# Fan always running with ACPI enabled

## widremann

I have a ThinkPad R30 with a 1 GHz Pentium III coppermine.  I have had to use APM because with ACPI, not only do I get lost interrupts while booting up, but the fan is also constantly running, even when the computer is idling.  Also, according to /proc/acpi and GKrellm, the temperature is very hot, in the lower 60s most of the time.  I had this problem with Fedora as well.  With both Fedora and Gentoo, the solution was to just turn off ACPI altogether and use APM.

Even with APM, I still have the problem that any time usage becomes heavy for more than about 10 seconds, the fans starts going (this includes stuff as basic as loading webpages in Firefox).  This never happens under Windows.  The only time I would get the fan going was when I was playing a game like Empire Earth or Civ III, or when I would write programs incorrectly that ended up spinning in a tight loop for a long time.

So something isn't right.  I have installed laptop_mode, ibm_acpi, thinkpad_extras, cpufreqd, cpudynd, everything I could get my hands on.  I've tried all combinations of them.  Nothing works (this is becoming a frequent story with me and Linux).

Does anybody else have ThinkPads or similar computers and knows how to fix this problem?

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## Jaglover

http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ibm.html

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## widremann

None of those answer my questions.  Apparently nobody else has had this problem?

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## widremann

bump

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## widremann

Guess I'll add this to the list of legitimate questions I have asked that have gotten no response.  I suppose if I don't pepper my posts with "Windoze sux0rz" and, gasp, dare to defend Windows on some points, then I am beneath contempt in this community.

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## theMerge

Ok, here's what solved it for me.  I went to the gentoo docs section and went through the power management guide.  I found out that the kernel runs the processor at full capacity unless told not to by a userspace proggie.  You also need some things turned on in the kernel.  The guide is very helpfull, and rather than repeat what it says, I'll just provide a link.

Click here.

I use the recomended program called cpufreqd that when propperly set up keeps your processor at a slow speed untill you need it.  It cuts into performance just a bit, but it's worth not running your fan 100% of the time.

Oh... and this is exactly how Windows does it.  It's just hidden, like everything else.  Also, Fedora uses agressive settings since most users want speed more than a cool running machine.

AND a word of advice... the people who come to these forums to help you do so out of the goodness of thier heart.  They get nothing for it.  If they don't get back in a timely manner, give em a break.

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## rouben

 *widremann wrote:*   

> Guess I'll add this to the list of legitimate questions I have asked that have gotten no response.  I suppose if I don't pepper my posts with "Windoze sux0rz" and, gasp, dare to defend Windows on some points, then I am beneath contempt in this community.

 

No need to get angry when nobody replies. That usually means the following:

Nobody knows the answer, or

Your question can be answered by searching the forums, Googling, e.t.c.

In your case it was probably (a), since there was no direct answer to your question. One thing you will find here is that most Gentoo users don't engage in other platform bashing, not without good reasons/examples anyway. Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part...  :Wink: 

Furthermore, had I seen this thread before, I would have probably suggested the same thing you came up with on your own. I had the exact opposite problem with my laptop always running the CPU at 800MHz, as opposed to its full capacity of 1600MHz, even on AC power. To me it was obvious: power settings, hence I looked at my kernel configuration.

 *widremann wrote:*   

> Oh... and this is exactly how Windows does it. It's just hidden, like everything else. Also, Fedora uses agressive settings since most users want speed more than a cool running machine.

 

And there should be no reasons why Linux would interact with hardware in a drastically different manner. After all, it's the same hardware architecture. The main difference between Linux and Windows is that when you need to go from point A to point Z, Linux takes you directly from point A to point Z, whereas Windows takes you for a thrill ride from A to B to C ... until you finally hit Z after a few crashes and restarts. An example of what I mean? Compare Windows Update and emerge --update world and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.  :Wink: 

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## widremann

 *theMerge wrote:*   

> Ok, here's what solved it for me.  I went to the gentoo docs section and went through the power management guide.  I found out that the kernel runs the processor at full capacity unless told not to by a userspace proggie.  You also need some things turned on in the kernel.  The guide is very helpfull, and rather than repeat what it says, I'll just provide a link.
> 
> Click here.
> 
> I use the recomended program called cpufreqd that when propperly set up keeps your processor at a slow speed untill you need it.  It cuts into performance just a bit, but it's worth not running your fan 100% of the time.

 

Well, I have installed cpufreqd and I have enabled every ACPI and ThinkPad setting in the kernel config I could find.  I've installed laptop_mode, lm_sensors, thinkpad_extras (or whatever it is) and a few others that seemed related.  Regardless, I still have problems with ACPI.  Cpufreqd just does not do anything (I've tried editing the config file and even manually setting the governors and it doesn't make a difference...although one time it just got stuck on having my processor run at a piddly 600 mhz).  Also, when running with ACPI enabled, the fan is always on and the laptop feels hot to the touch.  Using just APM, I don't have this problem.  Furthermore, when I boot with ACPI, I get errors about dropped IRQs.  I have to boot with IRQPOLL just to be able to get out of the initial kernel boot sequence (that is, to where it starts init and so forth).  Something is really broken.  That's why I came to the forum, because googling and man pages have not answered my question.

 *Quote:*   

> Oh... and this is exactly how Windows does it.  It's just hidden, like everything else.  Also, Fedora uses agressive settings since most users want speed more than a cool running machine.
> 
> AND a word of advice... the people who come to these forums to help you do so out of the goodness of thier heart.  They get nothing for it.  If they don't get back in a timely manner, give em a break.

 

It's not just this thread.  I have posted many questions and the only ones that have been answered have been about fonts.  I have asked three times fairly simple questions about my wireless card.  I have asked about this freeze with KWord, I have asked about other things beside which I can't remember the specifics of, but they also went unanswered.  I feel like people don't like me because I have mentioned problems with Linux and dared to say that Windows does some things better and that that's why they won't answer my questions.

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## Jaglover

One last thing. Did you get latest BIOS from IBM? It fixed ACPI problems for my T23.

Regarding the Windows thing... free world... free men... who cares...

If you use Windows you suffer from Windows problems, if you use Linux - you apparently have Linux problems. The choice is up to you. I personally prefer Linux problems because odds are high they can be solved   :Razz: 

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## theMerge

 *widremann wrote:*   

> It's not just this thread.  I have posted many questions and the only ones that have been answered have been about fonts.  I have asked three times fairly simple questions about my wireless card.  I have asked about this freeze with KWord, I have asked about other things beside which I can't remember the specifics of, but they also went unanswered.  I feel like people don't like me because I have mentioned problems with Linux and dared to say that Windows does some things better and that that's why they won't answer my questions.

 

Neither I nor most other folks who spend the time helping on these forums keep track of who does and does not like windows.  That's just silly.

On to your issues.  I would go to gentoo-wiki.org and see if there is a howto or tips for your laptop.  Also there is a kernel option for acpi and ibm laptops.  Did you turn that on?

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## theMerge

Also, check out the Linux on Laptops resource.  Your laptop isn't listed under gentoo, but you may find something that will point you in the right direction.

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## Headhunter

 *widremann wrote:*   

> I have a ThinkPad R30 with a 1 GHz Pentium III coppermine.  I have had to use APM because with ACPI, not only do I get lost interrupts while booting up, but the fan is also constantly running, even when the computer is idling.  Also, according to /proc/acpi and GKrellm, the temperature is very hot, in the lower 60s most of the time.  I had this problem with Fedora as well.  With both Fedora and Gentoo, the solution was to just turn off ACPI altogether and use APM.
> 
> Even with APM, I still have the problem that any time usage becomes heavy for more than about 10 seconds, the fans starts going (this includes stuff as basic as loading webpages in Firefox).  This never happens under Windows.  The only time I would get the fan going was when I was playing a game like Empire Earth or Civ III, or when I would write programs incorrectly that ended up spinning in a tight loop for a long time.
> 
> So something isn't right.  I have installed laptop_mode, ibm_acpi, thinkpad_extras, cpufreqd, cpudynd, everything I could get my hands on.  I've tried all combinations of them.  Nothing works (this is becoming a frequent story with me and Linux).
> ...

 

I have the same problem (Thinkpad T43p) Did all the steps in the Power Management Howto, works fine (cpu freq is changing on cpu load), but nevertheless the fan is still working all the time, even if my cpu is at 200 Mhz  :Sad: . Maybe we missed something

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## Dikkiedik

Are you absolutely sure you've enabled userspace under default cpufreq governor in the kernel config? And followed every step of the advanced powermanagement section? I use a very old toshiba laptop and even that oldtimer functions properly using the userspace option. I've enabled the powersave governor also in the kernel. Maybe that does the trick, I don't know to much about this. I'd go through all the steps again to see if I'd missed something. Try playing some with the CPU frequency scaling options, this might get you somewhere.

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