# CPUfan always at max?

## eddieparker

Hey!

Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but it *is* hardware related, so I'm hoping that's kosher.  :Wink: 

I just bought a new case, cpu, mobo and RAM for my linux 'server' and the thing is doing awesome.  Got the shiniest kernel I could find (2.6.25-gentoo-r :Cool: , recompiled it with ACPI support and got CPUFREQ finally working.

Now, for some reason, cpufreq does an awesome job scaling between the different governers I pick (mostly on conservative until the box reaches 60% CPU or greater), but for some reason the fan is always blasting away.

I'm not super familiar with how to get readings from Linux about temperature and fan diagnostics however, so I can't tell you if the cores *are* running stupid hot, or if the fan's just always on and shouldn't be.

Does anyone know how I can scale my CPU fan based on heat (if that's not already done for me?)?  Failing that, is there somewhere in Linux userspace land I can read the temperature for my CPU's to see why the fan's blowing so hard?

Thanks!

-e-

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## Schwinni

What kind of mainboard os it?

I ask, because many modern mainboards adjust the fan speeds automatically for you.

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## eddieparker

The board is a ASUS M3N-HD/HDMI.

I've found out a bit more about how thermal stuff is controlled on linux, so I'll post some relevant info from /proc, in case it helps. 

/proc/cpuinfo:

```

processor       : 0

vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model           : 67

model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+

stepping        : 3

cpu MHz         : 1000.000

cache size      : 1024 KB

physical id     : 0

siblings        : 2

core id         : 0

cpu cores       : 2

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug         : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

fpu             : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level     : 1

wp              : yes

flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy ts fid vid ttp tm stc

bogomips        : 2001.93

clflush size    : 64

processor       : 1

vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD

cpu family      : 15

model           : 67

model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+

stepping        : 3

cpu MHz         : 1000.000

cache size      : 1024 KB

physical id     : 0

siblings        : 2

core id         : 1

cpu cores       : 2

fdiv_bug        : no

hlt_bug         : no

f00f_bug        : no

coma_bug        : no

fpu             : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level     : 1

wp              : yes

flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy ts fid vid ttp tm stc

bogomips        : 2001.93

clflush size    : 64

```

thermal zone:

```

/proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/cooling_mode:0 - Active; 1 - Passive

/proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/polling_frequency:<polling disabled>

/proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/state:state:                   ok

/proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/temperature:temperature:             40 C

/proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/trip_points:critical (S5):           75 C

/proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/trip_points:active[0]:               73 C: devices= FAN

```

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## energyman76b

do you have a pwm capable board/pwm fans?

if yes, install lm_sensors, build the right sensor drivers as module, start pwmconfig and add fancontrol to your default runlevel

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## eddieparker

Fabulous!

Looks like I must have a pwm capable mobo and such.

However, as I'm in the middle of configuring it now, I notice something odd:

pwconfig prints out:

```

Devices:

hwmon0/device is it8716

hwmon1/device is k8temp

Current temperature readings are as follows:

hwmon0/device/temp1_input       30

hwmon0/device/temp2_input       30

hwmon0/device/temp3_input       127

hwmon1/device/temp1_input       25

hwmon1/device/temp3_input       25

```

I have a sneaking suspicion that whatever hwmon0/device/temp3_input is, it's telling my box to cool itself like nuts.  127 degrees Celcius seems like it *must* be an error, no?

I have to run to an appointment here quick; soon after I'll probably start digging around as to how to correlate temp3_input to whatever it must be hardware wise, and see if it'd be smart to disable reading temperatures on it or something...  Anyways, any insight into this will be greatly appreciated!

-e-

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## eddieparker

Oh, further to that, I'm noticing temp3 on sensors output:

```

Every 2.0s: sensors                                     Thu Oct 23 19:26:05 2008

it8716-isa-0290

Adapter: ISA adapter

VCore:     +1.09 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)

VDDR:      +3.28 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)

+3.3V:     +0.00 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)   ALARM

+5V:       +4.87 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +6.85 V)

+12V:     +12.22 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max = +16.32 V)

in5:       +0.00 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)   ALARM

in6:       +0.00 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +4.08 V)   ALARM

5VSB:      +4.92 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +6.85 V)

VBat:      +3.15 V

fan1:     2689 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)

fan2:     2303 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)

fan3:        0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)

fan4:        0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)

temp1:       +30 C  (low  =    -1 C, high =  +127 C)   sensor = thermistor

temp2:       +30 C  (low  =    -1 C, high =  +127 C)   sensor = thermistor

temp3:      +127 C  (low  =    -1 C, high =  +127 C)   sensor = thermistor

vid:      +1.550 V

k8temp-pci-00c3

Adapter: PCI adapter

Core0 Temp:

             +22 C

Core1 Temp:

             +25 C

```

What. The. Deuce.

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## bunder

you said you had an asus board, is q-fan on?

cheers

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## energyman76b

the monitoring chips have usually a lot more inputs then connected by the mobo vendors. The 'dangling' inputs then report completly bogus values. Ignore them.

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## kernelOfTruth

 *energyman76b wrote:*   

> do you have a pwm capable board/pwm fans?
> 
> if yes, install lm_sensors, build the right sensor drivers as module, start pwmconfig and add fancontrol to your default runlevel

 

very useful information

*subscribes*

thanks !

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