Operating System - Linux
1748025 Members
4231 Online
108757 Solutions
New Discussion юеВ

Re: Laptop overheating troubles

 
Michael Brailsford
Occasional Advisor

Laptop overheating troubles

I am currently running Gentoo linux version 1.4_rc1. I am running the linux kernel 2.4.20 with acpi patches applied for power mgmt and temperature monitoring. The specific gentoo kernel pkg I am running is acpi-sources-2.4.20-r9. My latop is an HP ze1210 that I bought in September 2002. I have a cron job that grabs the temperature from /proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/temperature every minute and stores it in a file that I then load up into gnuplot so I can see a graph of my cpu temps. The average temperature over the 4-5 months I have had the machine is somewhere between 75 and 85 C. The laptop has shutdown 3 times this week because the temperature reached 95C. Normal operating temperature should be in the 65C range. Is this a common problem with HP laptops running linux, or is it just a problem with the ze1210, or just my machine? I would be more than happy to send anyone that is interested the files containing a minute by minute record of my cpu temps over the past 4-5 months. What can be done to lower my cpu temp? Keeping up temps like this will shorten the life of my processor, and I want to avoid that. In fact I have attached the file that contains the temp stats for roughly the month of December 2002. The first field is a timestamp, the second is the temperature in C.
3 REPLIES 3
James Wilson_5
Frequent Advisor

Re: Laptop overheating troubles

I have the zt1145 with gentoo 1.4_rc1, but I use 2.5.5x kernels as the acpi patches for 2.4.xx does not give me all the acpi abilities. (Has that changed, I last tried with the 2.4.18 kernel.)

My laptop runs around 51 C when just browsing etc. and around 68C when compiling etc.

It does have a fan that is pretty loud and kicks in from time to time.
Bruce Copeland
Trusted Contributor

Re: Laptop overheating troubles

I'm running Redhat 8.0 with the stable 2.4.20 kernel and ACPI patch on a ze4100. I use GKrellM with a patch and my own additional modifications to monitor temperature and battery. I've never seen a temperature above 48 C. Sounds like your problem might be specific to the zt1100 series. On the other hand, my reading on the web suggests that HP notebooks DO have a reputation for 'running hot' under linux.
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: Laptop overheating troubles

You might be able to mess with the control parameters and get the fan to run more often.

This might however burn out the fan.

laptops run hot, thats a fact. If it burns your lap, check with hp support, you might have a mechanical issue and the thing needs service.

Steve
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
Founder http://newdatacloud.com