Abnormally High Fan Speed on Cool Laptop, Dell Inspiron 15R 5520, Ubuntu 14.04,

Question

I am using a Dell Inspiron 15R 5520 running Ubuntu 14.04 alongside Windows 8.1. My issue is with the Dell's fan, which is running at full speed during most of the time the computer is booted into Ubuntu. Any small task I do, from searching for an app, to loading webpages and switching tabs in a browser, causes the fan speed to reach its max speed. Oddly, the fan only does this when the computer is booted into Ubuntu, but not Windows 8.1. I tried flashing my BIOS and updating my chip set, to no avail.

System manager shows 4 cpu cores each running at above 10% when the fan goes to its highest speed. And it will remain at this speed for several minutes thereafter. I noticed that the utilization percentages for each core does not match the cpu load average. For example, it said that the average was 0.43 at some point, but when I checked the core percentages while the fan was running high they are all lower, as if the Monitor is adding the percentages together and using this to determine fan speed (just my hypothesis). But there is still some correlation between fan speed and cpu usage.

The Dell is not hot when the fan is running high; the air it blows is either cool or slightly warm. I recently cleaned the computer's exhaust, too.

Lastly, I am a beginner at Linux, so please, if you can, don't be too technical with responses. And just to mention, I learned about Jupiter, which I found out is discontinued, and I tried using i8kutils while following a thread from a forum when researching a solution and my fan was barely on after that (had to re-install Ubuntu).

Can anyone offer a solution to this issue?

Thanks in advance,

Jordan

Solution

I recently figured out how to fix the fan issues in Ubuntu 14.04 on my Dell laptop. I found out about a program called TLP, which is a power management tool that automatically adjusts my cpu frequency and the power usage of other hardware. The site for TLP is here but you can search for and find it in the Software Center. Anyway, once it installed, it immediately fixed the fan issue. Now my fans run quietly, only speeding up when necessary. I restarted my computer several times to verify if it worked, and indeed, my fans were working like normal.

To everyone who posted, I thank you for your replies and efforts to help me out.

UPDATE

TLP did not remedy the matter; it helped slightly, but the fans still overspeed. I found a working solution and posted it as an answer to another thread of mine, here: Persistent High-Fan Speed Ubuntu 14.04. Thanks again for your assistance in this matter.

-Jordan

Comments

[Geo]

my comp is the same as yours and it got the same problem: ubuntu is known to have those problems on many pcs. I wasnt too bothered to find a solution because... well a high fan speed wont cause any trouble except noise. Our computer doesnt seem to have a sensor at the fan, but if you wanna try u can check this.

[user311982]

I see, well at least I know now its not something to do with just my computer. I checked out your link, but I'm not very comfortable trying that out. Thank you for your reply. I hope there will be a patch or something for this issue soon.

[bain]

possible duplicate of Fan is always on, CPU usage is rather low and can't find the fan or thermal_zone proc files

[user311982]

It appears to be a similar case, so I understand why you believe this thread may be a duplicate of that one, but I am using a different computer and I do not understand what the members posting on that thread are discussing, exactly. I am new to Linux and would like to continue using it, but preferably without the loud noise caused by my fan.