Arch Linux

builderdev212

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Registered: 2022-11-25

Posts: 7

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[SOLVED] USB flash drive overheating when not mounted.

Good day folks! I've been having a bit of an issue with my laptop. It's an HP 15-ef2xxx, and it has always had problems storing the boot entries in the NVRAM as it only supports windows. Therefore I've been using an external USB drive to boot the machine as I've tried many different work arounds but found that having rEFInd installed on a plugged-in external flash drive is the easiest way around the issue. The only problem is that the flash drive overheats whenever I'm booted into arch. It stays at a reasonable temperature when I've booted into windows, so I'm relatively certain that the USB drive isn't the issue. Any suggestions on how I could go about diagnosing the problem is would be much appreciated! :D

Last edited by builderdev212 (2022-11-28 01:11:47)

jonno2002

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Registered: 2016-11-21

Posts: 845

Re: [SOLVED] USB flash drive overheating when not mounted.

try this to solve your original problem:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 3#p2030843

where it mentions grub efi file just substitute your refind efi file

builderdev212

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Registered: 2022-11-25

Posts: 7

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Re: [SOLVED] USB flash drive overheating when not mounted.

I have tried things like this in the past, the problem is the laptop only automatically boots if the windows bootloader is the bootloader the NVRAM is pointing to. Basically, it would show an "Error: No OS detected" thing on boot if it wasn't pointing toward the windows bootloader.  (And by that I mean if I changed the contents of the windows bootloader to be my EFI file it would pitch a fit and say "Error: No OS detected" even though it was pointed to the windows bootloader path, with the exact same file name as usual, just different file contents) Sure, I could hit f9 and manually go through the menu every time I booted, but it's impractical. Therefore I'm booting off of a USB drive. So I guess to clarify, my issue isn't with booting, as that works fine now (with my refind install on the flash drive), my issue is with the flash drive getting very hot while I'm booted into my arch install.

mpan

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Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,584

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Re: [SOLVED] USB flash drive overheating when not mounted.

I suspect the difference between Windows and Arch is powering down devices. If that’s true, suspending USB device seems like a reasonable workaround. I stress “workaround”, as overheating under normal usage is something I would call a problem with the device.

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builderdev212

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Registered: 2022-11-25

Posts: 7

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Re: [SOLVED] USB flash drive overheating when not mounted.

I think you might be onto something. I just tested it on another machine and it still gets hot. I have a SanDisk SDCZ430-032G-A46, and after doing a bit of digging it seems that it is a well-known issue that they get incredibly hot when plugged in. Seems like I should purchase a different flash drive for my purpose. I've ordered a Kingston DataTraveler Micro that should ship on Monday. Will update when I get the new drive.

Last edited by builderdev212 (2022-11-26 01:11:16)

builderdev212

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Registered: 2022-11-25

Posts: 7

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Re: [SOLVED] USB flash drive overheating when not mounted.

Got the new drive, and it doesn't heat up while in use or plugged in, so it seems it was in fact a hardware issue. Thanks for the help folks