XPS 9000: Fans speeds up while in BIOS setup?
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From: Tony Harding on 23 Mar 2010 11:59 On 03/20/10 03:08, Nick wrote: > > I've noticed this before, but was too busy to pay much attention. > > When I hit F2 and go into the BIOS setup on my XPS 9000, the fan at the back > of the computer revs up; noticeably faster and louder than most of the time > when I'm in Windows, and it doesn't slow back down until I exit setup and > the computer starts the rest of the boot sequence. > > When it happened again a few minutes ago, I notices that my new UPS was also > indicating a slightly higher than usual current drain. Not a major > increase, just two 'Load' LEDs (out of five) lit up instead of the normal > one. > > The fan also revs up briefly when I turn on or reboot the computer, but I > 'assume' that's just normal powering up. > > My best guess is that the fan speed and power drain increase because some > power management function isn't active yet, and the CPU and fan run at > maximum speed until the boot sequence is far enough along for power > management to take control. > > So, for all the other XPS 9000 owners out there: do your fans speed up while > in the BIOS setup, or do I have another weird issue to puzzle about? > > P.S.: the new UPS (with a sine wave output) solved my power problems (in > another thread); passed a 'pull the plug' test with flying colors. Mine does not. The fan comes on audibly when I first power up, but does not speed up if I go into the BIOS (via F2).
From: Cmplx80 on 24 Mar 2010 13:40 Nick wrote: > I've noticed this before, but was too busy to pay much attention. > > When I hit F2 and go into the BIOS setup on my XPS 9000, the fan at the back > of the computer revs up; noticeably faster and louder than most of the time > when I'm in Windows, and it doesn't slow back down until I exit setup and > the computer starts the rest of the boot sequence. [snip] > Just as a follow up, are you running the latest BIOS? The Dell site shows A15 as the latest rev as of 03/02/2010. After looking around for more info on the fan-speed control, it appears that a considerable part of this function is now embedded in the ICH chip, which has the capability to monitor temperature, fan tach (4 inputs), as well as control 4 fans with a PWM output. It's difficult to determine exactly what the strategy is, but it most likely requires some initialization via the BIOS. Frank
From: Nick on 25 Mar 2010 00:11 On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:40:07 -0500, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, Cmplx80 <Cmplx80(a)Karma.com> wrote: >Nick wrote: >> When I hit F2 and go into the BIOS setup on my XPS 9000, the fan at the back >> of the computer revs up; noticeably faster and louder than most of the time >> when I'm in Windows, and it doesn't slow back down until I exit setup and >> the computer starts the rest of the boot sequence. >[snip] >> > >Just as a follow up, are you running the latest BIOS? >The Dell site shows A15 as the latest rev as of 03/02/2010. Yes, I've got the newest BIOS: did that right after I got the computer. Occasionally, other things I do with the computer will make the fan speed up like that too, but it's still a bit surprising (to me, at least) hearing the fan rev up that much just going into the BIOS. At this point, as long as the computer's case isn't melting and I don't see smoke and flames pouring out of the air vents, I'll just live with it. Certainly a lot of good technical information in some of the responses this thread got. Thanks to everybody! -- Nick <mailto:tanstaafl(a)pobox.com> "Natural laws have no pity." R.A.H.
From: Brian K on 25 Mar 2010 00:22 Nick, This is probably nothing to do with your present problem but I've noticed in my last two Dells that when the nVidia drivers load on startup, the fan slows down. If you uninstall the nVidia drivers the fan doesn't slow and running Windows is noisy. Fixed by reinstalling the drivers.
From: Daddy on 25 Mar 2010 10:19
Brian K wrote: > Nick, > > This is probably nothing to do with your present problem but I've noticed in > my last two Dells that when the nVidia drivers load on startup, the fan > slows down. If you uninstall the nVidia drivers the fan doesn't slow and > running Windows is noisy. Fixed by reinstalling the drivers. > > Sorry I'm late to this party - real late - however, this might be helpful: When I was doing my research, the only real complaint that people had about the XPS 8100 was that the fan would speed up, just for a second or so, and then drop down to regular speed. This would happen roughly once per minute. It happened even while in the BIOS, so overheating was ruled out as a cause. It turned out that there was a problem with the heat sink/fan assembly for the processor; once this assembly was replaced everything went back to normal (with very few exceptions.) Daddy |