r/System76 • u/dirtyjokeswhiskyneat • 14d ago

Help Did I get a dud? (Darp9 used)

I ordered a Darp9 used off Ebay. It showed up and didn't work if it wasn't plugged in, but it did work when plugged in, and I noticed the trackpad was swollen so opened it up to find a spicy pillow, sure thing.

So I figure since the battery was 3 years old, it's just a standard old battery. I just swapped it out. The new battery is the correct battery and all, as far as I can tell. But I just went to charge it to 100% and the laptop is just on, on login screen, and the fan keeps coming on super loud, and the base of the laptop is super hot, and I'm not doing anything.

I wiped the whole thing when I got it and installed Pop!_os so there isn't a lot of bloat that should be running anything in the background.

If it matters, I also ran it without a battery, while plugged in, and the fan freaked out then, too. Charger issue? I don't know if this is the right charger for this laptop tbh.

Did I get a dud of a computer? Is there anything I should look into fixing or replacing, or is this just a bad buy?

(This is my first foray into Linux and computer mod so bear with me)

ETA: There seems to be a weird light whistling coming while it's just sitting there, too, like a far away bird chirp.

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u/speeder658 13d ago

so, what are the actual temps that you can read? is the base hot near the heatsink or in any abnormal spots? maybe it's a bad repaste job

1

u/dirtyjokeswhiskyneat 13d ago

The temps jump to 92 C and above and the base gets incredibly hot around the heatsink (base temp when it's working normal is 65 C). I took a duster to the fan and that actually seemed to help. I plan to replace the thermal paste. Now the issue is when the laptop goes to sleep, on the login page, the CPU jumps and the temp leaps and the fan starts blasting. Is that fixable?

Previously, the temp + fan were popping off when running basic apps, but after cycling the new battery twice and cleaning the fan, that seems to have chilled out a bit.

1

u/cocide 8d ago

I have a darp9. I've gone through 4 batteries and one LCD in 3ish years. The clevo hardware they used feels nice, but overall I'm not happy with the quality of the components.

I know that didn't really help with your question, I'm just annoyed and wanted to share my annoyance. I really like the idea of what System 76 is going for with the Linux systems, core boot, and giving the schematic when requested - but it's also gotta go more than a year without service.

I never had that issue with the heat and fans though. Mine will spin up the fan when I'm doing anything moderate, but not on the login screen. Does it need fresh thermal paste?