# Laptop Fan Control?

## Katherine1

I've noticed that my laptop tends to run 10 degrees hotter on average in Linux. I would like to turn up the fan speed a bit, but I don't have the ability to from the BIOS. Is there a way to do so in Linux? 

I'm on a Compaq Presario CQ62.

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## depontius

I don't know how to do what you wish, but first I'd ask a different question:

Why is your laptop running 10C higher in Linux?

Are you running any the usual power reduction stuff, like cpufrequtils?

Have you tried running powertop?

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## Katherine1

The reason would be the Open Source ATI drivers. I was using the proprietary drivers, but had to switch when I started using Gnome 3, as the proprietary drivers don't exactly play nice with Gnome 3. My laptop didn't start running hotter until the switch over. When I was trying to get Gnome 3 and the proprietary drivers to play nice, it was still running 10 degrees cooler.

I am using cpufreqd, but it isn't working. I have to change the governor manually. Why? I don't know. The governor defaults to userspace normally, and that seems to mean "Perfomance Governor" to my laptop. I usually switch it to ondemand manually once I log in.

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## haarp

Sorry for the late answer - 

Try pwmconfig in the lm-sensors package. If that can't control your fan, you're probably out of luck.

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## RazielFMX

 *Katherine1 wrote:*   

> The reason would be the Open Source ATI drivers. I was using the proprietary drivers, but had to switch when I started using Gnome 3, as the proprietary drivers don't exactly play nice with Gnome 3. My laptop didn't start running hotter until the switch over. When I was trying to get Gnome 3 and the proprietary drivers to play nice, it was still running 10 degrees cooler.
> 
> I am using cpufreqd, but it isn't working. I have to change the governor manually. Why? I don't know. The governor defaults to userspace normally, and that seems to mean "Perfomance Governor" to my laptop. I usually switch it to ondemand manually once I log in.

 

There is a way to set the default governor, but I don't remember off the top of my head.  I'm pretty sure all the info you need is here: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/power-management-guide.xml.

Some of it is overkill and is nicely handled by your DE.  I would focus on the CPU section for starters.

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