CrystalIDEA

Revert Unread "Badge" to Number in Parentheses in Thunderbird

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0100

The fix works all Thunderbird versions starting from 115 (Supernova).

The recent Thundebird upgrade brought unpleasant (for some) change of unread messages counter. The simple fix provided below reverts this to what it was before.

Before and after the fix

1. Enable userChrome.css support in Thunderbird

By default userChrome.css usage is disabled in Thunderbird. To enable it you need to set toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets to true on in the Config Editor.

2. Put this CSS code to chrome/userChrome.css in your profile folder


/* This code reverts Mozilla Thunderbird unread badges to numbers in parentheses like it was before SuperNova 115 */

.name {
  flex: inherit !important;
  margin-right: 4px !important;
}

.folder-count-badge.unread-count {
  color: inherit !important;
  font-size: inherit !important;
  padding: 0 !important;
  min-width: 0 !important;
}

.folder-count-badge.unread-count:before {
    content: '(';
}

.folder-count-badge.unread-count:after {
    content: ')';
}

.unread > .container > .unread-count
{
  background-color: inherit !important;
}

/* total */

.folder-count-badge.total-count {
  flex: 1;
  text-align: right !important;
  background-color: inherit !important;
  padding: 0 !important;
  margin-inline-end: 0 !important;
}

3. Restart Thunderbird

Install ZeroTier on Synology NAS (also ARM64) without Docker

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The official ZeroTier tutorial for Synology currently has the following limitations:

No ARM64 - Docker (Container Manager) package cannot be installed on older ARM64/aarch64 Synology models (RS819, DS119j, DS418, DS418j, DS218, DS218play and DS118 particularly). Even if you manage to install Docker yourself (might be tricky), the official zerotier-synology image is amd64 only at the moment (there’s a pull request for arm support, hopefully it will be merged some day).
Older ZeroTier client: at the time of writing zerotier-synology uses ZeroTier 1.10.6 while the latest version is 1.12.2

If you want to use the latest ZeroTier and/or if you have ARM64-based Synology and/or simply prefer to avoid Docker, this tutorial is for you.

1. Create a persistent TUN

SSH to your synology as root and proceed with commands.

ssh user@synology-ip
sudo -i
echo -e '#!/bin/sh -e \ninsmod /lib/modules/tun.ko' > /usr/local/etc/rc.d/tun.sh
chmod a+x /usr/local/etc/rc.d/tun.sh
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/tun.sh

Check for the TUN

ls /dev/net/tun

The command output should be /dev/net/tun.

2. Install ZeroTier

Create ZeroTier folder:

mkdir /volume1/Work/.zerotier
cd /volume1/Work/.zerotier

then download and run zerotier-download.sh script:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crystalidea/zerotier-linux-binaries/main/zerotier-download.sh
./zerotier-download.sh

The script downloads zerotier-one executable (with zero dependencies) for the target cpu architecture along with zerotier-cli symlink. If interested, learn how we compiled ZeroTier without dependencies here.

Finally, download zerotier-start.sh script that will be run by Synology as root (see next step).

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crystalidea/zerotier-linux-binaries/main/zerotier-start.sh

Do not close the SSH window yet.

3. Create DSM scheduled task

Open DSM and go to Control Panel -> Task Scheduler and create zerotier triggered task that will be automatically executed by Synology every boot:

The task must be Boot-up and executed under root, the task name can be arbitrary. Task settings should include full path to zerotier-start.sh

It’s highly recommended to record all tasks output to some folder:

To avoid reboot now run the scheduled task manually:

Go back to SSH and check if the ZeroTier service is running:

sudo ./zerotier-cli status

Which should output something like this

200 info 339748e2d0 1.12.2 ONLINE

If not, you should check the log folder. Now you can join the networks you need and authorize them online.

Final thoughts

The method successfully survives DSM updates
Updating ZeroTier is as easy as replacing one file and reboot
We failed to compile ZeroTier static on Raspberry Pi 2b 1GB for older armv7 32-bit Synology models

Compile ZeroTier client with no dependecies to use on any Linux

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Using the steps below you can successfully compile ZeroTier for x86_64, arm64 and arm32 (armv7) Linux systems. The resulting executable has zero dependencies thanks to static linking thus can be basically used on any Linux, including all Synology NAS models. We used a virtual machine for x86_64 build and Raspberry Pi 4 for arm64 build all running Ubuntu 22.04.

Install required build tools:

sudo apt install curl build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source "$HOME/.cargo/env"

Download & extract ZeroTier:

ZT_VERSION=1.14.0
wget https://github.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne/archive/refs/tags/$ZT_VERSION.tar.gz
tar zxf $ZT_VERSION.tar.gz
cd ZeroTierOne-*

Build ZeroTier executable (takes time) and strip it to minimize size:

make -j`nproc` ZT_STATIC=1 
strip zerotier-one

Create a .tar.gz archive containing zerotier-one binary and **zerotier-cli **symlink:

tar -czvf zerotier_$(uname -p)_$ZT_VERSION.tar.gz zerotier-one zerotier-cli

Note: we failed to compile ZeroTier static on Raspberry Pi 2b 1GB for older armv7 32-bit Synology models.

Solving problems using Qt with Xcode 15

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Once you upgrade to macOS Sonoma, you have to use Xcode 15 (Xcode 14 won’t work) and might face similar problems described below.

Problem #1: QMake does not work with Xcode 15

When trying to build a project on macOS you get the following error:

failed to parse default search paths from compiler output

Solution: this has been fixed in Qt 6.5.3 (will be also fixed in Qt 5.15.16 commercial), for earlier Qt version you should apply the following patch to mkspecs/features/toolchain.prf file before compiling. It can be easily backported to Qt 5.15.x - example.

Problem #2: your Qt app crashes when running on macOS < 14 (and iOS < 17)

Crash report will have something like this:

dyld[56529]: Symbol not found: __ZTVNSt3__13pmr15memory_resourceE
  Referenced from: <UUID> qt6/qtbase/build_arm64/libexec/moc
  Expected in:     <UUID> /usr/lib/libc++.1.dylib

Solution: this has been fixed in Qt 6.5.3 (will be also fixed in Qt 5.15.16 commercial), for earlier Qt version you should apply the following patch to some headers before compiling. It can be easily backported to Qt 5.15.x - example.

Problem #3: your Qt app crashes when running on macOS < 13 (and iOS < 15)

Crash reports might look different, our report on macOS 11:

Crashed Thread:        0  mainThread  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes:       KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x0000000008cfe004
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Signal:    Segmentation fault: 11
Termination Reason:    Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0xb
Terminating Process:   exc handler [1068]

Thread 0 Crashed:: mainThread  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0   org.qt-project.QtCore           0x0000000109e5a4a9 operator==(QString const&, QString const&) + 9
1   org.qt-project.QtCore           0x0000000109faafd0 QObject::setObjectName(QString const&) + 112
2   com.crystalidea.anytoiso        0x0000000108d0c513 0x108cfe000 + 58643
3   com.crystalidea.anytoiso        0x0000000108d0c128 QAppMainWindow::QAppMainWindow(QWidget*, QFlags<Qt::WindowType>) + 88
4   com.crystalidea.anytoiso        0x0000000108d0ac79 main + 153
5   libdyld.dylib                   0x00007fff20480f3d start + 1

It’s caused by the new optimized Xcode 15 linker when linking static libraries.

Binaries using symbols with a weak definition crash at runtime on iOS 14/macOS 12 or older. This impacts primarily C++ projects due to their extensive use of weak symbols. (114813650) (FB13097713)

Xcode release notes with detailed explanation

Solution: add this to your .pro file

LIBS += -Wl,-ld_classic

MacBook Pro and Mac mini 2023 suport

Sat, 04 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

We’re happy to announce that the most recent version of Macs Fan Control fully supports new MacBook Pro and Mac mini 2023 with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips.

Both 14” and 16” MacBook Pro feature two fans (which are not spinning on idle), Mac mini has a single fan.

Macs Fan Control displays individually CPU efficiency/performance cores as well as GPU clusters temperatures. For convenience there’s CPU Core Average virtual sensor that is calculated as average of all cores.

Macs Fan Control running on 16inch Apple M2 Max MacBook Pro [Mac14,6]

Macs Fan Control running on Apple M2 Pro Mac mini [Mac14,12]

Getting Qt 5.15 LTS source

Sun, 30 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Last update: 17 March 2026

As you might know, Qt Group doesn’t publish source code neither changelog for Qt 5.15 LTS updates. Instead getting those now requires buying a commercial license starting with Qt 5.15.3. This decision was controversial and pretty unfortunate for many Qt users but luckily Qt Group decided to release source code for each LTS update exactly after 1 year. Qt Group never announced this information officially but according to the upload date on their server, 1 year is what you need to wait before getting the source code.

Qt	Commercial release	Open source download	Release notes
5.15.3	March 04, 2021	March 03, 2022	Link
5.15.4	May 12, 2021	May 12, 2022	Link
5.15.5	June 18, 2021	June 17, 2022	Link
5.15.6	September 08, 2021	September 07, 2022	Link
5.15.7	October 29, 2021	October 28, 2022	Link
5.15.8	January 04, 2022	January 4, 2023	Link
5.15.9	April 06, 2022	April 06, 2023	Link
5.15.10	June 07, 2022	June 06, 2023	Link
5.15.11	October 05, 2022	October 04, 2023	Link
5.15.12	December 28, 2022	December 20, 2023	Link
5.15.13	March 9, 2023	March 8, 2024	Link
5.15.14	May 25, 2023	May 24, 2024	Link
5.15.15	31 August, 2023	30 August, 2024	Link
5.15.16	17 November, 2023	15 November, 2024	Link
5.15.17	22 May, 2024	21 November, 2025	Link
5.15.18	31 Oct, 2024	31 Oct, 2025	Link
5.15.19	19 May, 2025

Mac Studio fan control and fan noise

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0200

We’re happy to announce that the most recent version of Macs Fan Control fully supports new Apple Mac Studio 2022 mini desktop computer.

Mac Studio has 2 exhaust fans that are treated as a single fan, which means their speed (RPM) must be always synchronized (like in iMac Pro). Macs Fan Control displays individually CPU efficiency/performance cores as well as GPU clusters temperatures. For convenience there’s CPU Core Average virtual sensor that is calculated as average of all cores. Similarly there’s GPU Cluster Average sensor for all GPU clusters.

Fan speed and noise

We’ve got two interesting observations:

On both M1 Max & Ultra Mac Studio idle fan speed is locked at around 1315 RPM which is considerably higher than specified minimum of 1100 RPM
No matter how hard and how long you push both CPU and GPU at the same time, fan speed never gets higher! Confirming video by Max Tech

Lots of users complain on relatively high idle fan noise when Mac Studio is close to a user (see related hot topics on MacRumors: Mac studio fan noise - it’s going to be one of the loudest Macs at idle and Mac Studio Max - it’s not that quiet). We recommend setting fan speed at 1100 RPM which is considerably less audible and according to our observations does not affect the cooling performance.

Macs Fan Control running on M1 Ultra powered Mac Studio

One more thing: MacBook Pro 14/16” is also running the same M1 Max chip and has zero-RPM fan mode with no fan spinning while Mac Studio features much serious heatsink (even copper for M1 Ultra) and doesn’t have zero-RPM fan mode. We think it’s quite strange and we’re planning to do some tweaks in the app in the next update (v1.6).

M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro temperatures and fan control

Sat, 20 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0100

We’re happy to announce that the most recent version of Macs Fan Control fully supports latest Apple Silicon chips M1 Pro & M1 Max on new MacBook Pro 2021. As you can see the app displays both CPU efficiency/performance cores as well as GPU clusters temperatures.

The new Macbook Pro features two fans with zero-rpm mode on low temperatures (well seen on the screenshot)

Switching to Plausible Analytics and ditch Google Analytics

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0200

We’re happy to announce that we recently switched from Google Analytics to Plausible Analytics, lightweight, privacy-friendly and open-source website analytics tool.

The script size is less than 1KB which is almost 50 times less than Google Analytics
No cookies which means no cross-site or cross-device tracking, fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA and PECR
No personal data is collected and all stats are in aggregate only. No connection to the AdTech and surveillance capitalism
Fully open source web analytics software that is self-hosted by us at webstatistics.io

Big brother is no longer watching you.

Debug your Qt apps on macOS in Qt Creator (lldb workaround)

Wed, 30 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0200

Many developers started complaining that lldb debugger shipped with latest XCode update (12.4) no longer works when trying to debug your app. It can be difficult to diagnose the issue because you only see “Debugger started” and “Debugger finished” message in Qt Creator. By using View->Views->Debugger Log you can actually locate the problem and see the “Not allowed to attach to process” error message. Basically lldb now requires your app to be signed with the get-task-allow entitlement which allows other processes (like the debugger) to attach to your app.

To debug your app after it’s built you need to sign it specifying required entitlements using command line (we run codesign command via QMAKE_POST_LINK):

codesign --entitlements codesign_entitlements_debug.plist ...

codesign_entitlements_debug.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>com.apple.security.get-task-allow</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.cs.disable-library-validation</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

We also use com.apple.security.cs.disable-library-validation to allow loading of unsigned Qt frameworks when Qt is compiled manually. In release build frameworks are signed together with the main binary.

Signing with the com.apple.security.get-task-allow entitlement must be done only for the debug binary, otherwise your app will be rejected for notarization.

Drop Windows XP/Vista support

Tue, 04 May 2021 00:00:00 +0200

Windows XP and Windows Vista will no longer be supported in future versions of CrystalIDEA apps. Server versions of these legacy systems will be discontinued as well (Windows Server 2003/2008).

Below is the list of last versions of our apps (plus download links) that are still compatible with Windows XP and Vista:

Uninstall Tool v3.5.10 - Download (portable)
AnyToISO v3.9.6 - Download (portable)
Macs Fan Control v1.5.9 - Download
SpeedyFox v2.0.30 - Download

Licensing concerns

Already issued licenses will continue to work normally on legacy systems. If you decide to upgrade your OS (e.g. Windows XP -> Windows 10) there’s no need to purchase a new license, simply uninstall the app from the old PC/OS and activate your license in the new OS.

If you purchase a new license and do really want to use it on a legacy OS, just just use one of download links above.

Some numbers

Windows XP was released in 2001 and Microsoft officially discontinued its support in 2014.
Windows Vista was released in 2006 and Microsoft officially discontinued its support in 2017.
In 2021 both Windows XP + Vista users are 0.58% of the website audience (1 Jan - 4 May).

Solve KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED when trying to update to Windows 10 version 2004

Sat, 08 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0200

Some computers with different hardware may encounter BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) with KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED error code when trying to upgrade to Windows 10 version 2004 from previous versions (1909).

We faced this problem ourselves but also found more people on the Internet with same symptoms:

Upgrade using Windows Update (1909 -> 2004) fails with a BSOD (KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED). Windows treats this reasonably as unsuccessful upgrade and performs automatic rollback to the previous version (1909). No crash dumps are created despite of all necessary settings enabled. Not being able to have a crash dump makes it basically impossible to discover the actual reason for the problem is still unknown.
Clean install fails as well when booting from a USB flash with Windows 10 (2004) leads to the same BSOD.

We even tried converting the working Windows 10 (1909) to a VMWare virtual machine and tried an upgrade there but it also ended up with a rollback.

The solution we came up with is not obvious and straightforward unfortunately. It also requires a fresh install so please make sure to create a backup.

Boot into your working Windows 10 version 1909
(optional but recommended) Backup your system drive using the free Macrium Reflect app to some external storage
Install Windows 10 version 2004 on some external USB drive (we used Samsung T5 SSD) using the WinToUSB app. The free version works only with Windows 10 Home edition but you can either later upgrade Windows to Pro/Enterprise/etc or support developers and buy the app. We believe there maybe other (free) tools around, it’s simply the one we used.
Boot into this USB drive and finish your Windows version 2004 installation
Use the free Macrium Reflect app to clone the USB drive to your initial target drive (internal).
Boot into the target drive, change your Windows install from “Windows to Go” back to normal buy deleting the ‘PortableOperatingSystem’ value located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control in your Windows registry. More info
Reboot an enjoy your brand new Windows 10 version 2004.

For the reference, our hardware that faced the problem:

ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor
Samsung 970 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8 GB Video Card

All latest drivers and BIOS version, of cause.

Stop Dropbox client using GPU on Windows

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0200

We’ve recently noticed that dropbox.exe process appears in the list of apps that consume GPU resources:

Actually, quite many modern apps (e.g. Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox) may also use GPU, but this behaviour can be turned off though not in the case of Dropbox Client, no command line switch exist either. While for most people this shouldn’t be an issue, some advanced guys would want to have full control over their working environment and resources.

The fix is extremely easy and straightforward:

Quit the Dropbox client app.
Rename or delete the file
C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Client\%VERSION%\libGLESv2.dll
Start the client app again.

You can use the following “DropBoxNoGPU.bat” batch file that should work for all client versions:

C:
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Client"

for /F "delims=" %%a in ('dir /ad /b') do (
   move %%a\libGLESv2.dll %%a\_libGLESv2.dll
)

Malware abusing AnyToISO and CrystalBit Solutions

Fri, 15 May 2020 00:00:00 +0200

We’ve received two reports from people running Windows who were infected by a Trojan (or some another kind of malware) by executing a file signed by our company (CrystalBit Solutions). More specifically this executable had the AnyToISO icon. How can this be possible?

Unfortunately, it is possible by using a common technique used by cybercriminals called - DLL Search Order Hijacking. In short:

malware makers use a legitimate executable file signed by a valid digital signature - they simply don’t have their own digital certificate to sign files. In our case they used AnyToISO uninstaller program unins000.exe and renamed it to some random name
every executable has a list of required Windows system DLL files that must be loaded when this executable starts. In our case msimg32.dll is among them, this Windows library is responsible for Windows graphics device interface (GDI) manipulation
malware makers put an infected DLL file into the same archive/folder along with legitimate executable. This DLL has the same name (msimg32.dll) as the one from the the required list
once you run the signed executable Windows looks for required DLL files and gives priority to the local-infected DLL instead of the system one
infected DLL is loaded into the legitimate process and does its bad things

Bad news is that basically every legitimate and popular app can be abused like that in the Windows world. There’s a known case with TeamViewer, for example.

What did we learn?

There have never been any infected files in our apps and on the website
Don’t visit doubtful websites
Use AntiVirus/Antispyware protection at all times and update it regularly. Windows 10 built-in Windows Defender does its job great

Some technical details:

VirusTotal links for some variants of our signed unins000.exe that were misused by cybercriminals - #1 #2.
VirusTotal links for some variants of infected msimg32.dll - #1 #2.

Demo:

Improving NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition

Sat, 09 May 2020 00:00:00 +0200

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition is a great looking card of premium build quality that performs on the same level as RTX 2070 (also with 8GB of GDDR6) with a competitive 400$ price tag. Dual axial fans provide outstanding thermal results and very quiet acoustics when gaming. But does it have some flaws? From our perspective:

Idle fan noise
No way of controlling LED RGB logo (GEFORCE RTX)

Idle fan noise. The GPU has a striking idle temperature of 31C° but at a cost of idle fan speed fixed at 42% (1500 RPM). Browsing Internet hearing this noise can be quite annoying (specially when your PC is sitting next to you on the table). Even with MSI Afterburned there’s absolutely no way to lower that speed, which we find accessive particularly if you care about acoustics as much as we do.

LED RGB logo. Some users dislike the default color, some want animation effects and some simply want to turn it off.

There’s a single solution to both issues: flashing the default BIOS to the one from EVGA RTX 2060 Super SC Ultra. It’s also a dual-fan GPU that uses the same frequencies as with Founders Edition. What is more important: it features zero RPM mode under no load and has adjustable LED with EVGA Precision X1 software.

Disclaimer

WARNING! Flash the BIOS at your own risk. Flashing a video card BIOS to a different model and/or series WILL void your warranty. This process can also cause other permanent issues like video artifacts and premature hardware failure! We cannot and will not be held responsible for the misuse of the information provided in this guide. Please, if you have any questions, jump onto the forums and ask away! We do not suggest you attempt this EVER! The BIOS linked in this tutorial may not work for your video card!

Flashing the BIOS

Download NVIDIA NVFlash with Board Id Mismatch Disabled
Download EVGA RTX 2060 Super ROM, we used version 90.06.44.80.41.
Disable your GPU from the device manager

Open Windows Command Prompt as Administrator
Make a backup of your current ROM:

nvflash64_patched_5.590.0.exe -b backup.rom

Flash

nvflash64_patched_5.590.0.exe -6 EVGA.RTX2060Super.8192.190724.rom

It will ask you to confirm a few times, follow the prompts and wait for it to finish flashing.

Reboot

After that GPU-Z will show EVGA SC Ultra now and you can enjoy silence. If you face some difficulties much more detailed guide of flashing RTX BIOS can be found here.

RGB and other tuning can be performed in the EVGA Precision X1 app.

Result:

Optimizing thermals on Mac Pro 2013

Wed, 06 May 2020 00:00:00 +0200

Mac Pro 2013 is still a beast of a machine. We still own one with the most balanced (from our perspective) custom CPU installed: 8 Core / 16 Threads 3.3 Ghz Base (4.0 Ghz Turbo) E5-2667 v2. It features same 130W TDP thermal design as with other CPUs that are officialy installed (12 core, for example).

The computer has a single whisper quiet fan but Apple traditionally prefers acoustics levels over actual thermals. In this post we demonstrate this behaviour and explain how to improve it.

To stress test the CPU we’re going to perform testing in Windows because of a little nice app called powerMax. It’s able to torture CPU unprecedentedly with AVX CPU instructions (they heat up CPU badly, be very careful with it). Speccy app is used to display CPU core average temperature (between all 8 cores) along with GPUs and SSD temperatures. Room ambient temperature - 22C°.

Idle values (before the test):

The fan is spinning at its minimum 790 RPM

After 10 minutes of AVX torture test:

The fan is spinning at around 1200 RPM

CPU Core Average reaches 83C° after 4 minutes and remains there with fan spinning at around 1200 RPM. D500 GPU temperatures are at 66-67C° without any load and SSD temperature reaches 40C°. This is the price you pay for a computer in a compact stylish form-factor where basically all internals suffer from heat. What is more important, the default fan curve is VERY conservative to our mind: the fan starts to spin up after temperature already reached 80C! That’s why a custom fan control for long CPU intensive tasks is preferred on this machine.

After the stress test is finished, the fan returns immediately to the minimum speed and all components (CPU/GPU/SSD) are slowly returning to the idle values. Even after 10 minutes of idle after the test, CPU temp sits at around 45C°, GPU at 51C° and SSD at 37C°.

On the other hand, if you manually set the fan spin at 1500 RPM, after about 3 minutes temperatures are back to idle values.

Same 10 minutes AVX torture and custom fan control:

If you manually set the fan at 1500 RPM and do the test one more time, the situation drastically changes:

The fan is spinning at 1500 RPM, thermals are much better now

CPU and GPU temperatures dropped by around 9C° and SSD comfortly sits at 35C°. In a real world scenario with additional GPU and disk load added, custom fan control for Mac Pro trash can be basically essential.

Macs Fan Control now works in Windows 10 on modern Apple computers equipped with the T2 chip

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0100

Update: MacPro7,1 and iMacPro1,1 are supported in version 1.5.6.

Macs Fan Control wasn’t able to work under Windows on Apple computers equipped with the T2 security chip since its introduction in 2018. We honestly thought it wasn’t actually possible but now it is! We’re happy to announce that the program now flawlessly works in Windows 10 on modern Apple computers that have the T2 chip:

MacBook Pro introduced in 2018 or later
MacBook Air introduced in 2018 or later
Mac mini introduced in 2018
Mac Pro introduced in 2019
iMac Pro introduced in 2017

Basically, the app now works on any Intel-based Apple computer in both Windows & macOS. Complete list of supported models.

Under the hood

It’s finally possible thanks to a custom developed kernel mode driver (AppleSMC.sys). It’s digitally signed with a EV certificate which means you don’t have to change Secure Boot settings. The driver gets installed automatically and removed when you uninstall the app.

Changes in Pro version licensing

Starting from 01-13-2020 (13th of January 2020) when buying the Pro version you can choose whether to buy it only for macOS or both macOS+Windows. If you bought the Pro version before 01-13-2020, your license key is also valid on both systems.

Macs Fan Control 1.5, Vorstellung der Pro Version

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0200

Unser extrem beliebte Macs Fan Control App wird jetzt noch besser: Es gibt jetzt eine Pro Version mit Voreinstellungen für erfahrene Benutzer, bedeutende UI Verbesserungen und mehr Stabilität.

Voreinstellungen und Pro Version

Die App bleibt nach wie vor kostenlos, aber erfahrene Nutzer können nun zusätzliche Funktionen erhalten, indem Sie ein auf Upgrade auf die Pro Version durchführen. Mit der Pro Version kann man jetzt benutzerdefinierte Lüftervoreinstellungen erstellen und abspeichern - damit lässt sich je nach Aktivität schnell zwischen verschiedenen Einstellungen umschalten. Außerdem erhalten Sie Priorität im Kunden-Support und Vertrauen in zukünftige Updates und Verbesserungen.

Die kostenlose Version hat nur 3 Voreinstellungen:

Automatisch, alle Lüfter sind auf Automatisch gesetzt und werden vom System gesteuert
Volle Leistung, alle Lüfter laufen mit maximaler Leistung (UPM)
Benutzerdefiniert*, wenn Sie die Lüftersteuerung selbst anpassen. Diese Voreinstellungen wird zwischen dem Starten der App gespeichert (wenn Sie die App schließen während die Voreinstellung aktiv ist) und geht verloren, wenn Sie zurück auf Automatisch oder Volle Leistung wechseln. Im Prinzip verhält die Appn sich gleich, wie bei vorherigen Versionen der App.

NVMe Treiber-Support

Bereits seit einiger Zeit sind alle modernen Macs mit NVMe Blade anstelle der traditionellen SATA Laufwerken ausgestattet. Sowohl unter Windows als auch unter MacOS zeigt die App jetzt diese Laufwerke und ihre Temperaturen an. Eine neue Option in den Einstellungen ermöglicht es Ihnen auszusuchen, ob Sie lieber die Laufwerktemperaturen (SMART und/oder NVMe) auslesen wollen oder nicht. Dies kann für Nutzer, die Ihre CPU-Auslastung optimieren wollen, oder Nutzer, die Probleme mit verbundenen RAID und Audio-Peripheriegeräten haben, nützlich sein.

Neues Helper-Tool

Für die Lüftersteuerung mit Macs Fan Control muss ein Helper-Tool installiert sein. Das alte Helper-Tool hatte zu viele Probleme, die nun mit der neuen Version des Tools beseitigt wurden:

weniger CPU-Last, geringerer Energieverbrauch
höhere Stabilität der App (kein zufälliger Crash, keine hohe Anzahl offener Mach Ports)

Falls Sie nicht planen, die Lüftersteuerung zu verändern, können Sie die Installation des Tools überspringen und die App im schreibgeschützten Lese-Modus ausführen. Falls Sie sich in Zukunft dafür entscheiden, die Standard-Einstellungen zu verändern, werden Sie erneut dazu aufgefordert das Tool zu installieren.

Verbesserte Nutzeroberfläche (UI)

Endlich unterstützt die App den Dark Mode unter macOS Mojave und Catalina:

Der neue Einstellungs-Dialog sieht jetzt auch besser aus:

Kompatibilität

macOS:

Die App ist immer noch kompatibel mit MacOS 10.7 und neueren Versionen, es gibt sie jetzt jedoch in zwei unterschiedlichen Downloads: Eine für macOS 10.12 Sierra+ und die zweite für macOS 10.7 Lion - 10.11 El Capitan.

Windows:

Windows XP und neuere Versionen, aber nur auf Mac Modellen, die nicht mit dem modernen T2 chip ausgestattet sind.

Classic Mac Pro (5,1): W-Lan auf 802.11ac und Bluetooth auf 4.0 upgraden

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0200

Classic Mac Pro 5,1 (auch 4,1 mit Upgrade auf 5,1) hat normalerweise nur WLan 802.11n und Bluetooth 2.1. Hier finden Sie die Hauptgründe, wieso Sie das W-Lan auf 802.11ac und Bluetooth auf 4.0 upgraden sollten:

Sie erhalten Continuity, Handoff und das neue AirDrop native
W-LAN 802.11ac ist wahnsinnig schnell, Bluetooth 4.0 ist zuverlässiger, sicherer und deutlich schneller
MacOS 10.15 Catalina unterstützt alte BCM94322MC W-Lan Karten nicht mehr, daher funktioniert W-Lan damit nicht mehr

Haftungsausschluss: Diese Website ist in keiner Weise mit einem der hier genannten E-Bay-Anbieter verbunden. Die Links werden nur für Ihren Komfort zur Verfügung gestellt. Wir übernehmen keine Haftung dafür, wenn Sie Ihren Computer in irgendeiner Weise (so unwahrscheinlich dies auch sein möge) beschädigen.

Das hier beschriebene Upgrade kit ist 100% native, beinhaltet keine externen Karten oder Antennen, und benötigt keine zusätzlichen Software-Installationen. Die im Kit genannte Broadcom-Karte wird nativ in vielen iMac Modellen verwendet und wird daher nativ von MacOs unterstützt. Irgendein kluger Typ verkauft ein ähnliches Kit für ca. 215 USD + Versandkosten, aber normalerweise erhält man für ein Viertel des Preises (und kostenlose Lieferung von China)

Das Kit:

Broadcom BCM94360CD + mPCIe Adapter. Ebay
Bluetooth Antenne - Verlängerungskabel. Ebay
JST GH 1.25MM 4Pin Konnektoren (3). Ebay

UPDATE September 2019! Es gibt eine Version des mPCIe Adapters, die ohne Löten funktioniert! Amazon, Ebay. In diesem Fall können Sie Schritt 1 überspringen.

1. Bluetooth Datenkabel an den mPCIe Adapter löten

Die originale Bluetooth-Karte wird entfernt, da der BCM94360CD sowohl Bluetooth als auch W-Lan on board hat. D+ und D- Konnektoren auf dem mPCIe Adapter müssen zum Motherboard anstatt zur alten Bluetooth-Karte verbunden werden.

Sie brauchen DREI JST Kabel, von denen Sie die gelben und grünen Kabel entfernen (nur Schwarz und Rot werden verwendet).
Verbinden Sie diese miteinander, so dass Sie eine ausreichende Länge für das Bluetooth-Datenkabel erhalten:

Löten Sie (oder jemanden fragen, der ein Lötgerät hat) die D+ und D- Kontakte auf den Adapter an die schwarzen und roten Kabel (nicht so sauber auf dem Foto).

2. CPU/RAM Tray entfernen

Öffnen Sie Ihren Mac Pro und entfernen Sie das CPU/RAM Tray.

Anschließend sollte Ihre Computer wie auf dem folgenden Foto aussehen. Die W-Lan Karte ist auf der linken Seite markiert und die kleine Bluetooth-Karte auf der rechten Seite. Später werden wir Kabel hinter dem in der Mitte markierten Bereich durchziehen.

3. Alte W-Lan & Bluetooth Karten entfernen

Lösen Sie die kleinen Schrauben, welche die alte AirPort W-Lan Karte festhalten, und trennen Sie 2 oder 3 Antennen indem Sie diese leicht zu sich hinziehen (je nach Modell kann eine Antenne ungenutzt unter der Karte verstaut), entfernen Sie die Karte, indem Sie diese nach links schieben.

Lösen Sie die Schraube, die die alte Bluetooth Karte festhält, trennen Sie das Datenkabel und die goldenen Antennenkonnektoren, entfernen Sie die Karte, indem Sie diese zu sich ziehen, sie ist mit einem Klebstoff leicht befestigt.

4. Neue W-Lan & Bluetooth Karte installieren

Die neue Karte mit dem Adapter gehört in de PCIe Slot, wo zuvor Ihre alte W-Lan Karte war. Verbinden Sie die drei W-Lan Antennen und ein Bluetooth Antennen-Verlängerungskabel mit der Karte genau wie unten auf dem Bild:

Schieben Sie Karte mit allen 4 angebrachten Antennen in den mPCIe Adapter, dann schieben Sie den Adapter in den mPCIe Slot. Befestigen Sie den Adapter mit einem der beiden Schrauben, die die alte Karte befestigt hatten.

Das lose Ende Ihres Bluetooth Antennen-Verlängerungskabel sollte mit dem bestehenden Bluetooth Antennenkabel verbunden werden (zuvor von der alten Bluetooth Karte abgetrennt).

Das loise Ende unseres Bluetooth Datenkabels muss mit dem Motherboard verbunden werden:

Wenn möglich können Sie kleine Streifen Tape verwenden, um sicherzustellen, dass die Kabel sicher verbunden bleiben und sich nicht zu sehr bewegen.

Dieser Guide basiert auf MacRumors thread.

Boot Camp und Windows 10 1903 (Mai-Update)

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0200

Problem: Das neueste Windows 10 Update 1903 löst einen Blue Screen aus (BSOD, blue screen of death) mit der Fehlermeldung WDF_VIOLATION auf einigen MacBook Modellen (MacBook Pro 2010/2011, MacBook Air 2011, Mac Mini 2012, iMac 2010/2011 und ein paar weitere). Dieser schwerwiegende Fehler taucht auf, wenn Windows bereits geladen wurde und das System versucht das Apple Boot Camp Utility (BootCamp.exe) auszuführen. Dieses Tool ist verantwortlich für die Steuerung der Bildschirmhelligkeit, Lautstärke, Funktionstasten, Hintergrundbeleuchtung, usw. über die Apple Tastatur. Bei manchen Geräten passiert dieser Crash nur, wenn Sie versuchen unsere Macs Fan Control App zu starten.

Ursache: Ältere Versionen der MacHALDriver.sys Treiber, die mit der Boot Camp Utility geliefert werden sind nicht kompatibel mit Windows 10 1903.

Lösung: Sie müssen nur ein Update auf Boot Camp 6 oder eine neuere Version durchführen.

Zuerst müssen Sie die alten Treiber deaktivieren, um einen normalen Windows-Start ausführen zu können. Die Treiberdateien unter c:\windows\system32\MacHALDriver.sys müssen umbenannt werden, z.B. in “MacHALDriver.sys.old”. Es gibt zwei Möglichkeiten:

(unter Windows) Starten Sie im sicheren Modus (F8 gedrückt halten) und benennen Sie die Datei um.
(unter MacOS) Installieren Sie Tuxera NTFS oder Paragon NTFS for Mac um Schreibzugang auf das Windows-Laufwerk/Partition zu gewähren und die Treiberdateien umzubenennen. Beide Apps sind kommerziell aber haben eine begrenzte Probelaufzeit.

Anschließend können Sie Windows 10 booten, aber die Apple Boot Camp Utility wird nicht funktionieren. Macs Fan Control kann ohne den Boot Camp Treiber arbeiten, aber nur sehr langsam.

Installieren Sie 7Zip und Brigadier. Führen Sie letztgenannten aus um die neueste offizielle Version des Boot Camp von Apple herunterzuladen und auf Ihrem Gerät zu installieren. Manchmal lädt es trotzdem eine fehlerhafte alte Version (z.B. für iMac Mitte 2010) herunter. In diesem Fall empfehlen wir das Boot Camp mit Hilfe des –model Parameters für ein anderes Model herunterzuladen:

 brigadier.exe --model iMacPro1,1

und führen Sie den Boot Camp Installer manuell aus (führen Sie die Eingabeaufforderung als Administrator aus):

 msiexec /i BootCamp-041-55643\BootCamp\Drivers\Apple\BootCamp.msi

Tipp: Um dieses Problem zu vermeiden, empfehlen wir Ihnen dringend, Ihr Boot Camp mit Hilfe Brigadier App zu aktualisieren, bevor Sie das Windows 1903 Update durchführen.