Linux on the X220

[Volker]

I tried the tp-fancontrol script from ThinkWiki (How to control fan speed - ThinkWiki, but that exits immediately after I launch it.

You didn't modprobe thinkpad_acpi as in the instructions.

[akavlie]

You didn't modprobe thinkpad_acpi as in the instructions.

Oh, but I did.
I'm able to control the fan by echoing to /proc/acpi/ibm/fan.

[mil2]

I'm able to control the fan by echoing to /proc/acpi/ibm/fan.

What does

cat /proc/acpi/ibm/thermal

show?

[akavlie]

What does

cat /proc/acpi/ibm/thermal

show?

No such file or directory.

[mil2]

No such file or directory.

You've got /proc/acpi/ibm/fan, but not /proc/acpi/ibm/thermal? Sorry, I give up. I've never seen that before. Perhaps contacting the authors of the thinkpad_acpi module would be in order...

[nomad9]

Just installed Natty on my X220.

thinkpad_acpi can't read thermal info from X220 but for some reason, ubuntu can read the temp straight out of the system. So fan control script that relies on thermal reading from thinkpad_acpi probably won't work.

I'm trying to figure out how to lower fan noise. It's pretty annoying.
Touchpad/Trackpoint combo doest to work well together. I would probably disable touchpad soon. Trackpoint has stronger resistance comparing to my X200. It kinda hurt my finger moving mouse around.


On other note, I can't seem to get the LCD to sleep when idle. Right now, it will just blank out the screen and that's it. Ubuntu 10.04 properly sleep LCD on X200.

[mil2]

thinkpad_acpi can't read thermal info from X220 but for some reason, ubuntu can read the temp straight out of the system.

Yeah, thermal info can be read from multiple places in /sys, e.g.:

$ cd /sys && cat devices/platform/coretemp.0/temp1_input devices/platform/coretemp.2/temp1_input devices/virtual/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp devices/platform/thinkpad_hwmon/temp*

I'm trying to figure out how to lower fan noise. It's pretty annoying.

According to an earlier post of akavlie, at least /proc/acpi/ibm/fan is available and works, so putting together a simple script to lower the fan speed when idle should be possible...

On other note, I can't seem to get the LCD to sleep when idle. Right now, it will just blank out the screen and that's it. Ubuntu 10.04 properly sleep LCD on X200.

Is it the same if you force the immediate power saving mode?

$ xset dpms force off

Anyway, it looks like there are multiple issues with this model right now, and not just under Linux. I'm planning to order one for work, but probably not for another several months. I can only hope that by then most of the problems will be solved, thanks to the pain of early adopters like you guys.

[nomad9]

OK.. I think I figure out how to run thinkpad fan control on X220.

** Follow these steps at your own risk. Incorrect settings could shorten your system's life or kill it. **

- Install thinkfan , lm-sensors
- As root, edit "/etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.conf" and add the following line

options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1

- Reboot
- As root, edit "/etc/thinkfan.conf" and add the following line

sensor /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon0/temp1_input

- You can also adjust your temp/fan speed threshold to your preference. Read thinkfan man page carefully.
- As root, run "thinkfan -n" and see if fan speed changes the way you want.

[nomad9]

According to an earlier post of akavlie, at least /proc/acpi/ibm/fan is available and works, so putting together a simple script to lower the fan speed when idle should be possible...

Yes, I had to configure thinkfan to look for thermal reading elsewhere. Never done that before.

Is it the same if you force the immediate power saving mode?

$ xset dpms force off

No, that command actually turn off the LCD panel. Looks like I'll have to run some test tomorrow.

Anyway, it looks like there are multiple issues with this model right now, and not just under Linux. I'm planning to order one for work, but probably not for another several months. I can only hope that by then most of the problems will be solved, thanks to the pain of early adopters like you guys.

Using Windows 7 on X220 is even more painful. No matter how fast your CPU, all the bloatware can make sure that every bit of memory and CPU cycle will be used. I wiped the entire HDD as soon as I burned recovery DVDs.

From just a few hours with Natty/X220, my only complaint is that touchpad is rather useless. Prone to accidental touch/click. Mechanical button is not very well designed. Better off disabled.

[chaose]

Using Windows 7 on X220 is even more painful. No matter how fast your CPU, all the bloatware can make sure that every bit of memory and CPU cycle will be used. I wiped the entire HDD as soon as I burned recovery DVDs.

Just curious what bloatware did it come with? Want to keep an eye out for it.