Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

Forum for scripts, utilities like TPFanControl, IBM-ECW, 2-finger scrolling, etc.
Message
Author
Shahnewaz
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 11:11 pm
Location: Thornhill, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#211 Post by Shahnewaz » Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:21 pm

Hi, I have tried to use this on my T450s, but I get this error, even when disabling driver signature enforcement:

http://i.imgur.com/Ce8E5G3.png

I have tried enabling test signing and disabling integrity checks, but I still get the same message every time I run the program.
Is there any way to solve this problem? Or is the driver incompatible with Windows 10 Anniversary Update?

Thanks.

Lister
Freshman Member
Posts: 98
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:35 am
Location: Czech Republic

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#212 Post by Lister » Sat Feb 18, 2017 5:58 am

Hi, download IBM_ECW_WR0.ZIP from this http://bertrand.deo.free.fr/IBM_EC/index_e.html. On Win7 64b runs without any problems.
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 15,4 Mid 2015 | i7 4770HQ | | Intel Iris Pro 5200 | 16GB Ram | Samsung ssPolaris 1TB
IBM T60 | UXGA AFFS | T7600 | ATi X1400 | Samsung 3GB | Intel 535 240GB

Thrakath
Freshman Member
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:52 pm
Location: Germany

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#213 Post by Thrakath » Wed Jun 07, 2017 6:30 am

Is IBM_ECW able to really "set" the multiplier for X9x00 Core2Extreme CPUs? I am awaiting one from Chinca those days and highly prefer IBM_ECW over Throttlestop....

Thrakath
Freshman Member
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:52 pm
Location: Germany

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#214 Post by Thrakath » Thu Jun 22, 2017 4:14 am

Half good news.
IBM_ECW can set multipliers for X9100, but is unable to perform the first necessary step to unlock the Extreme CPUs like Throttlestop with it´s unlock button. In the german forum a method was developed to run a X9100 Extreme C2D with only one simple Wirebridge. I can reach 3GHz with 1.1V then and the CPU is only 12$.
Could you try to implement this unlock button?

zoltan87
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 292
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2016 12:16 pm
Location: Plymouth, United Kingdom

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#215 Post by zoltan87 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:00 pm

I have just tried to download this utility to finally give it a try, and all the links are dead. Does anyone have it downloaded on their hard drive? I really hope it hasn't been just lost to time, like so many things on the internet. I think the newest version that was posted here was "ver. 1.0.7.3" (it's on page 7, post 199, but that link is dead too).
Thinkpad T60, 15" Flexview, with mods (Xiphmont's LED mod, T500 heatsink, cpu undervolt, reinforced frame)
Thinkpad T601, 15" Flexview, with mods (Xiphmont's LED mod, T500 heatsink, cpu undervolt, reinforced frame)
Thinkpad X32
Thinkpad T22
NEC ProSpeed SX/20

88
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:11 pm
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#216 Post by 88 » Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:19 pm

I just had to registered to help :D
I had similar problem, where all link I've tried were broken. So instead I've used the webarchive to check the old link and found a copy!
Here is direct link to IBM_ECW: https://web.archive.org/web/20190301073 ... BM_ECW.ZIP

P.S. this forum has a lot of dead links, especially if you need something for the older models, so please everyone, use webarchive and back up for the future use. :)

zoltan87
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 292
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2016 12:16 pm
Location: Plymouth, United Kingdom

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#217 Post by zoltan87 » Sat Jun 26, 2021 9:12 pm

88 wrote:
Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:19 pm
I just had to registered to help :D
I had similar problem, where all link I've tried were broken. So instead I've used the webarchive to check the old link and found a copy!
Here is direct link to IBM_ECW: https://web.archive.org/web/20190301073 ... BM_ECW.ZIP

P.S. this forum has a lot of dead links, especially if you need something for the older models, so please everyone, use webarchive and back up for the future use. :)
Thank you very much, I feel slightly guilty now, as I have been helped out by forum member Lister by a copy of this program, I just forgot to update this thread. But it's good to know that the app is still available online.

On the positive side, now that you have registered here, it will be easy for you to ask and/or participate in topics that you are interested in. Even though the forum doesn't have as much traffic any more as used to, there are quite a few extremely knowledgeable, long time members here, who still visit frequently. So welcome to the forum!

And about the IBM_ECW program: I have been playing around with it for a few days now, there are many things that I really like about it, unfortunately I will most likely go back to use CPUgenie for my undervolting needs.

I have a fairly unique use case scenario, in that I use DOSbox for my retro gaming needs a lot. And emulation relies on single core performance. IBM_ECW has serious difficulty scaling cpu performance for single core loads (this has been mentioned earlier in this thread by others too).

I tried to adjust the individual thresholds, where the switch would occur for the next higer frequency, went all the way down to 30% (so the cpu would run at max speed from above that threshold), but I still get extremely choppy DOSbox experience in certain games (mainly in the ones that are graphically more taxing, like The Need For Speed first episode).

I just can't get it right. I wish there was an option to just undervolt the CPU, but the CPU frequency scaling would still be controlled by Windows (or Intel's own driver, I honestly have no clue how the processor is being controlled).

And by the way even CPUgenie (the program I have been using for undervolting) isn't perfect, and have some slowdowns in certain games, but it's nowhere near as serious as with IBM_ECW.

I could try setting up profiles with predefined frequency ranges, and assign shortcuts to them (I read in the documentation that IBM_ECW can do that), but honestly I am just too lazy to go through all that. Basically I just want to leave my laptop to it's own devices, and I want it to be able to adjust performance automatically.

So sadly I think I have to go back using CPUgenie. I can see that for most people IBM_ECW could be a great choice, as in normal everyday use I didn't really notice performance issues, did the undervolting perfectly as expected, has a very small footprint, and have many great features that I haven't even really got into.

I just wish it would handle single core loads better.
Thinkpad T60, 15" Flexview, with mods (Xiphmont's LED mod, T500 heatsink, cpu undervolt, reinforced frame)
Thinkpad T601, 15" Flexview, with mods (Xiphmont's LED mod, T500 heatsink, cpu undervolt, reinforced frame)
Thinkpad X32
Thinkpad T22
NEC ProSpeed SX/20

88
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:11 pm
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#218 Post by 88 » Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:02 pm

Thanks for the warm welcome! Still browsing through what looks like an infinite amount of useful information on here.
Tried Reddit, but gave up and this forum looks like the way to go. So far had way more success here while looking for some answers with my T43.
I am not gonna lie, I came here with hundreds of silly questions and probably not much to add that isn't already on here.

And about the IBM_ECW program: I've started it, temperatures have gone down a bit and no more of that annoying fan spinning each 5 seconds or so. Haven't tried to play with individual thresholds. I expected to find a post from someone who has already tested and shared some safe values for my exact T43 model, but no luck (no surprise) and I am still not confident testing myself, even if I know that there is still ways to improve what I am getting from the default setup I have now.

Will need to look up CPUgenie if I somehow crack the code on how to best work with these things.

RealBlackStuff
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 23809
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#219 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Jul 02, 2021 11:41 pm

If temps are a problem, get some better thermal paste.
My wife likes to play games on her X240.
Recently the fan started getting loud and temperatures were going into the high 80s (Centigrade/Celsius),
even though less than a year ago I had applied the (supposedly top dog) Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste.

It has become known that Kryonaut starts to lose functionality if has been over 80 C just once!
So the other day I took a look, noticed that half the paste had disappeared(??), and replaced it with Phobya NanoGrease Extreme.
Believe it or not: playing the same games, temperatures are about 15 C lower!
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

zoltan87
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 292
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2016 12:16 pm
Location: Plymouth, United Kingdom

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#220 Post by zoltan87 » Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:51 pm

88 wrote:
Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:02 pm
Thanks for the warm welcome! Still browsing through what looks like an infinite amount of useful information on here.
Tried Reddit, but gave up and this forum looks like the way to go. So far had way more success here while looking for some answers with my T43.
I am not gonna lie, I came here with hundreds of silly questions and probably not much to add that isn't already on here.

And about the IBM_ECW program: I've started it, temperatures have gone down a bit and no more of that annoying fan spinning each 5 seconds or so. Haven't tried to play with individual thresholds. I expected to find a post from someone who has already tested and shared some safe values for my exact T43 model, but no luck (no surprise) and I am still not confident testing myself, even if I know that there is still ways to improve what I am getting from the default setup I have now.

Will need to look up CPUgenie if I somehow crack the code on how to best work with these things.
Even though I haven't tried it myself, I read in the documentation of IBM_ECW, that you can also change fan speeds with it. I would highly recommend using custom temperature thresholds for the different fan levels. I am not that familiar with the T4x series, but on my T60 I absolutely hated the factory pre-defined values for the fan, so I have completely changed them with a small program called tpfancontrol. But IBM_ECW supposedly have the same functionality built in, so if you keep using it, you are better off doing these modifications in this program. If you still end up using tpfancontrol, I am happy to help you with that.

Also not sure if you are aware of this, but every cpu is slightly different due to manufacturing inconsistencies, that's why we can't just give exact undervolting values out for processors. Even two of the same type of processors can have different values for stable voltages, often two or even three steps difference for the same frequency. For example I have two Intel T9500 processors, one of them is stable with 1.000 V at 2.6 GHz, the other one needs 1.025V to stay stable on the same frequency. So you really need to individually find the lowest stable voltages for each processor, lowering the voltage one step at a time, then running a stress test, for example Prime 95.

This whole stress testing procedure and voltage adjustment is pretty straight forward in CPUgenie, and I had the stable values for my cpu from that program, so when I tried out IBM_ECW I just typed in all those values manually there. I am not sure how you would go about doing all the voltage testing in IBM_ECW itself (I think there is a way to do it, but I haven't tried).

Just in case if you decide to try out CPUgenie, there is one pretty big downside to it: there is no uninstall utility included with it, and it doesn't show up in the installed programs list in the control panel. So it's very painful to remove it if you decide, I had to download an uninstaller utility, uninstall it with that, and still manually remove some remnants even after that. And I still must have missed some files, as after I decided to go back using it, it immediately knew my previous settings, so somewhere in the Windows registry or who knows where, it still had leftover data. Apart from this weird behaviour, it does its job perfectly, never caused any issues or hang-ups on my system, and I have been using it for like 3 years now.
Thinkpad T60, 15" Flexview, with mods (Xiphmont's LED mod, T500 heatsink, cpu undervolt, reinforced frame)
Thinkpad T601, 15" Flexview, with mods (Xiphmont's LED mod, T500 heatsink, cpu undervolt, reinforced frame)
Thinkpad X32
Thinkpad T22
NEC ProSpeed SX/20

RealBlackStuff
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 23809
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

#221 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Jul 05, 2021 12:35 am

After you uninstall programs, you should always check the folders Program Files, and Program Files (x86).
But most people forget/don't know to also check: Users\[yourname]\AppData\Local and \Roaming, plus that all important: Registry
Quite often it is (not) amazing, the amount of junk that is left behind there!
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “ThinkPad Utility Work Area”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests