ThinkPad Fan Control error

[bonjb]

I was able to install tpfand and tpfan-admin by following the instructions posted here. However, I'm unable to finish all the instructions.

After installing ThinkPad Fan Control I referred to the instructions again and did this:

Now in the terminal again: Code:

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sudo gedit /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/tpfand/settings.py

A text file (gedit) opens up but the file is blank so I can't continue to the next step which is:

Find the lines 170-174 and replace:

Code:

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self.product_id = None
    self.product_name = None
    self.product_pretty_vendor = None
    self.product_pretty_name = None
    self.product_pretty_id = None

In addition, when I click on ThinkPad Fan Control this message appears despite being able to install tpfand:



Also, when I try sudo thinkfan I get this message:

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WARNING: Using default temperature inputs in /proc/acpi/ibm/thermal.
WARNING: You have not provided any correction values for any sensor, and your fan will only start at 55 °C. This can be dangerous for your hard drive.
Config as read from /etc/thinkfan.conf:
Fan level   Low High
 0      0   55
 1      48  60
 2      50  61
 3      52  63
 4      56  65
 5      59  66
 7      63  32767
Daemon PID: 3367
juno@Oogushi:~$ 

I found this post on how to control ThinkPad fan speed for T430, but I floundered on steps 6 and 7 so I aborted my experiment to do it.

Is there a way to solve this? I hope someone can help me.

I'm using ThinkPad R61i 12.04 64-bit, Intel T5870 4GB RAM, 160 GB HDD.

[Tasurinchi]

Welcome to the forum!

Did you reboot after installing? I installed tpfanco some days ago in two of my Thinkpads and I remember there were three packages instead of two. See the details discussed here

Cheers

[bonjb]

Welcome to the forum!

Did you reboot after installing, I installed tpfanco some days ago in two of my Thinkpads and I remember there were three packages instead of two. See the details discussed here

Cheers

Thank you.

I did reboot several times after the installation but every time I click on ThinkPad Fan Control I still get the message I took a screenshot of on my first post.

I followed the instructions on the link you gave me and this was the result after s

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vn checkout http://tpfanco.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ tpfanco-read-only

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Installation complete.
echo You still need to create links to the init script. 
You still need to create links to the init script.
juno@Oogushi:~/tpfanco-read-only/tpfand$ /etc/init.d/tpfand restart
 * Restarting ThinkPad fan control daemon tpfand                                start-stop-daemon: warning: failed to kill 1301: No such process
rm: cannot remove `/var/run/tpfand.pid': Permission denied
tpfand 0.95.3 - Copyright (C) 2011-2012 Vladyslav Shtabovenko
Copyright (C) 2007-2008 Sebastian Urban
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY

WARNING: THIS PROGRAM MAY DAMAGE YOUR COMPUTER.
         PROCEED ONLY IF YOU KNOW HOW TO MONITOR SYSTEM TEMPERATURE.

Fatal error: unable to set fanspeed, enable watchdog or read temperature
             Please make sure you are root and a recent
             thinkpad_acpi module is loaded with fan_control=1
             If thinkpad_acpi is already loaded, check that
             /proc/acpi/ibm/thermal exists. Thinkpad models
             that doesn't have this file are currently unsupported

** COLLECTED WARNINGS **
/dev/mem: Permission denied
No SMBIOS nor DMI entry point found, sorry.
** END OF WARNINGS **

                                                                         [fail]
juno@Oogushi:~/tpfanco-read-only/tpfand$ 

May I ask for assistance on what to do next?

[Tasurinchi]

Well, what I did was:

- Install the packages as instructed in my link
- Reboot
- (I'm using Ubuntu 12.04) click on the top icon of the unity dock, search for the application called "Tpfanco" and started it. That's it...

Which Linux distro are you using?

[bonjb]

Thank you for your clarification. I rebooted twice before the program started properly. I'll have to ask again if it's okay on what's the guide on how to control the fans? As per my screenshot (see below), can I, let's say, lower the temperature of Sensor 1 from 54C to let's say 48C? How will I know if my fan would run faster? My fan rarely goes beyond 3000 rpm that's why when I'm running several programs/apps which is normal of my activities.

I'm using 12.04 64-bit on my ThinkPad R61i.

[Tasurinchi]

To be honest I never changed the standard settings of tpfanco and just use the program to monitor the temps only. You'll see the RPM of the fan on the lower right corner of the window

Your R61i has an Intel GPU, right? If so it shouldn't get so hot, no wonder the fan does not exceed the 3000 RPMs.

[bonjb]

I'm hesitant to change the settings provided since I'll be left stumped if something bad happens in the future.

Yes, my R61i has 965 GM. I was just rather worried because my usual laptop temperature ranges from 60 to 80C at my heaviest usage but I rarely see my fan speed beyond 3000 rpm even when the temp hits 80C. Can my laptop's temperature still be considered normal? My heaviest usage is when I play media, download tons of compressed files and browse the Internet with the occasional YouTube video at the same time. I don't play MMORPGs.

[Tasurinchi]

my usual laptop temperature ranges from 60 to 80C at my heaviest usage

80°C is quite hot for me... I don't know the RPM limit of a fan, but at heavy usage and temps around the 80°C a faster fan alone won't do much I guess.

In your case I would renew the thermal paste of your fan, a task that involves disassembling the machine. If you look around in this forum there are plenty of threads discussing this topic.

You will first need the hardware maintenance manual of your R61i, download it from here (your's is a 14.1" model, right?). The instructions for the fan removal are in page 84, you may take a quick look to previous pages too if this is the first time you read the manual.

Then you will need a good thermal paste, which does not cost much. Browse in your usual a shop for thermal paste like Artic Silver 5 or Artic MX-2.

Finally you will need a #1 Phillips screwdriver.

This will be the best solution, tpfanco is more to monitor temps and make the fan quieter, but itself it won't resolve overheating issues.

Hope this helps...

[bonjb]

Yes, my model is 14.1". I don't have the confidence to open my laptop without professional help so I'll look for a laptop service near here to do the cleaning for me.

Thank you very much for your help. I really appreciate it.

[Tasurinchi]

It seems more difficult that it really is. Make sure that the laptop service does not just "clean" the machine but also renews the thermal paste. It makes a big difference in temperature if they use one of the brands I mentioned above or if they take any "el cheapo" brand...

I wish you good luck!