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Here is my hardware/software setup:

  1. Model 4B with 4GB of RAM.
  2. Official 5V power supply (North American socket)
  3. Official case with provided heatsinks
  4. Ubuntu 20.04 (Most recent LTS, came out April 2020)

When I log into my machine remotely, I am greeted with this disturbing output (notice temperature):

Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.4.0-1008-raspi aarch64)

  System load:            0.06
  Usage of /:             31.0% of 14.29GB
  Memory usage:           11%
  Swap usage:             0%
  Temperature:            75.0 C
  Processes:              186
  Users logged in:        0

I am running no processes other than those which are started at boot time, not even a graphical environment, and yet I am seeing (and feeling) insane temperatures.

So my question is, is this an anomaly, or are these CPU temps the price you have to pay for the latest model?

Brian Tracy
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    can you install regular raspbian for comparison – Jaromanda X May 02 '20 at 02:40
  • @JaromandaX I'll try that out and report back. – Brian Tracy May 02 '20 at 05:52
  • Do you have a heatsink? Is it in a case? Try standing it on edge. Does it have the latest firmware? After you try Raspbian (before going back to Ubuntu) run `sudo apt update;sudo apt dist-upgrade -y;sudo reboot` and that will upgrade the on-board EEPROM with the run-cooler firmware. – Dougie May 02 '20 at 10:49
  • @Dougie Does the `dist-upgrade` need to be ran from raspbian (I am assuming that ubuntu is not going to ship raspberry pi firmware)? – Brian Tracy May 06 '20 at 03:05
  • You can probably install the Raspbian *.deb on Ubuntu (but I wouldn't try that). You'll need to ask on the Ubuntu forum for how this works. Their support for Raspberry Pis is very good as they've got a guy who used to work for RPF/RPT on the Ubuntu team. – Dougie May 06 '20 at 08:32

1 Answers1

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I can't comment on whether Ubuntu makes things worse, but the P4 is subject to overheating.

Firmware upgrades ameliorated some of the problems but many users have resorted to proper heatsinks, fans and/or cases.

The official case is unusable - it has no ventilation and those tiny heatsinks make little difference. My official case is in my junk box along with an official Pi3 case.

For what it is worth I ran Ubuntu 20.04 on my Pi4 (in its heatsink case) and GUI without issue.

If you run any serious code the Pi will throttle back to avoid damage, but this kind of defeats the point of a faster processor.

The case I used is https://core-electronics.com.au/search/?q=ce06407 - I believe these are available from other vendors. I do not think the fan is totally necessary - it only comes on at 60℃ after running the stress test for > 10 minutes.

Milliways
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  • Could you link me to the heatsink case you used? – Brian Tracy May 02 '20 at 05:55
  • I use the same case as in the link, but my fans are hardwired (i.e. on all the time), and the pi temperature at idle is 29C - the case in the link by the way, the fans would run all the time as they are connected to +5v/Gnd – Jaromanda X May 02 '20 at 06:59
  • @JaromandaX I built a fan control module https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/a/105820/8697 – Milliways May 02 '20 at 07:11
  • @Milliways - nice! I may replicate that – Jaromanda X May 02 '20 at 07:14
  • @JaromandaX See my implementation. I used to find the noise of the very quiet fan disturbing at 11:00PM – Milliways May 02 '20 at 07:18
  • I am inclined to agree with Milliways verdict that "The official case is unusable". It was acting like a hot box for my pi, so I chose a new case with a fan. I am now seeing idle temperatures around 39C (from 75C before). – Brian Tracy May 06 '20 at 03:07