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[Opualuan]

Control strip module works great! Reads case and cpu temp on MDD (1.42ghz single cpu OC to 1.5Ghz). I confirmed it only updates when clicked- very useful as is, thanks for your work on this!

[Protools5LEGuy]

Hi all,

I've been wishing I could get eyes on my MDD CPU temp for a long time, always worrying that it could be cooking without me knowing it, so I began working on a little side project that, to my knowledge, didn't previously exist: a Control Strip module that shows live CPU and case temperature under Mac OS 9 on the G4 MDD, reading straight from the machine's real hardware sensors.

https://github.com/UnexpectedBomb/MacOS9-G4-CPU-Temp

I was aware of a similar CSM existing in "Jeremy's CSM Bundle" but that one reads the PowerPC's on-chip Thermal Assist Unit (TAU). Motorola disabled the TAU on the 7450/7455 family, so on an MDD (and other Apollo-based G4s) it can't give you a real reading at all. This module ignores the TAU entirely and talks over the Uni-N / "KeyWest" I²C bus to the same chips Apple's firmware uses:

- DS1775 digital thermometer to get CPU temperature (within 0.5 °C accuracy, vs the TAU's ±12 °C spec)
- ADM1030 fan controller's local sensor to get case temperature

What it does:

- Shows CPU or case temperature right in the Control Strip, updating every couple of seconds
- Click the tile for a menu: pick the reading (CPU / Case) and the units (°F / °C) as two independent groups
- Text turns red as the CPU approaches its safe limit
- A Notification Manager alert pops up if the CPU ever exceeds the safe threshold (latched — it warns once, not in a loop) to prevent your CPU(s) from getting extra toasty
- Native look: bold text, fixed-width cell, custom Control-Strip-style icon
- Loads silently at startup like any stock module

It is strictly read-only on the hardware. It only reads the sensor temperature registers as an SMBus master. It never writes a sensor, fan, or config register, so it can't interfere with the ADM1030's automatic fan control. (I did try to add a fan-RPM readout, but that requires enabling the ADM1030's tachometer via a config write, and on my machine that audibly disturbed the fan... it was very angry with me... so I dropped it. Not worth frying anything!)

Give it a test-drive and let me know your experience; hopefully it gives you sane readings. I haven't tested on anything other than my MDD (FW400) so if there's other models it's compatible with, please let me know what hardware you used and how it went.

This was developed in parallel with another Mac OS 9 effort of mine, one that I think will be very exciting once it's done... you should be hearing about it hopefully later this month 

-UB

Thank you.

A estimated date for a second release that updates without clicking?

[UnexpectedBomb]

A estimated date for a second release that updates without clicking?

Successfully identified the issue that you and @GaryN are seeing: there was indeed no redraw unless the CSM was clicked. An oversight on my part, should be fixed now. I tested it myself by opening the case to take the fan cooling off the CPU and I watched the temp readout slowly climb in real time, without any clicking necessary; closed the case, and watched the temp go back down.

The latest version (v1.4) has been pushed to the repo. Install it and let me know how it goes.

[Opualuan]

Awesome! Thank you!

[ovalking]

Sounds interesting. Like to try it out but link doesn't seem to work....

[UnexpectedBomb]

Sounds interesting. Like to try it out but link doesn't seem to work....

Which part? The link to the repo? Download link?

[DieHard]

I was so paranoid back in the day about MDD tempertures running OS 9 DAWs that I opted for standard configuration for my self and other clients of a single CPU MDD 2003 (1.25 Ghz.) or a single CPU MDD 2003 (1.33 Ghz. from Xserve CPU). 

Most audio apps did not utilize the Dual CPUs under OS9 (as you can research from Mactron posts back in the day) and the single CPUs ran so much cooler compared to the duals which was easily observed by simply feeling the air blowing out of a 2003 MDD.... that being said, this new tool would have been invaluable back in the day.

Absolutely incredible job on a tool that was ALWAYS NEEDED and MUCH APPRECIATED.

It is amazing to me that so many MDDs have survived all these years with apple's thermal issues.  I would have assumed most these CPU daughter boards would be micro-cracked to the point of failure from heat by now.  I can tell you that many serious users learned early on how to use a compressor every 2/3 months, and arctic silver about every 1.5 years.