I seem to be having an odd sort of problem. With my HP, I've been running great from last December on the different Ubuntus that were made available over this year. But it would seem, that since 11.10 (although I am not quite sure, it started around 10th November), I have the odd temperature problem, stopping my computer from responding and just going into a full-on fan-run - and the only way out is to hard-reboot the PC.
Now I know this sounds like a hardware issue. This is also why I sent in the PC to HP, and after a month of repairs, the only thing HP has done is reinstall their Win7 mix, filled with ads, but I wasn't all sure.
So I tried not to complain too much, and reinstalled Ubuntu, but less than a day into it, the PC started shutting down again if used "normally"... Chrome and Skype at the same time for example. I also decided to have a test with Win7, which I left in Dual, and there, it doesn't seem to be a problem, even if I open quite a few more programs to fiddle with...
I installed 2 bits to measure temperature, and it would seem that at around 62-63, it shuts down.
My question (finally) would be if there is any way to change the maximum temperature (unless 63° was a normal max temperature), or a way to reduce energy consumption in some way so that it doesn't force me to reboot the moment I use 2 programs...
Thanks a bunch for your help!
bisi
You cannot change the maximum temperature for hardware components.
Here is a list of useful application indicators for Ubuntu 11.10.
You should install CPUFreq (to manually lock your CPU to a lower value, to be sure your temperatures are not growing) and Hardware Sensors Indicator (to see the many temperatures of your system components).
Your best option is to go ahead and unplug your box, open it up, and clean it out, including any dust from the fan intake / output.
Your computer is shutting down because excessive heat can damage the cpu.
If cleaning does not fix the problem, check with your local computer repair shop or if you have a LUG (Linux Users Group). You may need to replace the fan or replace the CPU paste / heat sink.
Bottom line, I would resolve the hardware problem rather then looking for a software solution to keep your box running hot.
You may be able to set the shutdown temperature in the BIOS. That said, I agree with bodhi.zazen that something else seems to be amiss, you should give the computer a thorough cleaning and ensure the fans are working correctly. If the fans are completely stopped (I've seen fans caked with dust that just can't spin anymore) it's even worse, because the power supply is still feeding power to the fan, which gets readily converted to heat instead of motion, thus compounding the problem.
I had the same problems with a 64 bit Ubuntu 11.10, my desktop kept on shutting down on his own. Googling for this topic I found some possible causes for this overheat (ATI driver and flash). I partially solved my problem by installing ATI proprietary drivers and the 64 bit flash plugin. The temperature is still high (it goes from 62° to 74° Celsius!!) but, till now, no more shutdowns.