Hi All… I’ve got a beefy Dell Precision 7780 laptop that runs hot when I boot up to Linux Fedora 44/KDE. I installed TLP, Thermald, and sensors.
Then, I found this website:
and cloned the project.
However, the author’s script to install a variable monitor called:
“Dell Laptop Thermal Management - Option D Installer”
had some script errors. I fixed one, but got stuck on the other.
His simpler, static install.sh script installed correctly and works.
But I’m still seeing temps that are a bit too high.
=> Does anyone have experience with the above thermal management scripts?
=> Are there better ways to manage overheating on a Dell laptop, running Fedora 44/KDE?
His script works by changing the maximum frequencies the CPU is allowed to ramp up to.
if [ "$MODE" = "PERFORMANCE" ]; then
# PERFORMANCE MODE: Maximum CPU utilization - Minimal throttling for peak performance
# Note: 4.2 GHz allows single-core turbo; all-core naturally caps at ~3.8 GHz
MAX_SUSTAINED_FREQ="3800000" # 3.8 GHz (when locked, near max all-core performance)
MAX_BURST_FREQ="4200000" # 4.2 GHz (Single-core turbo max; all-core ~3.8 GHz)
[snip]
MODE_NAME="PERFORMANCE"
else
# NORMAL MODE: Balanced performance and thermal management
MAX_SUSTAINED_FREQ="2600000" # 2.6 GHz (when locked)
MAX_BURST_FREQ="3700000" # 3.7 GHz (Balanced turbo)
[snip]
MODE_NAME="NORMAL
fi
If you want lower temps (and are prepared to put up with lower clock speeds and thus a slower laptop), adjust those numbers.
Reduce the max frequencies in thermal-manager.sh and adjust the thresholds, which I’ve elided from the output above but it’s all in one script and all in the same place. Lower thresholds, kicking in at earlier CPU loads, will effectively pull the handbrake on the CPU earlier and harder.
Hi Steve… thanks for the tops above. I’ll check them out…
However, I had trouble installing the option-d script.
In the script:
install-option-d.sh
which was recommended, per this comment:
# Simple One-Command Installation for Option D (Recommended)
# This is the optimal configuration: 3.5 GHz max, balanced thermal management
=> This line didn’t work, i.e. the file was not in /tmp/
# cp /tmp/thermal-manager-option-d-fixed.sh /usr/local/bin/thermal-manager.sh
So, I edited the script to find it here:
cp ./scripts/thermal-manager.sh /usr/local/bin/thermal-manager.sh
=> Then, this section was problematic:
# Create governor service
echo "📦 Setting up powersave governor..."
cp /tmp/set-governor.service /etc/systemd/system/set-governor.service
“set-governor.service” was not in /tmp, but also wasn’t in ./scripts/.
I didn’t see it in /usr/local/bin either.
In the online GIT repository, under the project’s systemd subdir,
there was a file called ‘bios-thermal-mode.service’
but I don’t think that was the same thing (i.e. needed a rename) but I’m not sure.
Before adding more scripts, I’d simplify the stack a bit: pick either power-profiles-daemon/KDE power profiles or TLP, not both at the same time, then test the Dell firmware profile separately with cat /sys/firmware/acpi/platform_profile_choices and cat /sys/firmware/acpi/platform_profile.
On Precision machines the firmware fan curve often matters more than a userspace CPU cap. If performance is available there, try that plus a conservative KDE profile first, then only add custom frequency limits if the fans are still too lazy.
Hi Giulia… thanks for your response. I’ve never dealt with thermal control from the shell prompt, etc… under Windows 10 I never ran across that need.
Considering that I installed TLP, Thermald, and sensors, and then installed the basic script from the GIT repository I mentioned, I’m wondering if I have to uninstall that script or deactivate it, etc., before following the steps you outlined.
Even though I’m comfortable with BASH and Perl scripts at the command line, I’m far from a Linux sysadmin. Are there any web references that you can recommend about this topic?
My thermal / heat issues are general in nature except for the fact that I do video editing with DaVinci Resolve Studio and have found that the machine gets much hotter using that type of program. My Dell Precision 7780 has 64 gigs of RAM and an NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU (8 GB), Intel(R) UHD Graphics (128 MB), but it still gets very hot when it’s pushed.
I purchased a Klim Tempest exhaust fan that I plug into the back fan output and that helps a great deal. But I’m hoping to find documentation or at least expert advice on the best settings for keeping the machine cool. Hot summer days in Maine with no air conditioning don’t make it any easier. (Many homes in Maine don’t have AC. Why bother? It’s just going to get cold way too soon.)
Hi Giulia… also, can you recommend a graphical fan control app for Dell laptops? I’ve looked at a few, but some of them looked old and I wasn’t quite sure what direction to go in.
I’ve been reading articles, etc, and am fine with digging into documentation, but the plethora of choices makes it a bit complicated.
In your opinion, what’s the best way to uninstall the programs that one installs via the shell? With Windows, of course, one just clicks on the app in the app list and hits uninstall.
I’ve installed 5 or 6 thermal type apps from the command line that I should probably uninstall.