OK, just for anyone elses potential help later on, I thought I'd post my follow up to what NOW seems like a happy system...
After many headaches and messing around and having my Sony Vaio only "mostly" work with Mepis 6, I finally came up with this: By default the processor (AMD Mobile Athlon 2000) runs FULL ON, ALL THE TIME. This results in temps around/above 80C most all of the time (I let it boot itself up, but waited a few minutes before logging in and I believe it was almost 90C), Which in turn forces automatic CPU Throttling (NOT the same thing as lowering the clock speed) which in turn Makes the thing DOGGEDLY SLOW. It still stays REALLY hot. Athcool is handy and does something like letting the processor idle down during idle times, but it doesn't actually drop the clock speed. This usually drops the temp to mid-low 70C's with nothing going on and if you don't ask for several things at once (like I do) it works good. If you have several browser tabs, an html editor, a podcatcher, etc, etc going and you try to do a couple things at once, temps start to go above 80C. At that point, we return to the throttling/lagging scenario( which becomes exponentially worse because now you're trying to do all that work you started with but with less processing power). I don't know what I screwed up before trying the power management packages, but I tried installing powernowd again today and BINGO! Now it sounds and runs like Windows(in this particular aspect, that's a GOOD thing). I can hear the fan running considerably slower, the speed is ranging anywhere from 400-1667MHZ, and the temps are generally in the low 70's, or even down in the 60's if I don't ask for serious processing... KSensors has been invaluable for this as it shows my current speed, load, CPU temp, ram usage, etc. in realtime. Ahh, now to try and attack ndiswrapper and get one of my wireless cards to work... yuck. (anyone know a nice straight-forward simple writeup?) Levi (: On 5/4/06, Levi Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Well, that is part of the problem. Basically I wasn't looking at the temps and such previously, but it sure seems like more recently that I noticed it slowing down, and that's what prompted my looking into the speeds,etc. Mine is a Vaio, so made by Quanta. As near as I can tell, my processor should stay below around 90C, though I couldn't find exact specs for the mobile version. So, the throttling kicking in around 80C sounds fairly reasonable. The fan sounds and feels just the same as always. Ha, 100F, that's like before I turn it on! (: I remember a time when an IT department I worked in loaned out laptops to the corporation. We had some lady come back with 3rd degree burns cause somehow she was using it on her lap with some sort of spandex and failed to realize it was that warm???? Anyway, who knows, maybe my fan is just slowing down an amount imperceptible to me, yet enough to affect the laptop. No... That can't be cause Windows still runs just fine and listening to the fan speed, it normally keeps it WAY cooler than Linux usually gets. (Windows does kick the fan up if I'm like rendering a video or something intensive). Dunno, who knows what kernel changes or what not I'm installing with the latest and greatest versions of Debian/Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Mepis... (: Thanks! Levi On 5/4/06, DJA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Levi Smith wrote: > > At this point, I'm not even sure what it is I'm trying to accomplish > > anymore. > > I'd like a "meter" like ksensors that told me what my throttling is > at. > > But, I would really just like to keep it from getting so warm and/or > > throttling back. > > Being able to drop the speed back when not needed to help with temps > and > > power would be a nice add-on... > > > > Levi > > Personally, I don't recommend messing with either fan or CPU throttling > unless ACPI isn't doing its job. I think determining that is your first > priority. CPU throttle and fan speed trip points are set my the maker of > the laptop (the ODM) and reflected in the DSDT info - and, if ACPI is > installed and working on the machine, in /proc/acpi. > > It seems your perception of how warm the machine should run is purely > subjective at this point. Is the CPU temp running outside of AMD's > specs? Athlons are not exactly cool CPU's, even their mobile parts. > Laptops run warm to hot as a matter of course. And usually, the faster > the CPU, the hotter your lap's gonna get. Even under nominal operating > conditions. 100 deg. F while not too hot, is still going to warm yer > shorts. > > ACPI is designed to keep the laptop running within parameters, and if > it's working properly, there should be no need to supplement it with > other less proven "solutions". OTOH, if ACPI is not doing its job, you > need to determine why, and try to fix it. > > -- > Best Regards, > ~DJA. > > > -- > [email protected] > http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list >
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