Fan runs at high speed after resuming from standby

[Guest]

I have an Acer Travelmate 6460-series laptop. When I put it into standby and
later (when it's cold) resume from standby, the fan runs at a high speed
instead of varying with CPU temperature. If I place a great deal of load on
the processor, it eventually gets hot enough to reach a high enough
temperature threshold to slow the fan down. This only happens if the laptop
has cooled down significantly since it was put into standby. If it's still
warm, it varies as expected.

Acer tell me it's a known XP issue, but I've been unable to locate this
information through the various online self-help systems on the Microsoft
websites. Is it more likely to be a BIOS issue?

 

[Diamontina Cocktail]

I have an Acer Travelmate 6460-series laptop. When I put it into standby
and
later (when it's cold) resume from standby, the fan runs at a high speed
instead of varying with CPU temperature. If I place a great deal of load
on
the processor, it eventually gets hot enough to reach a high enough
temperature threshold to slow the fan down. This only happens if the
laptop
has cooled down significantly since it was put into standby. If it's still
warm, it varies as expected.

Acer tell me it's a known XP issue, but I've been unable to locate this
information through the various online self-help systems on the Microsoft
websites. Is it more likely to be a BIOS issue?

To be honest, I have a laptop from 2002 that never had that problem but it
isn't an Acer. It had original XP and was updated by me to SP1 then SP2.
None of that fan business at any stage.

Why not just shut it down when not in use or use hibernate instead?

BTW, if you have the capacity on that laptop (and I don't know that laptop
at all) then you would prefer Vista. I have my new laptop set to "sleep"
when I close the lid. All closes down as if I turned it off and starts where
I left it when I open the lid and does it perfectly every time. I have found
Vista a lot better than XP in that way and also networking.

 

[Guest]

I want to be able to put this laptop running XP in standby for a while
without this annoying fan behaviour on resume. What I'd really like to know
is if anybody has had the same experience or if they know of a documented
known issue.

It is true that another manufacturer's laptop probably doesn't exhibit this
problem, that I could shut it down instead of using standby. Unfortunately
much of my software and the drivers aren't yet compatible with Vista.

 

[DL]

I've not had any such problems on a laptop with winxp.
Have you used only Acer updates for your drivers?
Tried updates from Acer for your chipset & other drivers.
Checked as to whether there is an Acer Bios update
If using AMD cool & quite checked AMD site?

 

[Guest]

I have encountered this behaviour on a few Acer laptops, TravelMate 6413 and
TravelMate 6463. I've got ALL the up-to-date chipset and device drivers from
Acer.

There are four ACPI temperature readings that I can find that are useful.
There's one for the HDD and each of the the Intel Cores. There is another
(for the GPU?) that normally varies with load, but after a standby/resume it
comes up with a fixed value, typically 27C for some reason. This fools the
system into running the fan at high speed.

Only if the machine is put under significant load does the temperature value
change: it suddenly goes from a constant value to varying with load again.

 

[Guest]

I have encountered this behaviour on a few Acer laptops, TravelMate 6413 and
TravelMate 6463. I've got ALL the up-to-date chipset and device drivers from
Acer.

There are four ACPI temperature readings that I can find that are useful.
There's one for the HDD and each of the the Intel Cores. There is another
(for the GPU?) that normally varies with load, but after a standby/resume it
comes up with a fixed value, typically 27C for some reason. This fools the
system into running the fan at high speed.

Only if the machine is put under significant load does the temperature value
change: it suddenly goes from a constant value to varying with load again.

While following the discussion and not having knowledgde nor an advice, have
I spent quite some time searching Microsoft -, Acer and other forums for a
possible match to your problem - with "absolute silencium" being the outcome.
If you find it of any interest, could I proceed, however would the make and
type of the motherboard be needed to do so.

Regards,
Ka2H

 

[Guest]

Ka2H,

I, too have searched for an answer extensively - on the Internet in general
as well as all over the Acer and Microsoft websites. It's been to Acer's
support people but although they were able to identify the problem and
claimed to have fixed it, it bahaves the same.

Thanks for your offer of help...

The computer in question is a laptop, so the mainboard in it is an Acer
motherboard. The machine is a UK-spec 6463WLMi, details of which are
available on the Acer website, under Notebooks / TravelMate 6460 >> Technical
Specifications. It has Intel Core 2 Duo @5500 with Intel 945 chipset and an
ATI X1300 GPU. Apart from the high-res screen, it's unremarkable.

Reinstalling XP from the original media, even without the Acer enhancements
still behaves the same way. >Sigh<

 

[Guest]

Ka2H,

I, too have searched for an answer extensively - on the Internet in general
as well as all over the Acer and Microsoft websites. It's been to Acer's
support people but although they were able to identify the problem and
claimed to have fixed it, it bahaves the same.

Thanks for your offer of help...

The computer in question is a laptop, so the mainboard in it is an Acer
motherboard. The machine is a UK-spec 6463WLMi, details of which are
available on the Acer website, under Notebooks / TravelMate 6460 >> Technical
Specifications. It has Intel Core 2 Duo @5500 with Intel 945 chipset and an
ATI X1300 GPU. Apart from the high-res screen, it's unremarkable.

Reinstalling XP from the original media, even without the Acer enhancements
still behaves the same way. >Sigh<

Firstly do I immediately admit that I’ve found no information which pertains
to your culprit in particular! And what came to my mind is that we don’t know
whether the problem is “born†with the notebook, or it has appeared later
(?). The latter could point towards a driver conflict or something.

The User’s Guide states that the TravelMate employs a power management
scheme that supports the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI),
and that Windows handles all power-saving chores. Which is in accordance with
regulations in the ACPI, which as well: "- defines interfaces that allow
Operating System-directed configuration and Power Management (OSPM) to be
proactive in its cooling policies.". However may the BIOS, Acer - and other
drivers (GPU?) involved in fan control as well be included in the (joint?)
venture of cooling fan control, as I see it.

So, with reference to your “Is it more likely to be a BIOS issue?†in your
first post, and the BIOS utility as written in the User’s Guide; “If you
encounter configuration problems, you may need to run it.â€, it might be an
idea to take a look.

I came across a Microsoft article which does not describe fan control as
such, but power control, “Windows XP and Advanced Power Management (APM)
Supportâ€:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307525/en-us

and what is interesting to read is the statement: “If a computer is a
multiprocessor system, Windows XP does not install APM support.†Note the
articles referred to with additional information about troubleshooting at the
bottom of the article. Given the culprit came along with your TravelMate,
this could explain why it’s behaving weird with regard to the fan speed and
resume from standby.

Another article, which I can’t access, is pointing in the same direction
regarding an Athalon: “Remember XP home only supports 1 processor so you are
only using 1 of the dual cores in a 32 ...â€

forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=186404&SiteID=1

There is an article on Kellys-Korner regarding another Acer problem:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_standby.htm#xp_acer

Although it is not relevant to the fan problem, is it interesting to see
BIOS being mentioned in the proposed resolution.

An article regarding another computer was describing an incorporated,
comprehensive power control and management tool. Presumably don’t the
TravelMate have a menu with such options included anywhere in the In Control
Panel, Power Options, or elsewhere.

Sorry, cheers,
Ka2H

 

[Guest]

Ka2H,

In response to your paricular observations, the problem has occurred on
three Acer TravelMate laptops, the last of which has been back to Acer's
support centre on a few occassions.

The problem occurred out of the box in all three cases, and so I can say
that it was born with the laptop. Applying newer and newer drivers, as
supplied on the Acer support website, has not cured the problem.

All the power management features and Microsoft ACPI drivers are loaded
without complaint.

The ACPI readings are visible with "SpeedFan", but the Acer board does not
support the control of these fans through that software. I can see that one
of these gets stuck at a fixed value (typically 27C) upon a resume and the
fan stays at a high speed. If the heat builds up under heavy load the value
suddenly changes, varying around 50-60C. At that moment, the fan starts
behaving itself too.

 

[Guest]

Ka2H,

In response to your paricular observations, the problem has occurred on
three Acer TravelMate laptops, the last of which has been back to Acer's
support centre on a few occassions.

The problem occurred out of the box in all three cases, and so I can say
that it was born with the laptop. Applying newer and newer drivers, as
supplied on the Acer support website, has not cured the problem.

All the power management features and Microsoft ACPI drivers are loaded
without complaint.

The ACPI readings are visible with "SpeedFan", but the Acer board does not
support the control of these fans through that software. I can see that one
of these gets stuck at a fixed value (typically 27C) upon a resume and the
fan stays at a high speed. If the heat builds up under heavy load the value
suddenly changes, varying around 50-60C. At that moment, the fan starts
behaving itself too.

Alan,

So, given:

- The Acer TravelMate laptops came out of the boxes with Windows XP installed
- No programs / drivers were installed by customer before the fan
mis-behaviour was observed

the PROBLEM, or bad design, as well is a part of the delivery ("free of
charge") from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) - Acer. As Acer
installed the XP from another company "as is", the OEM should adapt their
motherboard / design, in accordance with the ACPI, to the XP in all aspects,
instead of "hope for the best" with regard to how XP will handle power - and
thermal control. So from my point of view I'd say the resolution of this
problem is resting upon the OEM - Acer.

If there is any way to approach Acer with this problem, I'd would go for it,
not at least in mind the experience you have gained studying /
troubleshooting the issue.
The "Customers queries/complaints on products Acer Care Webmaster":

http://global.acer.com/about/webmaster.htm

might be the place to address the problem. And hope for the best, and I
would place no bets on an outcome.

Regards,
Ka2H

 

[Guest]

Ka2H,

Your analysis of the situation matches mine. With no other reports of the
same situation, though, I've not had particularly helpful responses from any
of the Acer contact points. Ah well. Thanks for your investigation and help.

 

[Guest]

Ka2H,

Your analysis of the situation matches mine. With no other reports of the
same situation, though, I've not had particularly helpful responses from any
of the Acer contact points. Ah well. Thanks for your investigation and help.

You are welcome, however am I really sorry that the outcome is not
successful, of a problem which most likely is a design bug of the thermal
control, carried out by Acer. Who's responsible for providing a fix as OEM.

Cheers,
Ka2H