CrunchBang Linux

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Overheating - Suspect Video Card

Hey guys n' gals.  I've recently installed #! and really like it so far. Was running Ubuntu for the last 4 or so years.  However, my comp (HP Pavillion dv6 2064ca) is idle at 85+ C  ( as per ${acpitemp}  in .conkyrc), it's a dual boot with Win7, and neither it nor Ubuntu ever ran this hot.  I'd like to try to remove the ati driver and use the basic mesa driver to see if that will fix the problem.  Not sure how to go about doing this. 

Here's the output of lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS880 Host Bridge
00:02.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (ext gfx port 0)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0)
00:05.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1)
00:06.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 2)
00:0a.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 5)
00:11.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:12.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700 USB OHCI1 Controller
00:12.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700 USB OHCI1 Controller
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 3c)
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 LPC host controller
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M96 [Mobility Radeon HD 4650]
01:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RV710/730
08:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
0a:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): JMicron Technology Corp. IEEE 1394 Host Controller
0a:00.1 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller
0a:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller
0a:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. MS Host Controller
0a:00.4 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. xD Host Controller

Thanks

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

installed cpufrequtils, dropped my idle temp by approx 5 deg C.   Still not good enough though...

ali

#! Die Hard

Registered: 2010-05-31

Posts: 1,034

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

by what you're describing, you seam to run the opensource drivers, (if you haven't done this by now) i would suggest installing fglrx, that made my ati 10 degrees cooler

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openbox-logout exit on escape

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

thanks, ali.  Installing it now.  Will let you know how it goes.

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

no change.. idle at 81°C   

mynis01

#! Die Hard

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2010-07-02

Posts: 1,745

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

Ubuntu comes with cpufrequtils installed by default. Try it out and see if it helps.

sudo apt-get install cpufrequtils

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

thanks mynis01, but I already tried that, see post #2.

mynis01

#! Die Hard

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2010-07-02

Posts: 1,745

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

Honestly as much as I love debian stable, if my cpu was running that hot I would be very worried. What kernel are you using? Also I have to wonder if this is just an issue with lm-sensors. Right now on my desktop my temperature incorrectly displays as 40°C no matter what temperature it's actually running at. Do you notice any difference in fan speeds when running other distro/OSs? You could also try using different kernels and see if that changes the situation at all. Have you tried the liquorix kernel that the cb-welcome script installs?

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I installed Liquorix yesterday in an attempt to fix the temp issue, no dice.  It's definitely not a sensor issue, my computer is effin' blazing hot.  And the fan is on and off constantly (more on than off). I notice that with win7 and ubuntu 11.04 the temp feels normal to the touch, and fan isn't givin' 'er anywhere near as much... this is why I wanted to try and remove the ati driver and try out the mesa driver.

mynis01

#! Die Hard

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2010-07-02

Posts: 1,745

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

Do you have a spare hard drive to run a different distro on? If you do you should try a squeeze net install to make sure the problem isn't unique to #!. And if that does fix it, you could always add the #! repo afterwards.

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I have an empty partition yes, I can give that a try... Any thoughts on the original video card idea?

mynis01

#! Die Hard

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2010-07-02

Posts: 1,745

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I've never even tried using an amd/ati card in linux so I'm afraid I don't really have any insight into your specific situation. You could try installing the 2.6.39 kernel that is in backports now along with the newest vid card drivers. I remember at one point I had a bleeding edge video card and the fan wouldn't work correctly without  updating some things. You could also try switching your repos to sid and doing a complete update just to make sure some other piece of software isn't the culprit. There's really not any reason I can think of why ubuntu would run any cooler than debian sid with cpufrequtils installed.

Unia

#! Die Hard

From: The Netherlands

Registered: 2010-07-17

Posts: 3,176

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

What card do you have specifically? Did you check if the driver is actually working?

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If you can't sit by a cozy fire with your code in hand enjoying its simplicity and clarity, it needs more work. --Carlos Torres
      Github || Deviantart

olembe

#! Junkie

From: Salisbury, England

Registered: 2009-04-29

Posts: 260

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I could only get my laptop running properly by downloading the ati drivers from AMD's website. Using smxi (smxi.org) is a good way of doing this painlessly.

NB I found that the latest ati driver wasn't working for me, and I ended up using a slightly older version, but I suspect this was a problem unique to me.

ali

#! Die Hard

Registered: 2010-05-31

Posts: 1,034

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

unia's got a point, run fglrxinfo in a terminal, see if you get a correct reading

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openbox-logout exit on escape

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I tried entering "fglrxinfo" in terminal.  Output:  Segmentation fault.   What am I missing?

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I'll check that out now olembe.  Thanks.

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

@ unia

lspci | grep VGA:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M96 [Mobility Radeon HD 4650]

Is that what you're looking for?

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

not sure how I check to see if the driver is actually working...

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

Here's a shot of my synaptic with everything fglrx-related...

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

anyone?

ali

#! Die Hard

Registered: 2010-05-31

Posts: 1,034

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

well, if you got a segmentation fault its the drivers aren't working properly
try reinstalling them

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openbox-logout exit on escape

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I've marked all packages (listed in my screenshot above) for reinstallation, applied changes, rebooted, and still getting segmentation fault when running fglrxinfo.  Is there anything that need to be reinstalled that doesn't appear in that list?

Unia

#! Die Hard

From: The Netherlands

Registered: 2010-07-17

Posts: 3,176

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

I don't know, there's a dozen things that could be wrong. The easiest and most clean way would probably be to perform a clean reinstall and then install the proprietary driver again, following this how-to.

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If you can't sit by a cozy fire with your code in hand enjoying its simplicity and clarity, it needs more work. --Carlos Torres
      Github || Deviantart

thornspear

Member

Registered: 2011-06-15

Posts: 29

Re: Overheating - Suspect Video Card

Thanks Unia, I'll give it a shot!