Anyone using fan control in Ubuntu 7.04 (feisty) ??

[mattster]

I just installed 7.04 on my T43p tonight and am completely amazed at how far things have come. Everything just works!!

Anyways, the only thing so far that I am missing from Windows XP is something to control the fan. I used NHC + ACPI fan control there. I see there are things available for linux, but I am not quite sure where to start with that.

Any help appreciated. I dabble with Linux from time to time, but its been a while since I dove in head first

Thanks!
Matt

[e_tank]

fan control is provided by the ibm_acpi kernel module. feisty comes with a 2.6.20 kernel, so i don't think you'll need to patch the kernel to get fan control. to see if you have fan control use the following commands as root (or using sudo) (note: i'm not sure you still need to set experimental for fan control, but it shouldn't hurt to do so anyway)

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modprobe ibm_acpi experimental=1
cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

that last command should display the current status and speed of your fan, provided ibm_acpi was loaded successfully and it has fan control support.
from here to set the fan speed manually you can do the following (as root or sudo) (here i set the fan speed to 7 which is the maximum level)

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echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

to set it back to auto just use

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echo level auto > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

for more information visit this page.

[axiom]

the fan control script tp-fancontrol from thinkwiki takes care of everything for you.
Feisty loads ibm_acpi with experimental flag already, so all you need is just that automation script

I just installed 7.04 on my T43p tonight and am completely amazed at how far things have come. Everything just works!!

Anyways, the only thing so far that I am missing from Windows XP is something to control the fan. I used NHC + ACPI fan control there. I see there are things available for linux, but I am not quite sure where to start with that.

Any help appreciated. I dabble with Linux from time to time, but its been a while since I dove in head first

Thanks!
Matt

[mattster]

I was thinking of running this script, with the same values I have setup for the ACPI control script I have running in Windows with NHC. I have noticed that Linux tends to run things a bit hotter for some reason (CPU seems to run about 4 degrees F warmer than in XP ... 109F vs. 113F)...

I should be able to follow the instructions from the Wiki to get this implemented. Are there any gotchas that I need to know about before going down this path??

Thanks guys!
Matt

[nmuntz]

One thing that does tend to run hotter in Linux is the GPU. The default feisty install uses the open source R300 driver with no power saving enabled by default.

If you use the proprietary ATI driver, fglrx, you can really tweak things.

I use the tp-fancontrol script. It makes quite a difference in reducing fan noise.

[mattster]

I actually used Axiom's custom built packages, which included the video driver. I've poked around with it a bit, but other than adjusting the clock speed, what else is there I can do with it?

Also, I configured my system with the fancontrol script. What's the easiest way to tell if it is actually enabled?

Thanks!
Matt

One thing that does tend to run hotter in Linux is the GPU. The default feisty install uses the open source R300 driver with no power saving enabled by default.

If you use the proprietary ATI driver, fglrx, you can really tweak things.

I use the tp-fancontrol script. It makes quite a difference in reducing fan noise.

[dansu]

This is the error message I get when I try to change the fan speed.

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dansu@dansu-laptop:~$ cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan
status:         enabled
speed:          3693
level:          auto
commands:       level <level> (<level> is 0-7, auto, disengaged)
commands:       enable, disable
commands:       watchdog <timeout> (<timeout> is 0 (off), 1-120 (seconds))

dansu@dansu-laptop:~$ echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan 
bash: /proc/acpi/ibm/fan: Permission denied

Running Feisty Fawn.

[K0LO]

echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

Try?

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sudo echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

[dansu]

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dansu@dansu-laptop:/proc/acpi/ibm$ sudo echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan
bash: /proc/acpi/ibm/fan: Permission denied

what's strange is that it doesn't even prompt for my password..

[Volker]

[quote="dansu"]

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dansu@dansu-laptop:/proc/acpi/ibm$ sudo echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan
bash: /proc/acpi/ibm/fan: Permission denied

This command redirects (as user, not as root) the output of "sudo echo level 7" (that is, it prints "level 7" if you have enough sudo rights) into /proc/acpi/ibm/fan. Probably not what you want.

Try something like this:

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sudo "echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan"

[dansu]

I'm just following the directions from the 2nd post.

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dansu@dansu-laptop:~$ sudo "echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan"
sudo: echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan: command not found

[K0LO]

OK; got it:

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sudo su
echo level 7 > proc/acpi/ibm/fan
exit

This works on my machine. The first command gets you root privileges. The last exits root and back to normal user. Once you are root you can do the "echo" statements and you will not be denied permission.

If you're playing with the fan settings, change to the directory first to save repetitious typing:

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sudo su
cd /proc/acpi/ibm
echo level 7 > fan
echo level 0 > fan
echo level auto > fan
exit

[dansu]

^

you're a genius, it worked!!


now here's a more complicated issue.. The reason I'm trying to change my fan speed in the first place is that the fan never runs at maximum when in auto mode. Even when CPU is under full load and the bottom of the laptop gets real hot, the fan still runs around 3400 rpm, this is level 3 or 4. It then takes a while to cool down since the fan is only running half capacity. I just want the fan to spin all the way up automatically so it cools down faster.

I haven't had any problems with overheating so it's more of an annoyance than a problem though.

[K0LO]

I haven't tried this personally, but in replies 2 and 3 above there are references to a tp-fancontrol script on ThinkWiki that may do what you want.

Many people want the opposite behavior (quieter fan) than you want (fan speed higher) but you can probably fiddle with the temperature thresholds in the script to achieve what you want.

[Paul Unger]

OK; got it:

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sudo su
echo level 7 > proc/acpi/ibm/fan
exit

This works on my machine. The first command gets you root privileges. The last exits root and back to normal user. Once you are root you can do the "echo" statements and you will not be denied permission.

If you're playing with the fan settings, change to the directory first to save repetitious typing:

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sudo su
cd /proc/acpi/ibm
echo level 7 > fan
echo level 0 > fan
echo level auto > fan
exit

I receive an 'invalid argument level 7' error when I try this . . . Any hints?

[K0LO]

Paul:

What do you see when typing:

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cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

The console output should display the allowable commands and their range.

For example, on my hardware the output of that command is:

status: enabled
speed: 0
level: auto
commands: level <level> (<level> is 0-7, auto, disengaged)
commands: enable, disable
commands: watchdog <timeout> (<timeout> is 0 (off), 1-120 (seconds))
commands: speed <speed> (<speed> is 0-65535)

[Paul Unger]

Paul:

What do you see when typing:

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cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

The console output should display the allowable commands and their range.

I see:

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~$ cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan
status:         enabled
speed:          2983
level:          auto

None of the 'command' lines show up . . . Forgive me, but I'm quite new to this. But I sure appreciate your help!

[K0LO]

Paul:

Either our hardware is different and has differing commands, or we're using different Linux kernels.

I am running Kubuntu 7.10 and using kernel 2.6.20-16-386. In newer kernels the registers for fan control may have been moved. Which Linux distro and kernel are you using? You could hunt around in /proc/acpi to see if there is another branch with a different name, for example, ThinkPad instead of ibm...

[Paul Unger]

I'm running Ubuntu 7.10 kernel . . . ummm . . . kernel . . . geez, where do you find the kernel #?! . . . FOUND IT! (System > Admin > System Monitor): kernel 2.6.22-14-generic. As for "another branch", all I see in /proc/acpi is ibm (not ThinkPad, or anything else 'suspicious'). What /is/ suspicious is that when I try to open /proc/acpi/ibm/fan with 'Text Editor' (via right-click) I get the message: "The file proc/acpi/ibm/fan changed on disk. Do you want to reload the file?" When I click "Reload", the file is empty. I don't think that's a good thing.

[K0LO]

Paul:

I have a copy of kernel 2.6.22-14 also. I will fire it up and take a look first thing tomorrow morning (it's late here now). I'll get back to you...

[K0LO]

Paul:

You are so right. The newer kernel has fan control disabled by default, so the register /proc/acpi/ibm/fan is not able to control the fan; you can only monitor it. I see the same result as you did when doing

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cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

and any attempts at writing to this location fail.

By the way, don't try to open this location with a text editor; it is linked directly to hardware registers.

You can do a couple of things. First, you could enable fan control in the kernel module to make the register behave like it did on earlier kernels. To do this, edit (as root) the file /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.modprobe:

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sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.modprobe

At the end of the "options" line, right after "experimental=1", add "fan_control=1" (without the quotes). Reboot and now you should be able to write to /proc/acpi/ibm/fan.

Another solution is to do fan control differently. Check out this page on ThinkWiki, under "Using a stock kernel" for writing directly to registers on the Embedded Controller. Just be aware that the instructions below that (On/Off control using a stock kernel) will not work with kernel 2.6.22 unless you add the "fan_control=1) line as above.

[Paul Unger]

I now have:

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options thinkpad_acpi hotkey=enable,0xffff8f experimental=1 fan_control=1

in /proc/acpi/ibm/fan. I still do not get any 'command' lines when I run:

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cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

I'm going to spend some time on the ThinkWiki page you referenced (though my abilities are rather limited; I had to google how to 'save' in nano ). Thanks for your help!

[K0LO]

Paul:

Did you reboot after making the changes?

[Paul Unger]

I did Ctrl+Alt+Backspace. Is that the same thing?

EDIT: evidently not . . . I 'Restarted' and I now have the 'command' lines as shown here:

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cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan
status:         enabled
speed:          2981
level:          auto
commands:       level <level> (<level> is 0-7, auto, disengaged, full-speed)
commands:       enable, disable
commands:       watchdog <timeout> (<timeout> is 0 (off), 1-120 (seconds))

Thanks!

[K0LO]

No; that only restarts the X-server. You need to reload the thinkpad_acpi kernel module and one easy way to do this is to restart the computer.

[Paul Unger]

Thanks for your help, K0lo. I'm running Sebastian Urban's ThinkPad Fan Control 0.82--and loving it! Thanks for walking me through this.

[K0LO]

Paul:

You're quite welcome. I think that this exercise has had a secondary benefit. I note that if I boot Kubuntu 7.10 with its default kernel 2.6.22-14 then the kernel module used for acpi is thinkpad_acpi, whereas if I boot it with the older kernel 2.6.20-16 used in Kubuntu 7.04 then it uses ibm_acpi instead. Perhaps thinkpad_acpi is the wrong module for my hardware??

I have been using the older kernel because suspend-to-disk no longer works on my machine with the newer kernel but works great with the older kernel, and I've been scratching my head for weeks trying to figure out why. I think you may have caused me to stumble upon the reason.

Off to see if I can get the new kernel to load the ibm_acpi module instead of the thinkpad_acpi module...

[Paul Unger]

Well, that prompts another question . . . ! I've tried both 'Suspend' and 'Hibernate' from the shut-down menu, but all I get is a dark screen with a flashing cursor, solid power and battery leds, and a flashing 'moon' led. Nothing will take it out of this state except a hard shutdown. But maybe this is fodder for a new thread!