Solved Overheating after new hard drive and clean install

[hazel123]

Re Sony laptops - the one thing I also remember was that I could not run Linux on it. And Sony said that they were designed to run with Windows only. What a poor story. Since then Sony products are on my blacklist.

Maybe that's why they've stopped making laptops! When googling about upgrading Sony hard drives you get lots of people asking the same question and not being able to use recovery discs on new hard drives.

I bought this one used and it was a good buy! Very nice to use and ergonomic to type on - but it seems you are supposed to bin and get a new one if the hard drive goes.

Hope our son doesn't notice I've 'borrowed' his ssd.

 

[whs]

Right, the enclosure is in lieu of the cable. This is the kind I use. Mine is USB3 though.

Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0 - Newegg.com

 

[Barman58]

There are reports of certain Linux distros not being compatible with some SSDs, (IIRC Thrashzone had some issues with a trashed SSD), if Sony incorporates one of those it could explain things

 

[whs]

If a Linux distro does not make proper use of the Trim command, it could lead to at least performance issues. Likewise the SSD needs a certain amount of free unused space to maintain performance - ususally 25% are recommended. Here is an article that explains the technical details.

Garbage Collection and TRIM in SSDs Explained - An SSD Primer | The SSD Review

 

[hazel123]

Right, the enclosure is in lieu of the cable. This is the kind I use. Mine is USB3 though.

Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0 - Newegg.com

Thank you.

 

[hazel123]

There are reports of certain Linux distros not being compatible with some SSDs, (IIRC Thrashzone had some issues with a trashed SSD), if Sony incorporates one of those it could explain things

Thank you Barman and whs. I think there is something in Sony's bios that limits hard drives - at least for recovery discs and system images, as if you try and install on a new disc from the recovery discs, or restore a system image it goes the whole way and then comes up with a message saying there's a problem with the hard disc. Which is when I tried cloning. And then a clean install. Anyway the clean install went fine apart from the overheating. So will try the ssd in it and hope it doesn't trash it. If it does I'll get a cheaper one to put back in son's (virtually unused) laptop.

 

[hazel123]

I ran sfc /scannow and check disk on my old drive (back in the laptop) today and scannow found some windows errors which it fixed. Check disk is still running but found some bad sectors and fixed them. So it does look like drive might be on its way out. And probably explains why I found errors on my clone last week - must have copied them over dur!

So I'm thinking it will have to be a clean install and not a clone to a new drive now - because not much point cloning a drive that is prone to errors is there? What do you think?

Son's laptop is all backed up ready to remove the 250GB ssd (which he is only using 35GB of) but don't fancy removing it as I've just remembered what a pig it is to get the drive out of that machine - it means taking the keyboard out and the keyboard has never been quite right since I did it last time. So I'll sleep on that one. I've also emailed Sony with my serial number and model number and asked them to recommend a replacement hard drive that will be compatible with their bios. They'll probably just say I need to use an identical drive like they did last time. Anyway if the old one fails I've got everything backed up.

If the 250GB drive was ok as a test (ie I can get Windows installed and running and it doesn't overheat again), it's actually smaller than my current one which is 320GB and I was looking for more storage really, so couldn't just leave it in, I'd have to get the 500GB one and put the 250GB back in son's laptop where it is a bit wasted really. His needed an SSD is it's so slow otherwise (just an Atom processor).

 

[hazel123]

Re Sony laptops - the one thing I also remember was that I could not run Linux on it. And Sony said that they were designed to run with Windows only. What a poor story. Since then Sony products are on my blacklist.

Intel are on my blacklist. Son's laptop has a cedartrail processor that won't run anything except Windows 7 and Intel aren't going to make a compatible graphics driver for Windows 10. It won't run Linux either - except Bodhi with a stretched screen which he had for a while

 

[DavidE]

I would still try the NEW HD to see what the temps are compared to the OLD HD.
You don't have to run it long with the NEW HD, just boot it, run the temp monitor program, and then shutdown.
I'm cautious/curious about such things

 

[hazel123]

I am curious about it too. I shall have to have a good moment to tackle taking that keyboard out though.

Oh you mean the hard drive I bought, not the SSD? I'd almost given up on doing that as it got so hot and kept shutting down every 10 minutes - wouldn't want to fry anything. I'll see how it is with the SSD in it though.

 

[TrustMe]

If you decide to take the hard drive out of your son's laptop I would suggest you search YouTube for his model number along with the word "disassemble". I do this for anything I have to take apart, from computers to car parts. It can be of great help.

 

[ThrashZone]

There are reports of certain Linux distros not being compatible with some SSDs, (IIRC Thrashzone had some issues with a trashed SSD), if Sony incorporates one of those it could explain things

Thank you Barman and whs. I think there is something in Sony's bios that limits hard drives - at least for recovery discs and system images, as if you try and install on a new disc from the recovery discs, or restore a system image it goes the whole way and then comes up with a message saying there's a problem with the hard disc. Which is when I tried cloning. And then a clean install. Anyway the clean install went fine apart from the overheating. So will try the ssd in it and hope it doesn't trash it. If it does I'll get a cheaper one to put back in son's (virtually unused) laptop.

Hi,
Yep Crucial MX100 256bg ssd
Linux does not support the type of trim so they fill up with garbage and can't read and write anymore
Although a post on Crucial said it was just ssd failure
I got a refurbished sent back to me using it now with win-7 on my Acer rig.

Some firmware of some models of Crucial SSD have some sever problem with Queued Trim due to buggy firmware. This can lead to data corruption. Linux, which uses Queued Trim, has therefore implemented a check in kernels to blacklist the models before executing trim:
Dangerous for use in kernels:
3.12 (before 3.12.29);
3.13 (before 3.13.7);
3.14 (before 3.14.20);
3.17 (before 3.17.1) - regression in the blacklist, fixed in 3.17.1.
Safe kernels:
anything before 3.12;
3.12.29 and later;
3.13.7 and later;
3.14.20 and later;
3.15 (all);
3.16 (all);
3.17.1 and later.

- In some later kernels those checks have been removed after Crucial claimed that firmware updates have taken care of the problem even though the problem persists
- users following advice how to optimise SSD performance and thereby overriding the blacklisting

The model with the most problem is M500 since a firmware update was released that supposedly fixed it; except it didn't. MX100, as far as I remember, was hit by it but I believe that here a firmware update did fix it.

Best read up on this on their forum:
M500/M5x0 QUEUED-TRIM data corruption alert (mostl... - Crucial Community

 

[hazel123]

If you decide to take the hard drive out of your son's laptop I would suggest you search YouTube for his model number along with the word "disassemble". I do this for anything I have to take apart, from computers to car parts. It can be of great help.

Thanks! I still have the dissassemble instructions from last time Which is why I know what a pig it is!

 

[hazel123]

ThrashZone that is really helpful - and interesting. Luckily the SSD isn't a Crucial one. I know there's an issue with Sony and Norton Ghost cloning software but that doesn't really affect me. Do you know if it is just Crucial SSD's that have this issue?

The annoying thing is, I have a perfectly good 250GB SSD when I need a 500GB one and son's laptop only needs a 120GB one. I originally got it to upgrade my laptop but since then my 320GB has got more full of stuff! And his small SD died so I just stuck it in, which he was very happy about. But ignores it now he has an ipod. If I wreck it I have a 10" netbook he can have lol.

The 250GB SSD is a Samsung one. I'm the unofficial techie in the house as partner is technophobe and better at doing diy than me and I upgrade netbooks and sell them for fun.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
No problem
The only thing I got out of all that was don't use an ssd using Linux
They are too freaking expensive to risk

 

[hazel123]

If you decide to take the hard drive out of your son's laptop I would suggest you search YouTube for his model number along with the word "disassemble". I do this for anything I have to take apart, from computers to car parts. It can be of great help.

I'm glad you suggested that because it made me google again to see if there were other dissassembly tutorials and I found a much better one! So this time I got the hard drive out the easy way. There's not much info on the laptop as it's a schools type one and not a mainstream one.

Anyway - SSD is out of son's laptop and in the Sony and I can really see the difference - Windows installed so fast. The downside is - exactly the same as when I put the standard hard drive in - it's running much hotter than before.

Speccy says Drive is 42 to 43 degrees. CPU and Motherboard are 55 to 60 on idle, and 64 to 70 when working (installing antivirus) from sd card, not online.

This is disappointing and makes me think Sony have something on the original hard drive or in the bios, that keeps the temperatures down, or makes it run hot if you use any other hard drive.

As I really like having an SSD in this laptop, is there any software you can add to keep temperatures down? I know I could get a cooling stand, but I was wondering if there's something that could make it run cooler software-wise. I know Asus used to have a little program for the Eee PC's that helped keep temperatures down.

 

[RolandJS]

Was getting an external usb-powered cooling assembly already mentioned? I have one for each of my "getting hot" laptops.

 

[hazel123]

Yes it was, but thank you. It sounds like an option. What bugs me though is why it runs so much hotter with anything other than the pre-installed hard drive. Anyway I'm going to run Windows updates and see if it can cope without shutting down on me like it did with the other new drive.

It's up to 84 degrees doing Windows Updates and feels extremely hot on the outside, but hasn't shut down.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
84 Degrees is nothing
Tell us when it hits 84 Celsius
Download Real Temp 3.70 | techPowerUp

 

[hazel123]

Well it just hit 89 degrees while installing Service Pack 1 and shut itself down

I guess I will never know what the difference between the pre-installed drive and any other drive is - presumably some software or bios thing, but looks like this Sony needs replacing. I know the machine runs at a perfectly normal temperature, doesn't overheat or shut down, if I put the original drive back in. I actually sent off for a drive very similar spec Sata II for £25. To see if Sony's thing that the drive needs to be the same size and same speed - actually makes any difference. If that doesn't work I'll look at putting the money for the hard drive towards another laptop.

Don't want to have cooling stands really - I haven't needed that before with the laptop.