Troubleshooting: Continous Beeping Noise and High Fan Speeds Followed by Shutdown

Clevo N850HK1/ Sager NP6852


Intel i7 - 7700HQ 2.80 GHz

16 GB kit (2X8GB) Hyper Impact DDR4 2400MHz SO-DIMM Memory

NVIDIA GEForceGTX 1050 TI


ME-FW Version: 11.6.10.1196

MB Series: N85_N87, HJ, HJ1, HK1

BIOS version: 1.05.07

KBC/EC Firmware Version: 1.05.06

I ran across NotebookReview while I was doing some troubleshooting of my own for my Clevo Notebook. I was searching for driver updates or Clevo's support page, but was soon disappointed. Clevo doesn't have a main support page that I know of. I read somewhere that a BIOS or Firmware update might solve my issue but Clevo doesn't provide the consumer or rebuilders/resellers with BIOS/Drivers or Firmware updates.


The Issue:

Occasionally, however not consistent or frequent, the fans speeds on my device ramps up and blows a continuous stream of air from the vent located on the rear left of the notebook. I can audibly hear the fans moving at heavy speeds and feel the air from the vent. Immediately after(30 seconds to a minute) my notebook will emit a constant beeping noise while the fans are running. Soon after the notebook will shutdown.


I was in contact with my rebuilder(AVA Direct) and they did their best to help me, but we couldn't resolve the issue. Using HW monitor I sent screenshots during the events(beeping noise/ fans), but the temperatures were normal according to the technician who assisted me. I even opened my notebook and checked my fans to see if any of my pet's fur found its way into my device. The notebook was spotless! Everything seemed in order according to my untrained eye.


I combed through the manual and discovered the FN + 1 key toggles the high fan speeds. Now when I run into the issue I force the fans to return to idle by toggling the key twice(as many times as necessary) , thus avoiding the beeping noise. However, sometimes when I'm out of the room it will sporadically malfunction and I'll run to stop it from shutting down.


Any Thoughts? I Love my Clevo laptop, but this issue is driving me mad, and I don’t have any clue where to start. I thought a BIOS or Firmware update might help, but I don’t want to do something I’m going to regret later. I have basic experience with computers and know nothing about beep codes or firmware/BIOS

 

It's an EC panic,one of the values is out of range from safe values. It monitors fan speeds, temps etc. It may be a pin somewhere is broken and one of the values is not reaching it.

 

If you purchased the laptop from a reseller such as AVA Direct then it will be under warranty and the best route for you to take is their technical support, if this doesn't resolve the issue then they should be able to have the laptop back under RMA and resolve it for you. Many issues with laptops, be it with a 5 year old one or a brand new one, need to be resolved by the company you purchased it from directly and there's no harm in relying on their support and services - after all that's what they are there fore and I'm sure that every other company on here would offer the same after-sales service that you need

This isn't completely correct, though I understand it's something you may have read opposed to that someone specifically gave you this information. Clevo provides updates for EC and BIOS, as well as driver updates. EC and BIOS updates are released for a number of reasons - compatability issues with new components i.e. the removable components, BIOS glitches, occasionally performance and cooling updates through the EC fan control and son on. Without getting into the specifics of whether people think these updates go far enough or are frequent enough, they are available to every direct Clevo reseller or system integrator and also are generally made available to second tier companies which purchase chassis from the Clevo direct customers. If you own a Clevo laptop, you can download everything from here:

http://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_down.asp?lang=en

But there are also resources for direct Clevo customers where they have a larger library of downloads, historical drivers/EC/BIOS and so on. Therefore all the resources are there for everyone, but bear in mind that the company one purchases the laptop from should be the main point of contact for drivers and firmware updates.

I am included to agree with Meakers reply, which is that an update may not resolve the issue and as such a return to AVA would yield the best result and a solution for you.

 

You don't need any updates. All you need to do is probably a simple EC reset in order to restore communication between GPU thermal sensor and embedded controller:

Unplug the AC Adapter
Enter BIOS via F2 during boot
load setup defaults
save and exit
make a full shutdown from Windows and leave the system off for at least 30s
Plug the AC Adapter back in and reboot

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I've been confused as to what my next step should be. I plan on contacting AVA again and requesting they inspect or replace my notebook, because I've done everything I can on my end.

 

Take a video of it happening if you can to send them.

 

I have an Eluktronics N850HK1 with the exact same problem. I've tried everything I can think of to resolve - including applying an updated BIOS and EC provided by Eluktronics support. I would have returned it for service, but I'm in a different hemisphere at the moment.

Sometimes the problem will go away for a week or two but it always comes back with a vengeance. The only thing that seems to help is pulling the battery/AC cord and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes.

Did you figure anything out?

 

hey Matt i have an Eluktronics as you and i have the same problem, also i am in the south hemisphere so i cannot send the computer to repair.

I emailed Eluktronics and this was their reply:

"Hi,

We are sorry to hear you are having this kind of issue with your PC. Unfortunately, it does sound like a hardware problem which would require repair. There can either be an issue with the fan itself or the motherboard. This type of issue can be related to a faulty fan or an incorrect temperature reading which then the PC will shutdown to protect itself from overheat. One suggestion is to check the air vents to see if there are any blockages or dust. You can then try to disconnect and reconnect the fan as well to see if maybe there isn't a solid connection. Please understand that we cannot warrant a PC that has been exported outside of the United States. Only once the PC is in the United States can we provide hardware support repair.

Thank you,

Eluktronics Inc. Customer Service"


Did you found a fix?

 

I'm roughly a year late, but seeing as I had the exact same issue and found a solution, I thought I'd post here in case other people stumble upon this post.

Windows 10: Install the Clevo control center utility, open it and set the cpu-fan speed to custom. The cpu fan might still go crazy when booting your computer, but should return to a normal pace once the control center program has automatically started. (Download from https://www.clevo.com.tw/ by clicking on 'services-downloads' and selecting your laptop model)

Ubuntu 16.04 (I have a dual-boot): Clevo does not provide the control center app for Linux operating systems. Luckily, someone has written a c++ program to do just this. Note that due to the way the cpu fan is wired, other utilities like 'cpufrequtils' do not work. The program can be downloaded from GitHub ( https://github.com/SkyLandTW/clevo-indicator). Note that you should manually set the program to run after booting and that "Set fan to X" should be set so that "X" corresponds to '60', '70', ... but not 'AUTO'.
EDIT: Actually, the "auto" setting also works fine.

My laptop: Clevo N850HK1 (from pcspecialist), Intel i7 - 7700HQ 2.80 GHz, 1x16 GB DDR4 at 2400 MHz, GeForce GTX 1050 (4GB GDDR5)