returns: . The 'fan' module has loaded. /sys/devices/virtual/thermal/cooling_device2/type is fan; cur_state and max_state are both 1, but the fan is off.
My computer started shutting off every few minutes Wednesday. It stayed off for a while so I suspected it was heat. I changed the BIOS setting from high performance to low - it hasn't shut off since. I haven't noticed the fan coming on for a while. Nothing in /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages reveals a problem.

The monitoring application lm_sensors might help: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to...r-cpu-and-gpu/

sensors-detect returns no sensors.

AFAIK it must come on during early boot. If it doesn't, it's shot.

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Thanks. It spins, but I can't feel it move air. It shut off today at the 'low performance' setting for the first time, perhaps because it was building a kernel. I used to could feel it move air.

If the heat exchanger downstream of the fan has very fine passages they may become blocked with dusts, carpet fibers, cat hair and all the stuff that is in the air we breathe. If it is accessible just remove it and clean it up, otherwise blow air into the air outlet vents and see if it raises a dust cloud from the intake.

I vacuumed it, then sprayed it with contact cleaner, then compressed air. I have no carpets or pets, have an effective air filtration system, found nothing clogging it. I've considered getting one of those platforms with fans that some put laptops on. This one is 12 years old; perhaps I'll replace it instead.

Yea, it is probably shot. If you hear it running but feel no airflow, and the path is clear, then it may be the fan blades are no longer attached to the motor, or if it is a stepper motor perhaps one winding is dead and the running motor sound is actually the sound of the motor moving back and forth between two poles as opposed to continuous rotational motion - I have seen that happen.

But in thos last case, if it is the current driver that is bad then obviously replacing the fan will still not fix it, so worth getting eyes on the fan to see what it is really doing.

I can see the fan blades spinning. It's as if they were feathering.