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10-18-2018, 07:58 PM
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#1
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LQ Addict
Registered: Nov 2013
Location: Tokyo
Distribution: Mostly Ubuntu and Centos
Posts: 6,316
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HP workstations: Noisy fans
I have a Z420 that runs Windows 10 comparatively silently.
I have tried OpenSUSE and Ubuntu as well. Out of the box, these Linux distros seem to be unable to control the CPU fan and perhaps other fans: Under Linux, the fans are too noisy for an office environment.
HP lists drivers for Red Hat and SUSE, but only older versions (e.g. SLES 11sp3), and it's not clear to me whether these drivers would help with the noise.
So this is a question to all those of you who run Linux on HP Z workstations: Can you make them run silently, and how?
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10-18-2018, 09:41 PM
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#2
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Moderator
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 22,280
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While not exact model....
I took that junk fan out and installed a silent fan in mine and it just complains on reboots. YMMV
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10-18-2018, 10:03 PM
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#3
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LQ Guru
Registered: Dec 2011
Distribution: Slackware, Debian 12, Devuan & MX Linux
Posts: 9,528
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10-18-2018, 10:15 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Registered: Sep 2017
Distribution: FreeBSD
Posts: 2,252
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z800 here - never noticed the noise really, but the workstation sits under my desk. The lights dim when I power it up though 
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10-18-2018, 11:27 PM
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#5
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LQ Addict
Registered: Nov 2013
Location: Tokyo
Distribution: Mostly Ubuntu and Centos
Posts: 6,316
Original Poster
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ztcoracat
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Thanks. Yes of course, and I can even set fan speeds in the BIOS, but the fancontrol man page states:
Quote:
Please be careful when using the fan control features of your mainboard, in addition to
the risk of burning your CPU, at higher temperatures there will be a higher wearout of
your other hardware components, too. So if you plan to use these components in 50 years,
maybe you shouldn't use fancontrol at all.
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which doesn't make me too confident I can do it right.
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10-19-2018, 06:22 PM
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#6
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LQ Guru
Registered: Dec 2011
Distribution: Slackware, Debian 12, Devuan & MX Linux
Posts: 9,528
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Quote:
Originally Posted by berndbausch
Thanks. Yes of course, and I can even set fan speeds in the BIOS, but the fancontrol man page states:
which doesn't make me too confident I can do it right.
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In that case I would think twice before using fancontrol.
Maybe do some google searching about fan control and see if there is 'another way' before throwing out the whole idea. Maybe have a look around in the Ubuntu Forum and see what folks are saying about fan control. If you want to:-
Replacing the fan or fans is an option too:-
I find the Arch Wiki's to be very helpful.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fan_speed_control
Last edited by Ztcoracat; 10-19-2018 at 06:27 PM.
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10-20-2018, 05:24 AM
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#7
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LQ Guru
Registered: Sep 2011
Location: Upper Hale, Surrey/Hants Border, UK
Distribution: One main distro, & some smaller ones casually.
Posts: 5,776
Rep: 
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In the old days, we used to put a hood over dot matrix pin printers to stop the racket, maybe it will work for your workstations(?).
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10-20-2018, 05:28 AM
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#8
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LQ Addict
Registered: Nov 2013
Location: Tokyo
Distribution: Mostly Ubuntu and Centos
Posts: 6,316
Original Poster
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fatmac
In the old days, we used to put a hood over dot matrix pin printers to stop the racket, maybe it will work for your workstations(?).
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I was hoping for a software solution. After all, Windows drivers can do it. Besides, obstructing airflow is likely to make the fans spin even faster.
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10-20-2018, 07:56 AM
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#9
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LQ Guru
Registered: Sep 2011
Location: Upper Hale, Surrey/Hants Border, UK
Distribution: One main distro, & some smaller ones casually.
Posts: 5,776
Rep: 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by berndbausch
I was hoping for a software solution. After all, Windows drivers can do it. Besides, obstructing airflow is likely to make the fans spin even faster.
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Just leave a gap at the bottom - slowing a fan is cutting the air supply too. 
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05-20-2020, 06:32 AM
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#10
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LQ Newbie
Registered: May 2020
Posts: 3
Rep: 
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I know this thread is fairly old but I recently upgraded from Z600 series to Z640 series and wanted to clarify the differences between HP Z*00, Z*20, Z*40 generations in case someone comes across this thread later.
Most HP Z400,Z600,Z800 are traditional PWM fans and can be controlled with Linux standard sensors.
With the next generation Z*20 series and later Intel Management Engine (ME) and Active Management Technology (AMT) are built into the firmware, including some which use Intel Quiet Services Technology (QST). If that's not confusing enough, Intel ME has major security vulnerabilities and it's recommended to disable it. Unfortunately these also seem to take control of your fans directly which is why Linux can't see them as normal PWM fans and manage them with standard tuning profiles.
Linux support for QST has been spotty and most support is deprecated so fan control is currently out of my reach. In this way the fans will stay the same default speed set in BIOS which for me is minimum. The CPUs will slow themselves to avoid overheating. Shame the Z640 is such a nice machine but I haven't found a way to take direct control of the fans after boot.
See this thread for more:
http://www.kameli.net/marq/?page_id=4263
Last edited by boeroboy; 05-20-2020 at 06:34 AM.
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05-20-2020, 11:08 AM
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#11
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Senior Member
Registered: Sep 2017
Distribution: FreeBSD
Posts: 2,252
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I used to keep the fans set fairly low on my z800 because of the noise. Even when compiling a bunch of FreeBSD ports, the CPU core temps never got over 75c. They normally idled at around 45-48c. I never ran the fans on high. Guess that would have kept the CPUs cooler but never thought about it. Sold that beast and built an energy efficient PC which is almost dead silent.
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09-17-2020, 04:24 AM
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#12
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LQ Addict
Registered: Nov 2013
Location: Tokyo
Distribution: Mostly Ubuntu and Centos
Posts: 6,316
Original Poster
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This workstation runs Windows normally, and after a long while I tried Linux again. I had a closer look at that noise and found that it came from the fan on the graphics card, an Nvidia Quadro 600.
This time, the installed OS is Debian Buster, which has the right driver for that card and great installation instructions in the wiki. I enjoy a comparatively silent Linux workstation now. Thanks for the inputs.
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09-17-2020, 11:08 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Registered: Aug 2016
Posts: 3,345
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Quote:
Originally Posted by berndbausch
This workstation runs Windows normally, and after a long while I tried Linux again. I had a closer look at that noise and found that it came from the fan on the graphics card, an Nvidia Quadro 600.
This time, the installed OS is Debian Buster, which has the right driver for that card and great installation instructions in the wiki. I enjoy a comparatively silent Linux workstation now. Thanks for the inputs.
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What I would be careful of with that situation would be the temp on the GPU. If you are throttling the fan there the temps might climb a bit depending on how heavily you use it.
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09-17-2020, 11:20 AM
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#14
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LQ Addict
Registered: Nov 2013
Location: Tokyo
Distribution: Mostly Ubuntu and Centos
Posts: 6,316
Original Poster
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Quote:
Originally Posted by computersavvy
What I would be careful of with that situation would be the temp on the GPU. If you are throttling the fan there the temps might climb a bit depending on how heavily you use it.
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Thanks, but I am doing nothing. I just boot with the Nvidia driver, and the fan is silent. The workload is not graphical.
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09-17-2020, 11:29 AM
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#15
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Member
Registered: Jun 2020
Posts: 609
Rep: 
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Something else to consider for folks who may find this: hardware fan controllers exist, and will allow you to set the speed of the fans manually (or based on temp probe feedback). That would be an OS/software-agnostic solution. Also to note: there isn't significant risk of 'burning your CPU' with modern processors (like say, since Pentium 4-era), because they will all throttle/otherwise protect themselves if they get too hot. Long-term reduction in lifecycle is still possible, but that's kind of hypothetical to consider (IOW I've never seen a formula or metric to calculate 'starting lifecycle' and then work out 'how many [time units] does [increase in delta T] cost'). This also applies to GPUs as well, and many newer GPUs will throttle themselves very low at 'idle' or for non-graphical/video workloads, such that their power consumption is usually only a few watts (and many will switch their fans off entirely at this level too).
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