Martin Ewing wrote:
Klaasjan Brand wrote:
On 7/10/06, *Martin Ewing* <ewing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ewing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
I am running 2.6.17-1.2145_FC5 on an Athlon XP2000+ using
athcool. On
previous kernels, my CPU temperature was about 39 C with athcool
on or
50 C with athcool off. That was really nice, allowing me to run a
slow
fan, etc. I had no stability problems.
With the present kernel and athcool on, I get 46 C, rising to ~50
C with
athcool off.
Maybe there's some process hogging the CPU so it runs hotter? Did you
try with athcool off?
Klaasjan
Exact same setup, zero apparent load factor. (As I said, Athcool off
--> ~50 C with any kernel.)
I had a similar problem with older kernels after using a USB drive and
then unmounting and disconnecting it. Apparently (WAG), the USB
driver keeps scanning the ports fast enough to prevent the Athlon from
sleeping. Maybe the 2.6.17 kernel does this all the time.
Martin
I have narrowed down the problem to the USB area, and submitted as
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=198264 . It turned
out to be a lot easier to characterize the problem by monitoring actual
120 VAC power of my system using a "Kilawatt" device instead of CPU
temperature. Quick results for my system:
Athcool off: 167 W
Athcool on: 122 W (when operating normally)
USB device(s) plugged in: 142 W (no I/O or visible CPU activity)
Once power jumps to 142 W, you need to reboot to get back to 122 W.
The Athlon CPU power saving feature can give you a significantly cooler
running system. Shame that the USB driver seems to break it, at least
partly.
Martin
