This project is not affiliated with Lenovo in any way
Lenovo Legion Linux (LLL) brings additional drivers and tools for Lenovo Legion series laptops to Linux. It
is the alternative to Lenovo Vantage or Legion Zone (both Windows only).
It allows you to control features like the fan curve, power mode, power limits, rapid charging, and more. This has been achieved through reverse engineering and disassembling the ACPI firmware, as well as the firmware and memory of the embedded controller (EC).
:star: Please star this repository if this is useful or might be useful in the future.
:star2: My goal is to merge the driver into the main Linux kernel so it comes automatically with Linux and no recompilation is required after a Linux update
:boom: Starring shows that this is useful to me and the Linux community so hopefully a merge into the Kernel is possible.
:rocket: Features
[X] Light on RAM and CPU and without telemetry
[X] Fully controllable using scripts or from the command-line
[X] Simple GUI replacement for Lenovo Vantage: Fan curve, FN Lock, Win Key, Touchpad Power, Camera Power, Battery Conservation, Rapid Charging, Charge output from always on USB, Display Overdrive, Y-Logo LED Light, IO-Port LED Light, Hybrid Mode (GSync), CPU and GPU Overclock:
Toggle Fn lock; Use special function on F1-F12 keys without pressing the Fn key
Enable or disable touchpad
[X] Set a fully featured custom fan curve with up to 10 points:
Set temperature points for when the fan speed (level) should change
Use CPU, GPU and IC temperature to control the fan all at the same it
Set the fan speed (RPM) at each level
Even allows speed below 1600 RPM
Set minimum temperature for each level that must be fallen below before slowing down the fans again
Set acceleration and deceleration for each the fan when the fan speed should increase or decrease
Save and load presets for different modes
[X] Lock and unlock the fan controller and fan speed
[X] Switch power mode (quiet, balanced, performance) using software
Now you can do it using software in your system settings
Changing with Fn+Q is also possible
Depending on your desktop environment, you could automatically switch to quiet mode if you are on battery or performance mode when on AC power (e.g. KDE's Energy Saving settings)
[X] Monitor fan speeds and temperatures (CPU, GPU, IC) using the now available sensors
[X] Enable or disable automatic switching to a "Mini Fan Curve" if temperatures are low for a long time
:mega: Overview
it comes with a driver (kernel module) that implements the Linux standard interfaces (sysfs, debugfs, hwmon)
using standard Linux interfaces makes it is compatible with the command line/file interface or standard GUI tools like psensor
compared to vendor tools for Windows, it even allows to set the fan curve. This allows to keep the fans
slowly and quietly running instead of constantly switching between fans off and loud fans. Perfect for quiet office work. :office:
[^1]: Build with latest commit every day at midnight GMT
[^2]: Only need if are not using CachyOS
:pushpin: Confirmed Compatible Models
If you have a 2022 or 2023 model, please help testing the new features here.
If you have a light in the lid (Y-logo) or at the IO-ports (all Legion 7), please help testing controlling it here.
Other Lenovo Legion models from 2020 to 2023 probably also work. The following models were confirmed. If you have a model with a BIOS version with the same leading letters, e.g. EFCN (like EFCN54WW) then it will probably work. If you want to confirm that your model works or if it does not work, please raise a issue.
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05, 15IMH05H (BIOS EFCN54WW): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH6H (BIOS GKCN58WW or GKCN57WW), Gen 6: sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion R9000 (R9000K2021H) (BIOS GKCN59WW): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16ACH6H (82JQ) (BIOS GKCN58WW) x 2: sensors, fan curve, power profile
Legion 5 Pro 16ACH6H (AMD 5800H + Nvidia RTX 3070): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH05A (BIOS FSCN14WW), Gen 5: sensors, fan curve
Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH05H (BIOS FSCN14WW or FSCN26WW), Gen 5: sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 15ITH6H (BIOS H1CN49WW, Intel): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH7H (BIOS JUCN55WW), Gen7: sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH6 (BIOS HHCN31WW): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion S7 16ARHA7 (BIOS KFCN32WW): sensors, fan curve (no minifancurve), power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16ITH6 (BIOS H1CN52WW (there was an error in CPU temp with H1CN51WW)): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 15ACH6A (BIOS G9CN30WW), all AMD variant: sensors, fan curve (with mini fan curve), power profile
Lenovo Legion 5 17ACH6 (BIOS HHCN31WW): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 7i 16ITHG6 (BIOS H1CN35WW): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Lenovo Legion 7 Pro 16ARX8H (BIOS LPCN47WW): sensors, fan curve, power profile
Note: Features that are not confirmed probably also work. They were just not tested.
Currently fan control is not working for the following models. Other features, probably work:
You will need to install the following to download and build it. If there is an error of any package, find the alternative name in your distribution and install them.
Ubuntu/Debian/Pop!_OS/Mint/elementary OS/Zorin
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y make gcc linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential git lm-sensors wget python3-pyqt5 python3-yaml python3-venv python3-pip python3-argcomplete python3-darkdetect
# Install the following for installation with DKMS
sudo apt-get install dkms openssl mokutil
RHEL/CentOS/RockyLinux/Fedora/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf install -y kernel-headers kernel-devel dmidecode lm_sensors PyQt5 python3-yaml python3-pip python3-argcomplete python3-darkdetect
sudo dnf groupinstall "Development Tools"
sudo dnf group install "C Development Tools and Libraries"
# Install the following for installation with DKMS
sudo dnf install dkms openssl mokutil
Alternatively, you might use yum instead of dnf and start with sudo yum update. Installing "C Development Tools and Libraries" might not be needed depending of your distribution.
openSUSE
sudo zypper install make gcc kernel-devel kernel-default-devel git libopenssl-devel sensors dmidecode python3-qt5 python3-pip python3-PyYAML python3-argcomplete python3-darkdetect
# Install the following for installation with DKMS
sudo zypper install dkms openssl mokutil
Note: Check for the correct Header package.
Arch/Manjaro/EndeavourOS
sudo pacman -S linux-headers base-devel lm_sensors git dmidecode python-pyqt5 python-yaml python-argcomplete python-darkdetect
# Install the following for installation with DKMS
sudo pacman -S dkms openssl mokutil
Note: Check for the correct Header package.
Troubleshooting:
Got error ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid.. Just reinstall kernel headers, e.g. in Debian:
git clone https://github.com/johnfanv2/LenovoLegionLinux.git
cd LenovoLegionLinux/kernel_module
make
sudo make reloadmodule
For further instructions, problems, and tests see Initial Usage Testing below. Do them first before a permanent installation.
Expected result:
make finishes without displaying Error
Unexpected result:
make aborts with an error
an error of kind /lib/modules/XXXXXXXX/build: No such file or directory like the following below. This means that the linux-headers are not installed properly for the current kernel. Please check your currrent kernel with uname -r and install linux-headers for it. Then there will be a directory /lib/modules/XXXXXXXX/ where XXXXXX is the current kernel version, e.g. 5.19.0-28-generic or 6.2.9-arch1-1. If you have just updated your packages a restart might help or see https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=135931, https://forum.manjaro.org/t/missing-build-directory-in-5-15-16-1-manjaro-headers/101793.
make[1]: *** /lib/modules/6.2.9-arch1-1/build: No such file or directory. Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory '/home/user/LenovoLegionLinux/kernel_module'
make: *** [Makefile:13: all] Error 2
Permanent Install Instruction
After successfully building and testing (see below), run from the folder LenovoLegionLinux/kernel_module
make
sudo make install
You must recompile and reinstall it again with above commands after each kernel update, as usual for external kernel modules.
I want to get it merged into the mainline Linux kernel, so this is not needed anymore. So please star this repository :)
Uninstall Instruction
Go to the folder LenovoLegionLinux/kernel_module
make
sudo make uninstall
Installing via DKMS
DKMS is a utility that eliminates the need to manually rebuild and reinstall the driver after every kernel update. DKMS will do the reinstallation automatically.
You must first install the package to with DKMS. See Requirements section.
This is only useful for advanced users that build there own kernel.
A automatically generated patch is provided on the release page whenver a stable milestone has been reached: Releases
:octocat: Initial Usage Testing
Please note:
Please test in the given order; try to fix a failed text before going to the next.
These tests are manual and in the terminal because this is an early version of this tool
You can copy-and-paste the commands. Paste with Ctrl+Shift+V inside the terminal.
Quick Test: Module is properly loaded
# After you have run from folder LenovoLegionLinux/kernel_module (for non DKMS)
sudo make reloadmodule
# Check the kernel log
sudo dmesg
Expected result:
You should see a line like the following like legion PNP0C09:00: legion_laptop loaded for this device. PNP0C09 might be replaced by other text.
Unexpected result:
insmod: ERROR: could not insert module legion-laptop.ko: Invalid module format after running make reloadmodule
legion PNP0C09:00: legion_laptop not loaded for this device. The kernel module was not loaded properly. Redo first test.
insmod: ERROR: could not insert module legion-laptop.ko: Key was rejected by service: because you enable secure boot, you cannot load kernel modules. Disable secure boot (in BIOS) or sign the kernel module with a private key.
if you see the following, the driver was not tested for your laptop model; please raise an issue with the maintainer if you think it should be compatible. If you want to try it anyhow with your model use sudo make forcereloadmodule
[126675.495983] legion PNP0C09:00: Module not usable for this laptop because it is not in allowlist. Notify maintainer if you want to add your device or force load with param force.
[126675.495984] legion PNP0C09:00: legion_laptop not loaded for this device
[126675.496014] legion: probe of PNP0C09:00 failed with error -12
Quick Test: Reading Current Fancurve from Hardware
# Read the current fancurve and other debug output
sudo cat /sys/kernel/debug/legion/fancurve
Expected output:
EC Chip ID should be 8227
"fan curve points" size must NOT be 0
the table that shows the current fan curve must NOT be only zeros, the actual values might change
"fan curve current point id" and "EC Chip Version" might differ from the example
The fan curve is displayed as a table with the following columns:
rpm1: speed in rpm for fan1 at this point
rpm2: speed in rpm for fan1 at this point
acceleration: acceleration time (higher = slower)
deceleration: deceleration time (higher = slower)
cpu_min_temp: CPU temperature must go below this before leaving this point
cpu_max_temp: if CPU temperature is above this value, go to next point
gpu_min_temp: GPU temp must go below this before leaving this level
gpu_max_temp: if GPU temperature is above this value, go to next point
ic_min_temp: IC temp must go below this before leaving this level
ic_max_temp: if IC temperature above this value, go to next point
All temperatures are in degree Celsius.
Note: This is just a debug output. The fan curve is configured as usual using the standard hwmon interface.
Unexpected:
/sys/kernel/debug/legion/fancurve: No such file or directory: Kernel module was not loaded properly
cat: /sys/kernel/debug/legion/fancurve: Permission denied you have forgot sudo
Quick Test: Read Sensor Values from Hardware
display sensor values and check that it contains lines with "Fan 1", "Fan 2", "CPU Temperature", "GPU Temperature":
# Run the command sensors
sensors
display sensor values
increase the CPU load and check if
displayed CPU temperature increases
displayed fan speed increases
display sensor values
increase the GPU load and check if GPU temperature changes
displayed CPU temperature increases
displayed fan speed increases
Expected output:
Output of sensors contains something like
legion_hwmon-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Fan 1: 1737 RPM
Fan 2: 1921 RPM
CPU Temperature: +42.0°C
GPU Temperature: +30.0°C
IC Temperature: +41.0°C
if GPU is in deep sleep, its reported temperature is 0; run something on the GPU to test it
temperatures are valid: in particular not 0 (except GPU see above)
fan speeds are valid: if fan is off it is 0, otherwise greater than 1000 rpm
temperatures and fan speeds increase as expected
Unexpected output:
Command 'sensors' not found: Install sensors from the package lm-sensors
no entries for "Fan 1", "Fan 2" etc. are shown. The kernel module was not loaded properly. Redo first test.
Quick Test: Change Current Fan Curve from Hardware with hwmon
# Change the RPM of fans at the second and third point of the fan curve to 1500 rpm, 1600 rpm, 1700 rpm, 1800 rpm.
# Get root
sudo su
# As root enter
# 2. point, 1. fan
echo 1500 > /sys/module/legion_laptop/drivers/platform:legion/PNP0C09:00/hwmon/hwmon*/pwm1_auto_point2_pwm
# 2. point, 2.fan
echo 1600 > /sys/module/legion_laptop/drivers/platform:legion/PNP0C09:00/hwmon/hwmon*/pwm2_auto_point2_pwm
# 3. point, 1. fan
echo 1700 > /sys/module/legion_laptop/drivers/platform:legion/PNP0C09:00/hwmon/hwmon*/pwm1_auto_point3_pwm
# 3. point, 2.fan
echo 1800 > /sys/module/legion_laptop/drivers/platform:legion/PNP0C09:00/hwmon/hwmon*/pwm2_auto_point3_pwm
# Read the current fancurve and check if changes were made
cat /sys/kernel/debug/legion/fancurve
Expected:
the controller might have loaded default values if you pressed Ctrl+Q(or FN+Q on certain devices) to change the power mode or waited too long; then try again
The entries in the fan curve are set to their values. The other values are not relevant (marked with XXXX)
If you want to reset your fan curve, just toggle with Ctrl+Q or Fn+Q the power mode or restart and everything is gone.
Unexpected:
file not found: please report your problem as a Github Issue
the values have not changed
there are different values
Quick Test: Set your custom fan curve
Set a custom fan curve with the provided script. See Creating and Setting your own Fan Curve below.
Test: Finish
If you are satisfied with the test results, then you can install the kernel module permanently (see above).
Create a GitHub Issue and report if the test work or fail.
Please include exact laptop model
If errors occurred, include output of commands.
You also might to want to star this repository
:computer: Normal Usage
you have to install the kernel module permanently (see above), otherwise you must reload it manually after each restart
Temperature and Fan Monitoring
The temperatures and fan speeds should be displayed in any graphical tool that monitors them, e.g. psensor. You have to install it first before running:
psensor
Changing and Setting your own Fan Curve with the Python GUI
Start the GUI as root
# run from folder LenovoLegionLinux
sudo python/legion_linux/legion_linux/legion_gui.py
with Read from HW you can read the current fan curve that is saved in the hardware and display it.
you can edit the values of the fancurve. They will not applied to hardware until your press Apply to HW
press Apply to HW to write the currently displayed fancurve to hardware and activate it
you can load and save a fancurve to a preset. Select the preset with the drop-down menu and press Load from Preset or Save to preset.
loading a preset will just display it. You still have to press Apply to HW to activate it
presets are stored in a yaml file in /root/.config/legion_linux/. You can edit them also manually.
the number of points is fixed depending on power mode. Deactivated points are currently displayed as 0s.
lock fan controller: enabling this will freeze the current fan speed and the temperatures used to control the fan controller
Unexpected:
an error is displayed or everything is 0: kernel module not loaded or installed (see above) or not compatible (do manual tests from above)
an value is not accepted when Write to HW: the value is out-of-range and was not accepted by hardware
Changing and Setting your own Fan Curve with the Python CLI
You can do the same as the GUI from a CLI program. It will access the same presets.
# run from folder LenovoLegionLinux
sudo python/legion_linux/legion_linux/legion_cli.py
usage: legion_cli.py [-h] {fancurve-write-preset-to-hw,fancurve-write-hw-to-preset,fancurve-write-file-to-hw,fancurve-write-hw-to-file} ...
Legion CLI
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
subcommands:
{fancurve-write-preset-to-hw,fancurve-write-hw-to-preset,fancurve-write-file-to-hw,fancurve-write-hw-to-file}
fancurve-write-preset-to-hw
Write fan curve from preset to hardware
fancurve-write-hw-to-preset
Write fan curve from hardware to preset
fancurve-write-file-to-hw
Write fan curve from file to hardware
fancurve-write-hw-to-file
Write fan curve from hardware to file
Creating and Setting your own Fan Curve with Script
Just run the script to set the fan curve. It is in the folder LenovoLegionLinux.
# Go to folder LenovoLegionLinux and run it. It should output "Writing fancurve successful!" if it finishes successful
sudo ./setmyfancurve.sh
# And check new fan curve
sudo cat /sys/kernel/debug/legion/fancurve
Open the file setmyfancurve.sh and edit it to adapt the values in the script to create your own fan curve. Follow the description in the file.
Unexpected output:
bash: ./setmyfancurve.sh: Permission denied: You have to make the script executable with chmod +x ./setmyfancurve first
script does not end with "fancurve set": maybe path to hwmon changed; Please report this
Note:
If you want to reset your fan curve, just toggle with Ctrl+Q or Fn+Q the power mode or restart and everything is gone.
Currently, there is no GUI available.
Currently, the hardware resets the fan curve randomly or if you change power mode, suspend, or restart. Just run the script again.
You might want to create different scripts for different usages. Just copy it and adapt the values.
Change power mode from software
For this to work, you must install the kernel module permanently (see above). Alternatively, you can restart the the power daemon (systemctl restart power-profiles-daemon.service in Ubuntu) after reloading the kernel module (see above).
Modify/Control with GUI
With the GUI, the current power mode can be changed by selecting the mode in the box labeled with Power mode/platform profile.
Modify/Control with Widget
In Ubuntu/Gnome go to Settings->Power->Power Mode/Power Saving Option or the applet in the top right.
Automatic change of power mode can be changed in the settings of the distribution ( in Ubuntu).
Modify with CLI
# List all profiles (power-saver = quiet= blue)
powerprofilesctl list
# performance:
# Driver: platform_profile
# Degraded: no
# balanced:
# Driver: platform_profile
# * power-saver:
# Driver: platform_profile
# Set a profile, e.g. power-saver=quiet
powerprofilesctl set power-saver
# or balanced
powerprofilesctl set balanced
# or performance
powerprofilesctl set performance
Alternatively, you can also directly access it on a lower level:
# Access current profile
cat /sys/firmware/acpi/platform_profile
# Change current profile (AS ROOT): available modes quiet, balanced, performance, balanced-performance
# quiet = power-saver
echo quiet > /sys/firmware/acpi/platform_profile
# or balanced
echo balanced > /sys/firmware/acpi/platform_profile
# or performance
echo performance > /sys/firmware/acpi/platform_profile
# or custom-mode = balanced-performance (not available on all models); the LED should turn pink/purple
echo balanced-performance > /sys/firmware/acpi/platform_profile
Custom Power Mode
If you model support the custom power mode, then you can:
enter custom power mode
LED should turn pink/purple
customnize CPU/GPU boost and TGP settings
You can change to it with in the GUI: Open the GUI and select "Custom Mode" for power profile. Alternativley, you can change to it with in the command line with:
Unfortunately, the power-profile-deamon or powerprofilesctl currently do not support this mode.
Enable or disable the mini fan curve
If the laptop stays cool for a longer time, it will enable the "mini fan curve", a special fan curve with only a few points. It will usually spin the fans. You can enable or disable that. If you want to use your configured fan curve in any case, disable it. The mini fan curve is not available on all models (you will see error for mini fan curve when running cat /sys/kernel/debug/legion/fancurve).
With the GUI, the mini fan curve is enabled/disabled by checking/unchecking the box Minifancurve if cold and pressing Apply to HW.
Lenovo Legion Laptop Support Daemon(legiond)
The LLL Daemon is supported in Systemd and OpenRC(Experimental).
If you install LLL manually(not throngh the package manager), you may need to run the systemd_install.sh unside the extra folder.
This Daemon allow to chnage automatically bettwen fan profiles set in the gui depending of the power mode and if the laptop is or not plug in:
These are the profiles avaiable:
quiet-battery - Fan Profile on quiet mode on battery
balance-battery - Fan Profile on balance mode on battery
balanced-performance-battery - Fan Profile on custom mode on battery
quiet-ac - Fan Profile on quiet mode on charger
balance-ac - Fan Profile on balance mode on charger
balanced-performance-ac - Fan Profile on custom mode on charger
performance-ac - Fan Profile on performance mode on charger
Exemple profiles are here can also be set via the gui for easy set up:
1 - Set the Fan Curve you like to use
2 - Chose on the profile above in Fancurve Preset and hit Sate to Preset (will ask for you password)
3 - Set all the profiles
4 - Go to the Automation tab and enable the option Lenovo Legion Laptop Support Daemon Enable
This systemd service also have extras features that can be activated by editing legiond.ini located /etc/legion_linux/legiond.ini:
cpu_control - activate use of RyzenADJ on AMD or undervolt on Intel to make custom cpu setting for each power mode
bat_bp - Custom Cpu setting for custom mode on battery
ac_bp - Custom Cpu setting for custom mode on charger
bat_q - Custom Cpu setting for quiet mode on battery
ac_q - Custom Cpu setting for quiet mode on charger
bat_b - Custom Cpu setting for balance mode on battery
ac_b - Custom Cpu setting for balance mode on charger
ac_p - Custom Cpu setting for performance mode on charger
gpu_control:
nvidia - use nvidia-smi -pl command to change the TDP of the GPU (only work on driver 525 and lower)
radeon - use rocm-smi --setpoweroverdrive command to change the TDP of the GPU
tdp_bat_bp - Custom GPU TDP for custom mode on battery
tdp_ac_bp - Custom GPU TDP for custom mode on charger
tdp_bat_q - Custom GPU TDP for quiet mode on battery
tdp_ac_q - Custom GPU TDP for quiet mode on charger
tdp_bat_b - Custom GPU TDP for balance mode on battery
tdp_ac_b - Custom GPU TDP for balance mode on charger
tdp_ac_p - Custom GPU TDP for performance mode on charger
Note: The default values in the .env file are from RTX 3070
NOTE: legiond.service depends on acpid.service and if you enable legiond.service, acpid.service should be started automatically.
If your CPU tweaks often get reset to default, enable legiond-cpuset.timer to override it.
You can lock the current fan speed. If it is locked, the fan speed will stays constant and does not react to temperature changes. You might want to lock the fan at a high speed during a game. I would not recommend keeping it locked all the time. If your fan controller gets locked accidentally, e.g. by Windows tools, you can unlock it. A locked fan controller might be the reason for a non-working fan control. If the fan controller is locked, the additional temperature sensors are not updated anymore and also stay constant.
With the GUI, the fan controller is locked by checking the box Lock fan controller and pressing Apply to HW.
Set Speed to Maximum Fan Speed
The fan can be set to maximum fan speed regardless of temperature. This is sometimes called extreme cooling mode or dust cleaning mode. Do not enable this for long periods of time, because it might degrade your fans faster.
With the GUI, the current fan speed is set to the maximum possible value by checking Set speed to maximum fan speed and pressing Apply to HW.
This is currently not available in many models.
Set Battery Conservation Mode to Prolong Battery Life when AC is plugged in
You can enable battery conservation mode. When conservation mode is enabled, the constant charging of the battery is disabled when the AC (charger) is plugged in. It will try to keep your battery state of charge at around 50%. This is said to prolong the battery life.
With the GUI, the battery conservation is enabled by checking the box Battery conservation (changes should apply immediately).
Toggle Fn lock to use special functions on F1-F12 keys without pressing Fn key
You can lock the Fn keys. You can do it by pressing Fn+Esc. This should also toggle the light in the Esc key (if available in your model).
If enabled, the special functions, e.g. increase sound volume on F3, is triggered without pressing Fn.
With the GUI, the Fn-lock is enabled/disabled by checking/unchecking the box Fn Lock (changes should apply immediately).
Enable/Disable Touch Pad
You can enable or disable the touch pad. You can do it by pressing Fn+F10 (or similar).
With the GUI, the touch pad is enabled/disabled by checking/unchecking the box Touch Pad Enabled (changes should apply immediately).
off/on white backlight or off/medium/bright white backlight: supported by this software but can be controlled by all programs for LED control in linux
Known Bugs
Some bugs cannot be fixed due to the firmware in the hardware:
size of fan curve cannot be changed (size is 10 on performance mode, 9 otherwise) but you can practically disable points by setting the temperature limits to 127, as already done when writing to auto_points_size
:clap: Credits
Basis of this work
Thank you for your work on Windows tools that were the basis of the Linux support:
SmokelessCPU, for reverse engineering the embedded controller firmware
and finding the direct IO control method to communicate with the embedded controller
FanFella, for finding the address to lock or unlock the fan controller
Bartosz Cichecki, for creating LenovoLegionToolkit, a Windows tool for newer Legion models that controls the Laptop with ACPI/WMI methods. Even this README is heavily inspired on it.
0x1F9F1, for reverse engineering the fan curve in the embedded controller firmware
and creating the Windows tool LegionFanControl
ViRb3, for creating Lenovo Controller, which was used as a base
for [LenovoLegionToolkit]
Luke Cama, for his closed-source tool LegionFanControl that controls older laptops with directly with the embedded controller
David Woodhouse, for his work on the ideapad Linux driver ideapad-laptop, which was a heavy inspiration for this Linux driver
Contributors to Lenovo Legion Laptop Support
Thank you for your contribution for the Linux support:
Also please tell me if it works or does not work on your laptop.
Tools that are based on LenovoLegionLinux
Plasma Vantage
PlasmaVantage is a Plasma Widget for KDE. It is an alternative GUI for the LenovoLegionLinux kernel module. It is availabe in the KDE stroe or with source here.
:interrobang: Frequency Asked Questions
What are the new temperatures?
These are the temperatures measured and used by the embedded controller. Only they are relevant for the fan controller.
They are provided by the new kernel module and otherwise not accessible because they are read from the embedded controller.
What are the new fan speed sensors?
They report the fan speed in revolutions per minute (rpm). They are provided by the new kernel module and otherwise not accessible because they are read from the embedded controller.
What temperatures are used for controlling the fan speed?
The CPU, GPU, and "IC" temperature is used. These are (usually) additional sensors that are different from the temperature sensors that are reported when you do not use the kernel model. In particular, the "IC" temperature limit might be set to a low value which results in almost-always running fans.
My CPU and GPU temperatures are low but the fan is still running?
See above. In particular, the "IC" temperature sensor.
Is the fan speed controlled by power consumption?
I have no reason to believe that. As far as I know and observed, only the temperatures are used.
My fans do not spin up, never stop, or never change speed (after using other tools)?
If they always have roughly constant speed, maybe you have locked the fan controller, often called locking fan speed.
You can unlock/lock the fan speed controller in the GUI (see above). I would recommend not locking them. Doing
a BIOS/UEFI update usually also unlocks it. But beware and consider making a BIOS (re)-update.
If the fans never spin up fast even under hight load, the fan controller might be locked (above). Additionally,
also check that the reported temperatures for CPU (or GPU) really increase under load. Only, the temperatures
"CPU Temperature", "GPU Temperature", and "IC Temperature" are used for fan control. These, are used internally
by the fan controller in hardware.
If otherwise the fans never stop, you might have set a very low upper temperature limit for CPU, GPU or IC. Many
models also come with a low temperature limit even on quiet mode, so fans never really turn off. You can just increase the temperature
limits for the lowest level.
The fans are loud when idle.
See above.
The fans turn on when doing light work like browsing.
Even when browsing there might be small bursts of work for the CPU. So it gets hot for a short time and the fans turn on. You can:
Change the fan curve, in particular increase temperature limit and increase acceleration time
Disable CPU boost mode
Also see above
The reported temperatures do not change or seem wrong.
See above.
Even under high load, the fans are not going fast enough.
See above.
After a BIOS update something, e.g. the fan controls, does not work anymore?
Maybe there was a problem during the BIOS update. Downgrade to an older version again. Then test it with the old version. Then do the BIOS upgrade again and check with the version.
How to do a BIOS upgrade or reset the embedded controller to fix a problem?
The easiest way is to downgrade to a older version and then upgrade to the current version again. Also test it with the old version.
You can also just try reset the embedded controller by:
Press AND hold power button for 60 seconds; keep holding even if it turns on
After 60 seconds, release power button
Press power button shortly to turn laptop on
What does quiet, balanced, or performance mode do?
You can switch the mode by pressing Fn+Q and it will change the mode in the firmware and the color of the LED, even without any driver support (= without this kernel module).
Changing power mode without Lenovo Legion Linux is purely implemented in hardware:
The color of LED changes.
Fan curve in embedded controller changes.
Other purely hardware configs might also change, but I have not observed one.
As far as I know, power saving or performance of CPU does not change, as this is controlled by kernel or tools like cpupower
An analysis of the ACPI firmware, which is "stored in hardware", shows that some power options, e.g. the STAPM limit, of the CPU and GPU are changed via ACPI calls. This can be observed by changing power mode with Fn+Q and checking CPU power limits, e.g. with ryzenadj for AMD CPUs. However, no changes to the GPU power limits are observed on NVIDIA GPUs, which might indicate that the integration of ACPI and GPU driver is faulty on Linux On driver 535+, GPU power limits for nvidia changes on battery power (40w on quiet and 50w on balanced for RTX 3070), on power adapter, the power limit are allways set to max on peformance (reported by nvidia-smi), but more power is allowed to the GPU on performance or custom mode in demanding GPU tasks. If the GPU power limit on performance mode is stuck on 80W compared to 115W/130W on Windows, you're affected by this bug: NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules#483.
Without Lenovo Legion Linux, the kernel or other system tools will not know that you have changed the power mode.
Changing power mode with Lenovo Legion Linux:
It changes all of the above.
Additionally the driver in Lenovo Legion Linux makes this information available to the kernel and other services like the Power Profiles daemon; Those can, if configured, change the performance of the CPU or GPU.
On Windows it is similar: Changing the power mode is reported to the system or tools like Vantage which change the power plan.
Should I use balanced mode or performance for gaming?
The difference in usable performance (FPS) is minimal. Use performance mode to get the utmost highest performance, otherwise use the balanced mode.
One fan runs at full speed all the time. What should I do?
First check that the fan curve is set properly and this is not a misconfiguration. Then check if the temperatures used for fan control (see: "new temperatures") have low values on idle. If just one fan is on full speed but the other one is controlled according to fan curve, then you should reset the BIOS and EC controller.
What is "advanced thermal optimization" in the BIOS?
You can change the fan curve and minimal fan speed that are programmed into the hardware:
For other desktop environments:
This driver makes power mode changing available to tools like power-profiles-daemon.
First you should try changing from the terminal, see "Powermode -> Modify with CLI". If it works, then install power-profiles-daemon.
A graphical GNOME applet uses power-profiles-daemon to change the power mode using software. It is not provided by this tool, but is a standard tool already integrated into GNOME.
For KDE, there is the graphical tool powerdevil, which also uses power-profiles-daemon internally.
It almost works, but (some) temperature sensor/changing point in fan control or (some) fan speed is not working. What should I do?
How to power down the dGPU while not in use and use the iGPU for power saving instead?
This describes a way to configure and use it on Ubuntu using X11. It configures it such that
everything runs on iGPU if not otherwise selected.
Check that Hybrid Mode is enabled in the BIOS.
Check that X11 is used and not Wayland:
# It should output something like: "x11"
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
Install prime and select "on-demand". A restart might be needed:
sudo prime-select on-demand
Check with nvidia-smi that no programs run on the dGPU:
sudo nvidia-smi
Note that the one process 0 N/A N/A *** G /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 4MiB is ok. Moreover, note
that running nvidia-smi powers up the GPU for some time.
Allow d3cold mode:
# Note: Only one of the commands would work; depending on the path to the device which is your GPU
echo 1 > /sys/devices/pci0000\:00/0000\:00\:01.1/d3cold_allowed
echo 1 > /sys/devices/pci0000\:00/0000\:00\:01.0/d3cold_allowed
# Note: Only one of the commands would work; depending on the path to the device which is your GPU
# It should output "D3cold":
cat /sys/devices/pci0000\:00/0000\:00\:01.0/power_state
cat /sys/devices/pci0000\:00/0000\:00\:01.1/power_state
Run nvidia-smi, which powers the GPU up for some time. Check the power_state again. It should go to D0 and then go to D3cold after some time. Compared to nvidia-smi, running cat /sys/devices/pci0000\:00/0000\:00\:01.1/power_state does not seem to wake up the GPU.
What exactly is the third temperature? Currently, it is currently called IC Temperature.
Is "quiet mode" suitable for gaming?
:information_desk_person: Overview for Developers
The software consists of two parts:
Kernel module in the kernel_module folder:
Accesses the embedded controller by writing to its memory
Creates new "files": /sys/kernel/debug/legion/fancurve, /sys/module/legion_laptop/drivers/platform\:legion/PNP0C09\:00/powermode ,
/sys/class/hwmon/X/temp1_input, /sys/class/hwmon/X/pwmY_auto_pointZ_pwm, ... that allows to
read the temperatue sensors, control the fan curve, change power mode etc.
Python packages in the python folder:
legion.py: A Python module to modify the fan curve and other settings from Python; Encapsulate reading and writing to the "files" provided by the above kernel module and other modules like ideapad_laptop; All changes from legion_gui.py and legion_cli.py goes through this Python module.
legion_gui.py: a GUI program that uses legion.py to change setttings.
legion_cli.py: a CLI program that uses legion.py to change setttings.
Legal Matters
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The use of Lenovo®, Lenovo Legion™, Yoga®, IdeaPad® or other trademarks within this website and associated tools and libraries is only to provide a recognisable identifier to users to enable them to associate that these tools will work with Lenovo laptops.
