ThinkPad Fan Control

A modern, Linux-native fan control GUI for ThinkPads — the kind of thing Windows users reach for TPFanControl to get, but built for Linux and Wayland.

Automatic fan-speed control for ThinkPad laptops on Linux, with a desktop GUI. It gives you what the firmware / GNOME power profiles don’t: automatic temperature-based control across all 8 fan levels, an editable curve you can drag on a graph, and precise manual override. Clean and Wayland-friendly, it works across GNOME, KDE Plasma, and other major desktop environments.

Works on ThinkPads whose fan is controlled by the thinkpad_acpi driver (/proc/acpi/ibm/fan) — i.e. the large majority of ThinkPads on Linux. Developed and tested on a ThinkPad L490 (Ubuntu 24.04).

How it works

• thinkpad-fand — a small root daemon (systemd service) that is the only writer to /proc/acpi/ibm/fan. It runs the temperature curve and all safety.
• thinkpad-fan-gui — a Tkinter desktop app (runs as your normal user) to watch temperature/RPM and choose the mode and curve.

The two communicate only through a JSON file (/etc/thinkpad-fan/config.json), so the GUI never needs root — clean and Wayland-friendly. CPU temperature is read from coretemp (Intel), k10temp (AMD), or the ThinkPad sensor, so it works on both Intel and AMD ThinkPads.

Compatibility

Works on any ThinkPad whose fan is driven by thinkpad_acpi. Confirmed reports below — please add yours in issue #1.

Model	Distro / Desktop	/proc/acpi/ibm/fan works?	Lowest level that keeps spinning	Notes
L490	Ubuntu 24.04 / GNOME (Wayland)	Yes	≈4 (1–3 stall; re-kick helps)	Developed & tested here

Modes

Mode	Behaviour
Automatic	Picks fan level 0–7 from CPU temperature using an editable curve, with hysteresis so it doesn’t oscillate. Edit it on an interactive graph (Y = temperature, X = fan speed %) by dragging points, or with the numeric boxes / presets — they stay in sync.
Manual	Holds a fixed level you choose (slider 0–7, plus Full speed / Disengaged).
BIOS	Hands control back to the firmware (level auto).

Features

• Interactive curve graph — drag the dots to set the temperature at which each fan speed turns on; points are kept monotonic automatically.
• Temperature smoothing — the curve reacts to an averaged temperature (default 12 s) so brief CPU turbo spikes don’t surge the fan on and off.
• Stall re-kick (experimental) — on some ThinkPads the lowest fan levels (≈1–3) can’t keep the fan spinning: it spins up, then stalls to 0 RPM. When enabled, the daemon re-issues a stalled level periodically to pulse some airflow. Levels that do sustain (RPM > 0) are never re-kicked, so higher speeds stay perfectly smooth. Tested on the L490; behaviour varies by model.
• Launch at login — optional XDG autostart for the control panel.
• App icon for the menu/dock launcher and window.

Safety (built in, cannot be disabled)

• Critical-temperature override — above your configured limit (default 87 °C, hard cap 90 °C) the fan is forced to full speed regardless of mode. This is what makes the user-editable config safe.
• Hardware watchdog — re-armed every loop. If the daemon ever crashes, the firmware resumes automatic cooling within ~15 s; the fan can’t get stuck off.
• Read-back / re-assert — the daemon reads the firmware’s actual level back and only rewrites when it has drifted, so it never thrashes the fan.
• Graceful stop — stopping the service restores firmware auto.
• The daemon validates and clamps everything it reads from the config.

Install

Option A — Debian package (Ubuntu / Debian / Mint / Pop!_OS)

Download thinkpad-fan-control_1.0.0_all.deb from the Releases page, then:

sudo apt install ./thinkpad-fan-control_1.0.0_all.deb

Option B — from source

git clone https://github.com/Swmarakis/thinkpad-fan-control.git
cd thinkpad-fan-control
sudo ./install.sh

Either way, the installer enables fan control (thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1), starts the background service, and adds a “ThinkPad Fan Control” launcher. If /proc/acpi/ibm/fan was just made writable, a reboot may be needed once.

Useful commands

systemctl status thinkpad-fand      # service state
journalctl -u thinkpad-fand -f      # live log of the levels it sets
sudo thinkpad-fand --dry-run        # print decisions without touching the fan

Uninstall

sudo apt remove thinkpad-fan-control     # if installed via .deb
# or, if installed from source:
sudo ./uninstall.sh

Notes

• Disengaged removes the fan’s speed cap for maximum airflow — for short bursts, not sustained use.
• Fan levels are firmware-defined and not linear; on some models the lowest levels barely spin the fan. For steady airflow use a level that actually sustains (often ≈4+), or enable the stall re-kick for intermittent airflow.

Repository layout

src/        the daemon (thinkpad-fand) and GUI (thinkpad-fan-gui)
data/       files the installer ships: systemd unit, .desktop, default config, icons
packaging/  build-deb.sh (creates the release .deb) and the icon generator
install.sh  / uninstall.sh   install from source
docs/       screenshot

To produce the .deb for a release: packaging/build-deb.sh (output: build/thinkpad-fan-control_<ver>_all.deb).

License

MIT — see LICENSE.