Fan 100% Silent or Non-Functional

I've read through some of the topics here about fan problems and mine seems to be unique in a few areas.

Stats
Model: AOA110-1112 RT
Configuration: 8GB Intel SSD (SSDPAMM0008G1), 3-cell Battery, BIOS: 3114

I've never once heard the fan on my AA1. Even if I put my ear right up to the vent while it is hot, nothing I can perceive as fan noise. However, I've had my AA1 on for hours at a time before, go through compiling a few kernels (where it got noticeably hot), but again, no fan noise at all. From what I can see, people with defective fans rarely see their units last longer than a few minutes.

As for making sure there was software recognition, I used the acer_ec.pl script portion of acerfand to poke around the registers, and the register that controls fan speed has jumped around as it should depending on thermal readings. However, even when it reads off (0x1f) or any other value (0x02 most commonly), absolutely no noise. The thermal control register has reached a hex value of about 0x54 before ( I believe this correlates to about 84 degrees centigrade), and the unit has stayed perfectly functional.

Acer has suggested I send it in, but I really am wondering if I just got blessed with an inordinately quiet fan or something. And if it is just a loose cable, I would really like to try and fix it myself. Anybody else have similar experiences or words of the wise for me?

 

I can hardly hear my fan also but I can place the vent next to my cheek and feel the air coming out.

 

Well, I'm relatively certain at this point that the fan is indeed dead, or non-existant.

I'm very tempted to just open the computer up and install the RAM I have sitting here, and in the process, check the heatsink/fan on the processor area. I've been trying to get the AA1 to overheat intentionally lately, and I haven't actually gotten it to poweroff or crash or anything. If these netbooks performed this well with passive cooling already, I wonder why the fan was necessary! Although, having said that, the left palm rest does get exceedingly hot during prolonged CPU load.

Also, my AA1 did not come with one of those fancy protective sleeves. Anyone know where I can buy an original sleeve online?

 

Call Acer about the sleeve. I called about getting XP recovery disks and asked if I should have got a sleeve. Lady I talked to checked and said I should have got one and they could send me one. I was happy getting the XP CD's and told them I didn't need the sleeve.

 

Oh cool, I thought I just purchased a model that lacked the sleeve for whatever reason! I'll feel more comfortable putting the AA1 in my backpack now...

Heh, wonder if I could request a replacement fan unit while I'm at it.

 

I really don't think you have a fan problem. I mean if you have been trying to over heat it and it has not over heated then it must be due to the fan working. The Atom processor is good and runs cooler than most but it is not so good that it does not need air flow. Try and place a small feather on the table so it covers the exhaust vent on your AAO and then turn on your AAO. The feather should move or at least flutter if the air is moving. Or try holding something that is smoking by the vent to see if air is moving.