Thinkpads Forum

Hello,

Since a few days I am experimenting with Linux distributions. With every distribution my laptop gets very hot. At the moment I am using Ubuntu Mate. I have the same problem. Do you know how to solve this problem?

After installing some programs, the max temperature was 60C today.

Is your CPU dust free and working properly with fresh thermal paste?

Just a guess here, but it could be that the Ubuntu kernel doesn't provide graphics acceleration, thus over working the CPU in software rendering mode.

Most probably cause is a combination of a dusty fan and worn out thermal paste.

Ubuntu should support ati or intel gpus on T60s out of the box, as should any other major linux distro. You can run and see which driver is loaded at the configuration line.

Have you installed TLP and set the ATI to power saving mode?

brchan wrote:Most probably cause is a combination of a dusty fan and worn out thermal paste.

Ubuntu should support ati or intel gpus on T60s out of the box, as should any other major linux distro. You can run

Code: Select all

lshw -c video

and see which driver is loaded at the configuration line.

The driver is=i915
What does that mean?

Neil wrote:Is your CPU dust free and working properly with fresh thermal paste?

Just a guess here, but it could be that the Ubuntu kernel doesn't provide graphics acceleration, thus over working the CPU in software rendering mode.

Yes, it is. When I had Windows 7 it did not get so hot.

ThinkB wrote:The driver is=i915
What does that mean?

Looks like your T60 has integrated Intel graphics, so that's not likely the cause of the extra heat.

ThinkB wrote:...the max temperature was 60C today.

While a little high, I don't think that is high enough to be of concern. Are you having any trouble because of the temp?

BTW, where is the heat coming from? There are several sensors in a T60...CPU, APS, PCM, GPU and BAT. Where did you get the 60C reading?

[/quote]Looks like your T60 has integrated Intel graphics, so that's not likely the cause of the extra heat.

ThinkB wrote:...the max temperature was 60C today.

While a little high, I don't think that is high enough to be of concern. Are you having any trouble because of the temp?

BTW, where is the heat coming from? There are several sensors in a T60...CPU, APS, PCM, GPU and BAT. Where did you get the 60C reading?[/quote]

Here is a screenshot of Psensor: http://i.imgur.com/lLzknn0.png?1

Have you tried lighter window managers like icewm or openbox, or tried booting off of a lighter linux distro such as tiny core or even lubuntu? The ubuntu unity desktop is not known for being easy on older hardware. This might be taxing your hardware a lot more, thus making your temps higher. I can only think of incorrectly applied/bad thermal paste, or a defective heatsink, as other causes.

brchan wrote:Have you tried lighter window managers like icewm or openbox, or tried booting off of a lighter linux distro such as tiny core or even lubuntu? The ubuntu unity desktop is not known for being easy on older hardware. This might be taxing your hardware a lot more, thus making your temps higher. I can only think of incorrectly applied/bad thermal paste, or a defective heatsink, as other causes.

I am using Ubuntu Mate, which should be a light version of Ubuntu. When I was testing Linux Mint, I had the same problem. Maybe I should test Lubuntu too. But, the thing is that is was not a problem when I used Windows.

Windows 7 even with aero turned on is less resource hogging than unity or mate desktop in my experience. If you go to the synaptic manager and select and install openbox, you should be able to logout and log back in, with the option of specifying the new window manager to use.

brchan wrote:Windows 7 even with aero turned on is less resource hogging than unity or mate desktop in my experience.

+ 1.

I have yet to see a *nix distro where the machine runs cooler - by default - than in Windows.

ajkula66 wrote:

brchan wrote:Windows 7 even with aero turned on is less resource hogging than unity or mate desktop in my experience.

+ 1.

I have yet to see a *nix distro where the machine runs cooler - by default - than in Windows.

Can't say if it runs cooler than Windows, but my T60 (with T2400 and V5250!) runs at about 45°C for the CPU and 43°C for the GPU while doing light tasks, such as office and a bit of browsing on the forums. That's under Ubuntu 14.04. (Unity) You may argue that it's not default because I installed TLP and set the ATI to power saving - but I'm pretty sure you'd want to install the chipset and ATI drivers (if the T60 has an ATI) under Windows as well.

Of course, I am also assuming some fresh thermal paste.

600X wrote: Can't say if it runs cooler than Windows, but my T60 (with T2400 and V5250!) runs at about 45°C for the CPU and 43°C for the GPU while doing light tasks, such as office and a bit of browsing on the forums.

That's *very* impressive for such a machine.

That's under Ubuntu 14.04. (Unity) You may argue that it's not default because I installed TLP and set the ATI to power saving - but I'm pretty sure you'd want to install the chipset and ATI drivers (if the T60 has an ATI) under Windows as well.

Well, while not "default" it's not tweaked too heavily either. You definitely know your way about getting the temps down in *nix better than myself. With that said, I don't use any *buntu flavours.

Of course, I am also assuming some fresh thermal paste.

Well yeah...that's just sheer common sense...that many people sorely lack.

My T60 has a W500 heat sink with direct contact to the GPU. That makes quite a big difference. Additionally, I spread some thermal paste on top of the silver metal plate which connects the heat sink to the keyboard, thus transferring even more heat away from the GPU. (However, it can become quite messy) There are some other tweaks as well, but I think I shared most of them in my T60 cooling thread. I will also admit that after a few hours, temperatures will climb to 48°C for the CPU and 47°C for the GPU.

I have the feeling that perhaps people here don't know TLP? I think I am being given far too much credit here, because all I do really is copy and paste stuff into the terminal. Obviously, it helps to know what exactly needs to be copied and pasted.

Anyways, TLP basically enables all power saving features and specific ThinkPad features. It can be configured in a simple text file. You can read up on the details here: http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-lin ... ement.html

It really is as simple to set up as copying and pasting 4 lines into the terminal. What's best is that you don't have to configure it either, because it's already pre-configured to enable all power saving features. It can be installed on pretty much every machine, including non-ThinkPads.

The only thing that needs to be done on a T60 with ATI is setting it power saving mode while the AC adapter is plugged in. (On battery, it's already set to enter power saving mode) Ubuntu offers full OOTB support for the ATI (other distributions should as well), so after installing TLP, all you need to do is change a value from "high" to "low" in the TLP settings file and you're done.

60C is hot even for Linux, as suggested above start with repasting the CPU,

Linux programs that will help, TLP and thinkfan.

Diagnostic - powertop.