chirping fan on 5680 - Page 3

No idea MCL - sorry - I got the info via Laura at PCTorque but I am not sure who she spoke to at Sager. I cant say all the problems with the chirping fans are related to Firmware but mine definately was. They had initially replaced the CPU fan as the cause but I guess the testing guys still noticed the problem after that. Speaks well of their testing when they fix stuff - I am glad they were so thorough.

if I had to hazard a guess (and keep in mind I have no info to back this up) I would say that the firmware patch was something to control the speed at which the fans spin.

Yes Bratag, it is the firmware for the embedded controller that controls the fan speeds. I have been investigating into this for some time now, I have disassembled the code and plan to modify it so I can write a windows utitlity to manually adjust the fan speeds and/or set my own cooling scheme.

after bratag reported that it could be a firmware error, I contacted Sager asking if they could confirm this and if I could download the new firmware from somewhere. I soon received an e-mail with an attachment that was a firmware update that I had to mount to a floppy disk. The email said this should solve the chirping problem. Hope it works out.

Heres an Update:

After installing the firmware, the chirping has apparently disappeared. My roommate has a 5680 configured exactly the same as mine and his fan noise is pretty much the same as mine now. So it looks like the firmware did it. Thanks Sager and PC Torque. I'll post again if the noise comes back.

*crosses fingers"

i have a perfect 5680.

This firmware is shown as "keyboard bios" during boot. I have version 1.00.16 which I believe is the latest. What version did you have before and what version is the new one?

Question: If the firmware is a keyboard firmware, does it return the Ctrl and Fn keys to their original positions?

That's GREAT news! Did you contact them via phone or email? If email, which address? I'd love to get a copy of that firmware.

I am glad at least my hassles have resulted in an easier fix for some. Once again the boards proove their worth

It would be great if someone could mail me the firmware too, and answer what firmware version did you have before applying the patch?

I received the firmware update and installed it. No chirping yet! I've got my fingers crossed.

On a side note, my BIOS revision both before and after the update was 1.00.02S.

The BIOS version shouldnt change; its the keyboard firmware version that should.

Ah, good point. I didn't look to see what the keyboard firmware version was before I upgraded.

ok, I got the file (thx mcl!) It is version 1.00.93 with release date 2003/05/19.

If you flash it (and if you have the Ctrl and Fn keys switched), tell us if the keys get switched back.

Well, I didn't have them switched, so I can't report yea or nay on that. Maybe Henrik?

By the way...anyone have any idea why the keyboard firmware would affect the fans?

Sagers are designed so that the Keyboard firmware controls the fans, not the BIOS. Dont ask why .

ok guys, here is how it works.
The embedded controller is an extra cpu on the mobo from the Renesas (formerly Hitachi) H8S family that runs with a clock speed of 10 MHz. The purpose of this cpu is that it handles the keyboard, touchpad, PS2 connector, batteries, temp sensor and fans. So it isnt really a "keyboard bios" but a "embedded controller firmware". This design is actually quite clever (and a must), because it not only relieves the cpu from doing this, but it is a safety because it handles these important things like fan control and control battery charge even when the main cpu is in standby. The drawback is naturally that the control is hidden away from the main cpu and therefore also the user. Thats why no programs like motherboard monitor can read the temp sensor. So what I did in my temp sensoring program was to communicate directly with the EC. However, in order to control the fan speeds I have to dig even deeper. I have to actually reprogram the EC firmware. This is not a thing to do for the fainthearted, but I know what I'm doing. I dont have a 5680 so I havent flashed this updated firmware, the latest for the 5660 is 1.00.16 which is the one I'm modifying. And yes, I'm sure it returns the Ctrl and Fn keys to their original positions.