Arch Linux

l0ner

Member

Registered: 2011-09-25

Posts: 13

Website

arch + samsung r540 = CPU overheating

Some time ago I installed arch on my laptop (samsung r540), and I've been experiencing problems with overheating ever since.
Every time I need to do something that requires CPU power (in my case mainly compiling/installing form aur) my cpu temp spikes instantly and laptop shuts down. This is quite frustrating, since it's preventing me form doing any work.
I searched for solutions on forum and wiki, but nothing worked. I have laptop-mode-tools installed and running, same for lm_sensors. I tried using cpufrequtils and cpu power but it didn't help.
This is not happening if I switch to powersave governor which puts my cpu on lowest frequency, but this is not what I want to do.

On idle sensors report something like this:

acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +61.0°C  (crit = +89.0°C)
temp2:        +61.0°C  (crit = +89.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0:       +56.0°C  (high = +80.0°C, crit = +90.0°C)
Core 2:       +60.0°C  (high = +80.0°C, crit = +90.0°C)

If I do:

stress --cpu 2

the temperature spikes instantly to 90C and the system shuts down. Same thing if I try to compile something, encode/convert audio/video or do anything that requires cpu usage.
Before shutdown I see message about throttling down my cpu speed because temperature is above threshold, then I get message about critical CPU temp and system shut downs.
I hear the cpu vent going up when the temperature goes above 80C.

I tried controlling cpu vent through pwmconfig, but it tells me that i have no pwm-enabled sensors in my system.

Previously I had installed Win7 and I didn't had problems wit overheating there.

System Info:

zer0 ~ $ uname -a
Linux zer0 3.2.5-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Feb 7 08:34:36 CET 2012 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 350 @ 2.27GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

rc.conf:
MODULES=(acpi-cpufreq cpufreq_ondemand fuse vboxdrv vboxnetadp vboxnetflt vboxpci)
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hal laptop-mode sensors @wicd crond @alsa)

Laptop is Samsung r540
Processor is Intel i3 350M
Graphics are: Mobility Radeon HD545V

I tried cleaning the cpu vent but it didn't help.

stqn

Member

Registered: 2010-03-19

Posts: 1,191

Website

Re: arch + samsung r540 = CPU overheating

Is the fan actually turning?

You could try phc to undervolt your CPU, but if using the processor makes it go from 60°C to 90°C "instantly" I think it won't be enough. It's as if you were trying to use your processor without a radiator...

l0ner

Member

Registered: 2011-09-25

Posts: 13

Website

Re: arch + samsung r540 = CPU overheating

Is the fan actually turning?

Yes, I can hear it going up in RPMs, and it's pretty loud too. Too bad is turning on too late, and even if it manages to cool the radiator for a while it turns off too soon.
I noticed that I have fan control I BIOS, but it can be set only or in "Low" which will spin fan at low speed or "Auto" which will repeat turning it on and off. By default it was set up in the "Auto" mode, I changed it to the "Low" mode and it prolonged the time I was able to run the stress command from 30sec-1min to 5 minutes. After this My system shut down because of overheat. I heard the fan go up and down in velocity, but it was staying in hi-rpm mode for too short periods of time. I wonder how I can control it manually....

You could try phc to undervolt your CPU, but if using the processor makes it go from 60°C to 90°C "instantly" I think it won't be enough. It's as if you were trying to use your processor without a radiator...

I was thinking about undervolting for power saving, but I wanted to do it once I resolved this problem. Now I'm beginning to think it may be worth giving a try.

stqn

Member

Registered: 2010-03-19

Posts: 1,191

Website

Re: arch + samsung r540 = CPU overheating

Oh, "instantly" is "30sec-1min"... PHC could help then (with a bit of luck...) It dramatically reduced fan noise on my Core i3 550.