Framework 16 Ubuntu APU running at ~85C causing loud fan noise

Which Linux distro are you using? Ubuntu

Which release version? 24.04.04
(if rolling release without a release version, skip this question)

(If rolling release, last date updated?)

Which kernel are you using? 7.0.0-30-generic

Which BIOS version are you using? 4.04

Which Framework Laptop 16 model are you using? (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series) AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics - No Discrete graphics card.

Problem:

I have a dual boot Framework16. On one drive, I have Ubuntu installed and on another drive I have Windows 11 installed. I use Ubuntu 90% of the time. The fans are loud on Ubuntu but on Windows 11 they are near silent. The laptop is a pleasure to use on Windows 11, it is so quiet. I am not a gamer. Only when starting CAD applications on Windows, do I hear the fans ramp up but then they keep silent unless I do an intensive operation. But for the most part, on Ubuntu, I use LibreOffice, browser, specialized simulations software (which run just fine on my 10 year old laptop so they are not CPU intensive). This problem has now persisted for about a year since I first installed Ubuntu.

On Ubuntu 24.04, the APU is running hotter than on Windows 11.

The fans ramp up about 30 seconds after I type in my password and log into Ubuntu. It does not matter if I start any applications or not, then fans ramp up and it remains like that. The fans do not go below 2500 rpm and the temperature on APU moves between 80C to 89C.

If the computer goes to “sleep”, the fans continue running to what I expect to be 2500 rpm.

This is what I get for temperatures between two operating systems:

sudo ./framework_tool --thermal
Ubuntu 24.04: Windows 11:
F75303_Local: 38 C F75303_Local: 39 C
F75303_CPU: 39 C F75303_CPU: 37 C
F75303_DDR: 43 C F75303_DDR: 39 C
APU: 86 C APU: 55 C
dGPU VR: 0 C dGPU VR: 0 C
dGPU VRAM: 0 C dGPU RAM: 0 C
dGPU AMB: 0 C dGPU AMB: 0 C
dGPU temp: NotPowered dGPU temp: NotPowered
Left Fan: 3052 RPM Left Fan: 1533 RPM
Right Fan: 2874 RPM Right Fan: 1476 RPM

What I have done:

  1. Checked processes on Ubuntu and nothing is out of ordinary. There is no process that hogs the system cores while idle or browser is opened.
  2. Changed Ubuntu profile from balanced power to Power Saver. No effect.
  3. I ruled out the docking station with 2 monitors vs just using laptop screen. I’ve played with resolutions and refresh rates but it did not reduce the APU temperature.
  4. I have the same problem on both battery and when laptop is plugged into its AC supply. My battery is capped to 60% as most of the time, I am plugged into AC.
  5. I read this forum but could not find a similar problem.
  6. I compared my Ubuntu to Windows 11, by checking idle and running same version of WaterFox on both OS with same amount of tabs and same websites and checking APU temperature. On both OS’, WaterFox used Hardware Acceleration. Turning off WaterFox Hardware Acceleration on both systems did not make a difference. I also tried Google Chrome on both OS’ with same amount of tabs and Windows 11 was consistently running with cooler APU temperatures. This ruled out hardware (fans, fan controller, sensor) issues.
  7. I read about ‘thermald’ but I could not make it far as I get to a point that is unclear to me.
    sudo systemctl status thermaldChecker.service
    “Unit thermaldChecker.service could not be found”; but trying to install thermald, Ubuntu states that Thermald is at newest version.
    And restarting the service and attempting to enable it, has not changed this error. I am not a proficient Linux user, so this has me stumped.

Questions:

How do I make Ubuntu be less aggressive with its APU?

Is it normal to have “Unit thermaldChecker.service could not be found.”?

Any insight on how I could resolve the fan noise in Ubuntu would be much appreciated.

What kind of power management package are you using? tlp, power-profiles-daemon or tuned-ppd?

You can use cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpuidle/state*/time to check your CPU’s poll, C0, C2 and C6. Normally the last number (C6) is the largest but if your CPU is stuck at C0 it’ll heat up

Some ssd and wifi cards can cause this by causing a irq/gpe storm.
What make/model of ssd and wifi are you using?
You can normally fix it by supressing a particular gpe.

Hi Charlie,

I am using power-profiles-daemon. I do not have ‘tlp’ or ‘tuned-ppd’ installed. I do not have a preference for one daemon over other and I am willing to try it out. My understanding is that only one daemon should be running at any one time. Is this something that I should consider?

My system is currently set to ‘power-saver’

Blockquote
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/energy_performance_available_preferences
default performance balance_performance balance_power power

Blockquote
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/energy_performance_preference
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power
power

Is the following normal?

Blockquote
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpuidle/state*/time
16695
1721157
18503765
257487979

Hi James,

For Ubuntu 24.04, I am using WD_BLACK SN850X 1000GB
For Windows 11, I am using WD_BLACK SN770M 500GB

For Wifi, I have:
l02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: MEDIATEK Corp. MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter [14c3:0616]

Regarding irq/gpe storm, how would I identify if this is happening?

I’ve briefly read only what it is, and from an old Ubuntu post, I’ve looked into /var/log/kern.log but I can’t tell if there is a problem or I just don’t know what I am looking at or if I am looking in the right place at all.

Thank you all for the help. It helped me keep working at this until I found the problem.

I found the culprit. I’ve no idea how I’ve missed this when I was checking Processes.
By running ‘top’ command, I noticed a high utilization on tracker-miner-f.

I killed that process using tracker3 daemon -k, and the fans ramped back down to 0 RPM and the APU went down to ~40C

Blockquote
F75303_Local: 42 C
F75303_CPU: 43 C
F75303_DDR: 42 C
APU: 39 C
dGPU VR: 0 C
dGPU VRAM: 0 C
dGPU AMB: 0 C
dGPU temp: NotPowered
Left Fan: 0 RPM
Right Fan: 0 RPM

One last question: How do I permanently disable ‘tracker-miner-f’ so that it does not restart when I reboot the laptop?

Uninstall the tracker-miner or tracker3-miner package

Thank you Charlie for giving me hints where to look. I’m so happy with my Framework now. It’s quiet!

I looked into that and it’s advised NOT to remove the package or it breaks Ubuntu. I will instead try to block it as per this post.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1531400/how-can-i-uninstall-tracker-and-still-have-a-files-menu-icon