Linux Mint High CPU fan

[ysan]

Hello,

I hope to find some help here about my the almost continues blowing laptop fan. I am not using special programs (mainly Firefox with a normal number of tabs open). CPU temp between 60 - 75 °C

I have seen that i should include the following :

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-120-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
  base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire A715-71G v: V1.21 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: KBL model: Charmeleon_KLS v: V1.21 serial: <filter> 
  UEFI [Legacy]: Insyde v: 1.21 date: 11/02/2018 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 31.1 Wh condition: 38.7/48.9 Wh (79%) 
  model: LG 004B384234314341 status: Charging 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-7700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Kaby Lake rev: 9 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 44798 
  Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/2800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 
  3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 801 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107M [GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile] 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nvidia v: 510.73.05 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2 
  v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 510.73.05 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel CM238 HD Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-120-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Lite-On driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel port: 4000 bus ID: 02:00.0 
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 
  bus ID: 03:00.1 
  IF: enp3s0f1 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 447.13 GiB used: 68.95 GiB (15.4%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37480G size: 447.13 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 218.45 GiB used: 68.95 GiB (31.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 49.5 C mobo: 29.8 C gpu: nvidia temp: 49 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 283 Uptime: 5h 18m Memory: 15.52 GiB used: 5.37 GiB (34.6%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 
  inxi: 3.0.38 

[antikythera]

try running sensors-detect in the terminal. if it has any recommended additions to the configuration file when it finishes, let it do them. afterwards, restart and see if the temperature sensor is more accurate. there's a program running on your system called thermald which is written by Intel for Intel processors. So as long as the sensors are reading properly, your system should work okay. The fan speed is normally controlled by BIOS/UEFI and not the OS though, so unless you want to download an opensource fan control program and risk it causing thermal throttling over noise I'd leave well alone where the fans are concerned. Since it is a few years old, the heatsinks and fans may be getting clogged with dust and lint. Give them a quick once over with a soft brush and a can of compressed air if you can.

[ysan]

Dear Antikythera

Thank you so much for your reply and insight! I really appreciate. More than words... thank you.

This is the outcome of sensors-detect :

Code: Select all

yves@yves-Aspire-Mint:~$ sudo sensors-detect
[sudo] password for yves:     
# sensors-detect version 3.6.0
# System: Acer Aspire A715-71G [V1.21] (laptop)
# Board: KBL Charmeleon_KLS
# Kernel: 5.4.0-120-generic x86_64
# Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz (6/158/9)

This program will help you determine which kernel modules you need
to load to use lm_sensors most effectively. It is generally safe
and recommended to accept the default answers to all questions,
unless you know what you're doing.

Some south bridges, CPUs or memory controllers contain embedded sensors.
Do you want to scan for them? This is totally safe. (YES/no): y
Module cpuid loaded successfully.
Silicon Integrated Systems SIS5595...                       No
VIA VT82C686 Integrated Sensors...                          No
VIA VT8231 Integrated Sensors...                            No
AMD K8 thermal sensors...                                   No
AMD Family 10h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 11h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 12h and 14h thermal sensors...                   No
AMD Family 15h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 16h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 17h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 15h power sensors...                             No
AMD Family 16h power sensors...                             No
Hygon Family 18h thermal sensors...                         No
Intel digital thermal sensor...                             Success!
    (driver `coretemp')
Intel AMB FB-DIMM thermal sensor...                         No
Intel 5500/5520/X58 thermal sensor...                       No
VIA C7 thermal sensor...                                    No
VIA Nano thermal sensor...                                  No

Some Super I/O chips contain embedded sensors. We have to write to
standard I/O ports to probe them. This is usually safe.
Do you want to scan for Super I/O sensors? (YES/no): y
Probing for Super-I/O at 0x2e/0x2f
Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'...               No
Trying family `SMSC'...                                     No
Trying family `VIA/Winbond/Nuvoton/Fintek'...               No
Trying family `ITE'...                                      No
Probing for Super-I/O at 0x4e/0x4f
Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'...               No
Trying family `SMSC'...                                     No
Trying family `VIA/Winbond/Nuvoton/Fintek'...               No
Trying family `ITE'...                                      No

Some hardware monitoring chips are accessible through the ISA I/O ports.
We have to write to arbitrary I/O ports to probe them. This is usually
safe though. Yes, you do have ISA I/O ports even if you do not have any
ISA slots! Do you want to scan the ISA I/O ports? (YES/no): y
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM78' at 0x290...       No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM79' at 0x290...       No
Probing for `Winbond W83781D' at 0x290...                   No
Probing for `Winbond W83782D' at 0x290...                   No

Lastly, we can probe the I2C/SMBus adapters for connected hardware
monitoring devices. This is the most risky part, and while it works
reasonably well on most systems, it has been reported to cause trouble
on some systems.
Do you want to probe the I2C/SMBus adapters now? (YES/no): y
Using driver `i2c-i801' for device 0000:00:1f.4: Sunrise Point-H (PCH)

Next adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at 5040 (i2c-0)
Do you want to scan it? (YES/no/selectively): y
Client found at address 0x50
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1033'...                     No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1034'...                     No
Probing for `SPD EEPROM'...                                 Yes
    (confidence 8, not a hardware monitoring chip)
Probing for `EDID EEPROM'...                                No
Client found at address 0x52
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1033'...                     No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1034'...                     No
Probing for `SPD EEPROM'...                                 Yes
    (confidence 8, not a hardware monitoring chip)

Next adapter: Synopsys DesignWare I2C adapter (i2c-1)
Do you want to scan it? (YES/no/selectively): y 
Adapter doesn't support all probing functions.
Some addresses won't be probed.
Client found at address 0x50
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1033'...                     No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1034'...                     No
Probing for `SPD EEPROM'...                                 No
Probing for `EDID EEPROM'...                                No
Client found at address 0x51
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1033'...                     No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1034'...                     No
Probing for `SPD EEPROM'...                                 No
Client found at address 0x52
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1033'...                     No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1034'...                     No
Probing for `SPD EEPROM'...                                 No
Client found at address 0x53
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1033'...                     No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1034'...                     No
Probing for `SPD EEPROM'...                                 No
Client found at address 0x58
Probing for `Analog Devices ADT7462'...                     No
Probing for `Andigilog aSC7512'...                          No
Client found at address 0x5c
Probing for `Analog Devices ADT7462'...                     No
Probing for `SMSC EMC1072'...                               No
Probing for `SMSC EMC1073'...                               No
Probing for `SMSC EMC1074'...                               No
Client found at address 0x73
Probing for `FSC Poseidon I'...                             No
Probing for `FSC Poseidon II'...                            No
Probing for `FSC Scylla'...                                 No
Probing for `FSC Hermes'...                                 No
Probing for `FSC Heimdal'...                                No
Probing for `FSC Heracles'...                               No
Probing for `FSC Hades'...                                  No
Probing for `FSC Syleus'...                                 No

Next adapter: Synopsys DesignWare I2C adapter (i2c-2)
Do you want to scan it? (YES/no/selectively): y
Adapter doesn't support all probing functions.
Some addresses won't be probed.

Next adapter: i915 gmbus dpc (i2c-3)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): y

Next adapter: i915 gmbus dpb (i2c-4)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): y

Next adapter: i915 gmbus dpd (i2c-5)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): y

Next adapter: DPDDC-A (i2c-6)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): y

Next adapter: NVIDIA i2c adapter 1 at 1:00.0 (i2c-7)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): y

Next adapter: NVIDIA i2c adapter 6 at 1:00.0 (i2c-8)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): y


Now follows a summary of the probes I have just done.
Just press ENTER to continue:  

Driver `coretemp':
  * Chip `Intel digital thermal sensor' (confidence: 9)

To load everything that is needed, add this to /etc/modules:
#----cut here----
# Chip drivers
coretemp
#----cut here----
If you have some drivers built into your kernel, the list above will
contain too many modules. Skip the appropriate ones!

Do you want to add these lines automatically to /etc/modules? (yes/NO)y
Successful!

Monitoring programs won't work until the needed modules are
loaded. You may want to run '/etc/init.d/kmod start'
to load them.

Unloading cpuid... OK

Do you see something strange?

You suggest cleaning the laptop? Can I just unscrew it? Have never done this before.

Kind regards

Yves

[ysan]

One more thing...

I have recently switched from Windows to Linux Mint. Just to give it a try. Never thought the switch would be so easy. Windows seems like a thing from the (my) past.

THANK YOU LINUX MINT.

Besides your OS is just great, I just don't get how come Linux is not getting more mainstream. I am a new Linux Mint ambassador

[antikythera]

Do you see something strange?

You suggest cleaning the laptop? Can I just unscrew it? Have never done this before.

Kind regards

Yves

that all looks good. there's a video showing how to open the laptop you have here

I wouldn't suggest you attempt a re-paste unless it looks clean in there and even then, getting a local repair shop to do it for you would be prudent. There's a set way to unscrew and re-attach heatsink screws to avoid warping the heatsink or cpu under it

[ysan]

Thank you for the information!

[redaxe]

Hello Yves.
If you look at the video that antikytera referred to, watch from minute 24 onward and notice that there is a lot of dust and it blocks the path of the cooling air.
The fans blow air through a kind of grating, that sits at the end of each heatpipe, in order to remove the heat from the processor. These gratings or fins are closely spaced (about 1 mm) and accumulate dirt very easily. Notice that in the video, you can see that the grating is almost completely covered with dirt.
It means that there is very little, if any, airflow and the heat cannot escape. This, in turn, causes the processor temperature to go up, and on some laptops the BIOS is in charge of controlling fan speed. It senses the temperature rise and increases fan-speed in an attempt to lower the CPU temperature...
However, with a blocked cooling channel, even if there are two fans, cooling is insufficient and the CPU temp keeps rising, causing the BIOS to throttle the CPU clock frequency, in order to diminish the CPU's heat output.
Persistent high fan speed, and low CPU clock at the same time (running on the minimum of 800 MHz, as your first diagnostic screen showed) is always a sign that cooling is not as it should be. Unless, of course, your CPU doesn't have much to do. If you are running a process that causes a high workload on the CPU ( you can see that with the System Monitor) should subside as soon as the task or the program that causes it has finished or is closed. For example, media transcoding can have your processor on 100% load on all cores or threads, and it will get _really_ warm, all the while nothing else seems to be happening on the GUI...
An emergency solution is to take a drinking straw and blow air _into_ the exhaust of the cooling system by mouth. Do this preferably outside, because the amount of fine dust that comes out on the intake side of the fans might surprise you.. An option that has a bit more effect would be to use "canned air" and blow through with that. This can be done without even opening the laptop's backpanel.
It does almost nothing if you blow air into the fan intake openings, because the direction of flow is the same as that of the fans. It might blow out some dust, but it will likely not free the path through the fins of the heat-exchanger grating.
Beware of blowing high pressure air (maybe from a compressor) onto the fans. They might overspeed mechanically, damaging the internals.
On the other hand, the dirt also tends to stick to the surfaces of the fan's blades, and does not come off just by blowing air across them. To clean the fan and fan shroud, the machine will need to be opened.

Hope this was helpful. In a nutshell: Have a laptop? Blow the dust out from time to time.

Best Regards

[Reddog1]

Its always a good idea to keep your cooling system clean.

Also, update your kernel. There appears to be something going on with fan control and the Ubuntu/Mint kernel, at least on some computers, judging by the number of posts concerning this. A couple of years ago, the forum of another distribution that I use was full of posts about fan control/temperature problems, and it went away after newer kernels were released. It is something to consider.