Acer Laptop Fan compatibility issue.
 

Alright, so I have finally decided to go to Zorin OS for my laptop (I may switch to Linux Mint eventually, but that can wait). Everything works great and could not be happier. However, there is one slight problem. And that is that the fans on my Acer Aspire 5320 are not recognized upon startup, and therefore it overheats fairly quickly.

However, I realized that if I shut the computer lid (which makes it sleep or stand-by, I forget which atm), and then re log in, the fans start up and run fine, and there is never a fear of it over-heating. My question is this:

Is there a possibility to make the fans run on startup? Or will I just have to make it stand-by/sleep in order for the fans to start working again? It is not a big deal for me, but it is a little bit annoying.

Thanks in advance.

Fans are hardware and there is not "driver" for fans. Your OS has no idea fans exist except to read how fast they're spinning in fancier motherboards/applications. Sounds to me like you have a BIOS problem so I would update the BIOS.

Member response
 

Hi,

Sorry but you are not correct. 'acpi' is necessary for control & monitor for the system. Hardware must support the function(S). Most modern systems do allow fan speed control via 'acpi'. Modern Laptops do support hardware control & monitoring. Look at How to control fan speed as one example for ThinkPads.

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface - Wikipedia should help you understand the functionality. You can do a search for 'acpi' for a specific Gnu/Linux to see how it is handled.
:hattip:

Member response
 

Hi,

I would look at 'dmesg' to make certain that 'acpi' is functional. You should consider this as a big deal since damage to the system may occur because of excessive heat. Find out why the control is not proper.

Ok so could you please give me a command to put into the terminal? What I have tried does not want to work for me

Member response
 

Hi,

In a console type 'dmesg >mydmesg'. Then post content of 'mydmesg' at 'http://pastebin.com/'. You would then provide the 'http://pastebin.com/' link so we can look at the output.

HTH!

Make sure you have the 'processor', 'fan', and 'thermal' drivers built-in to the kernel. I always do this, especially on laptops, to make sure overheating doesn't happen.