M15x - Fan on full blast on startup.

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the fan stay on full blast after startup. It takes a quick restart to fix. Normally it just kicks in for 2 seconds or so. Does this happen to anyone else?

 

Yes, I have same here. Sometimes it just stays at full after start (cold, or from hibernation - doesn't matter. But not always.
Seems we have another bug (beside of throttling issue) in the BIOS.

(starting to be angry)

K.

 

Its a BIOS thing and not just with Dell. I've had this on numerous computers over the years. It tests a number of items on POST and the fan is one item it tests. If the fan fails the system will give you a message on screen and then power down to protect itself.

 

Not the smartest way to approach the problem... but it is normal for the M15x (and for the short period I had it, it also stayed on Full Blast occasionally even after booting in Windows).

 

That would be a problem then with either that BIOS which most likely was poorly designed, a crappy system board, or a CPU. If a fan is going full tilt almost on bootup there is most likely an issue with a short on the board or something causing the CPU to heat like mad. (I've seen stray processes under Windows that eat 100% of the CPU do that as well.)

 

The same happens for me.

When turning on the laptop only the GPU fan spins at full blast but when restarting they both spin fast. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

Wait.

Let me clear.
Normal way is: both fans should blast on full for awhile when booting, and after then they should slow down and rotate according to temps. This short max rotation is simply check of proper work. The same I have on my other Dell notebooks and same was on my previous m15x (old model).

Now we have issue, when one or two fans stays at full after boot procedure, and no slow down. Remedy: after restart, they are working normal way, ie. as above (short full blast for testing and slow down.).

This is bug in the BIOS, I think. Surely not processor issue, and not temp issue, because it is occuring mostly on cold system, when starting after longer break.

K.

 

Mine does it on occasion. I've noticed another variation where the fans spin longer than normal and slowly wind down to normal levels by the time windows has loaded.

 

I recently bought an m15x and also am experiencing this problem. Does anyone have a solution? I'm loving the computer so far, but this is somewhat troubling. I may try to contact Dell Support, but it seems like most everyone is very well informed about these machines on this forum. Thanks in advance.

 

it is normal for the fan to start up full blast for a couple of seconds when the computer is starting, if it still at full blast then you have an issue.

 

Sorry, I should have specified, but the fan will remain on full blast through the start up process, loading of windows, and will not stop until I shut down my computer. I have waited several minutes after everything is loaded and the fans don't seem to ever stop. This will happen about every fourth or so time I turn on the computer. Thanks.

 

i haven't encounter this issue but from what other posters are saying it could be a bios issue, so maybe reflashing could solve it but i don't really know.

also try this everytime your computer is feeling glitchy:

turn off
unplugg
take out battery
press power button for 10-20 sec
put everything back
power up.

 

Hi...let me say the same thing some other way

Anyway, my M15x does the same thing the OP is experiencing. If it happened slightly more often and my warranty was about to expire I'd probably consult Dell but considering how infrequently it happens I'm not worried about it.

 

I get this on many laptops too.

My theory is that the CPU temp is so low it doesn't trigger the fan speed changes.. If it's so far below the lowest fan setting it won't trigger the fan to slow down (i think).

The way I fix it is to run something that maxes out the CPU (compress a big file) - that warms the CPU, changes the temps and the fan speed. Then quit the program and it will go down quickly again.

The increase in temperature fixes it every time. At least on most laptops I've tried. Haven't got my M15x yet so can't try it yet.

 

Nice theory. Next time this happens I will try that.

 

Thanks, please let me know if it works for you. It always worked for me so far. Haven't tested on my machine because I'm still waiting for it. 4 MORE DAYS! WoooooT

PS is that a thinkpad on your avatar? with the little red Jmouse that makes you feel like a molester when you use it haha

 

Really? wow but how is that effective??

 

Disconnecting the power completely (Battery and AC) then holding the power button allows the mobo capacitors to fully discharge.

Like unplugging a router for 10 seconds. I think..

 

AHAH. Yes, the trackpoint...."nipple". It's an IBM TP 701c w/ the butterfly keyboard.


So my comp. started with fans at full blast. I don't have any burn-in type program so ran BFBC2 and after a moment or so the fans calmed down. Easier to just restart but nice to know why it's happening ;-)

 

I have same issue on my M17x-R1. But its a lot rarer than every fourth time ...maybe like 1 in 10 startups. Still a little bit of a PITA tho.

 

When I start mine I can hear the two fans start up at full speed but it's only for 1-2 seconds. It doesn't bother me.

 

It work, by releasing stored power from the motherboard kind of performing a reset of sorts.

my 17x does that from time to time. If a normal restart doesn't fix it, unplugging it, removing the battery and pressing the power button (btw dell makes you do this for a full 3 minutes) tends to do the trick.

 

this happens to me also, but its only the right fan, not the left.

It stays at max until I restart, and once this didn't stop it either, I had to shutdown and startup again.

 

It happens to me too (not sure if it is one fan or both of them). However, it happens rarely, and I haven't yet experienced it with BIOS A08 yet.

 

I'm on A06 BIOS... I guess I should update, but I'm too scared of bricking the laptop..

 

A08 definitely exhibits this behavior. I just restart.

 

Okay, I guess I have just been lucky so far

 

did you load bios defaults after installing a08?
the fans should only stay on full for a few seconds and go quiet unless its actually hot.
i've never had this happen onthe last 2/3 bioses or so. for me the bios was fixed after a05 (at least for this thing)

 

i would call it normal for me.

the laptop just trying to warm itself up when it stays in the cold for too long (as in overnight or so)

i usually have this issue in the morning when i turn on my computer. Going on for couple of minutes, and it goes back to normal. If you want it to go back faster, play some hi-end graphic games.

That is for me, well you have to ask the question about your room temperature. If it's hot then maybe it's not normal

 

Mine does the same thing whenever I turn on the computer form a cold fresh start (Turned off overnight) and it stays on all the way through windows.

I wait like 2 minutes and I get worried so I restart and the fans then adjust back to their normal speeds.

It's only happened like 25% of the time though so I can't really say I know whats causing the fans to not stop but thankfully our computers are super sick and hopefully have then configured right so they restart within 37 - 40 Sec's



I usually just put my computer in sleep mode and turn it off like twice a week so I don't think it's something to be worried about unless it happens often.

 

Hi. I have the same problem but don't freak out when you load windows and restart because the fan will go to normal speed after a minute or 2. I never restart and this happens to me about every 5th time I turn on my laptop. I also noticed it happens more often when I spent a couple of hours playing and I turn off my computer. The next time I turn it on the fans go full speed. I think for some reason it thinks the cpu is hot.

 

Wow guys - I just came across this thread and this is definitely a BIOS issue.

The fans should come on @ near max RPM very briefly at initial power up. This is a fan sanity check the BIOS performs. It should only last a second or two and the fans should then return to normal.

One person posted they do not see this 'always on behavior' with A08. Others have. Is this only with A08 or was it happening with A07? From the posts, it sounds very intermittent. Still should be looked at though.

If you do not have your CPU/GPU specs in your signature, be sure to include those. I'm sure once our resident AW reps (Brian and caes2004) see this, they will need the additional info.

 

this has been an issue from the very beginning, i've seen this reported many times with different bios. i recently encounter this on A08 myself.

 

Sounds bad inap. I wonder why ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/6698975-post24.html) carceri has not encountered yet. Both of you have similar specs.

 

for some it happens often, but so far i only seen it happen to me only once. on my old unit, i had for over 6 months never had this issue at all. so it seems to be very random.

 

yea i think since i've had my system(got in in feb) i had that happen once. The fan stayed on full-pin the whole time. I just shutdown, did a power drain, and all was resolved. hasn't happened since.

 

Encountered it like 5 times on A08. Every 5th startup this happens. :S

 

Guys after you log in to windows just enable stealth mode and then disable after 2 seconds... That stops spinning. It works for me.

And i've read some people still have throttling. Well, just to be clear mine is gone after A08.

 

Nice thanks for the tip djan84.

 

Yep, this has happened since A01.

 

Every once in a while it happens to me even on A08. Not really a huge issue just an imperfection I have to put up with seldomly.

 

I had this issue on my last M15x but yeah it was not major deal since it would happen randomly and very rarely .. Would be nice if there was an explanation as to why though .

 

its not that random for me, it happens once a week at least.
sometimes out of hibernation and others out of stand by.

I'll try that next time...

 

I have had this happen to me on occasion as well, ever sine I have owned my M15x. It will boot and the fans will stay on high even through windows booting. A quick restart will fix the problem for me.

 

I am having this problem as well it stays on full blast until the CPU temps get a little higher from a cold boot and then it goes back to normal after a little while. Is this problem being looked at? It started all the sudden out of the blue twice within the last two days and I've had the laptop no more than 2 months less than that. How do I do the power drain trick? can anyone tell me exactly how to go about doing that?? It could possibly be that I've moved my laptop into a colder environment(I moved to a diff state) so the ambient is a lot lower temperature now? not sure if that could determine the issue? FYI it's coming full blast out of ONLY the right fan in the back.
Thanks,
Kishkab.
M15X ATI 5850, 8 gigs ram, I7 740QM, Win7 Ultimate, 7200 500gig HD, A08 BIOS

 

Been 1 week now and never had this problem. Mine usually for bout 3sec before slows down. A08 bios.

 

I used to have this problem at least once every 2 days or so. After updating to A09, I have yet to see this happen again....but I am not holding my breath.

I will let a few weeks pass before I determine if the new BIOS truly fixes this issue.

 

it used to happen to me all the time, now i cant think of a time that it has happened recently.

 

Happens to me too. It's supposed to run at full blast at startup, but it should stop after a couple of seconds. Sometimes mine doesn't stop at all and only a shutdown and restart fixes it.

 

just happened this morning. oh well.