Thinkpads Forum

I came across this ThinkPad fan software yesterday. I have tried working with it ... searched the forun here and did some Google searches. I really don't understand how this program works. The fan never seems to come on ... but it has come on every so often but I don't know what is triggering it to start spinning.

I found people talking about settings for T420 and the T500. I can find no mention of settings for the T41 / T42. I found this information:

TPFanControl is a freeware program that works wonders controlling the fan in a ThinkPad, but there is no support and its default settings are for the TP T61.

Here are the settings recommended for the T420 by a poster in a forum.
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Just got a brand new T420s. But to my chagrin the fan was a jet engine. I found the suggestion to install TPFanControl on this forum and it is working wonderfully.

I was wondering what best to use for the fan settings? Default Smart 1 seems too lax and Smart 2 too stringent. Currently I have set-

Level=40 0
Level=45 2
Level=50 3
Level=55 4
Level=60 5
Level=65 6
Level=70 7
Level=75 64

and the T500 ...

For everyday use, tpfancontrol says my CPU is in the 40ºC-45ºC range. Charging the battery raises the temperature (a lot more than any Office task), and so does opening a number of websites with flash ads at the same time.

My choice of settings is:

Level=38 0

Level=47 4

Level=52 7

Level=58 128

Level=75 128

(This translates into: The fan goes on at 47ºC. It will keep on blowing at level 4 until the temperature is all the way down to 38ºC. If the temperature rises above 52ºC the fan will change to level 7. If it rises above 58ºC the BIOS will take over.)
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My question ... can anyone give me some good settings for a T41 / T42 ThinkPad ... and also, how do you input these settings or make them permanent?

The small vertical window that opens on the top left has a small box at the very bottom with (0-7) beside it. I would like the fan to start running a little at 40 C or 45 C and more as the temperature go up.

I have the 0.62 version installed ... in the above T500 numbers there is a Level=38 0 ... is that 38 the temperature setting to start the fan?

Would I place "Level=38 0" in that bottom box with the (0-7) beside it?

What settings do people here use and how or where do I enter them ... and also exactly the correct way with spaces or no spaces?

Moderator edit: Moved thread from the T4x-forum.

OK ... thanks to whoever moved my post to the correct thread, missed that. I found some more information and it probably explains why the fan is not starting sooner.

"Smart Mode is for people who like their laptops quieter. But if you regularly play games or run processor intensive applications, then using BIOS or manual is better.

Assuming that you're talking about tpfancontrol, then I'd say that it's smart mode is pre-configured for quieter fan operation, or in other words it will let your chips go hotter before the fan start turning."

I am on the smart mode setting as I guess that was the default setting. So the chip will get more hot before I detect the fan running. I think I would like it to start running sooner ... still would be interested in the settings someone might be using for a T42.
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There are settings for how TPFC behaves on startup. One determines whether it starts minimized or not (I always set this to yes/1) and what mode it comes up in - typically smart mode 1.

I then usually adjust the fan settings for smart mode 1 to something like what you see below. Fan speeds 1, 3, 7 and 64 are the only ones I find that work consistently. 2, 4, 5, 6 and all others but 0 and 65 do nothing (sometimes 5 does things, usually not IME). The biggest con to such a setup, usually on the newer turbo-boost enabled later Intel CPUs, whenever a single thread kicks into turbo mode, the temp spikes quickly and briefly - causing a short (but loud) fan run-up. Probably not much of an issue on a Pentium M though (it's been a little while since I had my T42p out - and at the moment it has no hard drive).

Level=50 0
Level=55 1
Level=60 3
Level=65 7
Level=75 64

This translates to shut the fan off at anything 50C or cooler. If it heats up to 55C, turn on the fan to low. Heats up to 60, medium; 65, high; 75 maximum. Then when cooling down to 65, reduce to high; cooling to 60, reduce to medium; 55, low; then 50, again off.

Yesterday when I was working with this program, nothing seemed to make sense trying to understand the settings. Today, it's all is easy to figure out. I decided on settings very close to yours. I started with 55C, then back to 50C for 0. A few of mine are slightly higher but I like your numbers.

Yesterday, the fan was not running much at all and I was concerned that I didn't have this program installed correctly. After more searching around today that doesn't seem to be a major concern in the 30 and 40C area.

Thanks for your help and information ... got this figured out ... good to go !

Callahan