Cooling system popup on p-series

Wondering if anyone else has seen this ...

Late this afternoon my two month old custom built P505 popped up the following message:

System Warning : Warning: A problem with the cooling system has been detected.
Please turn off the computer immediately, and return it for service.

It put a event ID 26 application popup in the Windows system log. The system was simply on a Windows 7 photo screensaver. I noticed it because the fan was running at high speed. The laptop was sitting on a cool coffee table. I immediately put it in suspend mode via the power button. I resumed about 30 seconds later and ran the Toshiba PC Health Monitor as quick as I could launch it and the CPU temperature was showing about 50%.

I can barely hear the fan run normally normally when - even when I peg the CPU cores near 100% with photo editing software and the health monitor shows the fan running at 64%. I can never get it to show running faster (although I'm not too interested in blocking the vents and trying to heat it up). The fan has never sounded like it's had a problem or had something touching it like I've read in other posts. The fan even sounded okay when it popped up this message - but just much faster than I've ever heard it before. I've been messing with putting different CPU loads on the system since this time and can never get the fan to hover around anything but 0%, approximately 45% or 64%.

Has anyone else seen this on a P-series? It feels almost like a BIOS or other code error, but I'm reluctant to leave the laptop running unattended should it occur again and there really is a hardware problem. There are no other application popup events in the system log, so presumably this is the only time this has happened.

 

Well, since it said return it for service, then return it for service. If it is out of warranty, or can't be serviced for any reason, then clean out the fan and heatsink at risk of voiding your warranty.

Personally, I would contact Toshiba.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I called the closest authorized repair center the next day and they suggested to use compressed air and just watch and see if it did it again. The past three evenings I’ve left the health monitor open while I do normal work and watched the temperature fluctuate between about 38-54 with the fan starting and stopping to keep things cooled down.

Last night I installed SpeedFan just to be able to monitor the processor temp in the system tray a little easier. SpeedFan and the Toshiba app appeared to be displaying pretty much the same temp – sometimes the Toshiba app seemed to lag or average out quicker changes in temperature that I saw with SpeedFan.

I haven’t seen any indication of any problem since that one time. If the fan stuck that one time, it will probably happen again at some point at which time I’ll take in.

I updated the BIOS about 3 weeks ago when the Toshiba Service Station app prompted a new version was available. I’ve read where different BIOS versions on some manufactures’ systems have affected the performance of the fans. I still think it’s possible that what I saw was as much a software fluke as it was a physical hardware problem.

I also tend to go in and out of sleep (and sometimes hibernation) mode and typically only reboot monthly with the Microsoft patch cycle. It had been since that BIOS update December 23 that I did a reboot last. I think that has the potential of making things a little less stable.

 

Good to hear that it hasn't happened since. If it happens again, take it in for sure, there is certainly something wrong with it if it happens again.

So did you clean it out for dust?

 

I vacuumed the bottom and back air vents to try and suck out any dust that might be in there already, but I haven’t used compressed air on it yet. I’ve always been reluctant to use compressed air before vacuuming first, in that it can blow dust further into the system and do more harm than good.

It’s only two months old , doesn’t run 24x7, and doesn’t get moved around a lot (never left the house yet). I’m in the habit of cleaning out a desktop system that runs 24x7 annually, and partially disassembled a six year old eMachines laptop several times that had a chronic overheating problem. Unless these newer laptops are a lot more susceptible to trapping dust, I’m struggling to think that is the problem. Just the same, I intend to put the vacuum nozzle to the air vents every few weeks for good measure, and to use compressed air if I have to. A little proactiveness goes a long ways in the longevity of electronics!

 

Hmm, vacuuming isn't a great idea, as it causes static electricity and can possibly damage components. However, if it works for you, then I won't stop you.

Something that will probably help - Stick something like a toothpick just into the fan grate on the bottom of the laptop, and then use compressed air and blow into the fan grate. The toothpick will stop the fan from turning every time you blow in to the grate.

 

I'd never really thought much about the static electricity caused by vacuuming, but that's a very valid point! The drier the air, such as indoors in the winter when the relative humidity is low, the bigger the potential problem may be. Thanks for that insight - you are correct and I will rethink when I use a vacuum going forward - if at all! One trick I've used when cleaning out dust from a DSLR camera sensor is to do it in the bathroom when the shower is running and the humidity is higher. I guess that approach could work to some extent here as well - so long the humidity wasn't too high.

Good advice on holding the fans back when using compressed air. Years ago I thought it was "fun" to see how fast I could get the fan in a desktop power supply to spin until I learned that it could damage it doing that!

 

I've been using a hand-held vacuum to get the dust out of mine for years with no problems. And they are now 1, 4, and 6 years old.