Ubuntu – dell 7520 (inspiron 15R SE), fan on full speed on 12.04, 12.10, 13.04

dellfannoise

The fan on my dell inspiron 7520 (inspiron 15R SE) is constantly running at full speed with a lot of noise.

technical details:

  • GRAPHICS : 2GB AMD RADEON HD 7730M, switchable/hybrid with intel 4000 graphics
  • INTEL CORE I5-3210M 2.50
  • 6GB RAM
  • 1080hd display
  • 750gb harddrive
  • dual boot win7 64 and ubuntu 12.10 64
  • bios version A09 (1. jan 2013 =newest)

i tried out a lot of suggestions from searching thousands of forums, they all didn´t help out, fan keeps spinning.
here´s a list of the things i did, maybe i can help someone to avoid the work or somebody has a solution i haven't tried yet:

the useless options

  1. trying different OS:
    in windows 8 and 7 everything works fine. ubuntu 12.04, 12.10, 13.04 in each case 32bit and 64bit i have noisy fan

  2. bios options/update:
    i updated bios from A07 to A09, no change in fanspeed
    intel speedstep, intel smart response, ahci, ata mode, no changes in fanspeed

  3. using different partition tables, boot modes:
    i used uefi boot on a gpt partition, on mbr and legacy boot, no changes in fanspeed

  4. switcheroo:
    the only thing of little help is the switcheroo options
    from this link https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics
    switching off the AMD card actually only saves power but doesn't reduce the fan speed

    echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

  5. power option:
    this link Dell Inspiron7520 and Ubuntu 12.04 issues was so far the most helpful comment, it reduces fan speed imediately, but with little cpu usage rises up to full speed again…so not a satisfying solution.

    echo "min_power" | sudo tee /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/link_power_management_policy

    taking out the ac plug reduces fan speed in most cases as well, but runs at full speed from time to time.

  6. graphics drivers:
    the catalyst drivers didn´t work at all. i tried different once from 12.something up to 13.2 beta
    after installation unity or compiz didn´t work and i had a blank desktop screen, besides fan speed wouldn´t change.

  7. kernels:
    i tried several kernels up to the new quantal 3.7, nothing changed

  8. i8kutils/lm sensors, pwmconfig:
    to control the fan manually lm sensors with pwmcontrol didn´t work( no compatible sensors detect…something like this)
    i8kutils from this thread http://forum.ubuntuusers.de/topic/dell-inspiron-15-se-7520-luefter-dreht-auf-vol/#post-4743072
    controled the fans and kept the noise lower but the temparature rises and fan starts spinning a few seconds and stops, starts again and stops and so on, that is even more disturbing than running at full speed…so, no option for me.

  9. jupiter:
    jupiter saves battery power but doesn´t reduce fanspeed.

and here comes the most questionable thing. my flatmate has the exact same model.the difference is she has bios version A02 (or A04 not sure now), with a 1tb harddrive and no 1080 hd display and ubuntu 12.04 dual boot win 7 each 32bit works just fine out of the box.
i tried to downgrade bios to A04 but doesn´t work, an error occurs.

i find myself working on this far too long, i am behind this since months. i even try to make myself comfortable in windows, although i never want to go back to thas os.

greetings
zanza

i ran lm-sensors and i dont really know how to interpretate the output message. on the other laptop mentioned above, same model with little differences it shows next to temp1 also temp2

my lm-sensors shows this:

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +43.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +43.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +41.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

radeon-pci-0100
Adapter: PCI adapter
temp1:        +48.0°C

lm-sensors of the other laptop (same model, with differences like mentioned above) shows this:

acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +27.8°C  (crit = +106.0°C)
temp2:        +29.8°C  (crit = +106.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +50.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +50.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +51.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

can anybody explian me what it means?

Best Answer

So, I had the same problem with my Inspiron here, however, I've got an Nvidia 630m and Intel GPU's. To solve it, I'm using bumblebee since he manages my needs of performances, and with that, doesn't overheats my notebook. I don't know if there is such software for AMD, but you should look for that, since the fan works nonstop for this reason.

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