New HTPC. CPU Fan Constantly Runs at Full Speed. Normal Behavior?

Greetings,

I built my first HTPC. When I start the computer, the CPU fan ramps up to full speeds and stays at that speed. The fan speed does not seem to be correlated to the temperature of the CPU (it constantly hums at full speed).

I tried running lm-sensors but the Core i3 CPU is not yet supported.

Is this normal behavior for the CPU fan? I did not update the BIOS and wondering if that would help turn on any fan speed controller/regulator.

Any help is much appreciated.

Here are the specs:

MB: Intel DH57JG
Processor: Intel Core i3 + stock CPU fan
RAM: PNY 2x2GB MD4096KD3-1600-X8 RT
PSU: Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D
Case: Lian Li PC-Q07
Tuner: SiliconDust HDHomerun
OS: Ubuntu 10.10 + MythTV


Thanks!

Greetings All,

Thanks for your replies.

@spivonious -- The BIOS pages do not provide temperature readings. lm-sensors does not support my CPU (Core i3) yet. I have not tried acpi, but will try. Any additional suggestions on how I can monitor temperatures and fan speed on an Ubuntu box?

@bryansj -- I will double check the plug I used. I can't remember if I used "J" or "L". Also, I did not remove any tape from the heat sink at all, so this could be prime factor for the behavior I am seeing. Thanks for this suggestion. I will remove the tape and perhaps use a different aftermarket thermal paste and report back here on the results.

@GuyClinch -- As ilovejedd also said, realtemp and argus monitor will not work for me because I am using Ubuntu as my OS and not Windows. Also, as I indicated above, I did not remove any tape off the thermal paste on the heatsink, so that may be the prime culprit here, but I am hearing from you that I should consider an alternative heatsink/fan. Any suggestions on ones you like?

@ilovejedd -- I checked the BIOS pages and, though there is a page for hardware monitoring, there is no listing of temperatures or fan speeds. There is an updated BIOS that was release (my MB has an older BIOS version). Perhaps flashing the BIOS will update the hardware monitoring pages to provide that info. I will do so and report back.

Again, thanks for your replies. I will try the suggestions listed and report back.

@keith.baldie@blu -- I can't remember the BIOS version, but it is NOT 0537. I was planning to update the BIOS tonight when I got home from work, but now it seems I should hold off. I may update it to version 0396 if the currently installed version is even older than that. What's installed is the stock BIOS. I hadn't updated it since I purchased it. Thanks for your post...and warning.

Here is what I've done:

(a) Rechecked the installation of the heatsink/fan on the motherboard. It is seated and installed correctly.

(b) Rechecked the fan plug on the motherboard fan header. It is correctly plugged into the "L" header location. I also double checked all other cable installations on the motherboard.

(c) BIOS is at version 0396. I tried updating the BIOS to the latest version 0537, but for some reason the system would not update the BIOS. I tried using the F7 flash update method and the ISO update methods using a USB flash drive. Both methods end up "hanging" and I have to hard shutdown to get out of the update screens. It throws a "checksum" error but the BIOS does not seem to be corrupted. Any ideas on why this is occurring and any solutions is appreciated.

(d) Updated the kernel to the latest version 2.6.35.x.

(e) Ran lm-sensors and OpenHardwareMonitor (with Mono) and neither app is compatible with the MB + CPU combination I have. Additionally, the BIOS pages has a section for hardware (temp and fan speed) monitoring, but when I arrow down to that link and click enter, nothing happens and there is no listing of temperatures or fan speeds. Is this normal for this MB + CPU, that you cannot see temps or fan speeds in the BIOS?

So, I'm still at square one. I cannot monitor nor control temperatures and fan speeds and the fan is rotating at full speed constantly.

I'd like to understand if this is normal behavior for this build, so if anyone has the same combination of MB + CPU + OS (DH57JG + Core i3 + Ubuntu 10.10), please post here your build's behavior.

Thanks!

@diverge -- I double checked and it is plugged into the correct CPU header. It's a 4-pin header.

@DaveShap777 -- No, I have not resolved this issue. The CPU fan eventually ramps up to full speed and stays there.

I am learning that with this combination of OS + MB + CPU, there are limits to what you can do. For example, the section of the BIOS where you can monitor temperature and fan speed is inaccessible. Also, you cannot flash the BIOS using the defined procedures that Intel has published. It is due to Ubuntu (or rather Linux) being installed with this MB + CPU combination. If I had Windows installed, I would be able to access the BIOS section to monitor temperature and fan speed (and be able to control the fan speed based on the temperature reading of the CPU) and also flash the BIOS using the procedures published by Intel.

I may break down and purchase Windows at some point, but for now I'm going to stick with Ubuntu and put up with the fan speed control issue. The computer works beautifully otherwise (other than some other minor issues/annoyances I'm having with Ubuntu and the fact that Netflix doesn't "yet" support Linux). I've ripped a bunch of Blu-ray movies and it plays beautifully through my HDTV.

I will also add that I installed and played around with Mythbuntu but it's a cluster-f*ck of a system. It's really not a system that is ready for prime time. I know there are people that rave about MythTV, but it's really a system that is developed by coders for coders. It's not a system for anyone who just wants to record a show and enjoy watching it.

I spent more time in the logs trying to figure out why it crashed for the 5th time that day and then in the config files tweaking some setting or another. I even messed with various splitters and cable lengths to see if that was causing the crashes. Actually being able to sit back, record a show and watch it took up a minority of my time so I finally gave up. I've uninstalled it and will never go back. I'm going to try XBMC and Freevo to see if they are more stable and easier to manage/baby.

@spivonious -- The procedure you describe would not work on my system. In fact, both the F7 bios flash method nor creating a bootable ISO worked on my system. As I understand it, neither method will work on a system with Linux installed. On my system, both the F7 and bootable ISO methods end up "hanging" with no BIOS update made.

Based on Google searches (I have not yet tried it on my system), you have to create a USB drive with a bootable DOS OS on it (like FreeDOS) and install the BIOS update onto it, mount the OS and then go through the BIOS flash process.

When I tried the F7 method, I gave it a good 15-20 minutes and nothing happened. I got to the screen where I select the .bio file and start the update process. It's at that point that nothing would happen. It froze at that point.

The only file I had on the USB stick was the bio file.

I will give it another try and see how it goes.

Thanks.