5 ms·

On a Thinkpad T500, you do need Lenovos special power management tools. Otherwise, the cpu fan will never spin up and your processor will overheat.

by tsomctl 11y ago

gkop 11y ago
If that was the case with the T500, that's exceptional. My T520 and T530 have no problem spinning up their CPU fans in all sorts of configurations missing Lenovo's utilities.
- minot 11y ago
  I have a Yoga Y 510 p. Windows barked at me after a few weeks of installing Windows 8.1 from scratch. It said I should get the latest version of the power utility from Lenovo. The power utility lets me spin up the fan which apparently can help get rid of dust. It also lets me select battery health mode as opposed to battery performance mode. When in battery health mode, the power supply does not charge the battery beyond about 60% and will not start charging before the power gets drained to about below 40%. As far as I know, the power utility is the only thing I installed from Lenovo. The graphics drivers from nVidia came directly through Windows Update. Should I be concerned? Should I uninstall the power management tools?
  - throwawayaway 11y ago
    Windows told you to install a power utility from Lenovo? How would such a message come about? Do Lenovo pay Microsoft to put in error messages? Did it look for the answer to your problem online?
    - nandhp 11y ago
      I haven't used Windows much recently, but wouldn't it just be delivered as a driver through Windows Update?
      - cmdrfred 11y ago
        Driver updates have been a part of windows update since 7.
        nandhp 11y ago
        Windows Update has offered driver updates since Windows 98.
        throwawayaway 11y ago
        that will install bare bones drivers and services, but not startup daemons, control panel software or anything that could give you a message telling you you need to install a power utility.
        minot 11y ago
        I can attest that the little white flag in my notification tray linked me to lenovo support website telling me to get the power management utility.
      - throwawayaway 11y ago
        which driver would tell you to install a power utility? how would that happen? what driver, could possibly get installed by windows update that would tell you to do that?
function_seven 11y ago
Why the hell would the fan rely on software to tell it to spin up? That function should be in the firmware. The logic board should be able to handle cooling without any software running on the machine.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
  - vidarh 11y ago
    You have described why there might be an interface for fan control that software could use. It does not justify not having the board opt for sane defaults.
  - ethbro 11y ago
    *> Because a person might want to tune the performance of their laptop in regard to power consumption. That's what exposing BIOS settings are for.
- throwawayaway 11y ago
  i'm calling bullshit. if you don't put special software on your linux before you boot a live cd, your thinkpad t500 fries itself. sure it does.
  - ori_b 11y ago
    Of course it doesn't fry itself. Any CPU made in the last 20 years will throttle itself and run at lower speeds instead.
  - tsomctl 11y ago
    I never said it would fry itself. It actually just turns itself off, and I have to remove the battery and power cord to get it to restart. And I only had this problem on Windows 7. Every major Linux distro I tried had proper power management support.
    - 11y ago
throwawayaway 11y ago
so riddle me this, under what circumstances does the cpu fan not spin? i'm having a hard time imagining a computer booting, without a cpu fan. OS: I'm starting up - so do all these things! as fast as possible!
- ori_b 11y ago
  I think you have it backwards: The CPU fan spins. Until the OS (or the AML bytecode that the OS interprets as a part of ACPI) tells it "the CPU is cool right now, you can slow down and save power".
  - throwawayaway 11y ago
    > On a Thinkpad T500, you do need Lenovos special power management tools. Otherwise, the cpu fan will never spin up and your processor will overheat. I am replying to this guy. Never spin up? Overheat? He's completely wrong. I know full well how it works, I don't have it backwards.
    - tsomctl 11y ago
      I'm pretty sure you're trolling, but I'll feed you. I wasn't fully clear. Really what I meant is that the fan always spins at a slow speed. When the processor heats up, the fan doesn't speed up, and eventually the cpu shuts down to protect itself. And I've spent 12 hours a day in front of this computer for the past 5 years. I know how it works.
- nitrogen 11y ago
  It can be a combination of factors: - The CPU fan might be controlled via ACPI. - The operating system is supposed to run ACPI code provided by the BIOS. - A BIOS can specify different sets of ACPI code for different operating systems, so Linux might get different code from Windows. - The ACPI code provided by the BIOS for Linux might be broken, or lacking fan control. - The hardware vendor may have decided not to provide APCI controls for anything, relying instead on proprietary interfaces. Section 1.9 of https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v1-pages-59-76.pdf https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v1-pages-59-76.pd... looks like it might be related.

On a Thinkpad T500, you do need Lenovos special power management tools. Otherwise, the cpu fan will never spin up and your processor will overheat.

by tsomctl 11y ago

On a Thinkpad T500, you do need Lenovos special power management tools. Otherwise, the cpu fan will never spin up and your processor will overheat.

gkop 11y ago

If that was the case with the T500, that's exceptional. My T520 and T530 have no problem spinning up their CPU fans in all sorts of configurations missing Lenovo's utilities.

minot 11y ago
I have a Yoga Y 510 p. Windows barked at me after a few weeks of installing Windows 8.1 from scratch. It said I should get the latest version of the power utility from Lenovo. The power utility lets me spin up the fan which apparently can help get rid of dust. It also lets me select battery health mode as opposed to battery performance mode. When in battery health mode, the power supply does not charge the battery beyond about 60% and will not start charging before the power gets drained to about below 40%. As far as I know, the power utility is the only thing I installed from Lenovo. The graphics drivers from nVidia came directly through Windows Update. Should I be concerned? Should I uninstall the power management tools?
- throwawayaway 11y ago
  Windows told you to install a power utility from Lenovo? How would such a message come about? Do Lenovo pay Microsoft to put in error messages? Did it look for the answer to your problem online?
  - nandhp 11y ago
    I haven't used Windows much recently, but wouldn't it just be delivered as a driver through Windows Update?
    - cmdrfred 11y ago
      Driver updates have been a part of windows update since 7.
      - nandhp 11y ago
        Windows Update has offered driver updates since Windows 98.
        throwawayaway 11y ago
        that will install bare bones drivers and services, but not startup daemons, control panel software or anything that could give you a message telling you you need to install a power utility.
        minot 11y ago
        I can attest that the little white flag in my notification tray linked me to lenovo support website telling me to get the power management utility.
    - throwawayaway 11y ago
      which driver would tell you to install a power utility? how would that happen? what driver, could possibly get installed by windows update that would tell you to do that?

function_seven 11y ago

Why the hell would the fan rely on software to tell it to spin up? That function should be in the firmware. The logic board should be able to handle cooling without any software running on the machine.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
- vidarh 11y ago
  You have described why there might be an interface for fan control that software could use. It does not justify not having the board opt for sane defaults.
- ethbro 11y ago
  *> Because a person might want to tune the performance of their laptop in regard to power consumption. That's what exposing BIOS settings are for.
throwawayaway 11y ago
i'm calling bullshit. if you don't put special software on your linux before you boot a live cd, your thinkpad t500 fries itself. sure it does.
- ori_b 11y ago
  Of course it doesn't fry itself. Any CPU made in the last 20 years will throttle itself and run at lower speeds instead.
- tsomctl 11y ago
  I never said it would fry itself. It actually just turns itself off, and I have to remove the battery and power cord to get it to restart. And I only had this problem on Windows 7. Every major Linux distro I tried had proper power management support.
  - 11y ago

throwawayaway 11y ago

so riddle me this, under what circumstances does the cpu fan not spin? i'm having a hard time imagining a computer booting, without a cpu fan. OS: I'm starting up - so do all these things! as fast as possible!

ori_b 11y ago
I think you have it backwards: The CPU fan spins. Until the OS (or the AML bytecode that the OS interprets as a part of ACPI) tells it "the CPU is cool right now, you can slow down and save power".
- throwawayaway 11y ago
  > On a Thinkpad T500, you do need Lenovos special power management tools. Otherwise, the cpu fan will never spin up and your processor will overheat. I am replying to this guy. Never spin up? Overheat? He's completely wrong. I know full well how it works, I don't have it backwards.
  - tsomctl 11y ago
    I'm pretty sure you're trolling, but I'll feed you. I wasn't fully clear. Really what I meant is that the fan always spins at a slow speed. When the processor heats up, the fan doesn't speed up, and eventually the cpu shuts down to protect itself. And I've spent 12 hours a day in front of this computer for the past 5 years. I know how it works.
nitrogen 11y ago
It can be a combination of factors: - The CPU fan might be controlled via ACPI. - The operating system is supposed to run ACPI code provided by the BIOS. - A BIOS can specify different sets of ACPI code for different operating systems, so Linux might get different code from Windows. - The ACPI code provided by the BIOS for Linux might be broken, or lacking fan control. - The hardware vendor may have decided not to provide APCI controls for anything, relying instead on proprietary interfaces. Section 1.9 of https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v1-pages-59-76.pdf https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2005/ols2005v1-pages-59-76.pd... looks like it might be related.