Thinkpad X220 Randomly goes into standby

English Hardware
1

I am having an issue with my Lenovo X220 Thinkpad. Whenever I launch it, it will randomly go into standby every 10-30 seconds. I tried running in text only mode, but I had the same issue. When I boot from a windows 7 hardrive, I get random blackouts on my screen, but it is not as debilitating as on opensuse 12.3.

Is there a way to cancel standby mode?

Thanks

2

EDIT:

After some more testing, it seems like this issue is coupled to my laptop overheating. On windows it idles fine, however on linux the processor ramps up to about 90deg C before it starts to jump into standby. I am running 32bit windows 7 on a 7200rpm hard drive and I am running 64bit 12.3 on an ssd (both are tested separately).

Do you guys have any ideas on what may be causing the overheating?

Thanks

3

First and foremost I would blast out every vent on the laptop to clear our dust. It does not take that long to build up. Next controlling CPU speed can help:

C.F.U. - CPU Frequency Utilitiy - Version 1.10 - For use with the cpufrequtils package - Blogs - openSUSE Forums

The newer the kernel, the better then better the fan control can be:

openSUSE and Installing New Linux Kernel Versions - Blogs - openSUSE Forums

Thank You,

4

My wife has a Thinkpad X220 and it works fine with Windows7 and also with openSUSE-12.3. It has also worked well with openSUSE-12.1, which I replaced with 12.2 (which worked well) which I replaced with 12.3 (which as noted works well).

I blogged about it here: https://forums.opensuse.org/blogs/oldcpu/opensuse-12-1-lenovo-x220-laptop-84/

with older kernels, some users would apply the boot code " thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1 " … another suggested boot code (to help graphics, with older kernels) was " i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 " . … but frankly, I think jdmcdaniel3’s suggestion to try and clean the Lenovo is a superior suggestion.

5

The laptop itself is clean, I think it is has something to do with openSUSE, because I do not get any overheating problems with windows. Is kernel version 3.7.11 good enough, or do I need to upgrade?

Thanks

6

Is this your own custom 3.7.11 custom kernel build ? I had thought 12.3 had the 3.7.10 kernel (and not 3.7.11) ?

My wife’s Thinkpad X220 has the 3.7.10 kernel and it works fine. No over heating problems. Did you check out the suggestions that I suggested you consider ? Have you also checked out the power management controls of openSUSE KDE ?

7

How old is the laptop and have you ever cleaned out the vent ports? The kernel version you install can effect fan speed (CPU&GRAPHICS) and CPU speed does effect heat. Did you look at the two links I have posted?

Thank You,

8

Sorry, the kernel is 3.7.10. The laptop itself is about 2.5 years old, however I purchased it used a couple of months ago. Fortunately it is under warranty, and since the display will randomly flicker to black on windows, I will get the mobo replaced on Monday. I will keep you guys informed.

Thanks for the help

9

At 2.5 years old you may be fooling yourself. If you have never blown out the Laptop vents, then you have no idea how much dust can be inside. Become more informed, buy a can of duster spray and blow out your laptop vents.

Thank You,

10

Sorry for the late reply. It took longer than my technician expected to get the new motherboard. I still have issues with the cpu overheating (~70⁰c on standby), however it is manageable and my system does not go into standby. I did notice that one of my cpu cores are always at 100% so that may be the issue. It seems that a process named kio_filenamesea is whats using up that single core, but I have no clue what it is and google did not turn up anything.

Thanks