I have a Dell Inspiron 7610 (64GB Ram/4TB m.2) running EndeavourOS with the latest updates and Kernel (6.9.3). It has been a great workstation and Linux has allowed me to dump Windows completely for my work.
Around April of 2024 I noticed that my two fans would go to max randomly and never slow down. When I would restart Dell’s Diagnostic BIOS would report that Fan 2 Failed to Respond. However, Dell’s BIOS Diagnostics always report both fans working properly.
Upon rebooting, the computer will function fine for hours or days but then suddenly go to max. NOTE: When the fans go to max it does occur under load (compiling, local AI, Photoshop, etc). Not all the time, but randomly. However, they never randomly go to max at idle speed.
I cleaned both fans and checked for debris, but I could find nothing physically wrong with them.
Is there anything in the recent kernels that would cause this kind of issue? I am not running any fan control software (I’m happy to let Dell’s BIOS handle the temps/fans). With Dell’s BIOS Diagnostic reporting the fans as good, I wondered about something the recent kernals.
Luckily, the fans are cheap and easy to replace, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a kernel issue before I replaced them.
I experienced the similar situation on my Inspiron 3583, but it happened while on MX Linux (regular release, not AHS).
I guess that might be the case with BIOS, but the latest BIOS updates have been isued in April.
Thank you for replying! I do have the latest BIOS installed which I did right after it was released. It did cross my mind that maybe the BIOS was the cause of the fan issue, but I have not seen any other complaints about that BIOS release and having fan issues. Dell is far from perfect, but in the past they have posted BIOS updates when a release had a bug.
If you have any other suggestions I would welcome them.
Have you tried the built in Preboot Diagnostic Test?
It may show anomolies. You can also look for how the fan is acting with low cpu usage versus high cpu usage. That could help ascertain, or rule out the problem. I think there are several diagnostic apps, but unfortunately most are for windows. The one below is (should be) built in.
I wonder if it’s worth checking running temperatures when it happens, in case the fans are correctly responsive. Perhaps they’re not seated correctly for example, or there is a cooling issue.
Thank you for replying! I did do the Preboot Diagnostic Test in the Dell BIOS and it reports no hardware issues. I even did the thorough on the entire system and then just on the fans. Still reported as good.
I don’t have Windows on the laptop anymore once Linux worked so well, and Dell won’t help you at all with Linux (unless it is one of their Linux based laptops).
Thanks for replying! I too thought that was a good idea, but I ran into a problem. I was never quite able to read the fan speeds right in most of the sensor type applications. It looked like I needed to use i8kutil, but there were multiple versions and I never was sure what to install to make it work.
Since, the BIOS seemed to controlling the fans/temps I never gave it much thought.
However, I did make a discovery that surprised me. While lm_sensors had trouble reading my fans (as other apps did as well), I found Hardinfo2 (from the AUR) could read them perfectly! Since so many others could not, I was shocked that Hardinfo2 could.
When I fans were spinning high because of compiling, local AI stuff, or even some game playing I could read the fans with Hardinfo2. Both seemed find and I could watch them spin up or down using Hardinfo2.
I noticed that when the fans would go to max Hardinfo2 could no longer read the fan speeds (they would report 0 rpm even though there were blasting away).
This is interesting. I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but it certainly seems to be a discontinuity between the systems awareness of the fan, and what the fan is actually doing.
Thank you all for replying to me! I apologize for the delay in replying but work/kids/elderly mother have just overwhelmed me lately.
Dell released a new BIOS just a day or so from my last post here and that seems to have resolved the issue. I read the BIOS notes from DELL and it didn’t mention anything about the fans. However, I have always felt DELL doesn’t give a detailed list of fixes they have made to any of their updates. Though I appreciate they update their products regularly even if they are a few years old.
Just an update: Not long after I posted about the newest BIOS seemingly fixing my problem. The fans went max again. Tell me life doesn’t have a sense of humor.
I do have a new observation to share. After Plasma 6.1 I switched from Wayland back to Xorg because of terrible stutter after Plasma 6.1 on Wayland. Plasma 6.05 and Wayland was smooth as silk with animated wallpapers and 10 virtual desktops. After 6.1 it was terrible.
However, Plasma 6.1 and Xorg is smooth as silk with animated wallpapers and 10 virtual desktops. Also, I had no issues with fans maxing out using Xorg. As soon as I went back to using Wayland I had max fans within hours.
Oh, I should mention my house is built on an Indian burial ground, next to a pet cemetery, and the site of three(!) John Denver Christmas specials. (Kidding, Simpsons reference).
