My CPU is overheating O_O

[Zombie kitten]

Hi! I have a problem with my CPU overheating. Since I started using Fedora, a few times my laptop just randomly shut down. I thought it was just some bug that's going to be fixed sooner or later, but today when it happened I decided to check system logs and I found out it shut down because the critical temperature was reached. I found out how to check CPU temperature in /sys and I've noticed it really goes up quickly when I do something that uses 100% CPU However, I've never had CPU temperature problems when I used Windows or Ubuntu. Could it be a software problem, or is my laptop dying?

[Premium Ookwee]

Are you using the open source ATI drivers? That increased my CPU temperature by 10 degrees Celsius. If you are, switch to the proprietary ones. They're easy to install: just install gcc, kernel-devel, and kernel-headers. Then switch to init 3 and install it from command prompt.

[marriedto51]

I would try cleaning out the vents first; then run a temperature check with the CPU at full load under both Operating Systems to see if Fedora is running the CPU hotter.

Sometimes a better choice of graphics drivers, or settings for graphical effects will help, as the previous poster says. I would say you would be better trying to install proprietary drivers for your GPU from the rpmfusion repositories rather than trying to build from source. Have a look at the yellow "Fedora Set-up Guides" link at the top of the page for a starter.

Some people also complain that Linux doesn't regulate the fan speed correctly in the laptop, which can lead to overheating problems. It will depend on your laptop, so you might want to do some searching on the exact model on this forum and elsewhere.

Good luck!

[Mariusz W]

Originally Posted by marriedto51

Sometimes a better choice of graphics drivers, or settings for graphical effects will help, as the previous poster says. I would say you would be better trying to install proprietary drivers for your GPU from the rpmfusion repositories rather than trying to build from source. Have a look at the yellow "Fedora Set-up Guides" link at the top of the page for a starter.

Some people also complain that Linux doesn't regulate the fan speed correctly in the laptop, which can lead to overheating problems. It will depend on your laptop, so you might want to do some searching on the exact model on this forum and elsewhere.

On my brand new HP dm4-1160us with Intel integrated graphics chipset, dual boot Fedora 15/Windows 7, I noticed that the bottom of the laptop quickly becomes very hot without me doing really anything (a file browser, a terminal window, very low CPU usage) -- when I am in Fedora, while it stays quite cool in Windows.

The contrast in temperatures is disconcerting.

[Zombie kitten]

Thanks for the replies! I've read somewhere that blowing air into the vents in my laptop can help with cleaning the fan a little, and it seems that it worked before that, the average temperature when not doing much was 75 - 80 degrees C and now it's only around 65 degrees C

[marriedto51]

If you feel more adventurous and don't have a warranty to void, you could also consider opening the case and cleaning out the fan with compressed air. (It's more fiddly than for a desktop, but still perfectly do-able so long as you are careful.)

[sea]

Figured: Running Windows on my Laptop I used to have a 'warm' laptop just from watching a movie, if moving files as well, the laptop became very hot.

Switching to F15, Gnome 3, i was able to
* Watch movie
* make USB Installer (4gb+)
* Download (7gigs)
* Browse internet (open tabs: 9+)
* make modifications at shell
And with all this doing, it was as 'warm' was it was when i just watched a movie on windows.
Just watch a movie on linux, keeps the laptop as cool as in sleep-mode... i'm loving it!

Anyway, where could i see my cpu/ram temprature?

[marriedto51]

Originally Posted by eRats

Anyway, where could i see my cpu/ram temprature?

You could try either of the following

$ acpi -t
or
$ sensors

You might need to install one or other of acpi or sensors with

su -c 'yum install acpi'
or
su -c 'yum install lm_sensors'

and lm_sensors will probably need to be configured once installed by using

su -c 'sensors-detect'

(There are also files I think in /proc/acpi that you can read temperature from, but I can't verify that on this machine at present.)

[sonoran]

Originally Posted by eRats

Anyway, where could i see my cpu/ram temprature?

Or you could install gkrellm, which my desktop feels naked without, and get constant readouts for everything that is going on - all your cpus, temperature, processes, disk accesses, internet activity and speed, memory, swap, mail...

You can set up alarms to warn of high temperatures or fan failures. It is highly configurable and there is sure to be a theme that suits you. Plus there are plugins to do other things as well, like weather, app launchers, music app controllers.

I've only begun to configure mine for Fedora 15; by the time I'm finished it will fill the left side of the screen.

[Dan]

Plus one on Gkrells. Although, it would not be a good thing to see similar values and numbers.

[sonoran]

Now I understand why you need air conditioning, Dan. And probably no additional heat in winter.

[Dan]

Ayep. Just like Fukushima. Except, being an AMD Turion, it's only got two cores to self-puddle. <....>