Acer 5542G Overheating / Fan loud

[dvdme]

Hi everyone!

I'm not new to Linux but I new to the forum.

For quite sometime now I've trying mint on my Laptop with a live USB and I always have to same problem - the fan is too load and it overheats until it eventually shutdown.
I've read a lot about it but I could never found a solution. To most I could do is prevent it from reaching shuting down temperatures (keep it on 90º max) but that's no good.

From what I've read, I think it's a problem with the ATI/AMD chips, linux doesn't manage the power quite well on this...

Can anyone give me some pointers?

[LinuxStefan1972]

I had the same problem on my acer 5220. Loud fan, high temp and shutdowns.
I opened the laptop, cleaned all airvents and problem is solved.

Fan runs only occasionally now, temp always between 40 and 60C and no more shutdowns

[dvdme]

That could be a solution...I actually never cleaned this one. The thing is, I don't have this problem on windows. And I also tried mint 11 (I think) back when I got the laptop and I got the save overheating problem.

[spandey]

Have you tried installing AMD drivers from menu?

[dvdme]

Yes, there none available for mint 14. From what I've read, I think it has to do with the xorg version not being compatible

[MikeL]

I'd go with the cleaning idea. I had a Compaq laptop that started acting up, so I eventually bought a new one. A few months later I had some free time and thought I might be able to fix it up a little and give it to my dad. I took it completely apart and cleaned everything, but the primary issue is with the fins on the heat sinks. It seems most of these laptops suck air in from all around, but it all goes out through the metal fins. Once they get clogged you effectively have no air flow. I had to replace the hard drive in that one. I think the heat killed it. The thing is, laptop processors can adjust speeds and I think they just run at lower speeds when they get too hot. My bet is that the bootable linux distro you use might not be as good at managing the processor speeds to accomodate the heat. Mine never shut down (until the last couple weeks I used it), but the touchpad would get almost hot enough to burn my finger, and I almost always ran Linux! It was an AMD Sempron I think. When I finished the "rebuild" that laptop worked better than I could ever remember.

The vents get clogged easily. You can tell if they are clogged when the fan is running loud--if you can't feel a good breeze near the fan then I'm sure it's clogged. You can fix it some by just blowing compressed air into the fins on the heat sink and you don't even have to open it. I think that blows the crud back up into the laptop, so I would not expect miracles, but if it helps then you know you're on the right track. You may also want to try installing Linux.

[dvdme]

Hi, thanks for the help!

The laptop I had before this one had that problem with the heat sink, and that on I fixed by cleaning it.
But this one I really think it's a power management issue. Because on Windows it doesn't get hot as it does with Linux. - But I might give cleaning a shot!
Also, do you think it can make a difference installing Linux rather than just running the live USB?

[budhus]

New drivers which supports legacy and new cards have been released by AMD. It supports Ubuntu BUT unfortunately it doesn't support Linux Mint!

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/l ... linux.aspx

Have a look!

The same problem happened to me and it was the graphics driver....