With the warmer seasons approaching here in North America, I'm starting to think about trying to lower the temperature on my laptop (notebook) computer.
I'm using the usual tools: powertop, iotop, laptop-mode-tools, and of course the increasingly common laptop cooler. The laptop cooler is just a product which sits under the laptop, separating it from my lap / table / whatever.
Turns out I was running a lot of programs I didn't need to be, so I removed those. Also, my rc.local script wasn't working right so my vm settings weren't working right. After those fixes, the fan isn't turning on as much, which is nice, but I'd rather lower the temperature at which the fan turns on. Unfortunately, my BIOS don't support doing so. :-(
Should I patch ACPI? Maybe... maybe not.
My ultimate wish: a laptop that never gets hot, or even warm, and doesn't need a fan. Too much to wish for? Naah... it should be possible!
Nice article on the IBM X41 with Ubuntu.