Set CPU temperature throttle threshold on Ubuntu/Thinkpad

Solution 1:

There is a bug report filed against thermald:

Erratic behavior of CPU frequency control under load

People get the same errors you report:

Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033687] CPU3: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033688] CPU7: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033718] CPU1: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033719] CPU5: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033720] CPU0: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033720] CPU4: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033722] CPU6: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.033722] CPU2: Package temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 5845)
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034709] CPU3: Package temperature/speed normal
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034710] CPU0: Package temperature/speed normal
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034711] CPU4: Package temperature/speed normal
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034711] CPU7: Package temperature/speed normal
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034738] CPU2: Package temperature/speed normal
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034738] CPU6: Package temperature/speed normal
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034739] CPU1: Package temperature/speed normal
Oct 14 22:30:59 p5520 kernel: [ 9481.034740] CPU5: Package temperature/speed normal

Comment #18 says to:

try running thermald in a window from command line.

systemctl stop thermald
#thermald --no-daemon --loglevel=info

Then do what triggers this, and attach the output of the above command.

If you decide the bug report fits your situation you can subscribe to the email notifications.

On my machine I can't duplicate the problem with thermald and tlp loaded. I opened five terminals and typed into each one:

while true ; do : ; done

All that happened is five cores are running at 100% and 3100 MHz. No throttling has occurred but it did make the two laptop fans run on low speed. Normally in Linux they are off (or at least I can't hear them). System temperature is 88 Celsius and keyboard is still responsive to type this answer. The living room does feel a bit warmer though...

Solution 2:

@WinEunuuchs2Unix

I've created an answer, in order to discuss your proposed throttle-tool from erpalma.

I've played around with this tool a bit - including several systems freezes :) I couldn't find the proper configuration for my system yet, unfortunately. But this tool definitely has impact on my system. The first time I see something really changing the throttling/temperature behavior.

Without the tool my CPU temperature never got higher than 85°C. Once I've installed the tool and started the service, I can see the temperature increasing to 98°C under stress, with a core frequency of ~3300MHz (rather than 3187MHz).

erpalma recommends the tool s-tui, which I can definitely recommend too.

1. Prior installing the mentioned throttle service
2. After activating the service

I will monitor my system for a couple of days, and will report back. Thanks for now!