Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

[Eriol]

for the guys who asked about under-clocking the GPU, yes, the computer is cooler overall, the fan comes on much less frequently, and the battery lasts a bit longer (have not measured it exactly).

here is the tool.

it is used to over and under clock ATI cards, so be attentive when using it. my settings are 70MHz for the core and the memory.

I'll be happy to answer anymore questions.

Can someone explain how one would underclock the GPU using ATITool?

Is it just lowering the MHz of the GPU?

I downloaded the tool and even with its Wiki insturctions, I'm not too clear on this.

[tometcalf]

put this on my R40 2863-1U1 and it works great


Thanks.

[alebertaz]

Does it work on a TP 600X?
Otherwise how can I control fan speed?
Thanks

[gunston]

what is the heat dissipation difference between 4200rpm and 5400rpm hard disk?.
does the 5400rpm Hd contribute the most of the heat and causing the fan noise problem for most of the thinkpad T series?

[vpn-user]

ThinkPad T-Series does NOT have a heat problem.

Only the FAN control software algorithm is bad.

[gunston]

i would just wonder what operating temperature is consider not harmful to thinkpad.

[vpn-user]

Usually my ThinkPad T41p is around 43°C which is rather cold for a CPU. The other components are even more cool.

Intel allows a maximum of 100°C directly on the CPU, anything below is not harmful to it. But the bottom of the ThinkPad would be very hot then.

Problem is, that the FAN still runs when the CPU is at 43°C, it only stops around ~38°C or something.

I got around this using TPFANCONTROL, letting the FAN start at 70°C to level 3, 80°C for level 7 and at 90°C level 64.

Problem solved for me!

[hiyel]

ThinkPad T-Series does NOT have a heat problem.
Only the FAN control software algorithm is bad.

vpn:
The temp heights you gave are pretty much same as mine: 40-45 C normal usage temperature with the fan on. I only use TPFANCONTROL when I need my TP quiet. Other times (90% of the time) I let the EC decide. I also let TPFANCONTROL to run the fan at 65C. This is because with the fan off, idle and regular low load tasks pushes the temp up to 60-65 C.
Eventhough far below intel's 100C limit, these temperatures are very hot for "lap-top" use, it's even unconfortable to type or to use the touch pad. And this is what I call a Heat Problem. The fan control software algorithm, which you don't like, just does its job to reduce these temps to reasonable degrees, consequently makeing the laptop noisy.

[vpn-user]

No. Check out other notebooks, they even become a lot hotter than my ThinkPad using FANCONTROL. This is a general design problem of notebooks. They try to be as fast as a desktop, but don' t have the same cooling possibilities.

[alebertaz]

Does it work on a TP 600X?
Otherwise how can I control fan speed?
Thanks

no one tested this laptop with this program?

[christopher_wolf]

Does it work on a TP 600X?
Otherwise how can I control fan speed?
Thanks

no one tested this laptop with this program?

I am pretty sure it doesn't work on the 600 Series, sorry; I seem to remeber reports of it not working on some of the older 700s and X Series systems...So, chances are, it probably won't work with the 600.

[birdman-c]

Hi everyone...

I am using the service version of fancontrol, works great! However, I would like fancontrol to start in BIOS mode as opposed to smart mode when I boot up my thinkpad.

I cannot find any documentation on how to do this... can someone point me in the right direction?

Many thanks!

[JHaislet]

Since the fan control program is a Windows API, there's no way for it to run before windows loads up. The only way to change the fan speed when the computer first boots up is to physically change the code in the bios that tells the microcontroler how to run the fan.

[vpn-user]

Since the fan control program is a Windows API, there's no way for it to run before windows loads up. The only way to change the fan speed when the computer first boots up is to physically change the code in the bios that tells the microcontroler how to run the fan.

You did not understand what he wants to do.

Should be easy to modify the code.

[JHaislet]

You're right, I missed the boat on that one, haha!

Shouldn't be too hard. I can't remember if you can set that in the config file or not. I thought there was a way to.

[birdman-c]

You're right, I missed the boat on that one, haha!

Shouldn't be too hard. I can't remember if you can set that in the config file or not. I thought there was a way to.

Can't seem to find it in the fancontrol.cfg file anywhere. Someone must have it working to startup in bios mode?

Anyone?

[vpn-user]

I hope this doesn' t break anything, but I quickly hacked that in for you:

in fancontrol.cpp, replace

Code: Select all

// read current fan control status and set mode buttons accordingly 
if (this->ActiveMode==2) {
	this->CurrentMode= 2;
}
else
if (this->ReadEcStatus(&this->State)) {
	if (this->State.FanCtrl & 0x80) {
		this->CurrentMode= 1;
	}
	else {
		this->CurrentMode= 3;

		char buf[16]= "";
		sprintf(buf, "%d", this->State.FanCtrl & 0x3f);
		::SetDlgItemText(this->hwndDialog, 8310, buf);
	}
}

by that:

Code: Select all

switch(this->ActiveMode) {
	case 2:
		this->CurrentMode = 2;
		break;

	case 4:
		this->CurrentMode = 1;
		break;
	default:
		if (this->ReadEcStatus(&this->State)) {
			if (this->State.FanCtrl & 0x80) {
				this->CurrentMode= 1;
			}
			else {
				this->CurrentMode= 3;

				char buf[16]= "";
				sprintf(buf, "%d", this->State.FanCtrl & 0x3f);
				::SetDlgItemText(this->hwndDialog, 8310, buf);
			}
		}
		break;
}

After recompiling, you can use a value of "active=4" in fancontrol.ini to start up TPFANCONTROL in BIOS controlled mode.

I don' t get your point why one should want this behaviour, but here it is.

I don' t have the source code for the service binary, so I can' t modify that for you.

[vpn-user]

LOL I just tried "active=1" and it does exactly the same thing without modifying the code.

[Beat_the_clock]

Hey guys,

Im running Omega drivers on my Z60m with an ATI X300 video card. I overclock the GPU with ATI Tray tool, and get some huge gains(will post later). The only problem is im concerned with high temps after a couple hours of use. So I downloaded fan control, not to slow down the fan and reduce fan noise, but to speed it up. I am well aware of how to use the program, and by the way Shimodax the tool works great on the z60m, no problems so far. Anyway, im setting the fan to level 7 and leaving it there (about 3200 rpm), but i want to go higher (im able to get the fan to spin at a constant 4500 rpm, value = 96) My only concern is burning out my fan. Anyone out there using fan conrol for a similar purpose have any feedback here?
The z60 fan runs at low rpm, usually around 2700, even when my system heats up to 70 degrees C (under normal gaming conditions, no overclock). I find this weird, but I believe critical temp is well over 80 C. So for a fan that runs sooo slow (unlike that annoying T series fan ) is it ok for me to spin it up like this?

[vpn-user]

Try 64 as fan speed value. This should be max.

[christopher_wolf]

Be careful, though...Running 24/7 on maximum is fine, but running 24/7 at anything over max as an unsupported RPM setting is ill-advised and might end up damaging the hardware; there is a warning along these lines in the Readme for it.

[yeohkt]

Found a bug. sometimes while trying to load tpfancontrol.
comes out with

"Error duing initialization of WinIo Driver.

winio.sys missing in app folder or fail to load "

run again and its ok

on T40 machine

also what does 3 beep means ?

thanks in advance

[z142]

Hello. I tested Fan controll utility and I was satisfied.

I have one question on my mind. Writes this sw something in BIOS, or wherever? Is IBM able to recognize using of this application, in case of warranty claim?

[JHaislet]

Found a bug. sometimes while trying to load tpfancontrol.
comes out with

"Error duing initialization of WinIo Driver.

winio.sys missing in app folder or fail to load "

run again and its ok

on T40 machine

also what does 3 beep means ?

thanks in advance

I occasionally get the same error when I boot my machine. It seems as if TP Fan Control starts to load up before another program it needs has loaded (or TPFC is trying to access a file used by another program in Windows).

I have TPFC as a short-cut in the Startup Folder.
Is there any way to add a couple seconds delay to when that program is executed?

[Mika]

I'm using this "service" Version of fancontrol and have never had any problems.

(before I had tried the other version, which you have to start manually, but this service is great).

Fancontrol won't write anything to the BIOS. It is only running on the windows surface. you can uninstall it, whenever you want and if you uninstall correctly it will not leave any traces.

Cu
Mika

Many Thanks - now the solution I searched for is available!

Running as service:
- does not require the user to have admin privileges (only needed during installation)
- starts up before the user has logged in
- hassle free
- doesn't exit if user logs off

In addition my version uses a different way to read the temperatures avoiding problems with getting readings and has a couple of bug fixes too.

--Ere

Yepp - now it works - it's the solution I searched for (a couple of weeks now)!

- uasage without admin privilleges
- works when no one is logged in
- icon in the systray - changes can be done from admins and non-admins

Installation summary:
Do the following with admin permission - after re-start no admin permission are needed for this issue any more.

(1) Download and extract http://www.kolumbus.fi/emaijala/fancontrol_service.zip

(2) copy winio.dll and winio.sys to the new directory
(I've taken the latest versions from http://www.internals.com, the compiled files are in folder Release within the zip file)

(3) execute fancontrol_service.exe -i (fancontrol_service.exe /? shows the help) from the command line

(4) My changes in the fancontrol.ini:
DisableClose=1
StartMinimized=0
FanBeep=1200 30

Level=45 0
Level=50 1
Level=52 2
Level=58 4
Level=60 7
Level=70 128

(5) restart Windows

---
Alternatives I tried out:

I tried it with RunAsSvc (http://www.pirmasoft.com/runassvc.php) which seems to work - but without icon in the systray - so there was no control while it is running.

Another alternative was MachMichAdmin - but this needed to type in the Admin's password all the time when starting manually
---

Question: emaijala - Do you maintain this in the future or will your release now merged into the 'offical' release?


Many Thanks

Chris

[christopher_wolf]

The TP FCU doesn't write to the BIOS at all; rather, it goes through the WinIO.sys driver (and some other HAL layer I am sure) and talks directly to the EC, which is what the BIOS usually has control over. The EC directly controls the fan activity and is the most direct path, other than opening up your Thinkpad and playing with the fan motor leads, of changing the fan speed through the system itself. It itself has a little control program, in certain ways...it resembles a very small OS, that tells it how to handle various changes in the temperature sensors and change the fan output; it also does other stuff too but fan control is perhaps the most desirable to control at the moment.

[dyonisian]

Hi, I installed the fan control software. First I have problems with the Winio.sys, then I managed to install it but when I run the program the icon goes straight in the tray. Once I open the window, I cannot access the manual mode, there are no options. The readings are quite normal

CPU 46°C (0x78)
APS 43°C (0x79)
PCM 33°C (0x7a)
GPU 50°C (0x7b)
BAT 32°C (0x7c)
BAT 28°C (0x7e)
BUS 41°C (0xc0)
PCI 46°C (0xc1)
PWR 44°C (0xc2)

0x07 Fan level 7, non bios
Highest temp 50
Fan speed 4035

Levels= 47°C -> 0, 50°C -> 3, 55°C -> 4, 60°C -> 7, 70°C -> 0x80

Fan: 0x07 / Highest: 49°C (46 44 33 49 32 n/a 28 n/a 41 46 44 n/a)

Can someone help me please?

Dyon

[JHaislet]

Read the "ReadMe" that came with the package you downloaded. There is a text file you can edit which sets the thresholds and program behavior, ect.

[christopher_wolf]

Hi, I installed the fan control software. First I have problems with the Winio.sys, then I managed to install it but when I run the program the icon goes straight in the tray. Once I open the window, I cannot access the manual mode, there are no options. The readings are quite normal

CPU 46°C (0x78)
APS 43°C (0x79)
PCM 33°C (0x7a)
GPU 50°C (0x7b)
BAT 32°C (0x7c)
BAT 28°C (0x7e)
BUS 41°C (0xc0)
PCI 46°C (0xc1)
PWR 44°C (0xc2)

0x07 Fan level 7, non bios
Highest temp 50
Fan speed 4035

Levels= 47°C -> 0, 50°C -> 3, 55°C -> 4, 60°C -> 7, 70°C -> 0x80

Fan: 0x07 / Highest: 49°C (46 44 33 49 32 n/a 28 n/a 41 46 44 n/a)

Can someone help me please?

Dyon

Read the README file that came with it; you have to change a flag in the ini file to get it to allow you to change the control mode...otherwise, you are stuck simply looking at the temperatures. The latest version is designed to go straight into tray iconification from the beginning.

HTH

[PerfectFe]

Hi,

... just wanted to say that it works very well on my R52 !
Thanks!

Fe