Arch Linux

crashandburn4

Member

Registered: 2013-03-03

Posts: 108

multiple issues with laptop fan (and fancontrol)

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me here. I have 2 or 3 issues I think.

Firstly, my CPU temperature seems to be quite high a lot of the time (I may need to replace the thermal paste or something).. To try and sort that out, I decided to take a look at fancontrol.

When trying to configure fancontrol with `pwmconfig`, after clicking through a few different things I get the following output:

Enter the minimum PWM value (0-255)
at which the fan STOPS spinning (press t to test) (100): t

Now we decrease the PWM value to figure out the lowest usable value.
We will use a slightly greater value as the minimum speed.
# NOTE frozen here, nothing happens until ctrl+C

The other problem is, if I have the fan on and move the laptop, it makes a loud mechanical "click" sound and shuts off suddenly. Does anyone know what could cause that?

In summary:
Why does fancontrol freeze when I try and test the PWM values?
Why does my laptop fan make a mechanical click and shut off if I move my laptop while the fan is engaged?

Thanks in advance!

Last edited by crashandburn4 (2020-12-16 23:23:36)

proton007

Member

Registered: 2020-08-13

Posts: 10

Re: multiple issues with laptop fan (and fancontrol)

The mechanical click is most likely a hardware initiated shutdown triggered by overheating.

crashandburn4

Member

Registered: 2013-03-03

Posts: 108

Re: multiple issues with laptop fan (and fancontrol)

Hey proton, thanks for your response!

I had thought that for a second, but it happens very reliably based on movement. I don't understand why moving the laptop would cause that to happen. (if it were some kind of overheating protection)