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How to control fan spped/hysteresis in 14.04?

Asked by Andy Howell

After upgrading to 14.04 from 13.10, my laptop fan is very annoying. It comes on at fairly high speed for a several seconds at a time.

Previously it would ratchet up in speed as required; meaning the most of the time I would not hear it, because it was running slowly.

Now its more of a bang bang controller. The temps hit a trip point and it comes on almost full bore and then shuts off.

I've spent hours trying to find a way to control it. lm-sensors is setup. There is no PWM controller, so I can't use fancontrol.

I checked under /sys/class/thermal/cooling_device0/cur_state, but they are always zero, even when the fan is on.

The temperatures in /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone*/temp seem correct.

I can't figure out what controls it.

This can't be good for the machine, since its subjected to a lot more thermal stress.

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Andy Howell
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Does the system have a make and model?

Revision history for this message
Andy Howell (andy-jjcftv6wldnzq84cs) said : 		#2

I think there must be two mechanisms for controlling the fan. After suspend and resume, the fan stayed on. At that point there were several entries under /sys/class/thermal/cooling_device*/cur_state that were '1'. Doing:

for f in /sys/class/thermal/cooling_device*/cur_state; do echo 0 >$f; done

Stopped the fan. It then resumed its on full for a few seconds, then off behavior. I think that the fan might be controlled through acpi, dmesg shows:

[ 0.756990] ACPI: Fan [C376] (off)
[ 0.757098] ACPI: Fan [C377] (off)
[ 0.757204] ACPI: Fan [C378] (off)
[ 0.757308] ACPI: Fan [C379] (off)
[ 0.757413] ACPI: Fan [C37A] (off)
[ 0.757504] ACPI: Fan [C37B] (off)
[ 0.757609] ACPI: Fan [C393] (off)
[ 0.757715] ACPI: Fan [C394] (off)
[ 0.757822] ACPI: Fan [C395] (off)
[ 0.757928] ACPI: Fan [C396] (off)
[ 0.758032] ACPI: Fan [C397] (off)

However, according to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingACPI, since there isn't a /proc/acpi/fan entry, its not under acpi control.

The machine is an HP 8710w laptop. Full details below:

computer
    description: Notebook
    product: HP Compaq 8710w (KA454UT#ABA)
    vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    version: F.0B
    serial: [REMOVED]
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.4 dmi-2.4 vsyscall32
    configuration: boot=normal chassis=notebook family=103C_5336AN sku=KA454UT#ABA uuid=[REMOVED]
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: 30C3
       vendor: Hewlett-Packard
       physical id: 0
       version: KBC Version 73.31
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Hewlett-Packard
          physical id: 0
          version: 68MAD Ver. F.0B
          date: 02/12/2008
          size: 128KiB
          capacity: 960KiB
          capabilities: pci pcmcia pnp upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect edd int13floppy720 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb ls120boot smartbattery biosbootspecification netboot
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9300 @ 2.50GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 4
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9300 @ 2.50GHz
          slot: U10
          size: 2500MHz
          capacity: 2500MHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 200MHz
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp de tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mca cmov pat clflush acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht syscall nx x86-64 constant_tsc rep_good nopl pni monitor est ssse3 cx16 sse4_1 hypervisor lahf_lm ida dtherm
        *-cache:0
             description: L1 cache
             physical id: 5
             slot: Internal L1 Cache
             size: 64KiB
             capacity: 64KiB
             capabilities: burst internal write-back unified
        *-cache:1
             description: L2 cache
             physical id: 6
             slot: Internal L2 Cache
             size: 6MiB
             capacity: 6MiB
             capabilities: burst external write-back unified
     *-memory
          description: System Memory
          physical id: a
          slot: System board or motherboard
          size: 8GiB
        *-bank:0
             description: SODIMM DDR2 Synchronous 975 MHz (1.0 ns)
             vendor: 0000000000000000
             physical id: 0
             serial: [REMOVED]
             slot: DIMM #1
             size: 4GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 975MHz (1.0ns)
        *-bank:1
             description: SODIMM DDR2 Synchronous 975 MHz (1.0 ns)
             vendor: 0000000000000000
             physical id: 1
             serial: [REMOVED]
             slot: DIMM #2
             size: 4GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 975MHz (1.0ns)
     *-pci
          description: Host bridge
          product: Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 0c
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
             version: 0c
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pm msi pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:56 ioport:4000(size=4096) memory:e5000000-e7ffffff ioport:d0000000(size=268435456)
           *-display
                description: VGA compatible controller
                product: G84GLM [Quadro FX 1600M]
                vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                version: a1
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
                configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0
                resources: irq:16 memory:e5000000-e5ffffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff memory:e6000000-e7ffffff ioport:4000(size=128)
        *-communication:0
             description: Communication controller
             product: Mobile PM965/GM965 MEI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:03.0
             version: 0c
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=mei_me latency=0
             resources: irq:62 memory:e8000000-e800000f
        *-ide:0
             description: IDE interface
             product: Mobile PM965/GM965 PT IDER Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 3.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:03.2
             version: 0c
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: ide pm msi bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ata_generic latency=0
             resources: irq:18 ioport:5000(size=8) ioport:5008(size=4) ioport:5010(size=8) ioport:5018(size=4) ioport:5020(size=16)
        *-communication:1
             description: Serial controller
             product: Mobile PM965/GM965 KT Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 3.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:03.3
             version: 0c
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: pm msi 16550 bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=serial latency=0
             resources: irq:17 ioport:5030(size=8) memory:e8001000-e8001fff
        *-network DISABLED
             description: Ethernet interface
             product: 82566MM Gigabit Network Connection
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 19
             bus info: pci@0000:00:19.0
             logical name: eth0
             version: 03
             serial: [REMOVED]
             capacity: 1Gbit/s
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
             configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e1000e driverversion=2.3.2-k firmware=0.3-0 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
             resources: irq:64 memory:e8020000-e803ffff memory:e8040000-e8040fff ioport:5040(size=32)
        *-usb:0
             description: USB controller
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1a
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:16 ioport:5060(size=32)
        *-usb:1
             description: USB controller
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1a.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:17 ioport:5080(size=32)
        *-usb:2
             description: USB controller
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1a.7
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.7
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
             resources: irq:18 memory:e8041000-e80413ff
        *-multimedia
             description: Audio device
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1b
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
             version: 03
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
             resources: irq:65 memory:e8044000-e8047fff
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:57
        *-pci:2
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:58 memory:e4000000-e40fffff
           *-network
                description: Wireless interface
                product: PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection
                vendor: Intel Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:10:00.0
                logical name: wlan0
                version: 61
                serial: [REMOVED]
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwl4965 driverversion=3.13.0-24-generic firmware=228.61.2.24 ip=[REMOVED] latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn
                resources: irq:66 memory:e4000000-e4001fff
        *-pci:3
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c.4
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.4
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:59 ioport:2000(size=8192) memory:e0000000-e3ffffff ioport:c8000000(size=2097152)
        *-usb:3
             description: USB controller
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:20 ioport:50a0(size=32)
        *-usb:4
             description: USB controller
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:22 ioport:50c0(size=32)
        *-usb:5
             description: USB controller
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:18 ioport:50e0(size=32)
        *-usb:6
             description: USB controller
             product: 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.7
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
             resources: irq:20 memory:e8048000-e80483ff
        *-pci:4
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
             version: f3
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list
             resources: ioport:6000(size=4096) memory:e4100000-e43fffff ioport:c0000000(size=134217728)
           *-pcmcia:0
                description: CardBus bridge
                product: RL5c476 II
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 6
                bus info: pci@0000:02:06.0
                version: b9
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pcmcia bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=yenta_cardbus latency=176 maxlatency=5 mingnt=128
                resources: iomemory:b00303020-b0030301f irq:18 memory:e4100000-e4100fff ioport:6000(size=256) ioport:6400(size=256) memory:c0000000-c3ffffff memory:cc000000-cfffffff
           *-pcmcia:1
                description: CardBus bridge
                product: RL5c476 II
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 6.1
                bus info: pci@0000:02:06.1
                version: b9
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pcmcia bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=yenta_cardbus latency=176 maxlatency=5
                resources: iomemory:b00704020-b0070401f irq:19 memory:e4101000-e4101fff ioport:6800(size=256) ioport:6c00(size=256) memory:c4000000-c7ffffff memory:ec000000-efffffff
           *-firewire
                description: FireWire (IEEE 1394)
                product: R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 6.2
                bus info: pci@0000:02:06.2
                version: 03
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm ohci bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=firewire_ohci latency=64 maxlatency=4 mingnt=2
                resources: irq:20 memory:e4102000-e41027ff
           *-generic:0
                description: SD Host controller
                product: R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 6.3
                bus info: pci@0000:02:06.3
                version: 20
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=sdhci-pci latency=64
                resources: irq:19 memory:e4103000-e41030ff
           *-generic:1
                description: System peripheral
                product: R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 6.5
                bus info: pci@0000:02:06.5
                version: 10
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=r592 latency=64
                resources: irq:19 memory:e4105000-e41050ff
           *-generic:2
                description: System peripheral
                product: xD-Picture Card Controller
                vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
                physical id: 6.6
                bus info: pci@0000:02:06.6
                version: 10
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=r852 latency=64
                resources: irq:19 memory:e4106000-e41060ff
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: 82801HEM (ICH8M-E) LPC Interface Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=lpc_ich latency=0
             resources: irq:0
        *-ide:1
             description: IDE interface
             product: 82801HM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: ide bus_master
             configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
             resources: irq:16 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:5100(size=16)
        *-storage
             description: SATA controller
             product: 82801HM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
             resources: irq:63 ioport:13f0(size=8) ioport:15f4(size=4) ioport:1370(size=8) ioport:1574(size=4) ioport:5140(size=32) memory:e8049000-e80497ff
     *-scsi:0
          physical id: 1
          logical name: scsi0
          capabilities: emulated
        *-cdrom
             description: DVD-RAM writer
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/cdrom
             logical name: /dev/sr0
             capabilities: audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
             configuration: status=open
     *-scsi:1
          physical id: 2
          logical name: scsi4
          capabilities: emulated
        *-disk
             description: ATA Disk
             product: ST750LX003-1AC15
             vendor: Seagate
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sda
             version: SM12
             serial: [REMOVED]
             size: 698GiB (750GB)
             capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
             configuration: ansiversion=5 sectorsize=4096 signature=00027894
           *-volume:0
                description: Linux filesystem partition
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0,1
                logical name: /dev/sda1
                logical name: /boot
                version: 1.0
                serial: [REMOVED]
                size: 243MiB
                capacity: 243MiB
                capabilities: primary bootable ext2 initialized
                configuration: filesystem=ext2 lastmountpoint=/boot modified=2014-04-23 17:15:42 mount.fstype=ext2 mount.options=rw,relatime mounted=2014-04-23 17:15:42 state=mounted
           *-volume:1
                description: Extended partition
                physical id: 2
                bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0,2
                logical name: /dev/sda2
                size: 698GiB
                capacity: 698GiB
                capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
              *-logicalvolume
                   description: Linux filesystem partition
                   physical id: 5
                   logical name: /dev/sda5
                   capacity: 698GiB
     *-scsi:2
          physical id: 3
          bus info: usb@2:6
          logical name: scsi23
          capabilities: emulated scsi-host
          configuration: driver=usb-storage
        *-disk:0
             description: SCSI Disk
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@23:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sdb
             configuration: sectorsize=512
        *-disk:1
             description: SCSI Disk
             physical id: 0.0.1
             bus info: scsi@23:0.0.1
             logical name: /dev/sdc
             configuration: sectorsize=512
  *-battery:0
       description: Lithium Ion Battery
       product: HP
       vendor: Hewlett-Packard
       physical id: 1
       version: 03/25/2008
       serial: [REMOVED]
       slot: Primary
       capacity: 51000mWh
       configuration: voltage=14.4V
  *-battery:1
       description: Lithium Ion Battery
       product: HP
       vendor: Hewlett-Packard
       physical id: 2
       version: 08/23/2009
       serial: [REMOVED]
       slot: MultiBay
       capacity: 66000mWh
       configuration: voltage=14.8V

Revision history for this message
Andy Howell (andy-jjcftv6wldnzq84cs) said : 		#3

14.04 Added a new daemon for temperature control. I installed this, rebooted, and now the system behaves well. The fan will come on full, but only when it get pretty hot. The rest of the time the fan runs at a low speed, keeping the machine well regulated.

See: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/PowerManagement/ThermalIssues