I think that Flash might have killed my poor SuSE computer.
It worked nicely until 1/22/11. My son-in-law was using it on Facebook, playing those stupid Flash games. Whenever Flash is used, I’ve noticed that a fan goes at full speed (I don’t know, but I guess that my graphics card has it’s own fan – or is the fan at full speed sound from the processor?) This went on for a few hours. Anyway, now the computer won’t boot. No text, no display, no anything, just a constant sound like an alarm (kinda as if a key is stuck but it isn’t - I’ve checked that). I can’t even get into the bios (by hitting F2).
Now I must wait until my husband can take the computer apart to see what hardware must have failed.
So, my question is: Does anyone else notice that when Flash is used, does their computer’s fans go at full speed too? If so, are there any settings that should be used to make Flash not use so much processing power?
btw, I did look for quality settings like I’ve seen on the Windows version but I didn’t see that. It was always at high quality.
My system:
openSUSE 11.2 (i586)
2.6.31.14-0.4-desktop kernel (it has been updated since but I can’t get at that info right now)
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz dual core
3.4 GiB ram
Nvidia G98 [GeForce 8400 GS] video card
A fan might have died. Flash is both memory and CPU intensive so if there is inadequate cooling a processor can overheat. But the BIOS should shut it down before damage occurs. You may be hearing what is called the post code. The single beep that most machines issue on startup indicates all is well. If you hear multiple beeps it is a code that indicate that the BIOS has found something wrong. Flash in a properly cooled machine should be no problem.
Well that should not hurt the fan if it is in good shape. Thing is the fans are mechanical devices and they do go bad. I’ve replaced the CPU fan in this machine twice. The quality of cpu coolers vary wildly. Often fans that come with a system are cheap low quality.
gogalthorp wrote:
> You may be hearing what is
> called the post code. The single beep that most machines issue on
> startup indicates all is well. If you hear multiple beeps it is a code
> that indicate that the BIOS has found something wrong.
There are typically several different possible sounds and probably in
your BIOS manual it explains exactly what problem the BIOS thinks there
is (faulty fan, bad RAM etc).
Modern games can put a big load constantly on a machine, and gamers tend to do that for hours and hours at a stretch. Even without games, Flash is heavy on resources, relatively speaking. Is it a desktop or laptop? It sounds like a desktop pc. With laptops it can be worse with discrete graphics cards with regard to overheating.
Fans in constant use wear out more quickly, and can fail. There is usually a fan on the CPU, another built into the power supply box, and either a fan or a heat sink on the GPU of the separate graphics card. The fans usually come on at certain temperatures, cool the components, and turn off only when the temperatures fall below a preset level.
I’m not aware of any settings to limit Flash’s demand for resources. It’s up to the driver (the human being).
Thanks guys!
These things are good to know. I’ll have to demand that Flash games not be played for so long on my precious SuSE when it gets fixed.
The fans (and CPU, etc.) on my old (Gateway) Winders XP seem to be of very good quality. They seem to be hardly affected at all when Flash games are played for loong periods of time.
In the meantime you might try to learn what those beeps mean. Go to BIOS Beep Codes and see if you can identify the problem by counting the beeps. It might only be a loose memory chip or a keyboard cable not fully plugged in. If you can’t get into the bios, you might try another keyboard just to see.
On 01/31/2011 07:06 PM, gymnart wrote:
>
> They seem to be hardly affected at all when Flash
> games are played for loong periods of time.
that is because the Gateway is directly assisted by MS to build a
efficient and highly functional graphics driver (which, i’m sure you
know sits between the hardware and the software)…
without that same cooperation with Linux software developers they have
to, through trial and error, discover the hooks and crooks of the
graphics chips so that any flash is available at all…
see, flash on my nVidia graphics is smooth and wonderful–but, the
driver is made entirely by nVidia…if i revert to the linux (open
source) driver flash still works but it a little jerky, AND it won’t
go to full screen…
the same goes for the power management software, and its interface
with the fan(s), the bios, temperature sensors etc etc
etc…MS/Gateway/hardware makers work together to keep the fan
noise low, the temperature under control and maximum battery life (for
laptops)…guess who helps the Linux programmer with that work…
‘they’ do all they can to keep you locked in…
i am not making this up…check around.
–
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[NNTP posted w/openSUSE 11.3, KDE4.5.5, Thunderbird3.0.11, nVidia
173.14.28 3D, Athlon 64 3000+]
“It is far easier to read, understand and follow the instructions than
to undo the problems caused by not.” DD 23 Jan 11
> So, does using Flash on your computer makes the fans go at full speed
> too?
the truth is my desktop is kinda old (6 years), and though it works
great (at the screen) i’ve long had a heat problem–my bios/board is
sufficiently but only partially power management friendly with
Linux…especially after the nVidia boards gpu cooler stopped turning…
i took a case fan and aimed it at the gpu…and, it and the CPU
cooler fan run as fast as they can from start-up to shut-down, and
have for about three years…
loafing along just using thunderbird, my cpu is 41 degrees C; partial
screen flash video ups it to 43; and full screen to 45 and it slowly
climbs…i don’t have a sensor reading for the gpu…
but, to have those low temps i have to clean out the soot, dust, cat
hair and chicken bones about once a year and remove and replace the
thermal grease every couple of years…
–
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[NNTP posted w/openSUSE 11.3, KDE4.5.5, Thunderbird3.0.11, nVidia
173.14.28 3D, Athlon 64 3000+]
“It is far easier to read, understand and follow the instructions than
to undo the problems caused by not.” DD 23 Jan 11
Come to think, it is probably only to regulate the priority of plugins in Konqueror relative to other processes anyway, and not absolutely. Which would mean that flash would act sluggishly only if it has to vy other processes for CPU power and its priority is low.
But in any case, you might wish to have a closer look for yourself. Menu:Settings > Configure Konqueror … > Plugins.
@Lord_Emsworth,
I don’t use Konqueror for browsing the 'net, I use SeaMonkey (cousin to FireFox), so I guess those settings wouldn’t apply then. Oh well. shrug
In my case my laptop’s fan was clogged with dust. So even if the fan was running at the fastest speed, the air flow was not enough and I had overheating - and the bios reduces CPU clock automatically - problem.
My hubby was able to resurrect my SuSE Tux machine! It now has a new power supply and he had to fiddle with the memory (take one out and put it back in again) and it works beautifully now!! A sight for sore eyes! When it first came back up, it had a message that the system fan had malfunctioned.
