Why is my laptop getting hot using Ubuntu

Question

I switched from Win7 to Ubuntu and found that my laptop is getting too hot. (very hot). When I was using Win7, it was very nice, cool.

Why this is happening and how do I fix it.

details:

Lenovo G570; Ubuntu 11.10 32-bit

Solution 1

There are several issues with overheating in 11.10. At least most of those are fixed in Precise (which will become 12.04). I had similar issues with all my computers on 11.10, but never since. (Never before 11.10 either).

If you really want to get into it, you can try upgrading your kernel. Or maybe you'll rather want to upgrade to 12.04 Beta 1 on the first of March. Of course, you could always download it now and try it in a memory stick or something, just to confirm that all the issues have been resolved. They should.

Solution 2

Assuming you have an Intel based system like my Lenovo X220 you could try appending i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 to your boot command line, which works for me. YMMV

Comments

[3nrique0]

I changed the window manager for something lighter and more efficient like e17 or xfce, it works pretty nice on my old eeepc. You can install another window manager and choose the one you want to use before loging in.

[Surya]

Upgrading kernel.. well, how could I do that. I think my current kernel is v3 (not sure). To what version should I upgrade and how stable it is on other functionality

[Surya]

As upgrading kernel is very big deal, will that clearly fix this error ??

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad]

Upgrading the kernel isn't such a big deal, since there's no dependencies to worry about. But I would probably suggest just waiting a little while and upgrading to 12.04. It should fix it. This has never been an issue with Ubuntu before 11.10, and I haven't heard anyone complaining about it in Precise. 11.10 was a very special version in many ways. There were extremely large system changes in that version.

[Surya]

I even use Intel; its 2nd Gen i5; However, I thought to use Win7 until its fixed ..