Eee PC 900 runs quite hot

[MichaelBurns]

My Eee PC 900 runs quite hot, even sitting idle, which leads me to suspect that it is running a bunch of programs in the background that I don't need. Also, I was viewing the system monitor, and, with only the system monitor running (by me), the CPU was at 30%. This kept on for several minutes (until I got bored). 30% CPU to run the system monitor just doesn't seem right. On the other hand, it is a Celeron, not an Atom. I wish I would have done a bit more research - I would have not even thought about purchasing the Celeron. Does this excessive heating issue sound like an operating system issue or a hardware issue? In any case, what can I do to make it run cooler? Is it feasible to swap out the Celeron for the Atom?

[FlyingBuzz]

I have Asus Eee PC 901 20 Gb. I can't call this a 'problem' but my netbook goes rather hot too. It doesn't depend on opeerating system. It's just hardware. First of all you need to install eee-control to be able to switch perfomance modes, to control Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet and camera. Also it's neccessary to add CPU monitoring applet to gnome panel. It allows to control CPU frequency or perfomance modes directly. And as I discovered, real CPU frequency doesn't depend on mode which was set in eee-control. I also discovered that netbook performs different with different eee-control modes but with the same CPU frequency. So, if you want to save your battery you have to switch eee-control's perfomance mode to 'powersave' and switch CPU frequency to lowest. And if you want enough power you have to switch to 'perfomance' mode and increase the CPU frequency to the maximum.
When you look at CPU frequency monitor in 'System monitor' it shows you a bit higher percentage cause system monitor itself uses the CPU. With Intel Atom N270 (~1.6 GHz) it shows me 15-20 %. You can choose another tab and then again choose the resources monitor and immediately look at the processor usage)))) It must be lower.
I also noticed that netbook becomes hot when I have Wi-Fi switched on and in use.
And please don't think that Celeron is bad. It's NOT! In several CPU benchmarks results I saw that Atom isn't at all quicker. Maybe just a little. It's main advance is low voltage and low battery usage. But it doesn't give much more power than celeron.
So, enjoy your netbook! It's so cool to have your own computer accessible everywhere to be able to surf the Internet where you want, work, play, listen to music, watch movies etc! And it's a great pleasure to do all that with Ubuntu!
I also recommend you to try Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix. It gives you and your netbook almost everything you both need))) (Of course it's better to switch desktop mode to 'classic' =) )

P.S. Sorry for my English! I'm from russia and I'm only 19 years old. And.. if I missnamed any application or other things it's all because I'm using Ubuntu with russian localisation.

[chadk5utc]

Hey guys sorry to hear that, if I remember correctly I did have a small fan issue then I switched OS. Im using Asus 1000HE 32GB SSD 2GB RAM Eeebuntu 2.0 Plus Extras 100% Working(compiled new wireless driver)

[mgco]

I'm curious, what OS are you using on your 900?

[MichaelBurns]

A blast from the past. I wonder how many people have the EeePC 900.

I'm curious, what OS are you using on your 900?

I believe that I was running Easy Peasy 1.1 (basically a modified version of hardy?), but I don't remember; I finally found a Best Buy that would honor their 14-day return policy, so I returned the EeePC 900 to them. (I would have exchanged for an EeePC 1000, but they were out of stock, like everywhere else.)

[mgco]

@michaelburns I haven't tried EasyPeasy, though I've installed both Ubuntu 9.04 & 9.10 and of course the xandrOS that came with it and the heat levels were generally the same. Did you measure the temperature while using it? Perhaps the heat you're experiencing is what every 900 owner normally knows about? I guess we'll have to define what 'excessive' heat means for the 900 for us to arrive at a better conclusion