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    CPU fan turns on after shutting down X200

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Faruk, Nov 15, 2008.

  1. Faruk

    Faruk Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi all,

    A strange thing happened to me with my x200 - After shutting down my laptop, the CPU fan turned on by itself. This has happened to me twice so far in the 2 months that I've had the laptop. The only way that I could get the fan to turn off was by pulling out the battery..

    Now I have to admit, both times that this happened, I had been using the laptop on my bed, so I am not sure if this is some kind of heat protection "feature", but if that were the case it seems pretty strange that the fan would turn on *after* shutting down.

    Any ideas? And I'm running Windows Vista, btw.

    Faruk

    Edit: I forgot to mention: while this is happening, I am unable to turn my laptop back on until I pull out the battery and put it back in.
     
  2. louisssss

    louisssss Notebook Consultant

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    are you sure the laptop is completely off? are ANY of the lights udner the LCD on? are you sure the laptop isn't hanging on shutdown and leaving the power on?

    mb a factory restore might work...
     
  3. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Try updating your BIOS.
     
  4. Kingcodez

    Kingcodez Notebook Consultant

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    That happens with my Xbox 360, I also have to completely disconnect the power after it's off. I assumed that it was due to the unit almost overheating, and it needing to be cooled down.
     
  5. Jackboot

    Jackboot Notebook Deity

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    I'm pretty sure this is a feature to cool your notebook down. It's a poor comparison, but I think many cars have a similar feature which turns the radiator fan on even after the car has been turned off if it is too hot.

    Next time it happens, let it be for a while and see if the fan turns off on its own. The fan running won't hurt anything but forcibly shutting it off when it is intended to be running certainly could.
     
  6. Faruk

    Faruk Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi guys, thanks for the suggestions!

    I updated the BIOS, and installed a few Windows Updates that dealt with standby/hibernation errors. (Although my problem was with shutting down, but maybe they could help too, i dunno)

    louis: the battery and AC adapter LEDs remain on. Of course, when I pull out the plug it's just the battery LED that's on. And then I just pull out the battery.

    Jackboot: I'll give that a try next time.. I really hope nothing is wrong with my laptop because I don't wanna deal with the hassle of returning it and getting it repaired, etc. I'm hoping it's a software issue and not a hardware one!
     
  7. Kainnon

    Kainnon Notebook Enthusiast

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    That doesn't sound right. The battery LED shouldn't be on after the computer is shut down, without the power cable attached.
     
  8. Jackboot

    Jackboot Notebook Deity

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    I'm almost certain I've used a Dell that behaved like this. I'm hoping that someone else will chime in and relay a similar fan experience.

    In any case, it seems to me that it *has* to be a software issue. It is software, not hardware, that controls when the fan operates, right? It would only be a hardware issue if the fan wasn't operating at all. You're problem is that the fan is possibly operating "too much" :)
     
  9. Faruk

    Faruk Notebook Evangelist

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    Jackboot: Well, I had an issue with one of my computers once, where after shutting down, the CPU fan would turn on, the power LED would randomly blink without any pattern, and I'd hear crackling noises from my speakers. People told me that it would either be a motherboard or power supply problem.

    So I'm hoping that this isn't something similar to that... If the laptop actually shuts down, and then the fans turn on afterwards, I think that would almost certainly be a faulty circuit. But if the laptop hangs during the shutdown process then I'd say maybe it's a software issue.

    Another problem I have is that the battery seems to loose charge pretty quickly when on hibernate (not standby - and i have hybrid sleep disabled). I can hibernate my laptop, and after a few hours lose several % of charge. It seems to not do that as much when i shut down instead. Which is weird, because a hibernate is pretty much a shut down except everything is saved to the HD.