Critical Temperature Reached

Question

I am trying to boot Debian installed on a USB stick on my new Coda 3.4 laptop, however, I get the following error when booting:

thermal thermal_zone0: critical temperature reached (125C), shutting down

The system then shuts down as expected from the error. I have read online that this error insinuates that there might be a problem with the cooling system or thermal paste. However, I have done a few CPU tests while monitoring the temperature of every core (both hardly ever went above 60 C).

I have tried other distros, such as PuppyLinux and Manjaro - the same problem. Kernel settings left to default and nothing was specifically customized. Is it possible that the Linux OS has trouble controlling the cooling system and, as a result, the CPU starts overheating when booting?

Here are my specs:

• System Model: CODA 3.4 OS Name: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Processor:
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6157U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2400 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) Graphics:
• Intel(R) Iris(R) Graphics 550 BIOS
• Version/Date: American Megatrends Inc.
• YHSM-BI-14.1-XU133SR400-SA50C-255-C, 23/10/2020 BIOS Mode: UEFI
• Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 4.00 GB

Answer 1

Very new PCs seldom work well with Linux, because the kernel developers haven't had time to write or update kernel modules (drivers) to use the hardware.

Your situation appears to be one in which software (firmware) plays a major role in cooling. This problem becomes worse as time goes on, because firmware dependent cooling is much more likely to fail, and programmable hardware is more flexible and less costly for manufacturers.

Embedded controllers, totally independent of the operating system, are used to control vital hardware functions in most laptops. It doesn't matter what the user does, or which OS is loaded, cooling is done outside the control of these things.

When critical temp is reached in your laptop, the shutdown is purely hardware-controlled, except for the message, which is still embedded in ROM and relies on firmware that the OS nor user can alter.

The Linux kernel you are trying to boot cannot control the cooling system, because it doesn't know how to do it, or even that it 'should' do it. You can help the kernel developers by reporting this bug.

It's a bit of work, but Linux uses bug reports to develop compatibility with new hardware. That's why Linux has all the hardware drivers needed for most hardware (printers, scanners, usb devices, sensors, network adapters, cameras, etc.).

This issue is important, because it involves potential hardware destruction. The manufacturer would also be interested in knowing, because no warranty could reasonably exclude simply booting Linux from a USB flash drive.

The likelihood of hardware failure requiring factory service is high with incompatibilities that involve overheating to critical levels.

But, it might just be another attempt by Microsoft to put the squeeze on Linux.

Thirdly, if you set the machine to boot in compatible mode (legacy mode), it may revert to more hardware control, because OSs that require that setting need it.