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

[troubadix]

Hi!

Yes, this could be a nice feature for next version :

manual mode will change to smart mode or BIOS mode when/if the highest temperature reaches a certain (given by .ini) trigger level.

ciao, troubadix

[zmandel]

That is exactly what it does. I dont have the code for the 0.53 version, so I wrote a separate utility to do it. I check the temperature (from the tpfancontrol UI), and if its in manual mode and higher than a threshold, I switch it to smart mode.

int GetNumber(HWND hwnd, int id)
{
TCHAR szBuff[20];
szBuff[0]=0;
HWND hwndChild= GetDlgItem(hwnd, id);
::SendMessage(hwndChild, WM_GETTEXT, sizeof(szBuff), (LPARAM)szBuff); //from another process must use GETTEXT
return atoi(szBuff);
}

void HandleTimer()
{
HWND hwndTP= FindWindow("#32770", "TPFanControl V0.53 by troubadix ");
if (hwndTP==NULL)
{
g_fErrorNotFound=TRUE;
}
else
{
if (BST_CHECKED==::SendDlgItemMessage(hwndTP, 8302, BM_GETCHECK, 0L, 0L))
{
int tempC;
tempC=GetNumber(hwndTP, 8103);

if (tempC>75)
{
int mode=2;
::SendDlgItemMessage(hwndTP, 8300, BM_SETCHECK, mode==1, 0L);
::SendDlgItemMessage(hwndTP, 8301, BM_SETCHECK, mode==2, 0L);
::SendDlgItemMessage(hwndTP, 8302, BM_SETCHECK, mode==3, 0L);
}
}
}
}

[troubadix]

That really is a tricky piece of code.

Best regards to Peru - the wife of my brother-in-law comes from Tacna-
Ciao, troubadix

[zmandel]

you wont need to do the tricky WM_GETTEXT, since your code will be inside the TPFanControl process. I had to do that because GetWindowText etc does not work if the window being queried is outside the process, and I wrote a separate utility to do that.

If you send me the V 0.53 code, I will gladly modify it and compile it, and could add UI so that it does that only if the users wants to.
(The code in sourceforge does not have your latest changes), and send the code back to you.

Zig
Senior Software Design Engineer (ex Microsoftie engineer

[troubadix]

Hi!

I did some bugfixing and put this feature right into the code.

New parameter of .ini is ManModeExit=Temp in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit (80 deg Cels. by default). In this case manual mode control goes to the latest smart mode control profile (1 or 2). Glad if you do some beta testing:

http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~schmit ... 54beta.zip (just exe & ini)

Ciao, troubadix

[zmandel]

Tried it, and yes, it switched to non-manual mode after the specified threshold.
The only thing I noticed is that if you do file-properties, it shows version as 0.53 still.
Cheers, and thanks.
Zig

[troubadix]

Thank you for solid inspection

I put it altogether to a new setup.exe:
http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/tpfc_v054.zip

A merry Christmas & a happy new year ,
to you and all the folks which helped to make TPFanControl even better

ciao, troubadix

[Ryushin]

Thanks Troubadix for such a great program. I ran into a little bug, just to let you know. It seems that the program does not like the new Thinkpads using switchable graphics. It works find when using the discrete ATI graphics but when you switch to use the Intel chip, it thinks there is a program conflict and it switches to BIOS control. Switching back to ATI graphics and it works fine. Just to let you know.

[troubadix]

Thanks Ryushin for your remark. I heard about this problem before, but ... so many new hardware, so little money to spent

As I am not able to buy every new thinkpad model , I am thinkin' about a new expert version of TPFanControl where you are able to control and define the number of sensors and sensor adresses much more explicitly . By excluding sensors these program conflicts can be avoided I hope so .

ciao, troubadix

[Ryushin]

An expert version sounds like a grand idea. As I'm a Linux geek, having more things to fiddle with is the best kind of thing. Thanks again for such a great program under windows. Having the ability to overdrive the fan is exactly what I was looking for once it hits a critical temperature.

[troubadix]

Tried to fix this program conflict bug. Please have a test:

http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~schmit ... l_test.zip (just .exe)

expect temps higher than 128 degrees ignore this temp sensor

[Ryushin]

Well, good news and bad news with the test version. Good news is that it no longer says there is a conflict and it will run in Smart mode. Bad news is that it thinks the GPU is running at 491 degrees Fahrenheit which works out to be exactly 255 degrees Celsius. Sounds like that byte doesn't know which way is up so it just goes max. And for safety reasons, that makes since. Might as well max the fan instead of turn it off. Is there a way to make it when a temp hits 255 Celsius that it ignores that sensor?

I don't know if there is a way to measure the temp of the Intel integrated chip. Maybe it's best to ignore the temp of the GPU all together. Considering the discrete GPU heat sink is tied in with the CPU heat sink, when one get's hot, the other will get hot.

[troubadix]

now program will ignore sensors showing temps higher than 127 degrees centigrade, please download & check again, same link.

[Ryushin]

Works perfectly! Thank you so much. I can switch between integrated and discrete and it works perfectly. It just ignores the GPU temp when switching to integrated and restores the monitoring of it when switching back to discrete. It looks like you can add switchable graphics as being supported now too. If only the Linux version of the fancontrol program was this good. It would also be nice if Linux would have support for switchable graphics as well.

[troubadix]

.... for v0.55 setup.exe go to http://TPFanControl.com

[odiosu]

ThinkPad X61s (fan levels RPM: 0 = off, 1-2 = ~3800, 3-5 = ~4500, 6-7 = ~4800, disengaged = ~4800) (though fancontrol can keep it at 2500rpm...)

I have an X61s (bios 2.19) and the lowest level 1 gives me something around 3300 RPM.. It's still loud enough, how can I set it for 2500 as stated on the wiki page?

Very cool software, Lenovo should have this embedded in ThinkVantage system

[troubadix]

Very cool software...

no chance to change rpm in a fan level , it's hard coded in embedded controller firmware different for each TP model

[odiosu]

yeah, i read on the previous pages, but i was curious about that statement on the wiki page... the simplest way is to hard mod the fan wire, i will ask the service if they could do something with that fan, if not i will resolve it myself

[friedrich-eugen]

Hello,

I 'm interested in using TpFanControl on my A31Ps, runing with Pentium 4M Processors and 2,6 /2.5 Ghz, the "best" possible CPU for an A31P, but a "hotter" CPU than the 2Ghz ones, which have been used by IBM on these machines.

Any advice on how to optimize the different levels and the use of sensors?

I noticed,
- that sensors seem to exist, that probably are wrongly attributed (description seems to be wrong) and I suspect,
- that levels of speed are not adaquately attributed to fan-speed.

My suspicions result from comparing Info from Everest Ultimate to TPFanControl. May be, there exists a listing of sensors/levels/ a specific *ini for the A31P

BTW: I still wonder which of the two fan-types in a A31P is the one for th hotter cpu.


Thanks in advance

[mattbiernat]

windows 7 support?

[troubadix]

yeah v0.55

[mattbiernat]

suprisingly my x300 is not as hot with Windows 7 installed on it as compared to Vista. also tpfancontrol actually works better in windows 7 than vista. for some reason bios control was more efficient in Vista than 7. go figure... thanks for a great utility!!!

[troubadix]

may be a new power policy option in Win7 is the reason why :

Start - >Control Panel -> Power Options -> Change Plan Settings -> Chance advanced power settings -> Processor power management-> System cooling policy -> On battery or plugged in: Passive (Slow the processor before increasing fan speed) or Active (Increase fan speed before slowing the processor)

[troubadix]

...if you'd like a quiet shirt

[mattbiernat]

okay i got my core temperature down by disabling a bunch of services. now my CPU is constantly at 0% when ideling and it never runs hot while ideling. and when internet browsing and word processing my fan never goes over 2000 rpm. of course thanks to tpfancontrol. thank you! oh and the shirt, don't laugh at me but i still didn't figure out how paypal works....

[mattbiernat]

oh and are you thinking about adding new features to the tpfancontrl? what are your plans with it?

[troubadix]

these spreadshirt guys are truely a bit kind of expensive

i still didn't figure out how paypal works....

no need to worry put some bucks into an envelope, I will send my postal adress on pm request

mgo did so in January 2008 as you can see on donation page ("by snail mail 20 US$")

new features ... really no idea, everything's going fine so why upgrade

[Xenomorph]

The fan control program works very well. I have it keep the fan constantly on at a much lower speed. Silent and cool. I have it kick up in speed when the temp rises.

One issue I have, my Event Logs are FILLED with this:

: The embedded controller (EC) returned data when none was requested. The BIOS might be trying to access the EC without synchronizing with the operating system. This data will be ignored. No further action is necessary; however, you should check with your computer manufacturer for an upgraded BIOS.


Over and over and over.
Is there anyway to make it stop logging that?

Also, when I run the FanControl as a service, and then load up the the "tpfcicon" or "tpfcicon_noballons" program, it seems to be polling the system every 1 second (instead of 5). Is that normal?

[troubadix]

this issue is found in WinXP, so go to c:\Program Files\TPFanControl\optional\acpiec\acpiecnl.txt:

optional for WinXP32:
a) to stop acpi-embedded-controler from spamming system.log
switch to acpi-embedded-controler with NoLog-Option
"acpiecnl.sys" instead of original "acpiec.sys"
double click on: instecnl.bat
double click on: acpiecLogOff.reg
confirm the registry change and reboot.
Attention: now no error is reported from acpiec!

b) to switch back to original embedded-controler "acpiec.sys"
double click on: acpiecLogOn.reg
confirm the registry change and reboot.
c:\windows\system32\drivers\acpiecnl.sys remains,
don't mind or delete manually if you like.

when I run the FanControl as a service, and then load up the the "tpfcicon" or "tpfcicon_noballons" program, it seems to be polling the system every 1 second (instead of 5).

The icon only is updated every second, you can change that by setting IconCycle in TPFanControl.ini

// ENGL: check vista icon every x seconds (default 1)
IconCycle=1

to what ever you want

[Xenomorph]

Changing that "IconCycle=1" thing to seemed to be what I was looking for. Thanks!