Re: Acer Laptop overheating with ACPI error that I don't understand.

On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 1:34 PM, Alexandre "Sunny" Kovalenko <
gaijin.k_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 2009-07-14 at 18:54 -0500, Edwin L. Culp W. wrote:
> > I am having overheating problems with my Acer Aspire laptop.
> > # uname -a
> > FreeBSD ed.local.net.mx 8.0-BETA1 FreeBSD 8.0-BETA1 #256: Thu Jul  9
> > 07:05:20 CDT 2009     root_at_ed.local.net.mx:
> /usr/obj/usr/src/sys/ENCONTACTO
> > i386
> >
> > I've been having this problem for several months and compensating by
> > reducing dev.cpu.0.freq from 1900 to 1200 and 800 in warm offices.
> >
> > The errors I'm seeing in the log files are:
> >
> > +acpi_ec0: EcRead: failed waiting to get data
> > +ACPI Exception: AE_NO_HARDWARE_RESPONSE, Returned by Handler for
> > [EmbeddedControl] 20090521 evregion-531
> > +ACPI Error (psparse-0633): Method parse/execution failed
> [\\_TZ_.THRM._TMP]
> > (Node 0xc4e75960), AE_NO_HARDWARE_RESPONSE
> >
> > I'm afraid that I don't understand them.
> This means that FreeBSD tried to execute method, provided by your ACPI
> BIOS, that is supposed to return current temperature, and execution did
> not complete within certain time limit (I do not have -CURRENT system
> handy to tell you what the limit is). I would recommend taking this to
> acpi_at_ mailing list, unless it used to work under -STABLE and ceased
> under -CURRENT.
>
> Output of 'sysctl hw.acpi' should give you a clue, especially
> temperature field.
>
> Next steps could be:
> -- see if there is BIOS update for your hardware.
> -- boot some kind of live CD of the system, you are familiar with, and
> check temperature value(s). They should be reasonable and should change
> with the load.
> -- If your BIOS is up-to-date and nothing gives you reasonable
> temperature readout, it might be hardware problem. Alternatively, it
> might be that your ACPI BIOS was never designed to work with anything
> but Windows -- I have seen few of those in the past. If latter is the
> case, disassembling your ASL (see handbook for instructions) and reading
> through it with ACPI spec at hand, starting with the _TMP method above,
> might get you somewhere. Thermal section of the ACPI spec is
> self-sufficient, well-written and has documented example.
> -- ask on acpi_at_ whether there is tunable and/or hack which can extend
> timeout value -- it could be that whatever hardware your ASL is talking
> to just takes its own time to respond..
>
> HTH,


Excellent advice.  As soon as I get back home I'm going to check out a BIOS
update.  I hadn't though about that and also look closer at ACPI that I've
not done either but that will take a little more time but well spent, I
would say.

Thanks,

ed

>
> --
> Alexandre Kovalenko (Олександр Коваленко)
>
>
>