Arch Linux

paldepind

Member

From: Århus, Denmark

Registered: 2010-02-17

Posts: 141

[SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

Hi! I got a problem with my netbook. When I do CPU intensive tasks my netbook gets very hot and eventually shuts down. I've realized it's because the fan isn't working.

$ ls -l /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/acpi
total 220
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  6030 Aug 27 18:24 ac.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  9461 Aug 27 18:24 acpi_pad.ko
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Aug 27 18:24 apei
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14863 Aug 27 18:24 battery.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  9289 Aug 27 18:24 button.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5230 Aug 27 18:24 container.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  6151 Aug 27 18:24 fan.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  4176 Aug 27 18:24 hed.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  7800 Aug 27 18:24 pci_slot.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 13857 Aug 27 18:24 power_meter.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 43457 Aug 27 18:24 processor.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  6871 Aug 27 18:24 sbshc.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15300 Aug 27 18:24 sbs.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19696 Aug 27 18:24 thermal.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 29395 Aug 27 18:24 video.ko

I've also taken a look at dmesg, but there's quite a lot and I don't know what to look for. Btw, I've done nothing power related except installing acpi..

Last edited by paldepind (2010-09-24 06:20:58)

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 54#p825354

paldepind

Member

From: Århus, Denmark

Registered: 2010-02-17

Posts: 141

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 54#p825354

I do know how to search the forum. Thus I've already read that post and it didn't help me.

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

You can start by checking if the module is loaded

lsmod | grep fan

paldepind

Member

From: Århus, Denmark

Registered: 2010-02-17

Posts: 141

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

That command is not useful. It returns nothing on my notebook on which the fan is working correctly. Also the output I posted in my first post shows that the fan module is loaded.

kcirick

Member

Registered: 2010-06-21

Posts: 364

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

Do you have anything under /proc/acpi/fan ?

Also you might want to look into lm_sensors

---

[My Arch Blog]

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

Also the output I posted in my first post shows that the fan module is loaded.

[karol@black test]$ ls -l /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/acpi
total 208
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  6034 2010-08-10 21:40 ac.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  9180 2010-08-10 21:40 acpi_pad.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14763 2010-08-10 21:40 battery.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  9325 2010-08-10 21:40 button.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5266 2010-08-10 21:40 container.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  6155 2010-08-10 21:40 fan.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  7836 2010-08-10 21:40 pci_slot.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 13797 2010-08-10 21:40 power_meter.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 43288 2010-08-10 21:40 processor.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15296 2010-08-10 21:40 sbs.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  6907 2010-08-10 21:40 sbshc.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19668 2010-08-10 21:40 thermal.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 29165 2010-08-10 21:40 video.ko

Still,

[karol@black test]$ lsmod | grep -i fan

doesn't return a thing on my desktop, which means the module isn't loaded. The first command only lists the available modules, it doesn't show which of them are loaded.

Do you have anything under /proc/acpi/fan ?

If the fan module isn't loaded, I doubt there's any /proc/acpi/fan.

Last edited by karol (2010-09-13 17:18:57)

paldepind

Member

From: Århus, Denmark

Registered: 2010-02-17

Posts: 141

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

doesn't return a thing on my desktop, which means the module isn't loaded. The first command only lists the available modules, it doesn't show which of them are loaded.

Ok I didn't know that. Still, as I said the command also returns nothing on my notebook on which the fan works fine..

Do you have anything under /proc/acpi/fan ?

Nope.. The file does not exist.

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

Try

sudo modprobe fan

(or as root if you don't have sudo installed)
and look for /proc/acpi/fan again. It might be empty, which is quite common and that means you should try lm_sensors.

paldepind

Member

From: Århus, Denmark

Registered: 2010-02-17

Posts: 141

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

I've loaded the fan module and set up lm_sensors.. I now have a fan directory in /proc/acpi but the fan is still not working.

Uptade: I'v figured out that sensors should output info about my fan, but it doesn't. I don't know why though.

$ sensors
acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:       +73.0°C  (crit = +100.0°C)                  

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0:      +55.0°C  (crit = +90.0°C)

Last edited by paldepind (2010-09-14 09:24:42)

paldepind

Member

From: Århus, Denmark

Registered: 2010-02-17

Posts: 141

Re: [SOLVED] Fan not working in Linux

Well, my fan just randomly started working today. I've no idea why, didn't even do a update. Anyway, it's nice to be able to play games without being afraid of overheating..