3

Friends, my laptop is getting overheated. I have integrated graphics:

$ lspci | grep vga
(standard input):   3  :00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
(standard input):  16  :01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108M [GeForce GT 540M] (rev a1)

and the temperature is getting too high:

$ sensors
acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +84.0°C  (crit = +100.0°C)
temp2:        +84.0°C  (crit = +100.0°C)

nouveau-pci-0100
Adapter: PCI adapter
temp1:        +76.0°C  (high = +95.0°C, hyst =  +3.0°C)
                       (crit = +105.0°C, hyst =  +5.0°C)
                       (emerg = +135.0°C, hyst =  +5.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +79.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0:         +79.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:         +78.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 2:         +75.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 3:         +78.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

I tried to install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia as suggested in here, but then my X-system is not coming up. (I was basically bitten by this bug and updated my xorg's. If needed, I am posting my my xorgs:

$ rpm -qa|/usr/bin/grep xorg-x11
xorg-x11-drv-mga-1.6.2-7.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-modesetting-0.6.0-7.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-server-utils-7.7-1.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-openchrome-0.3.3-1.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-nouveau-1.0.7-1.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-font-utils-7.5-17.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.14.2-4.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-vmmouse-13.0.0-5.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-vmware-13.0.1-1.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-glamor-0.5.0-5.20130401git81aadb8.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-synaptics-1.7.1-2.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-xauth-1.0.7-3.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-fbdev-0.4.3-9.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-proto-devel-7.7-4.fc19.noarch
xorg-x11-xinit-1.3.2-8.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-server-common-1.14.2-4.fc19.i686
xorg-x11-fonts-Type1-7.5-8.fc19.noarch
xorg-x11-drv-evdev-2.8.0-1.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-qxl-0.1.1-0.13.20130703git8b03ec16.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-ati-7.1.0-5.20130408git6e74aacc5.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-wacom-0.21.0-1.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-vesa-2.3.2-9.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-fonts-ISO8859-1-75dpi-7.5-8.fc19.noarch
xorg-x11-utils-7.5-9.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-xkb-utils-7.7-7.fc19.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-intel-2.21.8-1.fc19.x86_64

)

I am using fedora 19 with gnome 3.8

EDIT

$ top

top - 17:13:42 up 21 min,  3 users,  load average: 0.25, 0.34, 0.38
Tasks: 194 total,   2 running, 192 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
%Cpu0  :  5.0 us,  2.3 sy,  0.0 ni, 91.1 id,  0.0 wa,  1.0 hi,  0.7 si,  0.0 st
%Cpu1  :  2.3 us,  1.0 sy,  0.0 ni, 95.7 id,  0.0 wa,  1.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
%Cpu2  :  6.0 us,  3.3 sy,  0.0 ni, 90.0 id,  0.0 wa,  0.3 hi,  0.3 si,  0.0 st
%Cpu3  :  3.0 us,  0.3 sy,  0.0 ni, 95.7 id,  0.0 wa,  1.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
%Cpu4  :  3.3 us,  1.0 sy,  0.0 ni, 95.0 id,  0.0 wa,  0.7 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
%Cpu5  :  3.0 us,  1.0 sy,  0.0 ni, 94.7 id,  0.0 wa,  1.0 hi,  0.3 si,  0.0 st
%Cpu6  : 76.3 us, 22.4 sy,  0.0 ni,  0.3 id,  0.0 wa,  1.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
%Cpu7  :  0.0 us,  0.0 sy,  0.0 ni, 98.7 id,  0.0 wa,  1.3 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
KiB Mem:   3940864 total,  2037364 used,  1903500 free,    68784 buffers
KiB Swap:  8388604 total,        0 used,  8388604 free,  1126564 cached

and 

$ sensors
acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +84.0°C  (crit = +100.0°C)
temp2:        +84.0°C  (crit = +100.0°C)

These two commands were used back to back. So nothing is working really.

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    Do you experience these overheating issues when using a different OS?
    – drs
    Jul 15, 2013 at 16:07
  • 1
    Do you have nVidia "Optimus" / "Hybrid graphics"? If so, try installing Bumblebee.
    – Renan
    Jul 15, 2013 at 18:06
  • yes, its optimus, but I failed to install bumblebee
    – BaRud
    Jul 15, 2013 at 19:14

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Check the CPU usage with top or htop to see if something is running the processor up. If so, there's where you need to start your investigation. You could also just look at a CPU monitor (gnome has one) to see if it is flailing.

Certainly, changing your xorg drivers, etc, as suggested in that link will not help; if it overheats easily either some process is going nuts, or else it has nothing to do with the software at all.

If the laptop is > 1 year old, the vents may be clogged with dust. This is a particular problem with some (older?) toshibas -- they end up with what looks like a layer of carpet insulating the processor, which then obviously overheats very quickly. I've taken more than one of them reduced to near uselessness (e.g. shut down after 15 minutes even when idle), cleaned out the vents, and the machine runs like new again.

Improve this answer
3
  • I have to blow my laptop vents out every few months. Also the dust will get caked onto the fans overtime and start to weigh them down, so you may need to take it apart and use a q-tip to get the dust off of them.
    – slm ♦
    Jul 15, 2013 at 19:53
  • I had to take the screen and the keyboard off and the chassis apart, which takes a while and various little screwdrivers, lol. The problem was/is the fans blow right onto the processor and the vent is a long heat conductive exhaust; the accumulation is on the inside end...point being, don't blow into the vents unless you are sure of what's up.
    – goldilocks
    Jul 15, 2013 at 20:09
  • Yes laptops seem to be designed to only last a few years. I've had several where the fans dind't even run to start with and then over time they start to run more and more and the laptops get hotter and hotter and get to the point where they can no longer be used as lap tops 8-).
    – slm ♦
    Jul 15, 2013 at 20:13

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