I have an Averatec 3200 series running Suse 9.2 and I'm having a very annoying problem. My laptop has unexpectedly shut down on me numerous times. I believe its due to me totally overworking it and then gettting it overheated. It can get really hot sometimes where the fan is blowing. So I thought in order to solve this problem, I should get laptop cooler with two extra powerful fans to help cool it down. Unfortunately, the laptop still got really hot and shutdown. The laptop has been fine for a few days since I used the laptop cooler but now that this problem has resurface, I'm no longer sure what the problem might be.

Could the problem possibly be derived from Suse no reading configuring the CPU fan right? Or couple it be that the hardware is jacked up? I'm also wondering if other people that have the same series laptop have had this problem too. If not, it's possible that my laptop is just near the end of its life. Please let me know if you guys have any information because I'm confused. Thanks so much!

Of course you have cleaned the screen so the fan(s) is getting good air flow?

Are all the fans working? My Avaratec has 3 and they come on at different temps:
39C, 55C and 79C.

You can look through /proc/acpi, there is alot of info there about temps and fans.

I've managed to get a handle on the problem by rebooting the laptop when it starts getting a bit hot. After reboot, it cools down dramatically. I also have a laptop cooler which helps to cool down the laptop as well. The laptop only shut down once over nearly 3 or 4 months. I consider this to be quite remarkable. Anyway, I'm curious as to where the problem might be occurring. When I had Windows on the laptop, it would never get this hot. I remember it getting a bit warm but never so hot that it'd shut down on me. This problem has occurred since I put Linux as me new OS. I'm not sure if a laptop has the power to support numerous virtual desktops, after all a laptop is far from replacing a desktop computer. Does anyone have an idea as to why this is happening? Also if you have a laptop different than the Averatec, does it shut down from overheating as well? I'm trying to find out if my hardware is deffective or if this is a common problem among laptops. Any help would be great. Thanks!

I know it is a bit late but recently I have been having the same problem with my laptop when I use it with Linux. It gets hot and it shut down... Right now I am using FC3. Anybody knows if any other distro has the same problem with the averatec? Did FC4 corrected the problem?
Thanks.

Hi from Chile. I have an Averatec 3200 series (AV3250HX-01).
This laptop have some problems(with XP Professional, originally Home):

1. Shut down on numerous times/day because of overheating
2. The DVD integrated is bad

Maybe my laptop will be send at trasher.

When the computer is on over night no problem (is on every time).
When I turn on and log there is a problem (5 minutes auto shut down)
When I boot from external DVD (LG) whith boot CD (EBCD, UBCD, Knoppix, CIA, etc.)I can to work more time but 20 or 30 minutes later the problem is present.

In other words, I think than the machine is off. Never more I buy a Averatec laptop.

Good Luck and have nice day.

Hi Laptop users,
I do not own a laptop but I do build my own desktops as do many others..What I might look into if I was in your situation is:
First,See if you can activate the package(forgot what the name is)
that reads you motherboard vital signs such as fan roation temperature etc...
Second I have found that generally after you select your screen resolution and color depth,most linux distros if not all will select the highest refresh rate available..This causes excessive heat generated in your scan/video circuits..
Of course this is a wild guess and maybe if someone with more
precise information can help I am sure it would be appreciated..
Goodluck,
jolphil
Edit I forgot to mention that if your overall current is drain is increased from any of the above conditions, then your power supply regulators have to work harder to supply the additional power to the system creating more heat..

I think Averatec computers are very reliable. I have been working with my laptop last two years and it works like a charm. FC3 had problems with overheating but after FC4 I have had not a single problem.

A work around might be to go into the BIOS and disable SpeedStep (if it has it) so the laptop runs at its lowest speed (600-800mHz). The laptop will run much cooler. If all you do is email and surfing I don't think you'd notice the speed difference.

Dennisk

Good Point dennisk,
I did not know that a laptop BIOS had that feature..I know that in the windows system that software is available to reduce CPU power by shutting down part of the chip when not in use..
Thats why I love these forums..You can learn a lot..
jolphil

Hola a todos:

Procediendo a un chequeo mas exhaustivo, pude determinar (descubrir) que mi problema de sobrecalentamiento se debia basicamente a un tapon de mugre o polvo en el ventilador para enfriamiento lo cual al principio crei que era una especie de filtro. Al retirar y hacer una mantencion adecuada al ventilador (limpieza y lubricacion) el problema quedo resuelto.

Por otro lado, al grabador de DVD le hice un update de firmware, pero no hubo caso. Este esta muerto. Revisando en Internet pude descubrir que dicho modelo de DVD presenta fallas reiteradas.

Saludos

pirincho -- per the LQ Rules Would you mind translating your reply into English? Thanks

Google Language tools

Can you post the following:
1. uname -a
2. cat /proc/cpuinfo
3. ls /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/*
4. cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor
5. rcpowersaved status (!!! Pl. run this command as root)
6. If you have kpowersave installed - see right bottom corner in your KDE desktop and select "CPU freq policy" as DYNAMIC