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Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

Forum for scripts, utilities like TPFanControl, IBM-ECW, 2-finger scrolling, etc.
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<sdasjdhadsjskda
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1111 Post by <sdasjdhadsjskda » Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:29 pm

Hi troubadix,

is there any Chance you will develop a version that is working with the ThinkPad Edge E530? What can I do to make it work (with very little programming skills..)? Is the latest version on sourceforge? What parts of the code need to be changed?

Thanks
Jake

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1112 Post by jazzman » Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:25 am

Hi troubadix.
I have read about your great work, and am managing my own fan probs now. I have a TP Edge e235 with AMD 1.65 mHz AMD-E series.

The strangest thing happened. I am sorry if parts of the info below is redundant, but I am trying to describe my problem the best i can.

I installed the version for the E320 u made, and was quite happy with it.
I could select fan speeds from 1-7 manually. Right to the field where one can type in the desired number (1-7), There are an instructional 1-7 written there.
One could choose between BIOS, smartmode 1, smartmode 2 and manual mode.
So far so good

I had messed with the settings a little bit, so I decided to uninstall TPfancontrol to reinstall using the same .exe file I had used the first time around.

Now strange things started to happen.
I installed it again, but now the CPU temperature sensor has gone array. It comes and goes, and everytime it shows a new temperature, from 3-105C - the fan itself acts as if TPfancontrol wasnt installed at all.
The instructional numbers(1-7) next to the square where one could previously write 1-7 now says 0-255. It looks to me like I have installed a completly different program.


It looks to me like Ive installed a version from an alternative universe, but before I rest on that conclusion, I consult the online community. If you need a labrat for any new version, i am hapy to help and whatever I can provide. Thank you. :oops:

troubadix
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1113 Post by troubadix » Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:02 am

<sdasjdhadsjskda wrote:is there any Chance you will develop a version that is working with the ThinkPad Edge E530?
sorry, nope :cry:
jazzman wrote:It looks to me like Ive installed a version from an alternative universe...
I guess you did :wink: for there are two alternative incompatible universes of TPFC:

1st one fan 0 to 7 (zero to high) tpfc_v062.zip latest version and tpfc_v062Lx2.zip special version for TP L520 and Edge E320

2nd one fan 255 to 0 (zero to high) tpfc_v062e.zip for Edge E520,tpfc_v062e3.zip for Edge E335, tpfc_v062L.zip L430 and L530

chris_r
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1114 Post by chris_r » Fri Dec 14, 2012 3:43 am

Hi troubadix,

I've been using your beautiful TPFC 0.62 on my T420 for months now, and it did a great job so far. Thanks a lot!

Since yesterday, without making any changes to the system (except Win 7 updates?), TPFC fails to recognize my CPU temperature. It says "1 cpu n/a" and shows the symbol 0xc3 in they tray. To exclude hardware defects I installed the free software RealTemp, and it showed the CPU temperature without any problems.

How can I debug the problem?

And a possible feature request: you may want to automatically switch to manual mode if temperatures can't be read properly. If similar situations happen without noticing the error, and TPFC assumes 0 degree (as in my case), the fan doesn't run --> CPU burns :)

Thanks a lot for your help!
Chris

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1115 Post by troubadix » Tue Jan 01, 2013 4:59 am

hi chris,

feel free to try this beta.exe:

http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmit ... ol_v63.zip

best, troubadix

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1116 Post by W520fan » Thu Jan 10, 2013 3:05 am

Hello all,
I just had a few questions.
1: I have a W520 that I have been using 0.73ti with for quite awhile. Is this still the best version to use, or is the new 0.63 common version better?
2: I've noticed that after I hit 50C my fan will never turn off in Smart Mode 2. The setting for that is
Level2=22 0 0 1
Level2=50 1 1 1
Level2=60 3 3 1
Level2=70 7 7 1
Level2=80 64 64 1
3: I've noticed that all that ever shows for temp is 1 cpu with 1 temp. RealTemp shows four different temperatures. I was just wondering what causes the difference in displaying the temperatures.
4: For curiosity, if I needed to ever uninstall this, would it revert to bios settings or would I need to do something to change it back to factory fan settings?

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1117 Post by troubadix » Thu Jan 10, 2013 5:04 pm

Hi W520fan,

1: v63 is better than anything else before, but if you are common with this kind of expert version use v75

2: use:
Level2=22 0 0 1
Level2=48 0 0 1
Level2=50 1 1 1
Level2=60 3 3 1
Level2=70 7 7 1
Level2=80 64 64 1
this will stop fan at 48 degrees coming down from higher temps

3: the highest temp off all available sensors is displayed and is reason to switch. Besides that TPFC works with temps regarded by motherboard sensors, not by chip sensors. There might be some differences...

4:it would revert to bios settings, without having you to do anything

best, troubadix

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1118 Post by netrunner » Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:13 am

Hi troubadix,
first let me say, that tpfancontrol is absolutely great utility.

I'm using version .62 for some time and it works great, but it only shows CPU temp on my T410, although I have discrete nvidia chip. However it works fine.

I was trying .63beta and it shows all sensors, including GPU. It works great, if i try to use it on laptop alone. But after I put it into dock, some strange behavior occures. For a while all temps are looking right, then few sensors disapear and all other have strange temps, like CPU 14 °C, another sensor 1 °C and so on. Of course, tpfancontrol switches off the fan. After few seconds all sensors come up with right temps (eg. 50 °C cpu, 55 °C gpu...) and tpfancontrol kicks the fan on. Few seconds later some sensors disapear and temps drop again and whole thing repeats. Result is, that fan is contstantly switching on and off. Please don't take this as a critic, but only as a bug report.

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1119 Post by troubadix » Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:08 pm

any bug reports are welcome :D as there's no T410 around here and even no docking this only can be a shoot into the dark :wink: exchange your .exe and have a test:

http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmit ... v63004.zip

netrunner
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1120 Post by netrunner » Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:23 am

Keep shooting into the dark, it's worth it :) The .exe you have posted works perfectly, all sensors are OK in dock, temps readings are pretty same as in hwinfo64.

rhomusic
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1121 Post by rhomusic » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:09 pm

Thinkpad Fan control also works for IBM Thinkpad X31.

tpx61
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1122 Post by tpx61 » Wed Apr 03, 2013 9:32 am

TPFanControl V0.63 working at ThinkPad X61 at default settings but have one question?
If switched to manual mode (default value is 7) and change to 255 - fans spin up from low to very high speed! I got scared that I just this maybe damage fan and fast switch back to 7 !!! :eek:
Is this value 255 is normal and safe? The temperature drops quickly but do not damage the fan? The fan never worked with such speed!
Fan speed

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1123 Post by troubadix » Fri Apr 05, 2013 5:06 pm

255 is equivalent to 64, as the .ini says:

// Fan speed of 64 is extreme and may be an *unsupported*
// and *damaging* mode.

so on your own risk :!:

tpx61
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1124 Post by tpx61 » Sat Apr 06, 2013 3:34 am

I tested it for 1-2 minutes with 255 value - CPU fan working with 6000 RPM, probably at 5V. The fan is powered from 5V converter and default probably runs at max. load with voltage lower than 5V.
Value 255 set voltage exactly 5V and fan runs at 6000 RPM. That is my opinion.

This is my post in other forum.

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1125 Post by troubadix » Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:33 pm

of course the fan is allways on 5V as it's a three wire PWM but with 64 and with 255 in register 0x2F of EC without any control, it depends on setting of bit 6 (0 to 7) of register 0x2F of EC

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1126 Post by Ramy93 » Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:01 pm

Hi troubadix, could you tell me why there's no way to find out how to find and control E530's fan speed? :(

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1127 Post by troubadix » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:39 pm

there is no ECDT (embedded controller description table) listed in ACPI-BIOS and therefore no comunication with EC possible...

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1128 Post by Ramy93 » Mon Jun 10, 2013 4:23 pm

troubadix wrote:there is no ECDT (embedded controller description table) listed in ACPI-BIOS and therefore no comunication with EC possible...
Thank you for the response.. I tried also to dumpacpi my E530 with the latest (2.52) bios and there's no ECDT.dat. :(

giangio
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1129 Post by giangio » Thu Aug 22, 2013 5:12 pm

Hello everyone,
I'm new in the forum and I joined obviously for need. I have an old T30 (old but still vigorous), which has always had the defect of believing to be a deep fryer. I have tried in the past to solve the problem by connecting the fan to a 5V of the MOBO, in series with a NTC connected to the heat sink. Unfortunately, in certain circumstances, triggers the BIOS message "fan error" and the PC refuses to start. Then I found this wonderful SW (the 0.62), and I immediately installed, but I never got it to work properly: no problems with the installation, start properly when windows starts, but it is not active and the fan follows the Bios. I have done countless tests, and the only way in activating consists in doing this: right click on icon, select "Bluetooth" (but the checkmark not appears) and as if by magic, here is that everything works perfectly. I then tried to set "bluetoothEDR = 0" in the .ini file, restarting, but it does not work, and not works even the method I found. But when I do this, the checkmark on the "bluetooth" appears(and with "bluetoothEDR=1" not appears) That strange thing! Someone can help me?

Gianni
Thinkpad t30 2.4Ghz, 1Gb RAM, HDD 160Gb, Bios 2.10, ECP 1.07.

giangio
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1130 Post by giangio » Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:45 am

Anyone who can help me? If I do not find a solution I will have to uninstall the program. So, just it doesn't work. Too bad, could be an excellent and elegant solution, better than the HW.

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1131 Post by Paul Unger » Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:25 pm

Just wondering if anyone has run tpfc on an x131e? Or has a recommendation for which version to try? Trying to help a friend get the heat down on her machine... Thanks,

Paul
X230 2324-HW5 3.3GHz (i5), W7 (64)
T430s 2352-CTO 2.60GHz (i5), W7 (64)
X201 3249-CTO 2.53GHz (i5), W7 (64)
T42 2373-3UU 1.7GHz (PM), XP SP3 / Ubuntu 9.04
T42 2373-4TU 1.7GHz (PM), XP SP3

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel

#1132 Post by gosa357 » Thu Nov 14, 2013 9:04 am

Hello guys!

Thank you for accepting me to forum!
I have a difficult one for you. Since I have tried everything possible there is. So here is my story.
I have received Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 (0319-42U) with i5, with 8GB....(for cleaning, as my friend sad it is spinning fan on full speed, and goes to power of after 30min)
Thinking like normal person I suggest the fan and radiator is stuck with dust so it need cleaning (what I did, but to my surprise, it was 99% clean). So I start searching for solution on line. Just to add, it has Windows pro 7 x64 (original as by) with all Lenovo stuff, drivers, registrations, Power Management, PM driver, and so on....
Solutions for stopping fan down that I have find i tried:
Install latest drivers from Lenovo Sys update, update windows, BIOS update to latest version, downgrade BIOS to all versions there is, remove heat sink and reapply thermal grease to CPU (Cooler Master). Uninstall (Power Management, PM driver, Intel Turbo boost).
But nothing that I try are not slowing fan down. I have to sad that at all time I have monitoring temperature that are constant at (27 - 38) Celsius with fan at full speed.
After all attempts to fix it, thinking it was hardware, a try to find software solution, so I have find TPFC 0.62. Install, restart Edge 15 and guess what happens!
Nothing! OK, not exactly nothing, but TPFC on smart mode try to lower fan down, and succeeded, but only for 2 -3 sec and that is all. Of course, it try constantly, but periodically after 1-2min, than happens again 2-3 sec fan at normal speed, and like that in circles.

Ok, I sad! After all of that I need HELP.
My two questions are:

Why in the first place, after 2 munth un use, fan start sppining alway on full spped?
Why TPFC won't hold fan at normal speed, why it is overwriten by the BIOS or embedded controller?

I start thinking that maybe fan is dead, and can not spin on lover speeds? I do not know what to think anymore?


Thank you in advanced to all tips or replays.
Best regards to you all!

noranalyst
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunn

#1133 Post by noranalyst » Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:51 pm

Sorry for not reading through the whole thread, but since I have already downloaded and started using tpfancontrol version 0.62 on my T60, I think I must ask to be on the safe side: Is this version compatible with T60?

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunn

#1134 Post by Paul Unger » Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:38 pm

From the FAQ:
tpfc_v062.zip latest common version of TPFanControl for Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP, 32/64bit, Celsius/Fahrenheit, service/non_service [bold in original]
I would like to gently suggest that you actually read FAQs before installing something that gets down to the level of machine control that tpfc does. Might save yourself some grief down the road. Like a cooked motherboard...
How is v. 0.62 working for you?
X230 2324-HW5 3.3GHz (i5), W7 (64)
T430s 2352-CTO 2.60GHz (i5), W7 (64)
X201 3249-CTO 2.53GHz (i5), W7 (64)
T42 2373-3UU 1.7GHz (PM), XP SP3 / Ubuntu 9.04
T42 2373-4TU 1.7GHz (PM), XP SP3

noranalyst
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunn

#1135 Post by noranalyst » Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:52 am

Thank you for the reply. I actually read through the FAQ, but I wanted to ask just to be on the safe side, as I didn't find any explicit confirmation that this version is compatible with ThinkPad T60. I overlooked the natural interpretation of "common version" that is "common for all ThinkPads (T4x and later?)". What is more, I read somewhere that it could be a good idea to use a version released close in time to the release of the computer used. Since in this would in my case mean that I would have to use a much less user-friendly and well-established version, I thought using 0.62 would be a better idea.

In any case, I have been very careful using it, and I actually just let BIOS control the fan now, as I have not achieved the desired results with it. At the moment, this means to have an acceptably cool palm rest, which I have often not had when using the computer for hours at the time.

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunn

#1136 Post by Paul Unger » Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:58 pm

Cool. People have posted settings for T60 in this thread. You may find them helpful as a place to start. Have fun with your cooler ThinkPad!
X230 2324-HW5 3.3GHz (i5), W7 (64)
T430s 2352-CTO 2.60GHz (i5), W7 (64)
X201 3249-CTO 2.53GHz (i5), W7 (64)
T42 2373-3UU 1.7GHz (PM), XP SP3 / Ubuntu 9.04
T42 2373-4TU 1.7GHz (PM), XP SP3

edro
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunn

#1137 Post by edro » Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:59 am

I have a Thinkpad Edge E40 (Edge 14) that forces the fan to 100% all the time.
I have updated BIOS and Power Manager to latest versions.

I have tried TPFanControl, but it does not maintain the Manual setting. The BIOS keeps overwriting it back to full speed.

Example from Log:
[1/26/2014 11:58:26 AM] Fan: 0x07 / Switch: 24°C (0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 24; 0; 0; 0; 0; 0;)
[1/26/2014 11:58:26 AM] Manual: Set fan control to 0x02, Result: OK

I have tried most of the TPFanControl versions from the website.
Some show more sensors than others. But none of them will keep the manual setting.

Any help? Thanks!

bgamailcenter
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Does this program work on desktops?

#1138 Post by bgamailcenter » Fri Apr 18, 2014 3:08 pm

I heard about TPFanControl on the World Community Grid forums, and although we don't currently run World Community Grid right now, I was looking for a program to increase my fan speed. The forum mentioned one other program along with yours, but the other program somehow got a negative review on safeweb.norton.com, so in spite of the fact that your software is designed for Thinkpads, I downloaded it anyway. (I thought that "common version" means that it will run on any Windows machine. :oops:)

Where can I find the manual? The frequently-asked questions on your website are very specific, and the "readme" file is very short. Please point me to some more general documentation.

In addition, when I actually run the program, I keep getting "Oops, failed to read FanSpeedLowByte from EC" and "Oops, failed to read FanSpeedHighByte from EC" followed by "Warning: Can't read Status (possible conflict with other software)" (I even tried running it as the "administrator.") When I restart in Safe Mode, the program starts but no window appears at all. I assume that this is because your program was designed for Thinkpads only, and not for desktop computers, correct? :)

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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunn

#1139 Post by axur-delmeria » Sat Apr 19, 2014 4:54 am

so in spite of the fact that your software is designed for Thinkpads, I downloaded it anyway.
Thinkpads contain an embedded controller that monitors the temperature on various parts of the laptop, and adjusts the fan speed accordingly.

TPFanControl is a program that allows the user to override the settings of that controller. This is to allow the user to fine-tune the fan control to suit his needs.

The controller is specific to Thinkpads, and even then not all models have it (most of the lower-end ones don't).

Therefore, TPFanControl will not work on non-Thinkpad computers.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

izual
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Re: Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunn

#1140 Post by izual » Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:02 am

Hi,

is this project still developed as open source? If so, where can I find the source code for the L430 adapted version (v062L)?

Thanks!

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