Hello everyone. I am using Opensuse 12.1 Gnome (3.2.1) and kernel 3.1.9-1.4-desktop. This is the first time I use Gnome 3x, and I noticed abnormal CPU temperature. Although, CPU usage is normal (16-25%), temperature is getting higher and higher, fans are working really loud, which bothers me a lot. (I love peace and quite :D). I am using Toshiba Satellite L300, with Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T2390 @ 1.86GHz. Any ideas?
I seem to recall a couple of posts describing issues with fans running wild with the newer kernel(s). Perhaps a Google search could help you with that.
I’d also like to point out that Toshiba laptops are notorious for overheating as they age… usually due to dusty heat exchanger fins and/or deteriorated thermal compound between the CPU chip and the heat sink. In my opinion it’s likely that Toshiba either uses a poor grade of thermal compound or their assembly technique isn’t as good as it might be.
A lot of folks suggest cleaning the exchanger fins from the outside with canned air but that’s a poor solution IMHO. It’ll clean the outer ends of the air passages but that’s about all. It can even drive lint further into the PC.
There are good on line tutorials on disassembling Toshiba laptops to replace the fans. In my experience you probably don’t need to replace the fans (see below) but the tutorials are essential because the Toshibas are very hard to take apart if you don’t do all the many many steps exactly in order. Don’t forget to keep track of all the little tiny screws. If the process scares you don’t hestitate to enlist the aid of an experienced tech. It’s easy to damage delicate parts.
Once you get the lappy opened clean the fins from the inside out. Swap the fan body and blades with a cotton swap moistened (not soaked) with rubbing alcohol.
You mentioned that your fans are really loud. This is often due to grime accumulating on the shaft of the fan motor. As it dries out it can make the fan really loud. If enough builds up the fan will eventually stop turning altogether. That buildup’s easy to fix too. Just take out the fan. Lay it on its side - open side up - and lift up on the rotor/fan blade assembly. It should just lift right out. Use another swab & alcohol to clean the little center shaft carefully and thoroughly. Then put one or two drops (no more) of high quality oil on the shaft (sewing machine oil is super) and put it back together.
Then lift the CPU cooler off the chip and remove (GENTLY) all the old dry compound and replace it with new high quality compound. Note: This is NOT a situation where “more is better”. You want to apply a thin and very even layer to the top of the chip and then reassemble the PC by following the illustrations in the on-line disassembly instructions in reverse order…
(Owners of non Toshiba Laptops: Most of the instructions above will work for you too but be careful trying to take apart the fan. I have no idea if all brands allow the rotor assembly to just lift out. Don’t use force. If it doesn’t come out easily stop and do some research before continuing.)
Thanks for the detailed response. I already considered to open up this junk 
I have been using this laptop for 4 years,but haven’t opened it yet, these machines aren’t in the production line anymore 
But I really love it 
. Anyways, although, the fans aren’t that loud (exaggerated a bit in the post ) once I will open the lappy I will make a full check up including fans. But I will first try to downgrade the kernel, because I used Ubuntu 11.10 and didn’t have this kind of problem.
Again thank you very much!!!
caprus wrote:
> A lot of folks suggest cleaning the exchanger fins from the outside
> with canned air but that’s a poor solution IMHO. It’ll clean the outer
> ends of the air passages but that’s about all. It can even drive lint
> further into the PC.
Better way is a good strong shop vacuum on the exit port - use duct tape to
force all the air thru the port. Follow up with the canned air alternated
with the vacuum and you most of the dust bunnies out.
–
Will Honea
OK for cleaning the fins… and only for cleaning the fins. I’ve done that myself on occassion and it’s a good short term temp fix. However the OP described a noisy fan. The vacuum will do nothing to address that and therefore allows the buildup of grime on the fan motor shaft to continue to stress the motor.
I’m further concerned as Cavid has a 4 year old Toshiba laptop. We’ve got five Toshiba lappys here and two of them had the thermal paste dry out and fail after less that 2 years. I really think the procedure I outlined is just good preventive maintenance… not for the faint of heart though. If one is at all squesmish about working around those delicate little cables etc. then a vacuum is OK if used very sparingly. Remember that the screaming noise coming from the fan when the vacuum is applied is the sound of the fan rotor assembly spinning many many times faster than it’s designed to so don’t overdo it or you’ll be searching for a new (very hard to find) replacement fan in no time.
IMHO a shop vac is overkill. In my shop I always used a dedicated low volume vacuum for cleaning PCs of all types. This is another case where “more is not always better”
caprus wrote:
> OK for cleaning the fins… and only for cleaning the fins. I’ve done
> that myself on occassion and it’s a good short term temp fix. However
> the OP described a noisy fan. The vacuum will do nothing to address
> that and therefore allows the buildup of grime on the fan motor shaft to
> continue to stress the motor.
I missed that little point There have been a number of over-heating
threads lately. I guess I’ve been lucky with both of Toshibas here - 4+ yrs
and no issues - yet.
My timing seems to be that about the time the heating starts I begin to get
disk errors and the battery dies so economics dictate the simplest of all
fixes: replace the darned thing. In any event, prevention is the best cure
- the sooner you start a periodic cleaning program, the longer it’s going to
last. The cooler it runs, the longer it takes to bake the thermal paste.
–
Will Honea
Well said. I used 485 words and you used 13 to make the point more clearly than I. I am impressed. 