might be leaving Linux [ But where to go ?? ]

[wilee-nilee]

I have a Dell Inspiron 6400, and unless I install i8kutils it overheats. You could try the following:

sudo apt-get install i8kutils

## Force loading at boot
echo "i8k force=1" | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

You then have to edit the file: /etc/default/i8kmon
and change ENABLED=0 to ENABLED=1

Reboot the machine, and all should be fine.

+1 on the 18kutils, you can control the the fans speed and temps at running.

[sunfromhere]

have you tried cleaning it out? 90% of overheating laptop problems i've seen are because there is an unholy dust bunny inhabiting the heatsink.

This!
If the computer started out on normal temperatures when you bought it, and then after 6 /or if HP, less/ months of usage temperatures got higher, it's this.

Also, one tip. If you tend to eat, smoke and create dust particles around your laptop, turn it off at night and put it upside down. In the morning, take a dust cloth and lift the "bottom" (now the upper) part of your computer and wipe the screen. You'll be surprised to know how much junk comes out. (Doing this once a month keeps my laptop at normal temperatures)

[MikeMiracle]

@MikeMiracle
Did you have any success with my suggestion ?

@Onesimus Sorry for not updating before. I tried your suggestion. But it didnt work out in my Dell insipron n5010.

Right now , I am in Mint 13 (knew that Mint is based on Ubuntu , but just installed it , as I had a Mint CD) , which has same issues as Ubuntu.

1. overheating
2. strange x.org/touchpad/mouse bug which will make mouse left clicks not working

In combination , these issues make the user experience annoying.Normal work around for issue 2 in Ubuntu is changing to an non GUI tty by CLT + ALT+ FN . This no longer works in Mint 13 Maya.No other way than system reboot.

I am gonna try buzzingrobot's suggestion of installing CENTOS next.

I have never opened a laptop , thus bit reluctant at opening and checking it. As suggested by sunfromhere, insane_alien & others , this might be a dust/ thermal paste issue.If centos won't work , I am gonna open up the laptop.

Thanks you all for valuable suggestions.

[MikeMiracle]

UPDATE

CENTOS

Unfortunately I couldn't install CENTOS as it didn't recognize my wifi card. With wired connection also not working (altogether another issue , don't want to digress ), CENTOS doesn't look promising.

LINUX MINT 13

With Jupitor & kernal params for aspm & rc6 and proprietary fglrx as the video driver, Linux Mint 13 works OK. It hots up to 70s with live video. But OK as my system can tolerate up to 90 degree celsius. But mouse left click functionality stops occasionally and need a X restart occasionally.

STRATEGY

Now I think my issues (overheating and X ) are better addressed in latest kernels. Also I plan to use latest proprietary driver from ATI website directly , if open source driver has any problems.

IMMEDIATE PLAN

I am planning to try Fubuntu next for the 2 reasons

1. It has better power management & optimised for laptops
2. It has 3.4 Kernel.

SUGGESTIONS?

Are you aware of any other distro fitting my needs ?

[madjr]

UPDATE

CENTOS

Unfortunately I couldn't install CENTOS as it didn't recognize my wifi card. With wired connection also not working (altogether another issue , don't want to digress ), CENTOS doesn't look promising.

LINUX MINT 13

With Jupitor & kernal params for aspm & rc6 and proprietary fglrx as the video driver, Linux Mint 13 works OK. It hots up to 70s with live video. But OK as my system can tolerate up to 90 degree celsius. But mouse left click functionality stops occasionally and need a X restart occasionally.

STRATEGY

Now I think my issues (overheating and X ) are better addressed in latest kernels. Also I plan to use latest proprietary driver from ATI website directly , if open source driver has any problems.

IMMEDIATE PLAN

I am planning to try Fubuntu next for the 2 reasons

1. It has better power management & optimised for laptops
2. It has 3.4 Kernel.

SUGGESTIONS?

Are you aware of any other distro fitting my needs ?

12.10 dev might be worth trying too, maybe help also report any bugs early.

you may also check the 12.10 forums

[KL_72_TR]

I just need an OS which will allow me to browse and use common programs.

If you don't want to keep up with Linux or Windows, well, than consider this:
http://www.reactos.org/en/index.html
Free and GNU GPL. Read FAQ.
I hope you have fun

[Bigtime_Scrub]

UPDATE

CENTOS

Unfortunately I couldn't install CENTOS as it didn't recognize my wifi card. With wired connection also not working (altogether another issue , don't want to digress ), CENTOS doesn't look promising.

LINUX MINT 13

With Jupitor & kernal params for aspm & rc6 and proprietary fglrx as the video driver, Linux Mint 13 works OK. It hots up to 70s with live video. But OK as my system can tolerate up to 90 degree celsius. But mouse left click functionality stops occasionally and need a X restart occasionally.

STRATEGY

Now I think my issues (overheating and X ) are better addressed in latest kernels. Also I plan to use latest proprietary driver from ATI website directly , if open source driver has any problems.

IMMEDIATE PLAN

I am planning to try Fubuntu next for the 2 reasons

1. It has better power management & optimised for laptops
2. It has 3.4 Kernel.

SUGGESTIONS?

Are you aware of any other distro fitting my needs ?

I would suggest Fedora. It is more desktop oriented than CentOS. You will need to do a lot of configuration with CentOS to get it into a solid desktop. Fedora is very innovative and it will eventually become Red Hat. You get to see what Red Hat will be before it is made. Fedora has also gotten very good at detecting all your hardware with only free software.

[MikeMiracle]

UPDATE

Finally, I am settled with Linux Mint 13 (Maya) . Most of the other ditrsos (fubuntu , centos etc)didn't recognize my wireless card. With proprietary fglrx drivers & jupiter application for power management Mint is rock solid. It may heat up to 70s with video. But still workable as my machine can tolerate up to 90. Mint 13 looks good, I am loving it.Thanks everybody for the comments. Thank you to all those invisible developers working behind making these amazing distributions. Linux world rocks. Its impossible to go back to Windows after tasting 4 years of Linux Freedom.

[madjr]

UPDATE

Finally, I am settled with Linux Mint 13 (Maya) . Most of the other ditrsos (fubuntu , centos etc)didn't recognize my wireless card. With proprietary fglrx drivers & jupiter application for power management Mint is rock solid. It may heat up to 70s with video. But still workable as my machine can tolerate up to 90. Mint 13 looks good, I am loving it.Thanks everybody for the comments. Thank you to all those invisible developers working behind making these amazing distributions. Linux world rocks. Its impossible to go back to Windows after tasting 4 years of Linux Freedom.

90 degrees is a pretty high, so getting extra cooling for those intensive tasks would be great till the new kernels fix the issues (hopefully next ubuntu, which you could start testing).

anyway glad to see the problem is better.