 
I certainly think that some of the noise issue is down to the fan profile - all or nothing. I'm sure if it came on sooner and ramped up gradually it would be less of a nuisance. I would hope that there is a fail-safe so if you set the profile wrong you don't end up with a melted iMac?


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## Hal P Anderson (Mar 12, 2018)

Steve,
There's a fail-safe built into your CPU. When they start to overheat, they throttle themselves back to avoid damage. The loss of performance at that point is quite noticible. When my computer filled with dust bunnies, it slowed way down.


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## stevevp (Mar 12, 2018)

Thanks Hal, it's good to know that the CPU will over-ride the 3rd-party fan control. It could get expensive otherwise!


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## Owl (Mar 13, 2018)

Hi Jeff, I had exactly the same problem. But my model is the one before yours - a late 2015 one & completely maxed out in all areas inc 4 GHz i7, 64GB ram, AMD Radeon R9 M395X 4 GB, 1TB SSD with LR 7.2 on High Sierra 10.13.3 yet STILL the fans revved & LR got slower & slower! No other application I have manages to do that. I rang Adobe support & allowed them to share control of my screen & in a couple of mins he fixed the problem. He was going a bit fast for me but the way he sounded & what he did gave me the impression that Adobe really know pretty much what the problem is. All his actions were in LR prefs screen I think. But try Adobe Support. Hopefully they'll fix your issue too. No fans for a week now & LR is fast & the best it's been. All best. Alan


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## DAYMX5 (Mar 13, 2018)

I have an Alienware running on the windows platform with the same issue.  The fan will run fast, at times, but only when I am using LR.


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 13, 2018)

Hi Owl, welcome to the forum!  Thanks for sharing that! 

If you go to Preferences > Performance, which checkboxes are checked?  And same for Catalog Settings > Metadata?


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## Owl (Mar 13, 2018)

Victoria Bampton said:


> Hi Owl, welcome to the forum!  Thanks for sharing that!
> 
> If you go to Preferences > Performance, which checkboxes are checked?  And same for Catalog Settings > Metadata?



Hi Victoria, great to hear from you & thanks for the welcome!

This is how the Adobe rep left things for Performance & Metadata:

  

I remember now he did change the name of something in my User Library with the word OLD in brackets, probably some preference file(?). I'm sorry I'm sounding so vague but he was very quick! The best thing for any of these things I've found is to call Adobe direct. The people I've talked with have been helpful & efficient.

I also want to thank you Victoria for your unstinting support to all visitors here. It's a great site & I've learned a lot!


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 13, 2018)

They look fairly normal, but changing your Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom folder name would make sense. That would remove a whole bunch of presets and templates, one of which could have been corrupted.


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## Owl (Mar 14, 2018)

Hi Victoria, quite possibly yes. I just looked at the folders & files in Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom but didn't see anything marked as (old). Perhaps he changed it back (?). I'm sure he did other things too! But talking or chatting with Adobe is a good avenue to take - especially if it's an issue they might be aware of but is not yet publicly known - rather than running around in circles trying to figure it out & possibly making things worse. One of the best positives on a Photography package is that you're supported for the entire time you're on it. It's helped me more than once when I haven't been able to find any clear answers online.

Thanks for your thoughts!


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