[ubuntu] Fan not working upon upgrade 8.10 to 10.04

Hi. My roommate just upgraded my Ubuntu 8.04 to 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) on my Acer Aspire 5315. When I arrived home and tried to use the computer, I noticed the fan was not working properly, the laptop was overheating and shutting down. I realize there is already a thread for this (Acer Aspire 5315 Shuts Down, Hardware & Laptops), but it's quite confusing. Some suggest that I flash the BIOS, which I am not willing to do because I know it's a dangerous procedure, and I'm not prepared for total loss of the computer. But according to Isparkes,

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...92#post4925392

this may not be necessary. Some suggest that I install lm-sensors (is that an L or an I as in "Italy"?) and conky; some say I should install computertemp instead of conky. Another poster said I should download and install acer_fancontrol.tar.gz. Some Ubuntu documentation says Gnome sensors-applet should solve the problem:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SensorInstallHowto

Another Ubuntu site suggests yet another way to solve the problem:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/22108...trol-fan-speed

Which one is more likely to work, without having to upgrade the BIOS? The fan itself - the hardware, I mean - seems to be working all right, because I am typing this right now with the Ubuntu 8.04 live CD.

Any imputs and I will be very grateful.

Luiz