Temperature and Fan RPM Issues noticed in Ubuntu 12.04.2.

[thinkpadin]

Hi,

Just finished installing Ubuntu 12.04.2 on my Lenovo Thinkpad T430. My thinkpad does not have the Switchable Graphics, just stock graphics card on the motherboard.

I installed the lm sensor utility and given below is the output:

Code: Select all

think@t430:~$ sensors
acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +43.0°C  (crit = +200.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +43.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +41.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +41.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

thinkpad-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
fan1:        2471 RPM

think@t430:~$

The next few seconds when I run the command, everything else remains pretty much same, just the fan1 RPM shows 0

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think@t430:~$ sensors
acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +42.0°C  (crit = +200.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +43.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:         +43.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:         +42.0°C  (high = +87.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

thinkpad-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
fan1:           0 RPM

think@t430:~$

The next few seconds, the fan1 RPM jumps again to 2495 RPM...and then gradually reduces and this keeps happening.

My questions are:

1) Are the Core Temps too high? 42-43 and sometimes even 48 Degree Celcius.... I am very much using a cooling pad.

2) The fan1 RPM worries me the most...

Please let me know.

[rkaw]

Hi,

I use a X220 Tablet with Intel graphics, so not sure if this is a good point of reference. However, on my Debian with kernel 3.8, temperatures are as follows (and this is during normal usage):

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acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +48.0°C  (crit = +99.0°C)

thinkpad-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
fan1:        1969 RPM

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +49.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0:         +46.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:         +48.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

I think the temperatures are fine as long as they do not climb above 50°C. The fan operating in the 2000-3000 RPM range is also normal. Your temperatures are lower because of the machine's better thermal design (although, arguably, the X220 performs really well in this department for its size) and the use of a cooling pad - which is not such a great help after all, seeing how ThinkPads mostly cool through the sides and not the bottom.
There seems to be a bug in some BIOSes (mine seems to expose that behaviour) that will make the fan spin all the time - suspending and resuming is a temporary fix.

And yes, the fan is supposed to turn on and off. If it is displaying really strange behaviour patterns, try a new BIOS.

[wolfman]

My Thinkpad T420 running Ubuntu 12.04 (the laptop specs are below) shows the following:

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acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +48.0°C  (crit = +98.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +48.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0:         +47.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:         +48.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

thinkpad-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
fan1:        3589 RPM

This is after about 2.5 hours of use with multiple applications open (browser, IM, mail) and playing videos and listening to streaming music off and on the whole time. The interesting thing though is that I don't think your fan in the T430 is the same as my fan in the T420 as, from what I read, the fan noise in the T430 is worse at higher RPM than in the T420.