T61 fan and heat issue

nan · 2008-07-17 19:45:40

Hey everyone, I just recently switched from ubuntu to arch and I'm loving it so far, however, one problem has been bugging me since I switched to linux.

I'm on a Thinkpad T61 and both on ubuntu and arch I'm having a heat/fan issue. My cpu is a Intel Centrino Pro "Santa Rosa" T7300 clocked at 2.0GHz per core, and it's running a at a much higher temperature on linux than on vista; idling at around 60 peaking at over 90 on linux compared to idling at 30-40 and peaking at 70 on vista. This is really scaring me... Also for some reason, my fan doesn't seem to kick in full speed until my cpu temp gets to the 90-95 temperature range... I have successfully installed tpfand and tpfan-admin, and I am able to run and set my custom thresholds for the fan, however they don't seem to be taking effect.

Does anyone know how can I keep lower my cpu temperatures and make my fan more responsive?

buddabrod · 2008-07-17 21:04:17

Did you load acpi_cpufreq, cpufreq_ondemand and such?

I got an T61, too and it's idling at 40°C atm and never reaches more than 60°.

I dont use any control scripts since the Bios settings are fine enough for me.

Edit: I have a T7500.

Last edited by buddabrod (2008-07-17 21:05:07)

nan · 2008-07-17 21:24:59

Yup I have all those modules loaded. btw shouldn't it be acpi-cpufreq not acpi_cpu_freq?

floke · 2008-07-17 21:59:21

Yes it is - also make sure you have it in your daemons array and that these modules are also loaded:
cpufreq_stats cpufreq_powersave cpufreq_ondemand cpufreq_conservative

...also that you have the settings right in your /etc/conf.d/cpufreq

You could try turning the max frequency down - mines a 2.Ghz max and has recently peaked at 90'-100' while doing some heavy compiling. I've turned the max down to 1.66Gz and use the ondemand governor, and now it doesn't get above 64' (idles at 43'). I don't notice a performance hit since it rarely needed to hit 2Gz anyways.

** EDIT: Make sure you have laptop-mode installed and in your daemons too **

Last edited by floke (2008-07-17 22:00:44)

nan · 2008-07-17 22:20:53

Yup I believe I have everything setup correctly...

Here's my rc.conf

#
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
#

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# LOCALIZATION
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# LOCALE: available languages can be listed with the 'locale -a' command
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime"
# USEDIRECTISA: use direct I/O requests instead of /dev/rtc for hwclock
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: found in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-US)
# CONSOLEMAP: found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
#
LOCALE="en_US.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="UTC"
USEDIRECTISA="no"
TIMEZONE="Canada/Eastern"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# HARDWARE
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# MOD_AUTOLOAD: Allow autoloading of modules at boot and when needed
# MOD_BLACKLIST: Prevent udev from loading these modules
# MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Prefix with a ! to blacklist.
#
# NOTE: Use of 'MOD_BLACKLIST' is deprecated. Please use ! in the MODULES array.
#
MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
#MOD_BLACKLIST=() #deprecated
MODULES=(acpi-cpufreq cpufreq_stats cpufreq_ondemand cpufreq_conservative cpufreq_powersave ac battery bay button dock processor thermal video wmi cdrom intel-agp nvram firewire-core firewire-ohci hid usbhid i2c-i801 i2c-core evdev ff-memless joydev pcspkr psmouse serio_raw thinkpad_acpi pci_hotplug shpchp rtc-cmos rtc-core rtc-lib nvidia output crc-itu-t snd-mixer-oss snd-pcm-oss snd-hwdep snd snd-page-alloc snd-pcm snd-timer snd-hda-intel soundcore pata_acpi ata_generic scsi_mod ahci ata_piix e1000e mac80211 iwl4965 cfg80211 pcmcia_core rsrc_nonstatic yenta_socket usbhid usbcore ehci-hcd uhci-hcd firewire-core firewire-ohci ieee1394 ohci1394 sd_mod sr_mod) 

# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# NETWORKING
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# HOSTNAME: Hostname of machine. Should also be put in /etc/hosts
#
HOSTNAME="nine27-t61"

# Use 'ifconfig -a' or 'ls /sys/class/net/' to see all available interfaces.
#
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
#   - prefix an entry in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it
#   - no hyphens in your interface names - Bash doesn't like it
# 
# DHCP:     Set your interface to "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
# Wireless: See network profiles below
#
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="dhcp"
wlan0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(lo !eth0 !wlan0)

# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
#   - prefix an entry in ROUTES with a ! to disable it
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
 
# Enable these network profiles at boot-up.  These are only useful
# if you happen to need multiple network configurations (ie, laptop users)
#   - set to 'menu' to present a menu during boot-up (dialog package required)
#   - prefix an entry with a ! to disable it
#
# Network profiles are found in /etc/network.d
#
# This now requires the netcfg package
#
#NETWORKS=(main)

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# DAEMONS
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
#   - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it
#   - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background
#
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng !network netfs crond acpid @alsa hal @fam @gdm dhcdb networkmanager cpufreq laptop-mode @vmware tpfand)

Here's my /etc/conf.d/cpufreq

#configuration for cpufreq control

# valid governors:
#  ondemand, performance, powersave,
#  conservative, userspace
governor="ondemand"

# valid suffixes: Hz, kHz (default), MHz, GHz, THz
max_freq="2.00GHz"
min_freq="800MHz"

EDIT: Fixed (typo in cpufreq settings file, updated file contents) -> Also, for some reason cpufreq is setting my governer to performance although I set it to ondemand in the settings.

Still idling at around 60c.

Last edited by nan (2008-07-17 23:18:25)

floke · 2008-07-17 22:35:49

That's a strange /etc/conf.d/cpufreq

Here's mine

#configuration for cpufreq control

# valid governors:
#  ondemand, performance, powersave,
#  conservative, userspace
governor="ondemand"

# valid suffixes: Hz, kHz (default), MHz, GHz, THz
min_freq="1.33GHz"
max_freq="1.66GHz"

You might try something like this?

** EDIT: '/etc/rc.d/cpufreq start' as root to restart after changing any settings; and cpufreq-info to see what's going on **

Last edited by floke (2008-07-17 22:37:58)

nan · 2008-07-17 22:40:21

whoops, somehow copied the contents of a different file. >.>

Updated post.

nan · 2008-07-18 01:58:25

After fixing my cpufreq settings file, things are looking much better. It idles at around 55 but doesn't seem to go higher than 70 unless put under a lot of stress (eg. lots of compiling), and I haven't seen it get close to 90 yet.

Are there any other things I could do to further lower my operating temperature?

buddabrod · 2008-07-18 07:08:24

These are some of my settings through /etc/rc.local:

echo medium_power > /sys/class/scsi_host/host0/link_power_management_policy
echo 5 > /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode
echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/nmi_watchdog
echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/sched_mc_power_savings
echo ondemand > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor
echo 2000 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs
#echo 5 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000\:03\:00.0/power_level
hdparm -qS 60 /dev/sda
hal-disable-polling --device /dev/sr0
echo 37 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh
echo 60 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh
echo 2 > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save

I dont have any daemons running for cpufreq or similar, since no one really needs that ;P

nan · 2008-07-18 15:26:05

buddabrod, are you using kernel26tp? And why is cpufreq not so useful?

buddabrod · 2008-07-18 20:20:48

nan wrote:

buddabrod, are you using kernel26tp? And why is cpufreq not so useful?

My cpufreq governor is chosen by doing

echo ondemand > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

So i dont need any daemon running.
I Dont use kernel26tp, since the only useful thing it brings is hdaps support which i dont need.

bender02 · 2008-07-18 23:25:55

By the way, in order to control the fan via tpfand (or other similar progs), you need to load the thinkpad_acpi module with fan_control=1 parameter (says so on thinkwiki, and I tried it myself. Without the parameter, fan settings don't have any effect on the fan.)

nan · 2008-07-19 04:05:38

bender02 wrote:

By the way, in order to control the fan via tpfand (or other similar progs), you need to load the thinkpad_acpi module with fan_control=1 parameter (says so on thinkwiki, and I tried it myself. Without the parameter, fan settings don't have any effect on the fan.)

I have to loaded like that, except it still doesn't seem to have any effect.

buddabrod, how did you get the battery charging threshold setup? what modules/daemons did you have to load?

Last edited by nan (2008-07-19 04:11:46)

buddabrod · 2008-07-19 09:07:53

nan wrote:

bender02 wrote:
By the way, in order to control the fan via tpfand (or other similar progs), you need to load the thinkpad_acpi module with fan_control=1 parameter (says so on thinkwiki, and I tried it myself. Without the parameter, fan settings don't have any effect on the fan.)
I have to loaded like that, except it still doesn't seem to have any effect.

Try manually, you can set it in /proc/acpi/ibm/fan.
For example echo "level 7"> /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

buddabrod, how did you get the battery charging threshold setup? what modules/daemons did you have to load?

You need tp_smapi for that, it's in AUR.

nan · 2008-07-19 14:22:53

No matter what I do can't seem to be able to change the speed of the fan. Just to make sure, to lead thinkpad_acpi with fan_control = 1 you put "options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1" in /etc/modprob.d/options right?

EDIT: actually I discovered that I can change the speed of the fan, however seconds after I change it, it goes back to having a level of auto. What's making it cange back automatically?

EDIT: Turns out tp fancontrol is what is messing up my fan speeds. With it disabled, it'll stay at a fan speed of 7; however, if I set a fanspeed of 1 or 2, it seems to still go back to auto after a few seconds. I think I also need to clean my fan, seems like it's pretty clogged. Also, why is that when I do "sudo echo "level 7" > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan as a non root user, I get permission denied? will this affect programs that are trying to adjust fan speed that I run as non-root user using sudo?

Last edited by nan (2008-07-19 14:37:26)

buddabrod · 2008-07-21 13:36:50

nan wrote:

No matter what I do can't seem to be able to change the speed of the fan. Just to make sure, to lead thinkpad_acpi with fan_control = 1 you put "options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1" in /etc/modprob.d/options right?

No, i have it in /etc/modprobe.conf. :

cat /etc/modprobe.conf
#
# /etc/modprobe.conf (for v2.6 kernels)
#
options thinkpad_acpi hotkey=enable,0xffffffff experimental=1 fan_control=1

supersako · 2008-07-27 23:24:45

Hey guys, I have a t61p and I am having similar issues, my laptop gets extremely hot. I havent been able to check the actual temperature, because i do not know how yet ( trying to set up conky? ) but the bottom of my laptop gets so hot I can't touch it. Now I set up cpufreq using this post. However, I am not able to find tpfand anywhere in arch? not aur nothing... Can someone help me get tpfand installed? Also, is the fan being controlled automatically?? When it reaches a certain temp, they will turn on ... etc. Do I need to add options thinkpad_acpi ..... to my modprobe.conf for it to control the fan?

nan · 2008-07-28 02:47:32

http://www.gambitchess.org/mediawiki/in … an_Control

I basically followed instructions there to get it set up, however I remember I had to modify the daemon init script for it to work.

This is what my /etc/rc.d/tpfand looks like:

#!/bin/bash
# Start/stop the ThinkPad fan control daemon.
#
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          tpfand
# Required-Start:    $syslog $time
# Required-Stop:     $syslog $time
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: ThinkPad Fan Control daemon
# Description:       tpfand controls the fan speed of an IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad
#             notebook. It can be configured by running tpfan-admin
### END INIT INFO

. /etc/rc.conf
. /etc/rc.d/functions

PID=`pidof -o %PPID python /usr/sbin/tpfand`
case "$1" in
start)    stat_busy "Starting ThinkPad fan control daemon"
        [ -z "$PID" ] && /usr/sbin/tpfand
        if [ ! -z "$PID" -o  $? -gt 0 ]; then
          stat_fail
        else
          stat_done
        fi
          ;;
stop)      stat_busy "Stopping ThinkPad fan control daemon" 
        [ ! -z "$PID" ] && kill $PID &>/dev/null
        if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
          stat_fail
        else
          rm -f /var/run/tpfand.pid
          stat_done
        fi
        ;;
restart) stat_busy "Restarting ThinkPad fan control daemon" 
        $0 stop
        $0 start
        ;;
*)        echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/tpfand {start|stop|restart}"
        exit 2
        ;;
esac
exit 0

If you have any questions of problems feel free to ask me. My t61 is fine now running normally around 50-55.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-07-17 19:45:40

T61 fan and heat issue

#2 2008-07-17 21:04:17

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#3 2008-07-17 21:24:59

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#4 2008-07-17 21:59:21

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#5 2008-07-17 22:20:53

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#6 2008-07-17 22:35:49

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#7 2008-07-17 22:40:21

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#8 2008-07-18 01:58:25

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#9 2008-07-18 07:08:24

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#10 2008-07-18 15:26:05

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#11 2008-07-18 20:20:48

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#12 2008-07-18 23:25:55

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#13 2008-07-19 04:05:38

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#14 2008-07-19 09:07:53

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#15 2008-07-19 14:22:53

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#16 2008-07-21 13:36:50

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#17 2008-07-27 23:24:45

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

#18 2008-07-28 02:47:32

Re: T61 fan and heat issue

Board footer