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sbfreak

Member

Registered: 2010-06-06

Posts: 149

[SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

Hello I own a Thinkpad Edge E420 1141-GJG laptop.
The fan runs at a constant speed sometimes overheating the laptop.
I want the fan speed control to be done automatically so I followed the the steps presented here to no avail.
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_co … #For_Linux

cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan 
status:         disabled
speed:          0
level:          0

Last edited by sbfreak (2013-01-24 22:30:54)

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,523

Website

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

How about this:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fan_Speed_Control

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sbfreak

Member

Registered: 2010-06-06

Posts: 149

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

Edit /etc/sensors.d/sensors.conf and look up your exact chipset. A few chipset names are similar, so make sure the one you are editing is yours. Add the line 'set fanX_div 4' near the start of your chipset config, replacing X with the number of CPU fans your system has.

How can one find the exact chipset name? The overall information spilled out by dmidecode is staggering.

Later Edit:

Accoding to http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Lm_sensors#Configuration ,the chipset name should be in the sensors output.

$ sensors
acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +37.0 C  (crit = +120.0 C)

thinkpad-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
fan1:           0 RPM

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +59.0 C  (high = +86.0 C, crit = +100.0 C)
Core 0:         +54.0 C  (high = +86.0 C, crit = +100.0 C)
Core 1:         +58.0 C  (high = +86.0 C, crit = +100.0 C)

/etc/sensors.d/sensors.conf

chip "lm78-*" "lm79-*" "lm80-*" "lm96080-*"

    set fan4_div 32
    label temp1 "M/B Temp"

Last edited by sbfreak (2013-01-24 14:49:02)

sbfreak

Member

Registered: 2010-06-06

Posts: 149

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

I solved the problem using thinkfan.

alyssa0620

Member

Registered: 2013-03-21

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

I'm E420 too.
how did you set your sensors in thinkfan.conf, I don't have thermal in /proc/acpi/ibm

sbfreak

Member

Registered: 2010-06-06

Posts: 149

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

Try this.
It should solve the problem in a "clean way"/
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 5#p1030495

alyssa0620

Member

Registered: 2013-03-21

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

Thank you , after a few days' test, I think I almost solve the problem
the key point is that I need to add thinkfan into daemon.
and there is another question, even in 7 level, the fan doesn't work in fastest speed.
so , when i do some tough task, the temperature will rise over 60 centigrade and even 70 ,
but the fan doesn't work as fast as in my windows
so I  worry a lot sinsce summer is comming

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,774

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

    Thank you , ...comming

If you are wondering where your first post went, you hit the 'report' link, not the 'reply' link.  You either coped your post prior to posting, or you retyped it perfectly -- typos and all

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Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
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WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [SOLVED]thinkpad edge e420 fan problem

Honestly, I think that it is best to let the bios handle the fan speed instead of userspace. 

If the laptop is overheating when the fan is going full speed, you have problems beyond just the speed/noise of the fan.  Having a fully running fan shouldn't cause your machine to overheat, and in fact should do the opposite and cool your system down.