laptop keeps getting hot
 

I know that it's not the fan or the vents as I have cleaned them out multiple times already. After doing some reading and google searching, I found out that this is probably a Linux specific problem.

I have an HP probook 4540s and when running in Linux, the laptop gets very hot, even when performing simple and less demanding tasks like word processing. It even gets hot when hooked up to a charger. I think it's a Linux specific problem because Linux tends to over drive the processors and make them get very hot, while in Windows where the correct drivers for the processors are installed instead tend to keep the processor under control and free from throttling itself. What are the drivers needed for this laptop in order to keep the processor from over heating. I have an Intel Core i3.

For Debian, check if cpufrequtils is installed.
https://wiki.debian.org/HowTo/CpuFrequencyScaling

Is this going to slow down my processor so it doesn't create heat, There should be a program on there that would control how much processing power it uses instead of making it use everything all at once.

Among the laptops I have is a Core I-3 and I've run many distros with no runaway cpu or heat issues. What DE are you using? Many programs will show you what the cpu cores are doing and whether they are running wild. Does this laptop have nvidia graphics?

All of mine run in "on demand" mode where the cpu only runs full speed when necessary...

I have backbox running, It's an HP Probook 4540s with intel graphics, I just noticed that the fan isn't spinning (I can't hear it. I am wondering if this is a hardware issue or a linux thing. I used to hear the fan go crazy in this thing but I don't hear it anymore). I just recently bought a new charger and up until now it stopped working. I checked the power specs on the charger brick and they are the same as they were on the older charger that I lost. Can leaving it out of use all this time make it stop working. When I left it off for that long period of time it was on suspend. I think I might have screwed something up here). I'm going to check to see if a dirty fan is my problem but for the time being, what else do you think it could be?

I just opened the laptop and powered it on to look at the fan, the fan nudges a little bit and then refuses to spin. I think something might have burned out or something. I am wondering how I should fix this. A new thread (or moving this thread) to hardware might be helpful.

I guess I might have run the fan out as it was running while in suspend. I should've known better

Most times the fan access involves removing the heatsync from the cpu. It may be bound up with dust / hair / cat fur. A can of compressed air can help give it new life. Although a fanned platform could take it's place without a need for software support. Most times the cost of replacement is more than a new laptop. And the replacement parts is likely to be "used". A fanned platform was like $10 at radioshack last time I got one.

Sounds like the bearing froze up. Replace the fan.

Sowing Machine oil or lightweight thin oil drop on bearing then try turning it on. If it spins. The fix won't last. Replace the fan.

I sprayed some compressed air into the fan and no dice.

I re-installed windows in it and the fan just started working (after several reboots that is) so I am guessing that it might either be a bios problem or a hardware problem. The computer is still under warranty and I called HP technical support last night and they are sending me a new fan in a couple days. The fan is spinning now but not as fast as it used to so a new fan might be good but in the meantime I'm just going to assume that it's a hardware issue and might need a bios update.

If having the fan work in windows and not Linux is the case here, How do I get it to work in Linux again? Is there a kernel patch or a driver that I need to install in order to get it working. I am thinking that the bios must be pulsing the fan upon startup (It just twitches for a partial second, I think the bio is checking if it's there, then the fan starts up when windows starts up. How Do I get this done in Linux).

This is starting to look more like a problem with Linux and not a problem with the laptop hardware. I am now wondering why Linux isn't letting the fan spin after bootup. The fan doesn't spin apparently after the splash screen shows like I expected to. Nevertheless I'm going to install a new fan but I am still wondering why Linux isn't letting the fan spin.

All of my computers are laptops, 4 of them, and the fans work as they're supposed to in Windows & Linux. In general, a temperature sensor controls the fans unless overridden by a BIOS entry. I've used a variety of modern Linux distros and have never had fan issues. One of mine is an HP EliteBook 8440P and it works as it should.

I had huge issues with a hp fan. Mine was roaring, and the cpu was crawling. I was about to start hacking the dsdt, but it turned out to be the kernel and boy was I glad I left the dsdt alone.

I have 3.11.0-24-generic kernel. What do you suggest I do? It's the latest kernel update for the distro I am using. I am willing to change my distro but I think that all of the recent ones use the same kernel.

I installed the fancontrol package and there doesn't seem to be any fan control since it continues to get hot and the fan isn't running when it gets hot. What do I need to do from then on after I had installed all of the fancontrol packages?

Well, I just tried to install and configure the fancontrol program, but by the time I ran the pwmconfig command, it said that I didn't have pwm-capable sensor modules installed. even though the sensor command detected some pwm devices.
It doesn't seem to have anything there to help control the fan and make it work whenever the computer gets hot. I was wondering if it was in the bios but there doesn't seem to be a setting in there for that. I am getting the new fan installed to see if that may be the case as to why it keeps stopping and making my laptop get hot. The fan works it just keeps shutting off randomly when booted in Linux and when it gets hot it doesn't turn on. I also want to know that even if the fan control hasn't been set, what is my computer set to as far as temperature to control the fan whenever the circuity reaches a certain temperature and decides it needs to turn the fan on.

is lmsensors installed and have you ran as root in terminal

to configure sensors. This computer is my playtoy/media center Debian Sid install for customers in my Bike shop.

I don't own any Hewlitt Packard but this freebee box (out of the trash) is a

It just went through a massive apt-get dist-upgrade.

In the early days of acpi, I had a quirky laptop. The work around for me at the time, was to use the laptop a while until it heated up, then reboot. Grub would start the fan and it would stay running after control was handed off to linux. Surely we're past those days. You might check for firmware updates on the device which corrects it if it's software based. Otherwise you probably have a failing fan and you got "lucky" under windows. The odds of getting "lucky" under linux is likely to be equally as good.

Leave it for the moment. If you get desparate, grab the kernel source, load your config file (usually /boot/config-version) into the top source dir as .config, and rum make allmodconfig

Then fix it to compile in everything you need to get going - unless you have an initrd you can use. That will have modules for everything. I ran into the issue that sensors-detect couldn't load kernel modules (Thet were not there), so it couldn't find devices.

Temperature looks normal to me though. ~45 C is normal operating temperature I presume. If you think this is hot then what according to you should be unhot?

I have an HP Pavilion g6 laptop. My fan runs full speed when I turn it on, and then slows down when the OS starts to boot. Whenever the CPU temperature goes up beyond 60 C it goes up to top speed, and once the temperature comes down, it slows down too. I assume this is normal operating behavior.

it might not be showing it but the processor is getting really hot (the region of the laptop on the left side of the mouse pad, When I opened it to check out the fan, that's where it was. I think the fan is controlled by another sensor that isn't close to the processor). This still looks like a case of a processor processing what it doesn't need to process and getting hot in the process. the cpufrequtils package didn't seem to do anything because the processor is still running hot even through it's not supposed to be doing it. I'm only word processing and that doesn't demand much effort on it's part.

it's starting to look like an HP problem. the fan only seems to work when it wants to. I rebooted it several times (unintentionally I was just trying to start it in windows to see if it will run cooler but after splash screen and booting back into Linux the fan starts working again). I already updated the bios and it did seem to do some good since the fan is more reactive (and with the replacement fan it also seems more reactive whenever it want to be).

I just had the same problem 2 days ago, which caused my hp to overheat & shutdown within 2 minutes oif starting. I took it apart & no the vents weren't clogged but the fan has a cover over it that you have to remove & there you will find a large dust bunny which you'll have to remove with a wire because the fan doesn't come apart from the cooler. Also be very carefull not to lose the small black ribbon clips.
Also keep laptop off of blankets when in bed.

I'm starting to see that I am too used to the fan being on all the time. The processor seems to be heating because I want to believe that it's heating (although you can still feel how hot it is when you touch it before all of this fan business). the fan seems to have a mind of it's own but I never really noticed when it starts to work and under what circumstances that it decides to do so. I think it's detecting heat or maybe it's just trying to screw with me. I'm not entirely sure. I'll work with it for a while to see if the overheating stuff keeps coming up.

What would you consider to be a bad temperature for the computer. When I posted the temperatures after running the command to find them I was told that the temperatures were normal. What would you consider abnormal temperatures that would make the machine turn it's fans on.

Mine overheated so bad even the keyboard was hot to touch.
Especially while playing netflix. But when I ran sensors it would go as far as 102C, then shutdown.
this is what it runs without Netflix
With Netflix

On this compaq cq57 laptop. I run glances

on Debian

My screenshot of it running on my laptop.

http://postmyimage.com/img2/818_glances.png

Notice it gives warnings on the bottom if things get hinky. So if concerned about your laptop getting too hot.
Install glances and see what it warns about. I have

Installed and configured on this laptop also. Posting this while the laptop sits on my blue jeans.

Ladies and Gentlemen, for the win.

Ta da dish ! (drumroll)

You have a radeon card. Have you configured it properly / at all? You need to enable power save for it, or else it will get hot and eat up your battery. See here for details.

This is quite hot
Like I said the fan has a cover on it the dust is inside of the cover.

Is there a way to set it to where the fan will start on a specific temperature in which you set in the operating system. the cicuitry (assuming the ones away from the temperature sensors) get really hot and it needs to make the rest of the computer hot before the fans turn on. I was wondering if there was a way to set it to where the fans are on all the time. The sensors aren't showing the computer is hot, even though it is hot and I can feel the heat eminating from it as my hands type this message. I want to find a way to set the temperature in which you want the computer to turn the fans on.

I'm exploring this a little further, the fan only seems to run when the computer is plugged in. I checked the bios and there doesn't seem to be a option to keep it running when on battery. Some further investigations are needed.

That sort of thing is settable in power managers.

Running XFCE here, largely for it's 'low cholesterol' approach. It has it's power manager which thinks it's the acpi daemon and will adjust all of those things. Watch out for scripts in /etc/acpi/somewhere called by events in /etc/acpi/events and of course buried BIOS settings

I just changed distros, I am Noticing that the fan is switching on more frequently and is also running whenever the circuits get hot and stopping when it thinks it's cool enough to resume work. I guess this is a way to conserve batter (even though my experience with Linux on Laptops shows that a fan constantly running doesn't take much battery power for what I use it for). A change in distro seemed to be the best thing to do and all I have left to do is wait for the one I was using earlier to catch up to most recent laptop builds.