Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

matman · 2014-08-08 08:40:43

Hello everyone, please bear with me as I am a novice arch user. Also I am not native english speaker (just in case )

I have a problem with the laptop fan working constantly, which is annoying and disturbing. It has to be due to a system configuration, because I am coming form the other distro, where problem didn't exist. Also just after arch installation the fan was working fine (meaning in intervals, not constantly). It's just broken recently. The temp. is fine, around 50 degrees with medium load (browser, mplayer).

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ sensors
coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +52.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +52.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +50.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

So obviously I made my research, and came to that conclusion:

-Due to the nature of systemd, the config for fancontrol stopped being loaded properly

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ systemctl status lm_sensors
● lm_sensors.service - Initialize hardware monitoring sensors
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/lm_sensors.service; disabled)
   Active: inactive (dead)

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ systemctl status fancontrol
● fancontrol.service - Start fan control, if configured
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fancontrol.service; disabled)
   Active: inactive (dead)

sie 08 08:54:01 mateusz systemd[1]: Started Start fan control, if configured.

I suspect it's the same thing explained in this post: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 6#p1251766 ,
"assignments of various hwmon symlinks change on each reboot". The advice is to load modules manually. But I got only one module:

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ ls /sys/class/hwmon/ -al
razem 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 0 08-08 09:12 .
drwxr-xr-x 45 root root 0 08-08 09:45 ..
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 0 08-08 09:12 hwmon0 -> ../../devices/platform/coretemp.0/hwmon/hwmon0

This is the place I got stuck. I have a general idea what to do, but I'd like to confirm and double check. I don't want to mess up my system, since I got to like it quite a bit.

My thinking is:

1. Set up lm_sensors
2. Remove it from autostart (or not configure it to autostart, but I'd rather remove it later, just to be on the safe side)
3. Load modules manually to /etc/modules-load.d/load_these.conf However, I am worried that I see only coretemp. Just seems that something is wrong.
4. See if default /etc/fancontrol is ok. If not try to configure it, as explained in wiki. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fan_speed_control
5. Do not run /usr/bin/fancontrol as I have Dell Ispiron ? Install instead i8kutils? See which is better/working at all?
6. Enable working solution from 5.

Thank you for reading this rather long one. I'd greatly appreciated any healp, hints, leads and so on.
Best regards

Last edited by ewaller (2014-08-10 17:01:16)

matman · 2014-08-08 22:16:12

Ok, I got fancontrol running, booting properly every time. Just had to load ik8 module. But the machine is still loud. I was sure it must've been the fan, but now I am getting confused. That's the sensors output:

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ sensors
i8k-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Right Fan:   84000 RPM
CPU:          +40.0°C  

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +43.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +41.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +43.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

Is it possible that fan is working constantly? It's not like full speed sound, but It's noticable, and It has never been like that with this laptop.

Best regards,

EDIT. Just posting fancontrol stats&config

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ systemctl status fancontrol
● fancontrol.service - Start fan control, if configured
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fancontrol.service; enabled)
   Active: active (running) since sob 2014-08-09 00:06:15 CEST; 28min ago
 Main PID: 247 (fancontrol)
   CGroup: /system.slice/fancontrol.service
           ├─ 247 /bin/bash /usr/sbin/fancontrol
           └─1660 sleep 10

sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: Depends on hwmon1/temp3_input
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: Controls hwmon0/fan2_input
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: MINTEMP=20
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: MAXTEMP=85
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: MINSTART=150
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: MINSTOP=100
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: MINPWM=0
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: MAXPWM=255
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: Enabling PWM on fans...
sie 09 00:06:21 mateusz fancontrol[247]: Starting automatic fan control...

Last edited by matman (2014-08-08 22:37:27)

matman · 2014-08-09 08:28:09

I am sorry to drag that issue, but It's a quite big problem for me. I realize that previous post are not proper, and I should've educated myself better. I read and googled a lot, but still can't figure what to do next. Please help.

Using i8k I set fancontrol, and It's working (done the manual modules loading to prevent systemd boot issue)
Now the rpm for my fan is ridiculous when the fan is on (I mean on software wise, because it's working constantly)

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ sensors
i8k-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Right Fan:   90000 RPM
CPU:          +49.0°C  

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +49.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +48.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +47.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

I set up minimal temp to 45 to prevent fan from working in the lower tempratures

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ systemctl status fancontrol
● fancontrol.service - Start fan control, if configured
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fancontrol.service; enabled)
   Active: active (running) since sob 2014-08-09 08:26:49 CEST; 1h 50min ago
 Main PID: 248 (fancontrol)
   CGroup: /system.slice/fancontrol.service
           ├─ 248 /bin/bash /usr/sbin/fancontrol
           └─4191 sleep 10

sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: Depends on hwmon1/temp3_input
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: Controls hwmon0/fan2_input
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: MINTEMP=45
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: MAXTEMP=85
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: MINSTART=150
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: MINSTOP=100
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: MINPWM=0
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: MAXPWM=255
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: Enabling PWM on fans...
sie 09 08:26:56 mateusz fancontrol[248]: Starting automatic fan control...

And the sensors gives expected output:

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ sensors
i8k-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Right Fan:      0 RPM
CPU:          +45.0°C  

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +46.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +46.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +44.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

But despite the 0 RPM reading the fan is noising all the way. I read more about i8kutils, installed it and tested. I got weird output:

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ i8kctl 
1.0 A12 7YDQ0X1 47 -1 0 -1 0 -1 -1
[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ i8kctl fan
-1 0

-1 entry is not even in the man page. What does it mean? It's the left one, the usual cpu one. And the other one is switched off, which is consistent with sesnors output (while sensors give RPM speed i8kctl gives 1 for the right fan) . But like I said, it's fanning all the time, constantly. The other thing is that this laptop, to my limited knowledge has got one fan.

Please help, I am lost here.
Best regards

Last edited by matman (2014-08-09 08:32:53)

vitorafsr · 2014-08-09 15:39:53

The -1 that appears executing 'i8kctl fan' means the corresponding fan does not exist. In the following output

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ i8kctl fan
-1 0

-1 means the left fan does not exist. And the right one is at state 0.

It seems you can control the fan speed. To confirm that try change the speed with 'i8kctl fan - 2'. If that is ok, you are almost there to autocontrol fans with i8kutils. The next step is a case of configuring the threshold values at '/etc/i8kmon.conf'. One example of the file is below.

set config(0) {{0 0}  -1  60  -1  60}
set config(1) {{1 1}  50  70  50  70}
set config(2) {{2 2}  60 128  60 128}
set config(3) {{2 2}  60 128  60 128}

Regards.

Last edited by vitorafsr (2014-08-09 15:41:38)

matman · 2014-08-09 18:40:11

Thank a lot for the replay.

I can change fan speed manually using i8kctl fan. I set up /etc/i8kutils/i8kmon.conf to auto. I can't however start i8kmon. I got following error:

 sudo i8kmon
/usr/bin/env: tclsh: No such file or directory

But /usr/bin/env obviously exists.

I am in more confusion though. I booted live ubuntu and arch (the one I made install with) and they both worked fine, normal fan work. I examined their kernel modules and deamons - there is no ik8 or fancontrol. It seems like the fan control is done by kernel and udev by default in Ispiron 3521 (I got it with ubuntu preinstalled, then I had debian on it for year, no weird sound issue whatsoever). The one difference is the kernel update I made on the arch some time ago. Unfortunately I didn't catch the exact moment when the noise issue started (music and video and so on), but It happend after the upgrade. I am now running 3.15.8-1-ARCH and I installed 3.15.3-1-ARCH.

Now I am not very good with the hardware, hence the question. Is there any other part of the laptop, that might sound like a fan while not properly configiured or handled by the driver? The constant sound I am getting now is not fan going at full speed (the speed from pwmconfig). Its more like faint and distant one, but definetly you can hear it. Is it, by any chance, possible that its HDD?

Like I mentioned, It's not a hardware thing, because other linux live systems don't produce that effect. It must be something with the configuration.

I may be unclear and chaotic so please just let me know and I'll try to rephrase myself. Again gretly apreciate any help.
Best Regards

vitorafsr · 2014-08-09 19:02:34

Some models of Dell laptops controls fan with BIOS, but that does not seems to be your case as your current OS instalation is not doing that, so the live CD is controling the fan with software.

Can you confirm that to us booting with live CD and chacking any software like fancontrol, i8kutils, i8kmon working...?

matman · 2014-08-09 19:27:59

I can confirm that any of that software isn't running on both live systems (ubuntu, arch). I made snapshot of running deamons and kernel modules, I can post it, If that would be of any help. From what I can read and pinpoint to the cooling department, there is coretemp and hwmon.

I went through boot log and couldn't find any meaningfull info (at least to me) but this error :

[drm:cpt_serr_int_handler] *ERROR* PCH transcoder A FIFO underrun

Google shows it as pretty common one.
The thing is I've been testing i8kctl fan switching from 0 to 1 and 2. I can now see that the constant noise is somehow aside from the fan. Its allways there, and while I turn fan to 1 I can hear silent fan in the background. Obviously when I swicht the fan to 2 the fan noise is the loudest. The actual sound I am dealing with is more like hum, or very distant buzz. I am sorry I didn't provide this info erlier, but I only noticed it now.

This is one of the weirdest thing, computer related, I came across.

vitorafsr · 2014-08-09 19:38:30

Sorry, I can not help in this case as it seems it is not your fan. Perhaps if you identify what it is, I can try...

matman · 2014-08-09 19:59:48

Ofcourse, I understand. Thanks a lot for your help anyway.

I suspect (but I am child in the fog here) it could be hdd. Is it possible, that due to bad configuration it works in a noisy manner?

vitorafsr · 2014-08-09 22:11:53

hdd might be, but does not seems. in this laptop model hdd does not have fan. And if hdd is the problem, nothing can be done besides buying another one.

It might be the video card, see here

http://askubuntu.com/questions/313682/h … untu-13-04

And an interesting software monitor for fan control to this laptop is the one below. It uses the i8k kernel module, so it has the same functionality as i8kmon. I put this link just to say that this model needs fan control, but I do not know if it works well, I suggest i8kmon if it is the case as a monitor.

https://github.com/geocool/CPU-Fan-Cont … Control.rb

matman · 2014-08-10 10:52:06

Thanks. It must be a software issue. I have only one video card:

[mateusz@mateusz ~]$ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)

One more think, while in bios or in early boot stage, there is no problem. There is a minute or two of silence when the system is cominug up from the suspension. I'll look more into graphic card.

matman · 2014-08-10 11:10:40

I am going to close this post, since It seems like my first quess was a mistake. I'll repost in the newbie corner, because the problem is general. Thanks a lot for reading and help.

Moderator edit: Link to new thread https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=185518

Last edited by ewaller (2014-08-10 17:02:21)

ewaller · 2014-08-10 17:00:48

You cannot close threads, but I can
If you wish a thread closed, please use the report function. Also, I generally would suggest you use that mechanism to request a thread be moved. I can understand why you did not just want a move in this case.

I will change the thread title to remove your closed notation, and I will close this thread. I am also adding a link to your other thread to this thread.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-08-08 08:40:43

Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#2 2014-08-08 22:16:12

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#3 2014-08-09 08:28:09

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#4 2014-08-09 15:39:53

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#5 2014-08-09 18:40:11

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#6 2014-08-09 19:02:34

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#7 2014-08-09 19:27:59

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#8 2014-08-09 19:38:30

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#9 2014-08-09 19:59:48

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#10 2014-08-09 22:11:53

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#11 2014-08-10 10:52:06

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#12 2014-08-10 11:10:40

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

#13 2014-08-10 17:00:48

Re: Fan (fancontrol) issue: Dell Inspiron 3521

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