I have an old compaq that I want to turn into a headless server. I was going to install openSUSE on it but without a desktop environment and control it via ssh or whatever’s recommended. I want it to run all the time but the current fan is really loud. Can I remove the fan and turn off the (integrated) GPU? Would it run the risk of overheating?
On 2013-05-22, 6tr6tr <6tr6tr@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> I have an old compaq that I want to turn into a headless server. I was
> going to install openSUSE on it but without a desktop environment and
> control it via ssh or whatever’s recommended. I want it to run all the
> time but the current fan is really loud. Can I remove the fan and turn
> off the (integrated) GPU? Would it run the risk of overheating?
>
If course you can use the `sensor’ package to monitor your temperatures, but I don’t which fan you’re referring to. If
you’re referring to fans attached to heatsinks on top CPUs/GPUs, then it’s probably not a good idea to remove. If it’s
very loud, you should probably clean it using an air duster. It that doesn’t stop the noise, then you should probably
replace the fan.
On 2013-05-23, 6tr6tr <6tr6tr@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
> It’s been loud since day 1. I was hoping to avoid extra costs (which is
> why I’m using an old server).
Ahh I see your point. Could you post the output to:
sh-4.2$ sudo zypper in sensors
sh-4.2$ sensors
and identify which fan you’re referring to. If it’s a CPU fan, then I suspect you’ll have little choice but to replace
it.
On 05/23/2013 12:46 AM, 6tr6tr wrote:
> I was
> going to install openSUSE on it but without a desktop environment and
> control it via ssh or whatever’s recommended. I want it to run all the
> time but the current fan is really loud. Can I remove the fan and turn
> off the (integrated) GPU? Would it run the risk of overheating?
you say you were “going to install openSUSE on it but without a
desktop environment”, but did you actually do that?
that is, did you do a full install and expect to not run in run level 5?
i ask because i would assume an install without an X or DE would not
trigger a high fan rate…
On 05/24/2013 07:06 AM, 6tr6tr wrote:
> I have not yet tried it, but the fan turns on the moment the computer
> stats up, before the bios even loads.
then that is not an openSUSE problem! so, the good news is you are
posting to the correct forum!
the bad news is it could be any of a number of problems:
first: many laptops begin the boot by automatically going to full
fan, THEN as soon as the CPU has reported (to the BIOS) the temp is
ok, the fan fall back to lower speed or no fan…so, it is possible
that the hardware has lost the ability to report CPU temp to the
fan–if that is the situation i doubt you can fix it (could be a
bad/cracked trace in the motherboard, or a who knows what)… you
might boot and immediately switch to the BIOS screens and see if a
CPU temperature is reported…if there is a place for such but no
report then you must suspect this is the cause of continuous high
speed fan.
[before taking any steps to ‘fix’ the problem, read the caveat in my sig]
if, on the other hand the fan does fall back to lower speed on its
own accord, then that part might be ok. but, if it falls back and
then soon goes to high speed again it could be the thermal grease
(between the CPU/GPU and heatsinks) has dried/hardened and has moved
from being a efficient transmitter of heat to a barrier to the heat
which needs to flow from the CPU to the heatsink. if that is the case
it is possible to clean off the old grease and apply new–HOWEVER in
a laptop that can be a near impossible task for someone working
without complete instructions which are specific to that particular
model machine…many are more easily destroyed (unintentionally)
than disassembled, grease replaced and reassembled!!
or, maybe you ‘just’ need to clean out all the dust and cat hair in
the cooling air passages and heatsink fins…that can often be done
with a vacuum cleaner or aersol spray can of air…be careful,
either can over-speed and destroy the fan…
suggest you search the maker’s web site/forums for their instructions
on solving high fan noise…maybe you can find a good, specific,
step-by-step to a remedy. if not on that site then try searching
Tom’s Hardware <http://www.tomshardware.com/>, you could search on
‘laptop fan noise’ for example…be creative…you might even search
on the laptop’s maker and model number…
once you have then attended to the hardware problem, the rest should
be easy, and fun.
On 2013-05-24, dd <DenverD@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
> On 05/24/2013 07:06 AM, 6tr6tr wrote:
> - or, maybe you ‘just’ need to clean out all the dust and cat hair in
> the cooling air passages and heatsink fins…that can often be done
> with a vacuum cleaner or aersol spray can of air…be careful,
> either can over-speed and destroy the fan…
Cat-hair?? Ugh!
I think the OP did say the fan made that noise from day 1 after the purchase so I don’t know whether cleaning it or
re-appling the thermal compound will make much difference.
Looking at the title of the thread I’m guessing he’s referring to the GPU fan. Usually a GPU fan is attached to a
heatsink so I’m guessing the OP is wondering the heatsink is sufficient in a headless server. Since it’s an integrated
GPU, presumably it can be monitored using the sensors package and the fan speed controlled by pwmconfig. So why not just
gradually slow the fan speed while monitoring the GPU temperature and determine this way whether it’s safe to take it
out?
Well a good start is to do what I asked you to do in post #4 ;). We don’t yet know if your motherboard will report the
temperatures of your GPU.
As for pwmconfig, that only works if your motherboard supports it. But I have never had any need to use pwmconfig’s
fancontrol and cannot guide you through the configuration. Arch Linux’s wiki has a friendly walkthough https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fan_Speed_Control that looks as if it shouldn’t be too hard.
