Fan speed.

[lello.siddi]

Is there any way to check if the cooling system of a laptop is in error?

I'm trying to utilize again an old ASUS laptop. I remember that this laptop had a problem: the fan was always on and it used to make a lot of noise. Sometimes, it also stopped suddenly! I think because the sensor was telling the control system that the CPU temperature was too high. However, I remember the fan used to start running at high RPM also just after the start-up.

Well... I have just re-formatted the laptop by using the hidden recovery partition (windows vista home basic).

Everything seems the same: the fan is always on!

But I would think that the temperature value that the sensor is reading is wrong.
Is there any way to control the fan speed? Or tpo avoid, at least, the system shut-down?

Well... thank you in advance,
lello.siddi.

[hal9000]

Check to see if there is a BIOS update for the laptop. I had the exact same problem with a laptop I was looking at a while back (can't remember the make). New BIOS fixed it.

[brightspark]

What Hal has said is good advice. You could also check the settings in the existing BIOS. Most include options for controlling fan speed, sometimes it's just a matter of choosing the right one.

[lello.siddi]

Ok. Thanx for the advices. I've checked and there's no such places in order to set "fan-stuff" in the actual BIOS version (This laptop is a X51L asus laptop). I've downloaded the last BIOS update from asus web-site and then flashed my bios. There is, again, no way to set something in the new BIOS version...
But who knows... maybe things will go better. Hope so.
Thanx again, my friends...

[brightspark]

Oh, shame the BIOS update didn't work. You could try the SpeedFan software which checks a variety of temps and allows users to control the speed of the fan...it's free!!

[lello.siddi]

Thankx! I had checked SmartDoctor (ASUS) for the same aim, but nothing to do. I'm going to check this utility. Many thanx...

PS: BTW, it seems actually a little bit less noisy with the bios ipdate... Even if there is no way to change the settings.

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ----------

Dear brightspark... I thank you so much for the advice about this SpeedFan free sw! It's really what I've been looking for!!
It seems can measure fan speed, HD and core CPU temperatures. Really cool...
I'm going to check now how the temperature limits variation will affect the fan speed.
Many, many thanx.

[solin]

Sometimes the fan itself is problematic, not always in the BIOS. If you can, then remove and clean the fan from dust. Make sure nothing is stuck in the fan. You may try to pull a little slow in the middle fan and rotate the fan.

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I just finished putting a small fan inside the monitor. I want to pull out hot air inside the monitor, at least it could do little to relieve the hot air inside the monitor. Just not enough cable length and spliced​​. And all went smoothly without the slightest sound. I could feel the hot air is drawn out.

[Alboguy]

Sometimes the fan itself is problematic, not always in the BIOS. If you can, then remove and clean the fan from dust. Make sure nothing is stuck in the fan. You may try to pull a little slow in the middle fan and rotate the fan.

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I just finished putting a small fan inside the monitor. I want to pull out hot air inside the monitor, at least it could do little to relieve the hot air inside the monitor. Just not enough cable length and spliced​​. And all went smoothly without the slightest sound. I could feel the hot air is drawn out.

Indeed. Sometimes big issues have simple solutions. If your laptop is like 2 or 3 years old you should definitely open it and have a look inside if there's any dust. Basically what happens is that the exit of air is blocked by dust and the hot air stays inside the laptop circulating around and overheating it even more. As a result the fan keeps spinning all the time. Clean the dust and I bet you won't hear that noise again. Sometimes is just as simple as that. I'm not excluding the fact that the issue might be somewhere else though.

[brightspark]

Yep, and some fans are just born noisy!!

Some years back I picked up my brand new desktop tower and rushed home all excited about hooking it up. Booted up and noticed immediately the horrendous noise emanating from the BRAND NEW fan. Returned it straight away and the technician popped in a different brand...quiet as a whisper, could barely hear it.

[lello.siddi]

Yep: You all are right. I will try to clean it up. Also because right now the laptop is working disassembled! It was in fact my first attempt to let it work in a cooler environment.
After the bios update, I have to say that is much more noiseless. This after few working hours... I'm pretty satisfied. Thanx a lot, my friends!