X Series ThinkPad Laptops

[#1]

Hello,

after having my X300 for about 3 weeks now there are a few things that I'm not very happy with. The most annoying part in this laptop is definitly the fan!

After poweron it takes only a few minutes till the fan is spinning at Level 1 (2000 RPM - that's ok, because it's almost impossible to hear).
But after some more minutes (of almost no load) the fan goes to level 2 (about 5000 RPM).
As a result, temperatures fall but the fan doesn't go off. If I produce some more heat (OpenGL Game) the fan will even speed up more
(level 5, ~ 5700 RPM) but it won't go down later.

Here's a little gnuplot of all I said:

 http://0je.de/pub/temp/x300_fan_01.png

Some information about my system:
 Linux 2.6.25
 ThinkPad BIOS 7TET25WW (1.02 ), EC 7THT15WW-1.00c

And some more: Why are there no fan speeds between level 1 and 2? Theres a difference of about 3000 RPM there ... (impossible to hear vs.
quite annoying).

[#2]

Similar problem with x300.  Only started recently.  Particularly when powering up from sleep mode the fan goes crazy - switches between very high and moderate RPM rates, and makes whining and ticking noises clearly audible and interruptive to others if you are in a meeting.  So far it eventually seems to smooth itself out after a few minutes though you can always hear it and the ticking/clicking sound returns often and is VERY annoying.  Maybe the fan is defective since when I tip the laptop on its side the noise goes away!

System:

Vista Business. 

BIOS Version/Date LENOVO 7TET29WW (1.03b), 4/1/200

[#3]

I have the same issue and I'm running Ubuntu 8.04. However, when I was running Vista Ultimate 32 bit, the fan seemed just fine. It only seems that when I updated to a 64 bit operating system that the fan started behaving badly. I've tried just about everything from turning off 3D (DRI), running laptop_mode, turning off the CD drive, disabling USB and a number of other ACPI tweaks, but nothing seems to work.

My temp is always around 40C but the fan is constantly at 5700 RPMs. Here's the read out from running 'sensors' on Linux:

thinkpad-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
fan1:    5714 RPM
temp1:   +40.0C
temp2:   +38.0C
temp3:   +40.0C
temp5:   +32.0C
temp7:   +29.0C
temp9:   +34.0C
temp11:  +40.0C

I've heard that 64-bit kernels and operating systems might not have tickless idle, which could increase heat a bit. So, at this point I have no clue and I am completely frustrated by the lack of information about this issue. Hopefully someone figures this out ASAP.

[#4]

I complained about the noise and the missing control of fan speed using the Lenovo-Support-Form. After some days I got a flat answer telling me that software-support is only available till 30 days after purchase.

---

IBM/Lenovo wrote:

Danke fuer ihr Interesse am IBM Electronic Software Support.                   
                                                                               
IBM/Lenovo stellt freie Software Unterstuetzung nur fuer die ersten 30 Tage    
nach Kauf eines Geraetes zur Verfuegung.  

---

Are they unable to read (I also included a link to this thread) or are they just unwilling to fix the problem?
Maybe everyone else should use that support-form, too. Here we go:

Link

Mod shortened URL to avoid breaking page format


Message Edited by Tim_Lenovo on 06-17-2008 05:23 PM

[#5]

Fix it by yourself. Get TPFanControl (the Troubadix version) from here: http://www.tpfancontrol.com/

Set your FAN levels in fancontrol.ini like this:

Level=50 0
Level=60 1
Level=70 3
Level=75 7
Level=80 64

To get a totally silent X300 in normal office use at the cost of little higher temperatures.

For Linux users, there is help as well: http://www.thinkwiki.org/


Message Edited by VPN-User on 06-06-2008 01:11 PM

[#6]

Thank you for your hint, but this is no solution.
Fan-control is nothing that should be done by software running on the host-cpu, and even less by some userspace-process.
This also won't bridge the gap between level1 (2000 UPM) and level2 (5000 UPM). So my fan will be switching between level1 and level2 every few minutes when using the tool.
Also, the frequent calls to the ACPI-subsystem to read out temperatures cause a lot of CPU wakeups (monitor it using utilities like powertop) and will thus increase heat.

[#7]

For me and most other users this IS the solution because we all know Lenovo will NEVER fix their fans. They didn' t fix them in the past nor will they fix them in the future.

So arrange yourself using TPFanControl.

I use it since over 3 years now without a hitch. Userspace process or not - It just works and never crashed.

With my posted settings, the fan will never reach 5000rpm if you don' t hog the CPU which is the case during normal Office use or while surfing the web. At 2000rpm the fan transports enough heat away to stay below 70°C where it would raise up to 5000rpm. At at 2000rpm the fan is absolutely not noticeable.

Accept it.


Message Edited by VPN-User on 06-07-2008 03:36 AM

[#8]

Hi, I had the fan problem, and we just took the laptop to Lenovo service and they replaced. I'm super quiet now.

Easy to fix, was about 2 hrs at the lenovo service center for expedited repair.

They also offered a three day thing to leave it with them, but I passed on that.

tx

P

[#9]

Do you know what they did to your X300? That'd be interesting to know as the erratic fan seems to be a "standard" feature in all X300s.

If a hardware fix is available, it is great news.

[#10]

That'd interest me, too. Maybe they changed the amount of thermal grease used?

I've heard about problems with MacBook Airs, too much thermal grease and fan problems.