zcfan(1)

💖 zcfan(1) 💖

okay bestie, section 1 of the General Commands Manual, and it's literally a whole personality 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

zcfan — zero-configuration fan control daemon for ThinkPads 🌀

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like, zcfan is a minimal, zero-configuration fan control daemon for ThinkPads. that's it. that's the whole vibe. no config file to babysit, no wizard, no twelve-page tutorial. it just shows up, keeps your ThinkPad cool, and minds its own business. main character energy fr fr 🫶

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

spoiler alert: zcfan does not take any options. none. zero. the options list is giving empty group chat 😭

and if you do pass it any? it'll print a help message and then exit. it's not mad, it's just not doing it. slay boundaries ✨

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🌸 CONFIGURATION 🌸

💜 USAGE 💜

by default, zcfan ships with these fan states, no cap:

• max_temp → thinkpad_acpi fan level 7, default trip temperature 90 (C)
• med_temp → thinkpad_acpi fan level 4, default trip temperature 80 (C)
• low_temp → thinkpad_acpi fan level 1, default trip temperature 70 (C)

but you can optionally override all this at /etc/zcfan.conf with your own threshold values, in this exact format:

max_temp 85
med_temp 70
low_temp 55

and if no trip temperature gets reached at all? the fan just gets turned off. retired. living its best life. 😴

🧚 HYSTERESIS 🧚

okay this part is lowkey iconic because it stops your fan from being dramatic. we will only reduce the fan level again once both of these are true:

1. the temperature is now at least temp_hysteresis Celsius below the trip point (default 10C), and
2. at least 3 seconds have elapsed since the initial trip.

why? because it avoids unnecessary fluctuations in fan speed. no more fan going feral up and down every two seconds, we love a stable queen 👑

🍓 WATCHDOG 🍓

the kernel watchdog is reset every 120 seconds by default. but bestie, you can pick a smaller value in the /etc/zcfan.conf config file with this syntax:

watchdog_secs 10

tiny number, big responsibility, we stan 🫡

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🔥 DEPENDENCIES 🔥

thinkpad-acpi must be loaded with fan_control=1. not optional, not negotiable, it's the whole foundation of the relationship. no fan_control=1, no vibes 😤

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• thinkfan(1) — the other one, iykyk

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Chris Down <chris@chrisdown.name> 💖

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🙈 REPORTING BUGS 🙈

found a bug? please send bug reports to https://github.com/cdown/zcfan/issues. don't suffer in silence, that's not the vibe 🌸

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and that's a wrap on zcfan(1) from the General Commands Manual, section 1 — take care of your ThinkPad, bestie, and it'll take care of you. mwah 💋✨