[ltp] Fan always on problem... does it happen on R52 with theIntel Media Gr

Ignacio Fernández Galván linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Sun, 14 Aug 2005 10:16:43 +0200


Jaime Iniesta, 13-08-2005:

> * A know problem/feature on the R52 is that the fan is always on. This is
> its normal behaviour and also happens when you run Windows.

In my R51 1829-R6G (Centrino 1.6, ATI 7500 M), the fan is *not* always on.  
It seems to kick in when the CPU is around 60 °C and stops at ~38 °C.  
After the last system/kernel upgrade, it seems it's having a harder time  
cooling itself, but I'm almost sure this is due to the Southern Spain  
Summer, the room temperature is rarely below 24 °C while I'm using the  
thinkpad

> * It's not a Linux problem, it's only the default behaviour of the fan on
> this model.

I can't say what happens in Windows. I don't think I even have the  
speedstep equivalent configured in Windows.

> * When we describe the problem as "the fan is always on" we're not saying
> that the fan is always on "at full speed": both in Linux and Windows, the
> fan is always on at low speed and it gains speed when needed.

Indeed, when the fan is on, it is at low speed, I hear it accelerate when  
I play neverball for a while, for instance.

> * There is a script for Linux that I can use to completely stop the fan  
> at
> will (dangerous!), or automate it so it turns on and off based on the
> temperature of the laptop. I can use it at my own risk.

I haven't used it yet. It requieres a more recent version of ibm_acpi than  
the one supplied by my distro's kernel (Mandriva 2005).

> * This script is particularly a good idea on all Thinkpads to save
> batteries.
> * Some people have complained about the fan noise on the R series, but  
> many
> more have not complained. In particular, a R51 user on this list said  
> that
> he was not annoyed by the fan noise as it's quiet.

My R51's noise is not annoying to me either, though I understand it could  
be annoying to other people and I would be glad if it was quieter. My  
environment is not extremely quiet anyway. By the way, even  when the fan  
is off, there is still a residual noise, coming apparently from the HD,  
and I can hear it spinning and stopping when I'm running in "laptop mode".

		
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