"Previous Fan Failure"

Post by **Cheesy** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:41 pm

Last night I decided to stop playing around 11 to watch the Daily Show. So it was (as later confirmed) around 10:58 when I had BF2 not wanting to close and TS not wanting to close, so I just powered off.

So today I turned on my computer to be greeted by a sexy black and white display of "Alert! Previous fan failure!" Now, I wasn't aware of any fan failures in the past, but whatever.

Anyway, I turned the comp off because I was afraid it was about to meeeeelt. Went onto the old crappy comp and started a chat with Dell support (more because I suspected I might need a warranty fan replacement than because I thought they could do anything

).

Anywyay. The guy told me I should go into the BIOS and clear the event log. Because I'm naturally mistrustful, I decided I should look in the event log before clearing it

I saw this error:

"6/29/05 22:58:48 Out of Range CPU0 Fan"

Anyway, after that I cleared the event log and restarted, with no error message. The guy said that meant the problem was gone. I looked behind the comp with a flashlight and both fans are indeed running. However, a quick googling off "Out of Range CPU0 Fan" showed me this:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13254624

This guy has the exact same system as I do, except 256mb more ram (I have 768). The people on that forum say a replacement is urgent. However, his problem is recurring, for me it's only happened once. Should I just wait and see what happens?

Thx for the help

PaleRider · Post by **PaleRider** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:39 pm

I'd just replace the fan...it's inexpensive...especially compared to the cost of replacement when the fan stops and the system fries...

tripleX · Post by **tripleX** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:47 pm

Well I would just wait and see if it fries.

edit:

If the dell guy just told you to reset it so it would clear the error it's probably just a misreported error and perhaps a common thing. If your computer is fairly new there's a good chance it's got overheating protection for the cpu. I think p4s have this. And I wouldn't worry about a case fan failing at all.

Wrath-man · Post by **Wrath-man** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 5:54 pm

I'm with Rider, spend the $20 or so and replace it. You probably save yourself alot of money and heartache in the long run.

Here's a link to tigerdirect:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... p?CatId=99

CPU fans are really not that expensive.

Post by **Shrapnel** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:31 pm

I'm with Triple. If it's still under warrenty with Dell just wait for it to fry then get a whole new computer.

You did what their support said to do, if it breaks then they should fix/replace it.

jacobslight · Post by **jacobslight** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:37 pm

Replace the fan ..

I had a problem once, took me a month to track down ... I tried everything (new MB .. diffrent ram .. diffrent H/D's)..

Turned out it was a bad fan .. funny thing was .. the fan still ran .. looked fine .. but was not, and was screwing up the M/B when it was plugged in.

So save your-self the headache, as others have said, and spend the very little money to fix it.

JacobsLight

Post by **Cheesy** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:28 pm

Warranty runs out in August. I think I'll wait til then in case it does fry. Last time my comp died I got a whole new comp from Dell

Post by **Cheesy** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:15 pm

Update: got the error again, had another nice chat with Dell. It's interesting, they've stopped pretending to have American names

Anyway, they're sending me a replacement fan. Unfortunately, the install guy won't even call to set a date until 2-3 business days from now (meaning monday/tuesday), meaning itll probably be a while before I get that fan replacement.

What really annoys me is that a fan is like $20 and I could install it myself, but my mom insists that we paid for the warranty so now we're sure as hell gonna use it. Bah

So here's my question: tThe fan is still running fine, although it's been making these whirring noises for the past year or so. Dell said I shouldn't use the comp, but I don't know if they're just covering their asses or if itll really be problem to use it for the next few days.

Could someone more knowledgeable about these things than I help out? I'm not sure why I get the error yet the fan still works fine. And when I look at the event log, the time of the error is the time I shut down. So I dunno what it means

tripleX · Post by **tripleX** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:34 pm

SAme advice. Use it. IF it fries have Dell fix it. Feign ignorance.

Hell if it fries, you'll already have a tech on the way anyway.

Course if they're sticklers they would be able to tell if you ignored tech supports's advice.

Windrider687 · Post by **Windrider687** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:36 am

Fan whining, ahh Cheesy, yes I've dealt with that before...umm...do ya' have any pets, or spiders at all in the house? You should look inside your computer and clean it out...but when fans make a whining, grunting, or wheezing type noise, then usually you killed it, the bearings inside probably got all dirty from muck and junk and dust getting into the fan, and it probably locked it up...

...in your case I would say get a new fan (wether it's paid for ,etc. doesn't really matter, demand, or buy a new fan, and buy canned air and keep anything furry sticky, nasty or whatever away from the computer and ya' should keep an extra fan (and even Power Supply, the basic stuff) available for quick fixes for when the warranty runs out...and also don't listen to anyone from Dell, because they know about as much as a challenged baby monkey. I mean that would be like your antivirus software warning that you had a virus, so you click the x on the box to close it, and basically that means it's gone and your computer is safe lol.

...though as a warning against over reaction, sometimes certain software makes computers loopy, and some computer systems have fail-safes where if you just shut it down the way you did it will panic and think the computer died instead.

MizCleo · Post by **MizCleo** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:52 am

well since it's a Dell, I think you should probably just set your computer on fire.

DaGrooved1 · Post by **DaGrooved1** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:38 pm

and people say MY input is useless

I think dell's are pretty good machines, obviously nothing compared to homebuilt or custom machines, but for the average person dell seems to be the way to go.

Windrider687 · Post by **Windrider687** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 4:06 pm

...yes, but we are the many, the sometimes proud, the GCERS! We are not average people...although he has a DELL, he deserves better service than that!

ColonelHogan · Post by **ColonelHogan** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 4:36 pm

You should have fried cpu, then set the rest of the box on fire and burnt your house down. Then you sue Dell for replacement of your belongings, and don't forget a few extra million for "emotional damages".

Windrider687 · Post by **Windrider687** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 11:11 am

Actually that would've been a kickass idea, you could've said the computer transformer exploded and burned your house down, 'cause of a fan overheat or whatever. Damn, you'd be set for life right there.