# question about speedfan on my laptop



## shadow1515 (Jan 3, 2007)

I'm running SeedFan to try to fix a problem I've been having with my laptop...but it doesn't even see any fans. What does that mean?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi,

The laptop fans are not the standard case fans that SpeedFan can control. If you want to control the fans, you will either have to do it in the BIOS if there is an option, or use a utility provided by the manufacturer.

What is the exact model? And what problem are you having with it? Is it overheating? There are some easy fixes to that.


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## shadow1515 (Jan 3, 2007)

My laptop is a Gateway 7422GX. I had initially though it might be overheating, but it's not. I have had overheating problems before and fixed them by cleaning out my fan areas with compressed air. Now, the computer doesn't even get hot...the fans will randomly get very loud and then it turns itself off a few seconds later. 

I cleaned it out again, but there was no dust in there this time. I even got a cooling pad and SpeedFan to cool some more and monitor my temperatures. The CPU never goes above 30 degrees anymore (and very rarely above 25) and the HDD sits around 30-40 degrees on average. Now when it turns itself off, it's still cool to the touch, so I'm fairly certain that nothing is overheating. 

Also, if I run on battery power the problem goes away, I assume due to altered cooling/power conservation priorities, so what I've been trying to do is impose those same priorities when the PC is plugged in as well. Power Management in the Control Panel is uselessly simple, and my BIOS has no options pertaining to this so I've been looking for a utility to help me out.

If it helps, I did have another anamolous occurence right before this started. I installed Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and once or twice the game would freeze and all the colors on my screen would smear. This was rare, but a common occurence was that the game would minimize itself and a notice would pop up saying that my video card had failed to respond to the drivers, so it had been reset. These problems just dissapeared after about a week, and then 2 weeks or so later is when my laptop started turning itself off. I don't know if they could be connected; can a video card problem cause a computer to shut itself off and kick the fans into overdrive?


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

Try this program.
http://www.pbus-167.com/


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

See if it overheats if you run it with the power scheme on Portable/Laptop. Also, try running it on AC power with the battery out. 

With it on battery, it is using AMD PowerNow! to throttle the processor down to 800 MHz. That has a Mobile AMD Athlon 64, and it is one of the hotter Mobile AMD processors.

Download Mobilemeter from my sig and post the temps it reports.


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## shadow1515 (Jan 3, 2007)

It reports the same temperature as SpeeFan does for my hard drive (about 35 degrees on average) and cannot read my CPU temperature (but SpeedFan claims it can...why is that?). 

I never knew how PowerNow! worked...is there any utility that can throttle my clock speed down to whatever value I choose? It seems like maybe the reason I'm not shutting down unplugged is simply due to the decreased clock speed, so maybe I could keep turning it down in increments until my problems vanish. I don't do any heavy gaming anyway; the most resource-intensive app I run is probably Photoshop.


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## shadow1515 (Jan 3, 2007)

Well, I've got a bit of new information now.

First of all, I took the battery out, and so far my computer has run without shutting down. It has gone this long before since the issue started, but it's a rare occasion, so I'm going to call it a tentative victory. 

Second, I downloaded the AMD PowerNow! Dashboard utility, and I have an interesting result. When I try to run it, it says, "There is no driver available for accessing AMD processor information," and tells me to try reinstalling. Huge surprise, a reinstallation doesn't help. I know I must have the drivers that enable PowerNow! because mobilemeter confirms that my CPU does indeed throttle down to 833 MHz when I'm on battery power. Is this perhaps telling, or does that utility just have problems?

Also, and this may be important, I've found a spot where my computer actually is getting hot, and it's not actually anywhere on my computer. It's in the lower center of my monitor. The computer body below it is perfectly cool (in fact there is a fan port below it, and the fan is doing its job admirably) but the lower monitor basically right on the axis on which it pivots to open and close is getting very hot. For the last few months, my monitor backlight has flickered on and off sometimes when I raise it, but I assumed that the sensor that detects whether the laptop is open or closed was just having problems. A few wiggles always sorted it out (and this still works). But now that I feel that the center, where I assume the backlight is, is overheating I wonder if that might be part of the issue.

EDIT: I spoke too soon. The fans flipped out and the computer shut down even with no battery in. Also, I noticed that MobileMeter reported a clock speed of 833 MHz with the battery removed, just as if I was running it on battery power. So the lower clock speed isn't what prevents it from shutting down when I'm on battery power.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

The reduced CPU speed creates less heat. In addition, the battery is a large source of heat. With the battery removed and the power scheme on Portable/Laptop, you should be all set. If you still have problems, you can get a cooling pad.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834999336
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835192013


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## shadow1515 (Jan 3, 2007)

I guess you posted right before I submitted my edit...

The computer eventually did shut itself down with the battery out, and even more strange, was running at the same reduced clock speed as if I had been running on battery power.

I am already using a cooling pad. Nothing in the body of the computer even gets warm, it's the spot right at the center bottom of the monitor that seems to be getting hot.

And also, does power scheme actually do anything? It looks like all it does is set how long the computer will wait before turning off hard disks, turning off monitor, etc. That wouldn't help me while I'm using the computer. Sometimes it shuts itself off just as I'm starting it up after being off all night.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

If you select Home/Office Desk, the processor will run at full speed on AC power and at a lower speed on battery. If you run it on Portable/Laptop, it will run at the reduced speed all the time. If you set it on Always On, it will run at full speed all the time.

What were the temperatures reported by MobileMeter and/or SpeedFan?


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## fishfry (May 30, 2007)

I have had similar problems with my 7422GX, and I think I have found a way to prevent the shutdowns. It's not totally convenient but it's better than spending 10 minutes booting and opening all my programs only to see the black screen of death and then do it all over again. Anyway - here's my hypothesis. I cannot guarantee it, but it has enabled me to go for more than a week of heavy usage without an incident, which was virtually impossible before. Again, it's just a hypothesis, but give it a try.
Based on what patterns I could see in the sudden shutdowns, I wondered if maybe a particular usage pattern was causing the laptop's internal temperature to rise at a rate that caught the heat sensor off guard. I decided to try keeping the power utilization above or below this "magic" rate. I've read that the processor of this particular laptop runs much faster when plugged in, so I tried using an external monitor so the LCD could shut off and reduce the total power draw. When running on battery, I was able to use the built-in LCD because the processor was drawing less power. However, running plugged in with no external monitor available proved to be trickier. In this case, I tried keeping the power draw ABOVE the "magic" rate. I am a programmer, so I wrote a simple program to keep the CPU at least 75% utilized at all times. Yes, it sounds crazy, but this laptop is fast enough anyways that it was still very usable. I'm currently playing with the percentage to see how low I can go. Hope this works for others.


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## shadow1515 (Jan 3, 2007)

That seems reasonable. Mine still messes up more than I'd like on an external monitor, but less than if I wasn't using one. I've decided that it's definitely a power management issue, and not so much a heat issue (hence processor usage affecting it), but the source does seem to be in the graphics card/monitor (hence an external monitor helping). The monitor on the laptop is pretty low quality, as after only two years of owning it the hinges have started to crack and the backlight flickers on and off. Also, the whole "overheating" issue began immediately after I started having some weird graphics card error messages telling me that the graphics card had stopped responding to the drivers.

Whatever...I bought a new desktop so it's not crucial anymore, but I really liked that laptop so I will probably take it somewhere (but not to Gateway) to get it fixed sometime. I'm just afraid that it will cost $300+.


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## fishfry (May 30, 2007)

I have attached my program for adding artificial load to the CPU. It's not the prettiest solution in the world but it worked for me without buying anything or adding hardware. The zip file includes the java source and an executable jar file. 
->>>> UPDATE <<<< - the file attached to this post is incorrect. Please see a subsequent post for the correct file.


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## fishfry (May 30, 2007)

*Re: question about speedfan on my laptop - correct zip file*

Here is the correct zip file for adding CPU load. The spinner increases or decreases the CPU percentage. Note that you must have a java runtime environment 1.4 or greater installed. If the executable jar file doesn't work (just double-click on the .jar file), you can download the latest JRE from java.com


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## amirnabilkamel (May 4, 2008)

Goshray:...that file really works...
I had my laptop sent 4 times to be fixed at Betbuy and it would run OK for 3 months and then...:upset: back it goes...
I set mine to 80 percent and it's working fine for now...I'll keep this post updated if it crashes on me but so far so good. I'm not using an external monitor but it seems to work now.
Thanks again...


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## clk_rider (Mar 19, 2008)

how do i use that file? could someone please guide me on that... thanks


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## amirnabilkamel (May 4, 2008)

*On to plan B...arctic sliver*

I take that back...:sigh:
Here is the catch, when the CPU clock goes up to 1600 or 2200 Mhz, that's when it goes Haywire...:upset:
Solution: change your power plan to power saver, that sets your clock speed to 802 Mhz which won't make it shut down.
I am getting arctic silver today and I plan on doing open heart surgery on my laptop, I'll post my results after I do that.
Hunch:4-dontkno...Well, first of all, it happened every couple of months under warranty and they would fix it, 3 times in a row in my second year. My closest guess is bad conduction/convection.

Oh and the work load on the CPU..helps only temporarily:embarased, instead of shutting down in seconds, it takes it minutes...


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## fishfry (May 30, 2007)

Your results may vary; for me it eliminated the crashes even when running for days at a time. As far as how to use the file - download the .zip file and unzip it. Inside the .zip file there is a file that ends in .jar. Double-click (open) this file. If you have a Java runtime environment, the tool should launch. If your computer doesn't know what to do with the file, you probably don't have a Java runtime environment installed. In that case, you can get one at java.com.


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## amirnabilkamel (May 4, 2008)

*Arctic Silver baby ray:*

Well, I'm not going to say it works till a week passes but...here's the scoop.
I opened up my laptop from the back, took out all screws, removed my hard drive and took out a screw underneath...removed the screen (screws under rubber stops-don't know if this helps..) then flipped my screen flat with my keyboard and popped out the hinge covers, removed the key features plastic tab......sorry too much work...removed the keyboard, removed a metal sheet covering the heat sink with it's 2 fans...then removed the heat sink...phew

It was a lot of work and here is the diagnosis...the ATi chipset doesn't have a fan at all..it's got a silver heat sink. So all those who claim that it's the problem...I believe otherwise...
The heat sink in the back is connected to 2 fans (you can see the vents for them when you look at the back of your laptop which were clean when I opened it up - forget about the pseudo vent on the side) and the copper heat sink connected to both of them covers up the CPU die. The CPU is covered up with a non conductive tape to prevent short circuiting the CPU if too much paste is used. I cleaned off the paste from the die and heat sink, screwed back everything after applying Arctic Silver to the die and heat sink...very minimal and don't over do it...
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100012)
After putting everything back together and turning on the computer...I switched back to performance mode (Power saver was my old setting so my clock won't go over 802 Mhz, now it's back at full steam 2200 Mhz).
I used the CPU pegger to load the CPU to 60% and I played HD wmv videos downloaded from www.microsoft.com and it worked for hours this time on my desk. The CPU load was 90-100% for over an hour (previously, the computer would shut down while it's still loading windows...)
This is all day one..so I'm not going to boast about it. There is a catch though, mark your screws....not all of them are the same size...some are color coded too. I hope this helps all you guys out there because it's not so practical to use a laptop as a desktop to make it work...desktops are cheaper..way cheaper...and arctic silver is dust cheap...

Enjoy :wave:


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## amirnabilkamel (May 4, 2008)

*Day #2*

Still working fine...no shutdowns yet...:1angel:keep praying..


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## amirnabilkamel (May 4, 2008)

*Updates..*

My update is nothing new..so far so good:1angel:..day #3 no change in status..working full power no shut downs so far...if this keeps up for a week, this might be the solution everyone's been looking for...:wink:
I had some problems with my DVD drive, it was detectable but bad drivers on windows..I found a thread for it and I got it to work now
http://www.thetechguide.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48149

So my computer is now working A OK...


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## amirnabilkamel (May 4, 2008)

*It works..*

Almost a week now..yeah, it's safe to say my solution works:1angel:...But who would dare to dissect his laptop:4-thatsba...
I hope this wraps up this forum....thanks guys..:wave:


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## ssommers (May 20, 2008)

I dared do it!

My laptop was doing exactly the same thing over the past couple of weeks - Shutting down without any warning. Thought it was the HD overheating. I got a cool pad & it still was shutting down. Finally caught the processor overheating by using SpeedFan!

I went and bought a tube of Arctic Silver Ceramique at Radio Shack and spent 4 hours this morning swearing at screws. Found out that I really only had to remove the battery, take the screen hinge off, pop off the keyboard and remove the metal plate covering the processor to get to the heat sink. I scraped off the sticky tape (yeah, real quality there!), smeared the Arctic Silver on and put it all back together.

Now I have it running a virus scan at full speed without the cool pad. The fans are working nicely. The processor is staying in the 75-95 Deg F range.

Thank you so much for posting your entire experience! I'd have been in really deep doo-doo in a few more days if I hadn't found your posting.

ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:


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## amirnabilkamel (May 4, 2008)

*Still up and running..*

My computer is still up and running...no problems here till this day.:1angel:
actually I'm sending this from my laptop now at high performance...I just watched 2 days ago the Bourne trilogy on my laptop and the fans were running most of the time..:sigh:I thought it would be another bummer especially after watching 5 series 24 season 6...the fans were running all the time, nothing loud but just running. After 7 hours of running I closed them down...and the fans turned off after a couple of minutes.... Alleluyia ray:. I forgot what it was like to have a normal laptop under such a load that I wouldn't dare to do in quite a long time.

The question that I don't know till this day is, are they using cheap paste (instead of arctic silver) or is it a faulty design? since everyone has been under warranty we didn't have to worry about it, but in 3 months time...everything starts to act up again..time will only prove.:laugh:

God only knows I hate doing that open heart surgery for my laptop....:tongue:


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## ssommers (May 20, 2008)

I don't know what they're using to originally affix the heat sink, but it didn't look like any heat sink paste I've ever used. It looked more like a clear gel glue. It still stuck well, but there was probably a layer of the gel next to the processor that was cooked.

My laptop is about 2.5 yrs old, definitely out of warranty, and 2 weeks ago was the first time that the shutting down problem happened. I think the gel had just aged to the point of not working, but my power cord problem (just replaced it last Thursday) & a problem with AVG (corrupted file that made my system run at 100% for hours on end) could have made it worse. When I fixed both of those, proved the fans were running and it was still shutting down, I knew I was looking at the heat sink thanks to this thread.

I don't have an IT person at work & I couldn't afford the time to send my laptop out for repair. And I'm an Electrical Engineer, so I had the tools & knowledge to go do the repair at home.

This repair is not for the faint of heart! Getting the hinge covers off was the worst! There were several points where I was certain that I was going to break the plastic, but it was more flexible than it looked. I'd hate to have to open it up again, but I will if necessary. At least now I know exactly which screws to remove - it's only 2 on the back side of the case and the rest are under the plastic cover & keyboard. (Wish I could install an open heart zipper!)

If I can run Autocad Inventor at full speed AND look at the TGIFriday's website (which sucks 100% CPU for a good long time) at the same time AND not shut down for an entire day, I'll declare it fixed.

Thanks!


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## ssommers (May 20, 2008)

YES!!!! It works!
No more shutdowns even when I'm running at full speed with 100% CPU and no more cool pad.
Doing the Snoopy Happy Dance!

ray: :4-clap: :4-cheers:


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Most manufacturers provide a downloadable service manual (not the user manual) which details exactly how to take them apart and it what order to do it. Makes getting to the guts of it so much easier. Might want to google your model and service manual and you might find it. Very good thing to have, and you just may need it at some future point.


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## DECJ1964 (Jan 3, 2009)

I am a little late on this thread but have had the same problem with my Gateway 7422 GX for over two years. I have had it in and out of the computer shop and talked to numerous technicians with no luck. I just downloaded the zip file and am going to get some artic silver in the morning. 
In the meantime, I went out and bought a:
Toshiba 
Model-Satellite L355D
Processor- AMD Turion(tm) 64x2 Mobile Technology TL-60 2.00 GHz
Memory (RAM)- 2 GB
System Type 32-bit Operating System

Windows Vista Home Premium 
Service Pack 1

If I can get the same results as everyone else with the Artic Silver I will be one happy customer with two decent laptops.


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## bri_guy (Feb 15, 2010)

I had a friend help me out on this with my gateway 7422. My power cord was bad and we had to apply artic silver. Works great now. Thanks for all of the useful info especially that artic silver tip. The cpu pegger did nothing for mine. I also noticed that the computer doesn't get hot anymore...artic silver is great!


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## Shugotenshi (Aug 19, 2010)

SUCCESS!!! After removing ALL of that minty-green chalk they call thermal compound, I applied the Arctic Silver 5, reassembled and haven't had an severe overheat or random shutdown since then.


The patient in question is:

Gateway 7422GX Notebook
2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64-bit 3400+ Mobile Processor
1 GB of RAM

Running: Windows XP Professional 32-bit Service Pack 2


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