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[Bug 751689] Re: [Lenovo Thinkpad x201s] Overheat due to slow fans when on 'auto'

 

> It isn't don't care so much as it is that the bug lies in the laptop's
bios, not linux.

I'm not competent to say whether it's in the bios, but for the sake of
discussion I can accept that.  But it's noticeable that some of the
reports here are indicating that things were better in the past, then
got worse with later revisions of Ubuntu.  Doesn't that indicate that,
regardless of "where the bug lies", there is the possibility of working
around it outside the bios?  Phillip, I don't feel you should dismiss
Mark so hastily.

That all said, clearly it's a problem that will be difficult for
developers to reproduce, and which factors such as exact hardware
revision, bios revision, thickness of fluff in the fan duct (!) and much
else will all influence.  Good accurate reporting will be needed.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/751689

Title:
  [Lenovo Thinkpad x201s] Overheat due to slow fans when on 'auto'

Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete
Status in “linux” source package in Maverick:
  Won't Fix
Status in “linux” source package in Natty:
  Won't Fix
Status in “linux” source package in Precise:
  Confirmed
Status in “thinkfan” package in Debian:
  Fix Released
Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
  Unknown

Bug description:
  On my Thinkpad x201s with an i7, if I utilize all of the CPUs/hyperthreads, the machine can be made to overheat very quickly. This is because of the default level setting of 'auto' in /proc/acpi/ibm/fan. On 'auto', the fan only ever goes up to around 4500rpm, while in 'disengaged' mode it can go as high as 6400rpm. At 4500rpm, the CPU continues to climb until the system is forcibly shutdown at 100C. If I reload thinkpad_acpi like so:
  $ sudo rmmod thinkpad_acpi
  $ sudo modprobe thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1

  Then I can set the fan to disengaged mode manually:
  echo "level disengaged" > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

  With this setting, I can utilize all of the CPUs for an extended time
  and not surpass 85C, still pretty hot but well under the 100C range.
  Furthermore, setting to level '7' (the supposed max fan speed) runs
  the fan at ~5300, well below the maximum fan speed.

  In maverick this did not seem to be as much of a problem (perhaps
  because of the lack of the big kernel lock in natty?).

  Related bugs:
  https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=675433
  http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=610722 (against thinkfan package, but demonstrates that other x201 users are having the same problem)

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
  Package: linux-image-2.6.38-7-generic 2.6.38-7.39
  Regression: Yes
  Reproducible: Yes
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-7.39-generic 2.6.38
  Uname: Linux 2.6.38-7-generic x86_64
  AcpiTables:
   Error: command ['gksu', '-D', 'Apport', '--', '/usr/share/apport/dump_acpi_tables.py'] failed with exit code 1: GNOME_SUDO_PASS
   Sorry, try again.
   sudo: 3 incorrect password attempts
  AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23.
  Architecture: amd64
  ArecordDevices:
   **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
   card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: CONEXANT Analog [CONEXANT Analog]
     Subdevices: 1/1
     Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  AudioDevicesInUse:
   USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
   /dev/snd/controlC0:  jamie      2641 F.... pulseaudio
   /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p:   jamie      2641 F...m pulseaudio
  CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
  Card0.Amixer.info:
   Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xf2520000 irq 43'
     Mixer name	: 'Intel IbexPeak HDMI'
     Components	: 'HDA:14f15069,17aa2156,00100302 HDA:80862804,17aa21b5,00100000'
     Controls      : 12
     Simple ctrls  : 6
  Card29.Amixer.info:
   Card hw:29 'ThinkPadEC'/'ThinkPad Console Audio Control at EC reg 0x30, fw 6QHT28WW-1.09'
     Mixer name	: 'ThinkPad EC 6QHT28WW-1.09'
     Components	: ''
     Controls      : 1
     Simple ctrls  : 1
  Card29.Amixer.values:
   Simple mixer control 'Console',0
     Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
     Playback channels: Mono
     Mono: Playback [on]
  Date: Tue Apr  5 11:56:28 2011
  EcryptfsInUse: Yes
  HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=58280e6e-d161-43ea-8593-a89fb7b6851a
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100427.1)
  MachineType: LENOVO 5129CTO
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_US:en
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-7-generic root=UUID=82571cfb-fdda-4d2f-b708-f8924aa0fe21 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
  RelatedPackageVersions:
   linux-restricted-modules-2.6.38-7-generic N/A
   linux-backports-modules-2.6.38-7-generic  N/A
   linux-firmware                            1.49
  SourcePackage: linux
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-02-24 (39 days ago)
  dmi.bios.date: 04/20/2010
  dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
  dmi.bios.version: 6QET44WW (1.14 )
  dmi.board.name: 5129CTO
  dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
  dmi.board.version: Not Available
  dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
  dmi.chassis.type: 10
  dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
  dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr6QET44WW(1.14):bd04/20/2010:svnLENOVO:pn5129CTO:pvrThinkPadX201s:rvnLENOVO:rn5129CTO:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
  dmi.product.name: 5129CTO
  dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X201s
  dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

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