Comment 166 for bug 751689

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Thomas (t-hartwig) wrote (last edit ):

I know it is long time since this was opened, however herewith I want to declare that this problem still exists nowadays in all Thinkpad line and it is not related to Linux.

From all what I have learned so far there is only one conclusion:

Lenovo is capping its fans to keep their products at low noise intentionally with the penalty of lower performance. This problem is getting annoying as more powerful a CPU is as it needs more cooling. No Linux OS is controlling the fans by default and it is obvious it is not Ubuntu or any other fault. It is simply Lenovo is hindering any OS to use higher fan speeds.

JFYI in my situation the maximum disengaged fan in a Thinkpad Extreme is about 7800 rpm, however highest auto level is at 4800 rpm. thinkpad_acpi is offering level 7 max which equals to this 4800 rpm. Please note thinkpad_acpi is depending on registers which only offer levels but no fixed speed.

For me personally this is a bad design decision and will go into the equation of vendor choice for the next purchase but who cares.

PS: As a last there is a pulse setup thinkable which keeps the desired fan rpm at a certain level by alternating between full and highest, but this is a far off topic here.