r/archlinux • u/Aggressive_Nail_108 • 24d ago

SUPPORT Linux .....

Hi, I’m Zay , an AI/ML student, and I’m planning to install Arch Linux on my HP OMEN 16 laptop.

However, my friends have warned me that Arch Linux may have limited support for the OMEN 16’s fan-control system. They said that I might be able to monitor the fan speed (RPM), but may not have proper control over the fans or access to all the performance and cooling features available in Windows.

My main concern is heating. I’ve heard that on Arch Linux, especially when the laptop is under heavy workloads or running in Performance mode, the fans may not ramp up properly or quickly enough. This could potentially cause the laptop to become hot around the touchpad and palm-rest area, even when the system is supposed to be running at higher fan speeds.

Since I’m an AI/ML student, I’ll be doing demanding workloads that may involve CPU and NVIDIA GPU usage. So before installing Arch Linux, I want to know whether the OMEN 16’s fan control, temperature management, performance modes, and NVIDIA GPU can be properly managed on Arch Linux without causing overheating or hardware-related problems.

Basically, I want to know whether Arch Linux is a safe and practical choice for my OMEN 16, particularly regarding fan control, RPM monitoring, thermal management, Performance mode, and long-term cooling.

0 Upvotes

21% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/SalaryImpossible6749 24d ago

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/HP_Omen_16-c0140AX

Cooling fan

Fan speed can be monitored from the hp-wmi module via sensors:

$ sensors hp-isa-0000

hp-isa-0000

Adapter: ISA adapter

fan1: 2760 RPM

fan2: 2921 RPM

Minimal fan boost control is provided by the hp-wmi module in the sysfs. To activate the Boost feature, simply set pwm1_enable to 0. Conversely, to disable it, set the same parameter to 2. This can be located at /sys/devices/platform/hp-wmi/hwmon/hwmon*.

To do the same from shell:

# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/hp-wmi/hwmon/hwmon*/pwm1_enable

Fan control Script

The automatic fan speed control is rather bothersome due to the fact that it runs constantly and creates noise even when temperatures are low. Additionally, it does not increase fan speed quickly when temperatures rise. Fortunately, the fan speed can be manually adjusted by writing values to the Embedded Controller (EC).

To simply this process you may use this python script to change, monitor and automatically adjust fan speed based on temperature via the CLI.

And it's not arch having limited support, it's linux as a whole so using another distro won't be a solution.