Upgrade to 13.04. Dell Laptop fan running excessivly

Question

I recently updated to Ubuntu 13.04 on a Dell laptop. I did not have this problem with the previous version.

Normally the fan is not running. But then something (perhaps some web site) triggers the system to turn on the fan at high (and noisy) speed. It does not return to normal on its own, if I put the system to sleep, the fan turns off, until something triggers it again.

Machine is a Dell D420. CPU is a U2500 Core Duo @ 1.20 GHz. GPU is an Intel® 945GM. Installing TLP with no configuration changes reduces the fan sped and noise, but kills GUI performance.

How can I diagnose this? I want to know if it is a driver issue (other posts mention graphics drivers) or a firefox bug?

It's a Dell D420. CPU is a U2500 Core Duo @ 1.20 GHz. Graphics is via an Intel® 945GM. — asp, Jun 05 '13 at 01:18
http://askubuntu.com/questions/285434/is-there-a-power-saving-application-similar-to-jupiter/285681#285681 — Qasim, Jun 05 '13 at 01:24
http://askubuntu.com/questions/301804/do-i-need-intel-linux-graphics-installer/301825#301825 — Qasim, Jun 05 '13 at 01:24
Install TLP and Configure it , and also install Intel Drivers...and update me with tlp-stat — Qasim, Jun 05 '13 at 01:26
TLP seems to have resolved the fan issue. I just installed it, I did not do any configuration. — asp, Jun 07 '13 at 21:37

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 23 '13 at 23:14

1

for automatically controlling the fan, it is just to use 'i8kmon' inside the package i8kutils.

The latest version of i8kutils is at https://launchpad.net/i8kutils

answered Nov 23 '13 at 23:14

vitorafsr

342
2
12

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 13 '13 at 18:32

Found an answer at Dell Laptop Fan Control

Solution for a Dell laptop is to install the i8kutils package.

i8kutils - utilities for Dell Inspiron and Latitude laptops

sudo apt-get install i8kutils

In my case I ran i8kctl fan - 1 which cut down the right side fan to normal speed.

Upgrade to 13.04. Dell Laptop fan running excessivly

2 Answers2