X40 fan always on - what's your experience?

[tvdpad]

I find that the fan is almost constantly on even when I only do light work or don't use the computer at all. The noise from the fan spoils the picture somewhat on this otherwise excellent laptop. As I do a lot of work at night in silence, it's rather annoying.

I would be interested to hear the experiences of other X40 users.

My wireless card is on always, but I have found no difference whether it's turned on or not. There's usually minimal diskactivity when I work. Battery or not doesn't seem to make much difference either.

I have an X40 with a/b/g - 1.2 GHz - 512 MB.

PS. A utility for displaying the cpu/hd temperature can be found here:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/

[stinkypete]

I have a 1ghz, 512 with 802.11b. I notice the fan hardly EVER comes on, even after several hours of use. When it does come on, it will spin up then spin down or off a few seconds later.

I notice the pc hardly ever gets very warm either. I'm impressed...

[budder]

sitnkypete, you never upgraded the RAM, eh?

I find that my fan comes on very rarely, but when it does, it requires a sleep to shut it off. I've never had it shut itself off.

[em500]

The 1ghz is Ultra Low Voltage, while the 1.2ghz is Low Voltage. According to sandpile.org the typical powerconsumption of the 1ghz is 4-7W, while the 1.2ghz is 6-12W, that's quite a difference.

tvpad: can you force the CPU to lowest clock speed (600mhz) with Speedstep, and see if the fan stills runs?

[DavidNZ]

1.2, 512 here. Rarely comes on. When it does, usually for only a minute or two, then shuts off itself. Wireless never on.

[tvdpad]

The 1ghz is Ultra Low Voltage, while the 1.2ghz is Low Voltage. According to sandpile.org the typical powerconsumption of the 1ghz is 4-7W, while the 1.2ghz is 6-12W, that's quite a difference.

tvpad: can you force the CPU to lowest clock speed (600mhz) with Speedstep, and see if the fan stills runs?

I have it set for max. battery, and the clock speed is never above 600MHz. After about 20 min. of running close to idle the cpu temperature hovered around 38-39 C.

After starting a browser session with a large java applet the cpu temperature rose to 42 C for about 20 sec. This activated the fan. Once started it never stops, even after the system is left completely idle and temperature drops to 37 C.

It seems to me there's a problem. I wonder what software/driver controls the fan speed, if it's a bios issue or a defect.

[wiggling]

I have noticed similar behavior with my 1.2 GHz X40. The fan rarely comes on, but once on, it doesn't seem to shut off. I will try to contact IBM today (about the ethernet card issue) and ask them about this.

[RS_003]

Only comes on when I work on the AC and have 1.2 ghz speed.
Then also stays on. But hey, only @ half speed. So you really can't hear it unles you want to hear it.

Normal operation is super silent