Cpu fan strange behavior

[littlehuman]

Hi All,

It seems that the cpu's fan of my laptop sometimes have a quite strange behavior, cycling from low to high speeds (and making noise) as if it was based on a clock instead of operating normally (fan speed changing accordingly to cpu temp)

Two months ago, fan was going high speed quite immediately after startup, so I opened my laptop and cleaned all the dust. There was some but not so much as I do clean it every spring. It seemed to fix the issue, but now this occurs randomly every 2-3 weeks (I use it everyday), so I reboot my laptop and then it's ok for some time.

Here's a graph of it with what I consider normal operating, with fan speed adjusting to temp :

Normal.png

And when cycling without adjusting to temp :

Abnormal.png

And here is my system info :

Code: Select all

System:    Host: spinoza Kernel: 4.4.0-130-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: ASUSTeK (portable) product: UX51VZA v: 1.0
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: UX51VZA v: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends v: UX51VZA.204 date: 12/03/2012
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-3612QM (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 3100 MHz 1: 1239 MHz 2: 2366 MHz 3: 1292 MHz 4: 1216 MHz 5: 1253 MHz 6: 1220 MHz
           7: 1360 MHz 8: 1385 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
           Card-2: NVIDIA GK107M [GeForce GT 650M]
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@59.97hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ivybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 18.0.5
Audio:     Card Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-130-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 driver: iwlwifi
           IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet driver: atl1c
           IF: enp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 256.1GB (17.7% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: SanDisk_SD5SE212 size: 128.0GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: SanDisk_SD5SE212 size: 128.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 227G used: 35G (17%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/md0p1
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 8.47GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      Device-1: /dev/md0 - active raid: 0 components: online: sda2 sdb1
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 2900
Info:      Processes: 233 Uptime: 20 min Memory: 1289.9/7868.7MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.35

And results of dmesg | grep microcode

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[    0.000000] microcode: CPU0 microcode updated early to revision 0x1f, date = 2018-02-07
[    0.179054] microcode: CPU1 microcode updated early to revision 0x1f, date = 2018-02-07
[    0.182619] microcode: CPU2 microcode updated early to revision 0x1f, date = 2018-02-07
[    0.186275] microcode: CPU3 microcode updated early to revision 0x1f, date = 2018-02-07
[    1.382064] microcode: CPU0 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382094] microcode: CPU1 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382101] microcode: CPU2 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382126] microcode: CPU3 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382135] microcode: CPU4 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382166] microcode: CPU5 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382174] microcode: CPU6 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382199] microcode: CPU7 sig=0x306a9, pf=0x10, revision=0x1f
[    1.382261] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.01 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba

Quite strange isn't it ? Any clue welcome !

[Lord Boltar]

Possibly fan bearings are low or have no lubricant - You may consider lubricating the fan with a lightweight mechanical oil Like 3 in 1 oil

[Pierre]

in general, these fan bearing are a sealed device,
and as such you shouldn't need anything like a lightweight mechanical oil Like 3 in 1 oil

[trytip]

if you hear a LOUD fan at constant speed that's normal, although i see your fan went to 4100RPM that's really high for me, not sure if is normal for you and your cpu cores at 65+ degree is also high for my but maybe normal for your laptop. you'll need to find out your normal operating temperatures
did you run sudo sensors-detect when you installed psensor? what do you get for sensors

if you hear clanging or banging noise that's different, something may be in way of fan blades of blades are bent from cleaning. depending how old your laptop is the cpu/gpu thermal paste or strip may need replacement. i wouldn't try to lubricate fan blades they are not meant to be lubed and excess lube will spill out into the motherboard.

[HaveaMint]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lxvmay2tn0
Nice watch on laptop fans.
Typically if the fan lube is dried out it is best to replace it as he said in the video.

[ZakGordon]

Could be a hardware issue? Is your fan old or second-hand etc?

You could also try giving the TLP program a go (link in my signature below), as i'd been having issues with Mint and various laptops for a while now and it seems to have helped a bit.

Compared to desktops, most laptops do run a bit hotter but compared to my experiences under windows (on the exact same hardware) i've never been 100% satisfied with how Mint (maybe it is a wider Ubuntu/Linux issue also?) manages fans and temps, it seems i little bit 'random' often.

[littlehuman]

Here's what sensors gives (ambient temp is around 30°C here. In winter, average laptop temp is 47°C with 2600 RPM (minimum speed) :

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acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +53.0°C  (crit = +108.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +53.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +51.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +53.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 2:         +51.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 3:         +52.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

asus-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
cpu_fan:     2900 RPM
temp1:        +53.0°C

"HaveaMint", very interesting video, thanks.

"ZakGordon", sure TLP helps a lot, I installed it right after Linux Mint install. It's original fans, but they are more than 6 years now.
I will check if I can dismount the fans and clean them, otherwise replace these fans if still available on the market and at reasonable price.

"trytip", >60.0°C is when I use virtual machines, so I guess it's ok. Yes I run sensors-detect right after install.

What is strange is that this issue occurs approx. 1 every 30 boots. I also wonder if it might be a hardware issue.

This laptop has more than 6 years now and is used on a daily basis. However, most of the time I managed to use them 9-10 years (with of course some parts replaced).

Will also see if it gets worse or not and if it will still happen when ambient temp is getting cooler.

I also plan to fully re-install this laptop with Linux Mint 19. Not much hope for this kind of issue as it's most probably a hardware issue.

Thank you all for your answers.