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I checked this post on AskUbuntu, but like the OP my BIOS does not have a setting for 'smart fan'. My BIOS though has something similar called 'Thermal Performance' wherein it's already set to maximum performance.

But using Hardware Sensors Indicator my fan speed barely reaches 3000 RPM (it's usually stuck around 2600 to 2700 RPM) compared to the indicated RPM of my laptop which is 5400 RPM.

There is a fan control setup for 10.04 specifically for Thinkpad here but I don't want to risk it since it's meant for a rather outdated distro already.

Is there a way change the fan speed if I can't access it through BIOS?

I'm using ThinkPad R61i 12.04 64-bit, 160 GB HDD, Intel T5870, 4 GB RAM.

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2 Answers 2

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If you want direct control via the ThinkPad driver then the following wiki page is very helpful:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_control_fan_speed

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  • Thank you for this, but unfortunately I'm clueless on how to do the steps since they will be terminal-based. Is there somewhere I can get a step by step for this? Also, are the steps offered still applicable to 12.04?
    – onvas
    Aug 21, 2012 at 3:38
  • -1 You shouldn't be answering a question with just a link.
    – user527600
    Jun 25, 2016 at 20:58
-1

The link above has a perfect solution to the issue. I'm reproducing the link here:

http://staff.science.uva.nl/~kholshei/thinkfan_guide/

Follow all the instructions in the guide of the above link. Then in the /etc/thinkfan.conf file, make the following entry at the end:

(5, 0, 40)

(7, 38, 45)

(64, 44, 60)

Only the above three statements in the matrix are enough. Delete or comment the previous matrix entry. Reboot, and now the fan runs at full speed when temperature rises to 45C and drops to the previous speed at 44C. You may change the values slightly to suit your PC.

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  • 1
    The vital link is broken Jun 5, 2016 at 18:34
  • Link is broken. (HTTP 404) -1
    – user527600
    Jun 25, 2016 at 21:00
  • The thinkfan tools seems to be hosted at thinkfan.sourceforge.net. thinkfan v0.9.1 is available on Ubuntu 18.04 via apt-get install thinkpad (2020-05-08).
    – HenrikB
    May 9, 2020 at 5:34

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