Ubuntu

Repetitive ACPI Error Message about Cooling Device in Kernel Log (Edgy)

Asked by Arisna

I am running Kubuntu Edgy on a mostly-stock HP Pavilion a706n desktop (AMD Athlon Processor). Exactly every six seconds, an error message prints in my kernel log, as reported by dmesg, as follows:

ACPI: Unable to turn cooling device [dbfdddec] 'on'

This seems to print continually whenever my system is on and therefore takes up the entire output of dmesg. However, my fans are all operating correctly, and nothing appears to be overheating. Therefore, I do not think this message should be triggered.

Searching ubuntuforums.org showed me two threads with several other users experiencing the same issue:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=309310
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=293963

To summarize the discussion in these threads, the error is apparently sent by a kernel module called "thermal.c". Also, this seems to happen with kernel version 2.6.17, but not with earlier versions. I can confirm this to some extent, as I never encountered this message in Dapper, but I was running the now-obsoleted k7 kernel at that time. Finally, someone said he/she received the same message in a Fedora kernel, which means this may be an upstream bug.

My uname -a:

Linux endor 2.6.17-10-generic #2 SMP Tue Dec 5 22:28:26 UTC 2006 i686 GNU/Linux

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Thank you, and let me know if you need any additional information from me.

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Arisna (arisna) said : 		#1

Also, if it helps:

arisna@endor:~$ cat /proc/acpi/thermal_zone/THRM/cooling_mode
cooling mode: active

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Arisna (arisna) said : 		#2

arisna@endor:~$ sudo modprobe -r thermal

This stops the error messages, and my fans continue running, but I am not sure whether this solution is entirely safe or not.

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hestef (henrik-steffen) said : 		#3

This is maybe a violation in the acpi specifications. Please look at: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.linux.acpi.devel/5247.

I've also received this message in dmesg, I have a 2.6.18-3-k7 kernel running, also an AMD Athlon, and a Epox 8RDA+ Mainboard. For me flashing the BIOS of the mainboard helped.

Greetings

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Best Arisna (arisna) said : 		#4

I found your post quite informative, hestef. Thank you. The link, if a bit above my head in places, describes issues that are mostly consistent with my problem and helped me understand a bit better why these kernel modules have been changed in this release.

I checked HP's website for BIOS updates for the a706n, but the only update ever released only fixes a problem with boot order. Nothing about power management/ACPI was listed. (Also, the update requires Windows XP...)

It seems that my options, then, are limited when it comes to making my hardware/firmware work with the Linux kernel.

Yesterday, I realized that Launchpad's support request and bug reports are separate. I actually intended this request to be a bug report, but I wasn't using Launchpad correctly, which is my fault.

Anyway, I just now found a bug report that describes this issue at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.17/+bug/63550

I am going to close this request and update the above-linked bug report with my information.

Thanks to everyone who looked at this request.