# [solved] extremely hot laptop

## low

when i set my processor to use the 'performance' governor, the cpu temperature immediately spikes at least 10 degrees celcius above where it was and continues to rise to unsafe levels until i move it back to 'ondemand'. in fact, recently my laptop overheated and completely shut off without warning. i checked '/proc/acpi/thermal_zone/TZ0{0,1}/trip_points' and it is 127C, so i'm guessing the cpu temperature must have reached that when it shut off. i have a core2duo t5500 and its highest clock setting is only 1.66gHz, a seemingly safe value (at least to me). there does not feel like there is as much airflow as there used to be from the fan in the back of the laptop, but i am going to disassemble as much as i am comfortable with and try to clean any dust that might be clogging the fans. the only other thing i can think of that might be causing this unusual behavior is that i have my timer frequency set to 432Hz instead of the standard 1000Hz. suggestions?

edit: when it is at 'ondemand' the temperature never reaches 70 degrees celcius and usually stays at low 60's when compiling. at idle (1000mHz), it is mid 40's to low 50's.Last edited by low on Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:58 pm; edited 2 times in total

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## pappy_mcfae

Get some canned air and blow it through the cooling fins of the CPU. Once you blow things out backwards, then blow out the fan. Don't go overboard on the cooling fan. If you wind it too fast, it WILL come unglued. Trust me! 

Blessed be!

Pappy

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## Hypnos

Is it possible that ACPI never controlled your fans correctly, and you only see it now with the CPU heating up under the 'performance' governor?

Or, did it work before, and you recently upgraded your kernel?

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## justinkb

maybe a silly question but do you even hear a fan blowing?

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## szmytson

I'm having similar problems with my Compaq V3000 (Turion64 @1.6GHz).

While compiling I always use 'powersave' governor (@800MHz). Otherwise the temperature goes up to approx. 95° centigrade. Couple of times it reached 100° and emergency shutdown have been triggered.

I can hear the fan blowing when the temperature goes up, but I guess it's just too weak for this lap.

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## SlashBeast

Try linux-phc, undervolting cpu, work for me on Core2 T7500 2.2GHz, tested on 2.6.27-2.6.30-rc3.

Good idea is remove old thermal paste and use for example Arctic Silver 5. Clean heatsilk etc.

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## low

 *Hypnos wrote:*   

> Is it possible that ACPI never controlled your fans correctly, and you only see it now with the CPU heating up under the 'performance' governor?
> 
> Or, did it work before, and you recently upgraded your kernel?

 

i've always had my governor on 'ondemand' but i know for a fact during long compiles the cpu frequency would stay at 1.66gHz for extended periods of time and i've never had an overheating problem. i did, however, recently upgrade to 2.6.30-rc2 from the zen-sources, so i'll switch back to my saved 2.6.29 kernels and see if that makes a difference. but there is nothing in my '/proc/acpi/fan' folder so i'm not even sure there are any fan controls i can muck with. i have an acer aspire 5630 so it was very entry level when i bought it two years ago.

 *justinkb wrote:*   

> maybe a silly question but do you even hear a fan blowing?

 

not silly at all, but yes the fan used to move significantly more air out of the back vent. but it does still sound like it is running at high rpm so that's why i'm guessing it is clogged. i have a large proofs homework due today as well as a test so after my classes i'll try everything suggested.

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## low

took off the back of the laptop case and removed the fan, there was a opaque cake of dust on the vents... probably not good. so far it's been running below 50 degrees celcius

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## pappy_mcfae

Good to hear you're cooling better. Please add <solved> to the title of this thread.

Blessed be!

Pappy

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