Laptop temperature gets really high [SOLVED]

[lindaonline15]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

On an HP laptop with an ATI card, I had to use the ATI powerstate (??) command to change from the default highest performance state to the lowest state. I had to write a script to do this and put it in autostart, or manually run the script within 1 minute of logging in. Otherwise the laptop would get so hot it would shut itself down.

I might need a little more help with that...

here I got "xserver not installed" !!

That certainly does not look right.

What i would do:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall kubuntu-desktop

then
sudo dpkg-reconfigure kdm
and set kdm as the default manager.

Then reboot.

one thing i actually forgot to point out. i got the not installed out of x server on tty console, is that the correct way for it to be? on x server itself however i get nothing by typing the command...

[ronw]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

The powerstate command you can enter on the command line (Konsole) is:

aticonfig --set-powerstate=1

More information at http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Configuring

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

OK, try this first:

apt-cache policy xserver-xorg

It should report that one version or another is installed. If not, then you will need to do the kubuntu-desktop reinstall command. If it does show that it's installed, then get to a tty with CTL-ALT-F1. and login. then type:

sudo service kdm stop

this should give a message about stopping kdm. then

sudo service kdm start

This should restart X, and give you the greeter screen. If it does, then X is working at some level.

From there on it may be a matter of tracking down ati-specific problems, which others here are more knowledgeable about than I.

[lindaonline15]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

yup it is installed and apparently it is working... thanks for the help Dr. duid, i'll proceed the rest focusing on the adapter...

The powerstate command you can enter on the command line (Konsole) is:

aticonfig --set-powerstate=1

More information at http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Configuring

ok here... when I type the command I get this:

aticonfig: unrecognized option '--set-powerstate=1'
aticonfig: parsing the command-line failed.

I looked up the website as well, tried other commands they work... I only get this on this command.
tried looking up the help page by aticonfig --help but couldnt find '--set-powerstate' in the help page as well...

[ronw]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

Sorry, I no longer have the laptop with the ATI card. Apparently they've changed the software.

[lindaonline15]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

in the very beginning of this topic somebody suggested me to install proprietary drivers, now that I check back I see the driver is named ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver... my graphics' driver is ATI Technologies Inc Manhattan [Mobility Radeon HD 5400 Series]
correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldnt I find the exact driver for my OS from AMD website?
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...eon_linux.aspx

p.s: apparently AMD havent release the driver for x86_64 yet, but anyhow I still think this will work better than the proprietary... right?

[ronw]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldnt I find the exact driver for my OS from AMD website?

Hopefully someone with this card will jump in here. Seeing the Unofficial Wiki link at the bottom of the driver download page you linked to brings back (bad) memories. If you haven't already, follow that link, then the Ubuntu link on the right, then the link to your version of Kubuntu. You'll see you have multiple options for drivers, a couple of Launchpad PPA options, and all sorts of warnings about fun stuff like disabling kernel modules and making sure you remove bits from previous installs.

[lindaonline15]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldnt I find the exact driver for my OS from AMD website?

Hopefully someone with this card will jump in here. Seeing the Unofficial Wiki link at the bottom of the driver download page you linked to brings back (bad) memories. If you haven't already, follow that link, then the Ubuntu link on the right, then the link to your version of Kubuntu. You'll see you have multiple options for drivers, a couple of Launchpad PPA options, and all sorts of warnings about fun stuff like disabling kernel modules and making sure you remove bits from previous installs.

sooo... any suggestions so far...?
I really dont like my fan working this fast sounding like vacuum cleaner and my laptop being this hot. and I know this problem is with kubuntu because in windows it never got this hot and honestly I never even knew what my fan sounds untill I switched to kubuntu !!

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high


1. You might try posting the question on the appropriate ubuntu forum. They have a somewhat different readership, and you might find someone who can help with your specific problem.

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=332

2. In the absence of any specific ati information, I can only suggest an experiment to try disabling whatever proprietary ati driver might be in place, and use the vesa driver.

The first thing to do is boot up in recovery mode. This does not load any of the glx video drivers. See if your computer still has heat problems under those conditions. If it does, then there is some problem in the kernel configuration, and it may be possible to fix that with bootup commands.

If it runs a little cooler (though the fans may still be going at full throttle), the next step is to try starting video in vesa mode. Do you have an /etc/X11/xorg.conf file? If so, move it out of the way by renaming (but not deleting) it to something like xorg.conf.backup. Then use the following as an xorg.conf file:

# xorg.conf.failsafe (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#  sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Device"
    Identifier   "Configured Video Device"
    Driver     "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier   "Default Screen"
    Monitor     "Configured Monitor"
    Device     "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

and reboot. See if this gives you video, and if your system runs cooler (though again, the fans may still be going full tilt).

Sorry I don't have any more specific ideas, as I don't have an ati-based system, and can't duplicate the problem.

[lindaonline15]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

1. You might try posting the question on the appropriate ubuntu forum. They have a somewhat different readership, and you might find someone who can help with your specific problem.

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=332

2. In the absence of any specific ati information, I can only suggest an experiment to try disabling whatever proprietary ati driver might be in place, and use the vesa driver.

The first thing to do is boot up in recovery mode. This does not load any of the glx video drivers. See if your computer still has heat problems under those conditions. If it does, then there is some problem in the kernel configuration, and it may be possible to fix that with bootup commands.

If it runs a little cooler (though the fans may still be going at full throttle), the next step is to try starting video in vesa mode. Do you have an /etc/X11/xorg.conf file? If so, move it out of the way by renaming (but not deleting) it to something like xorg.conf.backup. Then use the following as an xorg.conf file:

# xorg.conf.failsafe (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#  sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Device"
    Identifier   "Configured Video Device"
    Driver     "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier   "Default Screen"
    Monitor     "Configured Monitor"
    Device     "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

and reboot. See if this gives you video, and if your system runs cooler (though again, the fans may still be going full tilt).

Sorry I don't have any more specific ideas, as I don't have an ati-based system, and can't duplicate the problem.

its ok dr.druid... I am being patience here as long as I have something to work around with..
anyways, I did boot up in recovery mode, and to be clear, I did try both with and without networking.
I played around and by playing around I dont mean anything heavy in both modes for around 10mins, but it didnt cool down as much as I was expecting it to. I mean come on... how hot should a laptop get of a shell command line??
just to double check, when restarting this failed:
starting load fallback graphics driver [failed]
thats normal, right? I just wana double check it...

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

No, this is not normal. In the absence of a video driver for your specific hardware, the system should start in vesa mode, also called "failsafe" mode. And, while running in recovery mode, there should be no video acceleration, and no hot computer. I would therefore suspect that the problem lies in the way the kernel is booting.

When you turn on your computer from a cold start, choose the item from the grub menu that you normally boot with. Hit the e key, this will put grub in edit mode. Look the the line that starts with linux. after the "root=" part, there may be several options such as ro splash quiet, maybe others. rubout all of these except for ro . add the noacpi option. Then hit CTRL-X to boot. You may or may not get a graphical screen, but you should at least get to a text console. See if that changes your fan/heat status.

[lindaonline15]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

look dr. druid what I got here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...4#post11479774
and the best part is actually this!
http://www.webupd8.org/2011/06/linux...issue-fix.html

[lindaonline15]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

and one more thing... in this part:

gksu gedit /etc/default/grub

can I replace gksu by sudo?
the question might be very basic but since a small mistake may prevent from booting, I want to be triple sure about it before doing it!

[dibl]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

can I replace gksu by sudo?

No.

Kubuntu users should use "kdesudo" as the prefix, and your default text editor is kate. So, push Alt-F2 and enter "kdesudo kate" in the entry window and press Enter. You will be asked for the super user password. Then you can do File > Open, and browse to /etc/default to open the grub file for editing.

Note that the terminal command:

sudo update-grub

is correct as stated in the article. "sudo" is only for Linux commands to be run as super user; "kdesudo" is for running user packages in super-user mode.

Good luck with it!

[vinnywright]

Re: Laptop temperature gets really high

and one more thing... in this part:

gksu gedit /etc/default/grub

can I replace gksu by sudo?
the question might be very basic but since a small mistake may prevent from booting, I want to be triple sure about it before doing it!

NO unless you are using Ubuntu.......if Kubuntu use

kdesudo kate /etc/default/grub

VINNY