Login at Kodi Home

**seth.feinberg** · 2014-02-15, 19:24

I just recently built a HTPC running openelec with an i3-3225. I've been having issues with it making more noise than i'd like but it really became an issue when I copied over the guisettings.xml from another installation.

Right now it reads a CPU temp of 145F but CPU Usage of: CPU0 0% CPU1 0% CPU2 15% CPU3 0%. obviously these numbers fluctuate constantly by small amounts but thats roughly where they are. I have 7462/7701MB of free memory as well.

Here is a debug log: http://pastebin.com/HHy0z27c

If anyone has any insight as to why its overheating despite the fact that the system doesn't seem to be all that taxed I'd be very grateful. Thank you.

kevstar81 · 2014-02-15, 19:48

Have you checked the BIOS for fan temp settings?
Some motherboards allow you to change the fan settings.

**seth.feinberg** · 2014-02-15, 20:17

@kevstar81 thanks for the reply! Yes I've tried a few different options in there. Mostly it just allows you to set a different "target" highest temp. And since 142F is higher than any of the settings i've used it doesn't seem to do much good (since it's always going at full steam to bring down the temp).

I also ran "top" from a ssh session and nothing out of the ordinary showed up, actually to an odd degree. Here's a screenshot: http://imgur.com/ZYRX9pz You'll nothing there are plenty of process's but NONE take up more than 0.0%...

**fritsch** · 2014-02-15, 20:57

Replace your fan.

**seth.feinberg** · 2014-02-15, 21:47

@fritsch I actually just finished removing the fan and am removing the thermal paste right now with the intention of reapplying. its an brand-new aftermarket low-profile cooler so I'm pretty sure its functioning properly (also the same one I have in another installation that works fine/is not very noisy). Hopefully reapplying the thermal paste will do the trick.

So would you guys say I'm on correct in thinking its super odd that its getting so hot all while not being that taxed?

**wsnipex** · 2014-02-15, 23:12

check intel_gpu_top
It could be the gpu heating stuff, e.g. when vsync is disabled.

**seth.feinberg** · 2014-02-16, 01:47

thanks @wsnipex I'll check that when I fire this badboy back up and report back. I actually don't have a discrete graphics card in there (which I suspect you knew), what exactly am I looking for with that command?

**seth.feinberg** · (This post was last modified: 2014-02-16, 03:07 by seth.feinberg.)

@fritsch and @wsnipex I tried looking around for this intel_gpu_top and it does seem like an issue with the integrated gpu would manifest itself in the way I'm experiencing (low CPU but the system seems to be working double-time). However I'm kind of a n00b and don't know much about how to run it or what to do if it turns out to be the cause. Typing intel_gpu_top into my ssh session says -sh ... not found and when I googled how to install the intel-gpu-tools package I ran across @fritsch's name on this github repository: https://github.com/cybin/OpenELEC.qt/blo...ls/install

Any further help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

**wsnipex** · 2014-02-16, 09:23

OE might not include the intel-gpu-tools(thats how the package is called on ubuntu)

**seth.feinberg** · 2014-02-19, 06:28

yeah I can't seem to find it and without an included package manager, there doesn't seem to be any easy way to install it (unless any of you have any suggestions). Is there anything else I could do to see if its the GPU heating stuff up? Or any other suggestions for lowering this phantom load on my newly built PC?

Saner · 2014-02-19, 09:05

You could boot XBMCbuntu live (I am presuming it has a live mode) and see if that shakes it, or at the very least you would have access to various repo's for installing tools.

(if I am talking out of my arse ignore me)

**seth.feinberg** · 2014-02-19, 19:25

haha @Saner i honestly wouldn't know so I appreciate the suggestion. I'd like to stick with OpenElec and solve/troubleshoot the problem internally for at least a little, since I'm comfortable with it and already have it all set up (also the fact that it works very well for the most part is lessening my motivation to get to drastic with my fixes). But I might have to try it. I just can't believe there isn't anyone else that had this problem or any other way to get a bit more diagnosis than what percentage of the CPU/Memory is being used...

Are there any particular Video playing options that should be checked/unchecked/changed on an installation like mine (no discrete card, just an using onboard Intel HD Graphics)? @wsnipex you mentioned something about vsync...?

**wsnipex** · 2014-02-20, 08:33

I have the same CPU running on ubuntu. I had to tweak something(iirc it was an option to the sensors module) to get lm_sensors to work and I also installed fan control to lower fan speed. Its quiet on idle and video playback, but the fan(s) speed up consideably under full load.
Settings wise its like in the howtos, v-sync on "let driver choose"(or always on newer intel drivers) and dirty region rendering on default(3).

Did you already open the case and check the heat empirically? If you touch the cooler, is it really hot?
Needless to say, take care not to touch other stuff.

**seth.feinberg** · 2014-02-26, 03:33

(2014-02-20, 08:33)wsnipex Wrote: I have the same CPU running on ubuntu. I had to tweak something(iirc it was an option to the sensors module) to get lm_sensors to work and I also installed fan control to lower fan speed. Its quiet on idle and video playback, but the fan(s) speed up consideably under full load.
Settings wise its like in the howtos, v-sync on "let driver choose"(or always on newer intel drivers) and dirty region rendering on default(3).

Did you already open the case and check the heat empirically? If you touch the cooler, is it really hot?
Needless to say, take care not to touch other stuff.

Hey @wsnipex sorry it took so long to get back, I was on vacay. I was just curious where I can find some of these things you mention. Specifically how to I install fan control? And where can I find one of these how-to's (presumably some optimal settings for an onboard HD Graphics client).

Currently in Settings->Video->Playback I have Render Method set to Auto detect, Allow hardware acceleration (VAAPI) enabled (though it was disabled for a while) and Adjust display refresh rate to match video and Sync playback to display set to off. And under Setting->System->Video Output I have Vertical blank sync set to Always Enabled (though it was on Let Driver Choose)

I've empirically checked the temp and it does seem warm in the area just below the heatsink, but I really don't have a frame of reference for just how warm it is relatively or how warm it should be. The fan does seem to get louder the more its used continuously. Like right now I woke the thing up only a few minutes ago and I can hear the fan going non stop from across the room and it reads a CPU temp of 140degF.

Oddly, and perhaps I don't fully understand what this means, but Total Uptime reads 109 Days+. I've definitely turned it off several times in the last 109 days. Is that cumulative over the course of the installation? System uptime reads the more reasonable 1 hour 17 minutes, but even that doesn't make sense considering I woke it 5 minutes ago and haven't turned it completely off for days...

**wsnipex** · (This post was last modified: 2014-02-26, 08:28 by wsnipex.)

check the vaapi deinterlacing howto on top of this forum for an optimal intel based setup.

you don't need fancontrol unless you want to circumvent the motherboards/bios auto fan control and it can be dangerous if configured incorrectly. Only use it if you are really sure that you don't have a overheating problem, therefore I won't provide instructions. Google is your friend.
edit: make sure that sensors is reading the temperature correctly, check you have to correct sensor module for your motherboard:
http://lm-sensors.org/wiki/Devices

Uptime is the time the system has been running since last _boot_, sleep modes do not count as boot.