# PC powers down cauz off high temperature

## vhkristof

Hey,

When I'm emerging, and I'm installing a large application, like

e.g. Evolution, my PC powers down cauz my CPU is baking...

This generally occurs when I am compiling a large program that

takes about 2 hours to compile, and my CPU is working at full

throttle.

Is there a way I can tell my CPU to only work at 90%, and so

trying to avoid overheating it ?

Thx!

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## Qball

What cpu do you have (amd/intel speed etc..)

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## vhkristof

It's a laptop...

P3 600 Mhz ...

Never had the problem, it's really weird.

And it stinks, I mean that litterally...

There's some smelly smell   :Smile:   comin' out of my ventilation system

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## Timm

Maybe a cleaning job will help. The fan could be terribly dirty and not very helpful. Both of my two Laptops (P3 500/800MHZ) have gentoo on it and survived several Gentoo/BSD/Slackware installations. But I clean them every year, and it's always a lot of dirt that comes out.

How much memory you have? Maybe your system pages heavily _and_ is compiling. That could be too much. Maybe sitting in a fridge would be better   :Smile: 

EDIT: Memory of my laptops: 192MB/800 MHZ and 256MB/500 MHZ

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## Qball

hmm I had the same problem with my toshiba laptop..  

because acpi wouldnt run (my toshiba was blacklisted in the kernel, after talking to the acpi guy this shouldnt be there.. so a little comment in the source fixed that  :Very Happy: )

my fan didnt start runnig (so laptop didnt cool enough).

My solution (before fixing acpi) was to run the toshiba tools and turn on the fan manualy.

so try checking if the fan starts..

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## vhkristof

My specs:

Pentium Mobile 600 Mhz <with speedstep>

192 MB RAM

30 GB HD

Is it overheating cauz my CPU is working overtime   :Smile:   when compiling ?

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## Qball

 *vhkristof wrote:*   

> My specs:
> 
> Pentium Mobile 600 Mhz <with speedstep>
> 
> 192 MB RAM
> ...

 

can you check if acpi is running (is there a /proc/acpi entry?) 

and if youre fan turns on?

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## vhkristof

I think my fans are on, cauz otherwise it would melt if i kept it

running for 4 hours @ 100 %

ACPI is compiled in the kernel...

Is there a way that I can say to Linux: "hey, don't you try to

hit 90%"   :Cool: 

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## vhkristof

Normally, my fans should be working, shouldn't they...

Or is there a way I can check it using linux, or to turn them on ?

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## owmtia

You can try this

cd /proc/acpi/processor/[Whatever Your CPU is]

cat throttling

 *Quote:*   

> state count:             8
> 
> active state:            T0
> 
> states:
> ...

 

if it output something that looks like that then you should be able to do use the ACPI throttling to slow your processor down.

now type

echo -n 4 > throttling

if you cat the file again it should have a star next to t4, your processor will now be working at only 50% of it's capacity and sleeping the rest of the time.

I don't know if it will work with your processor.

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## vhkristof

Thx man, I'll give it a try later ...

Right now reïnstalling gentoo, cauz etc-update screwed my system ...

Should be back up completely, in a day or 2 :s

Am I getting it wrong, or does the OS need to control the fan, and not

the bios...

If that is the case, is it possible than that Gentoo does not start my fan ?

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## Qball

both should do it..  

the bios should do it when the cpu passes some limit (very high)..  

and the OS should do this sooner based on youre power management profile.

but it doesnt alway's work how it should.

what brand+model laptop do you have?

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## vhkristof

Well, it isn't really a brand.

I bought it here in Belgium, in one of those stores where the sell

food, computers, tv's, ...

Maybe the name 'LifeTec' rings a bell?

So it is possible, that linux was not turning my fan on ?

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## vhkristof

Right now installing Gentoo ...

Howcome my PC is not getting warm now, I mean it is compiling

things and stuff ...

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## vhkristof

Anyone plz ...

It's driving me crazy !   :Sad: 

I don't get it, during install of gentoo, everything goes right,

but when it is installed, my system just overheats ....

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## vhkristof

C'mon...

There has got to be someone who know how to fix this problem

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## vhkristof

If I do

```
cat /proc/acpi/fan/FAN/state
```

I get:

Status:   Off

Is this bad, or is it just .... ?

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## Qball

well under full load and high temp it should turn on .. 

but the question still remains do you feel an airflow from the vent when it's getting so hot.

(btw..  during installation  (when youre booted from cd) does it use acpi or acpi?  )

you could try disabling acpi and see if the bios controls the fan right?

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## taylorad

Sounds like a problem with the ACPI.  I had  the same issue with my Toshiba laptop.  Follow the directions here.  That may make a difference ... then again, it might not.  Worth a shot though!  :Smile: 

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## vhkristof

Well, now i've got it working at 12% of my CPU, now problem  :Smile: 

Temperature: 56 °C

If I let it work at 50%, my temperature rises tot 78 °C, and the

fan is not running, if I trust /proc/acpi/fan....

78°C, isn't that hot ?

Sometimes it says that the fan is running when 60 °, but sometimes

at 78°, this is not the case ...

There is some warm airflow commin out of my laptop...

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## vhkristof

@taylorad: I'll give it a shot tomorrow...

Right now, It's partytime !   :Cool: 

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