(This is for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron, but may work for other versions too. For Intrepid users, see the bottom part.)
I have been using Ubuntu Linux since last year on my Acer 4710 laptop and I am not just satisfied, I am happy with it. One thing that makes Ubuntu (as any Linux distro is), is the ease of adding applets on yuor desktop panel. Just like the taskbar icons in Windows.
I have installed these monitoring applets so I can know in real-time if my hardware gets overheated or not.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: These applets require installation of lm-sensors. At console, type
sudo apt-get install lm-sensors
After install, at console, run
sensors-detect
and follow instructions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Hardware sensors monitor (sensors-applet, hddtemp)
>> Used to display current temperature of CPUs, cores, and hard disk.
2. CPU Freq Monitor (emifreq-applet)*
>> Used to scale down your CPU speed depending on your needs.
To add these to the panel, right click to an empty space to your panel and select "Add to panel...". Simply select "Hardware sensors monitor" and CPUFreq monitor". You may need to add also "CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor"*
Now you can configure these applets once they are on the panel. Simply right-click to an applet and select "preferences" wherever possible. If your CPU is multi-cored, you may add each applet per core and configure them individually.
Happy computing!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* For Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid users, you may don't need to install the "emifreq-applet". Just by adding "CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor" to the panel, it already has the option to scale down your CPU frequency.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
