Acer Ferrari 4000 fan: possible solution !

[robgeb]

The new version of speedfan (http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php) recognize our embedded controller (PC87591), but doesn't permit to control the fan voltage yet, and so we can't stop it yet.

However a possible solution is to install speedfan, go to tab "info" and "send report" to the autor, reporting as motherboard name "Acer Ferrari 4000".

So the author is motivated to implement support for our notebooks.

Bye

[farjars]

I own a brand new Ferrari 4006, with a fan rpm that is way too high....

Installed speedfan, and did send in a report -

I'm surprised not to see more people complain about the fan noise, or is something wrong with my notebook ??

[robgeb]

I own a brand new Ferrari 4006, with a fan rpm that is way too high....

Installed speedfan, and did send in a report -

I'm surprised not to see more people complain about the fan noise, or is something wrong with my notebook ??
It's a common problem with the ferrari :'(

also I'm surprised not to see many people interested...

perhaps now they dedicate their attention on TM8204... :scratch:

[stronzo]

No matter robgeb! I´ve an 4005 since august 2005! I´ve contact the german acer-support with the "fan-problem"! They only say, that the fan-noice ist normal!!! But your idea with speedfan is good! I´ve sended my datas! I hope they find an solution! A friend of me has an IBM Thinkpad! One person created an very good programm for this notebook.With the programm you can control the speed of the fan exactly! But the programm doesn´t run on the Acer Ferrari 4005, it only goes with Thinkpads!

PS.:robgeb i know the meaning of my nikename in your language!!! ;)

[robgeb]

PS.:robgeb i know the meaning of my nikename in your language!!! ;)

:scratch: but...what's the meaning in your language ??? :rolleyes: I'm curious...:eek:

however I update you if I find any solution...and hoping speedfan will help us!

bye, robgeb :cool2:

[stronzo]

I think in Italy means "stronzo" the same like nearly "idiot" means in english!:laughing: But my nikename is not the topic:p ! I hope they find an solution! If i worked at the 4005 and erverything in the room is quiet, then the fan sucks! I can´t understand why the fan must go for EVER!?! The temperature since i write this is 32°C und the HD-Temp is 27°C! You don´t need a fan at that temperatures! Weeks ago here in Germany we had -13°C outdoor in the morning; i took my notebook every day at work; when i come indoor i switch the notebook on an look at first at temps from speedfan -> the result on a very cold morning was 15°C cpu-temperature, but the fan goes! The fan blows realy cold air out! I can´t understand, why acer doesn´t make an BIOS-update for this "problem"! The support said, that they won´t work at this "problem", but i don´t know why! I think for IT-specialists it´s no problem to make an good BIOS for 4005! We can only wait and see...;(

[farjars]

Ahh Ok, this fan problem is still going on... I'm kind of more 'relaxed' then, so it's not only my new notebook suffering...

But I got an impression when googleing the 'acer ferrari fan always on' that it's was quiter now in the forums then back when they released these boxes.

But I was unfortunately wrong :( it STILL is an issue... as earlier mentioned, but people have moved on and accepted I guess... I'm very surprised that Acer does not address this problem, because it's a major flaw in my opinion.

I own two other notebooks one T43 Intel IBM - quite as in the deep forrest, and a emachines M6809 AMD - fan adjusting to load as expected and very quite when just browsing and chatting etc.

But as I understand works is in progress by folks with good knowledge!

Best,

[stronzo]

Do you realy think, that works is in progress? Do you realy believe in Acer that they solve the problem? I hope you´re right!

[farjars]

Do you realy think, that works is in progress? Do you realy believe in Acer that they solve the problem? I hope you´re right!

Well, what I ment is the efforts the community is doing, earlier mentioned by robgeb, hopefully via speedfan or other, and hopefully Acer is also addressing it.

[stronzo]

Ok that could be! If i can do anything for Problem i would do, but i don´t have any experiences in programming!:'( :'( :'(

[wombatten]

Judging from the following statement found in this thread
http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=114744&highlight=noise+ferrari the fan noise appears to be related to hardware issues:
For reasons I dont know some Ferrari are very quiet (even with fan always on) and others are making noises like old air conditions. A couple of days ago I met a kid that had the ferrari 4002. His machine sounded like a helicopter in a quiet environment whereas mine (with fan enabled) could not be heard.. I couldn't beleive the difference and now do I understand the people that yell about fan noise...

In fact the RPM of the fan may be completely hardware controlled, in which case even the most skilled programmer wouldn't be able to make a program to control the fan speed.

[mctubster]

Well I just took my Ferrari 4002 into the repair center in Homebush, Sydney. The guy at the front desk didnt think my fan was that loud, but there were people there with power tools. I insisted so he took it out the back for a tech to look at, and come back and again said they didnt think it was too loud. I said I had a couple of other Acers that are sooo quite compared to mine, that the fan speed on mine never changes no matter what I do with the laptop in regard to load / heat

I also stated that there a quite a few people on the net complaining about this, and that some people have very quiet Ferrari laptops, while others think they are way to loud.

Anyway they are going to "service it", check for dust, sensors etc. I doubt this will help. My next course of action will be to send a letter to Acer Aus on letterhead stating that I think there is a manufacturing issue, (maybe there are two fan module suppliers?) and that they need to resolve it.

What would really help me is someone else in Sydney with a Ferrari that thinks their fan is very quiet so I can do a realistic demo for them!

Regards
Steve

[stronzo]

1.A programmer can write an program to control the fan.See for the Thinkpad its possible too, to control the fan!
2.Not the noise of the fan is the problem! The problem is that the fan goes ever! See a Centrino-Notebook! If you start the book the fan goes only a few seconds than the fan turn off and when the temperature is to high the fan turn on! But the Ferrari-Fan never turn off! And the Turion ist an Mobileprocessor too! You can control the fan by software->look at Speedfan!

[farjars]

I was talking again to the Acer support in Sweden about the fan always on problem even though the CPU is cold.(I've tested no load 800 MHz and CPU temp is indicating 30-36 degrees, which is relatively cold)

And they wanted me to send the notebook in, so this is what I'm going to do.

The person told me 'off the record' that several people are complaining to Acer about this problem as well, but I never got a good answer if they know the reasons... or action plan....

Stay tuned...

[stronzo]

The same like in Germany.... :(

[wombatten]

Sigh.. Speedfan4.28 doesn't even read the CPU temperature correctly. -You should install mobilemeter instead.

http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/

[stronzo]

What means not correct? Do you know if both take the sensor to show the temperature? The HD-Temp is exactly the same! I think one program take an other sensor. and with mobilmeter you can´t set your fan!

[wombatten]

What means not correct? Do you know if both take the sensor to show the temperature? The HD-Temp is exactly the same! I think one program take an other sensor. and with mobilmeter you can´t set your fan!

At least I can't get it to show the correct temperature. The snapshot below is taken after running a CPU intensive program for a few minutes. I can feel on the exhaust that the temperature is significantly higher than 29°C, so the 62°C, reported by MobileMeter is probably more exact.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6311/speedfanvsmobilemeter9vm.png

[Sarc]

I can't explain why, but one thing I've noticed about SpeedFan is that I have to have AMD's PowerNow! Dashboard running for SpeedFan to properly update it's tempurature reading.

Without AMD's PowerNow! Dashboard running SpeedFan either updates the CPU temp at a very slow or non-existant rate.

Also, I don't know why the PowerNow! Dashboard is able to fill this gap, or if another program could do the same, this is just what has worked for me.

I'd probably be using MobileMeter too, but it doesn't work under WinXP x64.

[stronzo]

At least I can't get it to show the correct temperature. The snapshot below is taken after running a CPU intensive program for a few minutes. I can feel on the exhaust that the temperature is significantly higher than 29°C, so the 62°C, reported by MobileMeter is probably more exact.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6311/speedfanvsmobilemeter9vm.png

Do you realy think both temperature are from the same area of the notebook? The air my notebook blows out ist not so warm that you can say I´ve 62°C!!!

[robgeb]

Do you realy think both temperature are from the same area of the notebook? The air my notebook blows out ist not so warm that you can say I´ve 62°C!!!
Speedfan doesn't recognize correctly the CPU temp, but I think the autor will fix the problem soon.

However the good news is that speedfan recognize the embedded controller that control the fan!
The fan is not hardware controlled but software controlled (with a registry key in the bios CMOS, that change its value according to the CPU temp sensor), and that you can change cecking the option "Fan always on" in the program Acer e-settings.

If we are able to control the embedded controller with a software, we are able to turn off the fan!

The embedded controller is a National Semiconductor PC87591L as you can see from this screen of speedfan.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4346/immagine7pt.jpg

I hope the author fix the problem soon! Please report him the problem!!!

bye

[stronzo]

Speedfan doesn't recognize correctly the CPU temp, but I think the autor will fix the problem soon.

However the good news is that speedfan recognize the embedded controller that control the fan!
The fan is not hardware controlled but software controlled (with a registry key in the bios CMOS, that change its value according to the CPU temp sensor), and that you can change cecking the option "Fan always on" in the program Acer e-settings.

If we are able to control the embedded controller with a software, we are able to turn off the fan!

The embedded controller is a National Semiconductor PC87591L as you can see from this screen of speedfan.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4346/immagine7pt.jpg

I hope the author fix the problem soon! Please report him the problem!!!

bye


I´ve sended my data´s! I hope in next version the problem is fixed!:bow:

[wombatten]

Do you realy think both temperature are from the same area of the notebook? The air my notebook blows out ist not so warm that you can say I´ve 62°C!!!

Hmm.. As I wrote the 62°C is after running a CPU intensive program for some time. If I play a game it can be >70°C - plus I have verified the temperature with an infra-red thermometer.

[stronzo]

I have installed SpeedFan under Win XP x64! There it shows the right Temperature like MobilMeter!

[stronzo]

http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm
The Tool is free and not even more only for Centrinos! In the next Version you can control fan speed! Hope these are good news!

[farjars]

Ok, back online with the Ferrari 4006 here.

Got it back from repair shop in Germany after 2 weeks, a note together with the notebook said they had replaced the M/B - motherboard...

And the Bios was back to 3A19!

Still with a constant high annoying fan noise :cursing: !!!

I updated the Bios to 3A23, still no improvement...

(Another thing that got me disappointed was that they did send the Ferrari box back uncovered with scrapes all over the place) a minor issue that I could have lived with if just the fan problem had been resolved....but no!

Now I have to get in contact with Acer again - and then take a decision if I should return it or not.... besides from this major flaw I'm so pleased with the machine.

[stronzo]

But the German Acer support ist; auf Deutsch Schei.... (was die mir immer geschrieben haben; da hatte ich das Gefühl die haben keine Ahnung von was die reden!)!

[AppleFan]

I just bought a new Acer Aspire 5670 with ATi X1600, which has exactly the same problem (and same reply from Acer Hong Kong Service). The fan noise is driving me nuts, but they refused to give me back the money. I noticed people who bought this model before Sep tend to complain only about the hot pad (I also tired myself before) when it came with X1400. On mine the pad is cool, clearly showing that Acer is aware of the heat problem and chose to "solve' it at the expense of fan noise.

My advice to all here: NEVER again buy any 2nd line brand PCs, consider only the "A" brands like HP/Sony/Apple/Fujitsu/Samsung. It's in the details (incl after sales service) that really matter!



Well I just took my Ferrari 4002 into the repair center in Homebush, Sydney. The guy at the front desk didnt think my fan was that loud, but there were people there with power tools. I insisted so he took it out the back for a tech to look at, and come back and again said they didnt think it was too loud. I said I had a couple of other Acers that are sooo quite compared to mine, that the fan speed on mine never changes no matter what I do with the laptop in regard to load / heat

I also stated that there a quite a few people on the net complaining about this, and that some people have very quiet Ferrari laptops, while others think they are way to loud.

Anyway they are going to "service it", check for dust, sensors etc. I doubt this will help. My next course of action will be to send a letter to Acer Aus on letterhead stating that I think there is a manufacturing issue, (maybe there are two fan module suppliers?) and that they need to resolve it.

What would really help me is someone else in Sydney with a Ferrari that thinks their fan is very quiet so I can do a realistic demo for them!

Regards
Steve

[stronzo]

Hey there is an new update of NHC! http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc_advanced_new.htm it is an update for Core Duo, but the programer write, that there are new functions to read out embedded controller (http://www.p35-forum.de/board/thread.php?postid=47649#post47649) it is in german, I know! Has somebody of Ferrari 4000-Users here knowlege about writing an ACPI-File for that Lappi? I think the solution to stop the fan is near, but we need an ACPI-script to control the fan over embeddedcontroller! The .dsl-File of the Lappi shows, that you can´t control the fan in an easy way; there is not much in the "Thermal Zone" so I think the fan of the Ferrari is Hardware-controlled by embedded controller!

So every man with Ferrari 4000 model, who want to chage the fanspeed, think it over! Maybe we find an solution to do it!

[heruan]

Hi! I'm also affected with the fan-will-never-stop problem on an Acer TM8204. Did anyone solved this?

[stronzo]

No, not until today....

[qhn]

just a wild shot in the dard here, have u tried to look into services area, and disable some of them? i personally would not know what, since i do not own this model, but amd machines. Also, AMD drivers?
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html

cheers ...

[stronzo]

That did not solve the Problem!