ComputingConfidence

By installing small bits of software, you can get to see the actual voltages, temperatures, fan speeds and their respective upper and lower limits.  It is worth while doing this before you experience problems, so that you know what normal values are for your computer.

First make sure the items are installed:

sudo apt-get install lm-sensors
sudo apt-get install hddtemp

Then run:

sudo sensors-detect
sudo modprobe moduleName

which will ensure the driver are loaded next time you start the computer.

Now you can run:

sensors

to see the detectable parameters.

If you like graphical application in addition you can install:

sudo apt-get install sensors-applet

and drag this applet into your panel bar.