Comment 429 for bug 993187

I had this bug on my HP dm1 4xxx series notebook (AMD e-450 / radeon 6230m / BCM 4313).

I had full system lockup with no other option but hard reset. It occurs in other linux distributions also but Ubuntu suffered the most by a long shot.

I followed all the threads and tried many of the suggestions. Over two weeks I have tried 3.2, 3.4 and 3.5 kernel and had many many reinstalls. I have tried with/without proprietary amd catalyst drivers (as well as different versions) and with/without the proprietary broadcom drivers. I also tried various desktop environments. The problem persisted despite my efforts.

Most often, the computer would crash at high system loads, when the fan was just kicking in and the computer was hot.

However I believe I now have a workaround (working for 3 days without problem):

Disable the kernel thermal module with "thermal.off=1"

1. sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
from:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
to:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash thermal.off=1"

2. sudo update-grub

I found several sources for this workaround including: arch forums, ubuntu forums and the hpsupport forums.

If you disable the OS's control of the fan with this workaround then I would be careful that the BIOS is doing it's job correctly without the OS by paying attention to the heat of your laptop and by listening to the sound of the fans. Also, ensure that any useful fan control options are enabled in BIOS settings.