Lafite III 15" (Clevo N151ZU) under Linux: compatibility and better fan control

[batzkass]

Hi everyone,

I have just purchased a Lafite III 15", with 2*8Go ram, i7-8565U, 1To Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe SSD.

General review
Very fast computer, nice thin aluminum design, good linux compatibility. It came with a dead pixel however
I installed kubuntu, and after 1 cycle of battery charge/discharge, I get an estimation of about 6h of battery life at idle, wifi on and screen 50%. However, as the battery is small, any demanding app will make this estimation drop drastically. Anyway, battery is fine for office or web surfing. Under linux, everything works out-of-the-box, except the three points mentionned below:

Keyboard backlight: can be fixed
The solution to make the keyboard backlight can be found there (use the dkms install) (and there for wake-up after sleep).

Fingerprint sensor: can't be fixed for now
The fingerprint sensor is the same as on some lenovo laptops, it is part of the touchpad (same device). Some guys seems to be working on it however.

Fan control: can be fixed
I like to work in a silent environnement, but I find that the fan is blowing frequently even if you do minor tasks (starts at 51 degrees...). By default there is no linux driver for it, so this is the bios behavior. Also, fancontrol is useless. However, I found here a work to control fans on clevo computers under linux. This tool checks for system brand and will not work for pcspecialist laptops, in addition it is a real "labyrinthine system" (very heavy program to do basic things). So I decided to search and pick-up only the code lines that are responsible for fan control and temperature measuring to make my own software, and tadaa:


Please refer to the doc on gitlab for more infos, and report any bug.
Also, I would be grateful if you would let me know if you use it and if it works (or not ) for you.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi batzkass

I'm afraid I've removed the link to your app as it's not allowed to self promote on the forum as per the forum rules:


You ARE NOT allowed to use the PC Specialist Ltd forums to:

• Advertise or promote products and/or services that you or someone you know has an "interest" in

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?3-Forum-Rules-Read-before-posting!

 

[batzkass]

I'm afraid you are doing a mistake.

1- The work I have done is licensed under GPL license, I have absolutely NO INTEREST to publish or promote it ;
2- I made it in the unique aim of helping others, IN THE INTEREST OF OTHERS. By blacklisting my work, you are in turn penalizing members, not me;
3- It is the same about the link you removed in the fingerprint-sensor paragraph: people are working on linux kernel drivers which are all GPL.

I have the feeling that the philosophy here is completely backward, I have spent extra time to share my work with others, and I'm censored because of my personal interest.
Finally, this forum is totally useless if members can't help each other.

I hope you will change your mind, restore my original post and erase these two, I must say I am a bit upset by your decision.

François

 

[ubuysa]

I'm afraid you are doing a mistake.

1- The work I have done is licensed under GPL license, I have absolutely NO INTEREST to publish or promote it ;
2- I made it in the unique aim of helping others, IN THE INTEREST OF OTHERS. By blacklisting my work, you are in turn penalizing members, not me;
3- It is the same about the link you removed in the fingerprint-sensor paragraph: people are working on linux kernel drivers which are all GPL.

I have the feeling that the philosophy here is completely backward, I have spent extra time to share my work with others, and I'm censored because of my personal interest.
Finally, this forum is totally useless if members can't help each other.

I hope you will change your mind, restore my original post and erase these two, I must say I am a bit upset by your decision.

François

You are not being censored, nor is your work being blacklisted. You broke the forum rules, which you can read here, by linking to products and/or services that you or someone you know has an "interest" in. If you believe that your work is of use to other PCS customers you should submit it directly to PCS and seek their permission to use these fora to promote it.

 

[batzkass]

Again, I have NO INTEREST to publish the code: no benefice, no advantage, no money back, as mentioned in the oxford dictionary at "interest". That's only about mutual aid.
Also, what you apply here is censorship as you modified my post, (still in accordance with oxford dictionary).
Anyway, this forum is not the right place for discussions and mutual aid about linux, I will just sadly stop wasting my time.
François

 

[ubuysa]

Again, I have NO INTEREST to publish the code: no benefice, no advantage, no money back, as mentioned in the oxford dictionary at "interest". That's only about mutual aid.
Also, what you apply here is censorship as you modified my post, (still in accordance with oxford dictionary).
Anyway, this forum is not the right place for discussions and mutual aid about linux, I will just sadly stop wasting my time.
François

I do understand your arguments, however the moderators are tasked with ensuring that all posts conform to the forum rules, and the rules are currently very clear on the issue of links where the poster has an interest. I have raised your issues with the forum administrators at PCS and asked for their opinions and guidance. Naturally PCS have the final word, it is their forum after all. You are most welcome to contact PCS yourself and make your own case.

That the links were to something in which you had an interest is undeniable, you even sought to use the forum to help you debug your own software!

<snip>
So I decided to search and pick-up only the code lines that are responsible for fan control and temperature measuring to make my own software, and tadaa:

Please refer to the doc on gitlab for more infos, and report any bug.
Also, I would be grateful if you would let me know if you use it and if it works (or not ) for you.

I don't want you to feel your contributions are not valued, nor do I want you to stop 'wasting your time', but the moderators (who are all volunteers) spend a great deal of their own time ensuring that these fora are free of spam and advertising, that they remain family friendly, and that everyone conforms to the published forum rules when posting. To be perfectly honest it does make me wonder why you're making such a big fuss over a link to your own software, removing the link does not detract from the value in your original post, nor does it devalue the useful and helpful comments you made.

 

[hugronaphor]

The insanity of the fan behaviour(starts spinning when I'm moving the mouse) it's annoying until the point that I'm not using the laptop at all, it only gets me stressed when I'm trying to concentrate on a task.
@batzkass can you edit your post and leave your gitlab username so we can find the repository controlling the fan behaviour? Would me much appreciated.

@SpyderTracks this is so frustrating to not allow @batzkass share the solutions he found! PcSpecialist isn't giving any guarantees for the machines running under Linux - let the community help eachother then.

 

[Oussebon]

@SpyderTracks this is so frustrating to not allow @batzkass share the solutions he found!

The mods don't make the forums rules - I would suggest you contact PCS directly about those if you want them to reconsider some aspects. It's important that they have your feedback

I'm not saying I disagree with you. But whether I agree with you or not doesn't matter as only PCS can change the rules.

 

[SpyderTracks]

The insanity of the fan behaviour(starts spinning when I'm moving the mouse) it's annoying until the point that I'm not using the laptop at all, it only gets me stressed when I'm trying to concentrate on a task.
@batzkass can you edit your post and leave your gitlab username so we can find the repository controlling the fan behaviour? Would me much appreciated.

@SpyderTracks this is so frustrating to not allow @batzkass share the solutions he found! PcSpecialist isn't giving any guarantees for the machines running under Linux - let the community help eachother then.

By you signing up to the forum, you have agreed to uphold PCS forum rules, this being one of them.

As Oussebon says, if you feel strongly about it, you need to put your thoughts **constructively** to PCS.

Posting and asking people to circumvent forum rules is not being constructive.

 

[Stephen M]

The problem is that there have to be rules such as this to stop those pushing their own financial interests, I very much doubt anyone even thought about Open Source Freeware when the forum was set up but I suspect PCS will be willing to find some sort of compromise if they are approached directly, as others have said, blaming the moderators, who are all volunteers, is pointless and counter.productive.

As a Linux user I would like to see this and other contributions from the Open Source world and I believe PCS would as well as it would be a help to them. It would not take long to see if a contribution was genuine or not and PCS they could decide whether or not to use it, they just have to decide whether they want the contributions from us and if they do to set up a way of getting code to them. It is certainly be worth contacting them.

 

[ubuysa]

I removed the link because of the following forum rule...

You ARE NOT allowed to use the PC Specialist Ltd forums to:

Advertise or promote products and/or services that you or someone you know has an "interest" in

This includes linking to a personal website

That the poster had 'an interest' in the site was undeniable because he/she was soliciting comments and bug reports on their software via this forum. As has been said, mods don't make the rules, we're simply tasked with enforcing them, and that's regardless of whether we personally think they are wise or sensible.

I do concede that there is a grey area here where public repositories are concerned and there has been some discussion between the mods and admins about this issue. It may be that PCS (who make the rules) might chose to relax or qualify this rule in the future, especially where public repositories are concerned. Then again they might not. It's their forum and their rules.

There is nothing to prevent members sending a PM to other members asking for links to public repositories.

 

[Oussebon]

It seems the new forum actually has a Resources section:
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/whats-new/resources/

Perhaps PCS can clarify what this is for in due course, and if they feel it appropriate it could host user-made tweaks? With appropriate disclaimers etc.

 

[harper]

Wow, I was just about to buy this laptop when I came here to check for potential issues.

Not going to get this now, seeing how pcspecialist treat people who are trying to solve problems.

Does not bode at all well for buying a laptop and hoping that the company will give a fig about me in 3,6,9 12 months time if I have a problem.

Good going.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Wow, I was just about to buy this laptop when I came here to check for potential issues.

Not going to get this now, seeing how pcspecialist treat people who are trying to solve problems.

Does not bode at all well for buying a laptop and hoping that the company will give a fig about me in 3,6,9 12 months time if I have a problem.

Good going.

?

 

[harper]

Why the confusion? I see someone trying to help with a fan issue with this laptop under Linux and being shut down. Linking to a git repo of linux software to solve the problem seems entirely reasonable, but I've read through, and can see that such help will not be tolerated here. Doesn't augur well for the longer term. And I know, "rules are rules"

 

[SpyderTracks]

Why the confusion? I see someone trying to help with a fan issue with this laptop under Linux and being shut down. Linking to a git repo of linux software to solve the problem seems entirely reasonable, but I've read through, and can see that such help will not be tolerated here. Doesn't augur well for the longer term. And I know, "rules are rules"

He wasn't shut down in any way, it's just against forum rules to promote your own work on this forum. PCS own this forum, it's up to them what they want to host, we don't have much of a say in that.

That doesn't prevent you from searching for him on the interweb and finding his work, google is a very powerful thing.

If it helps, there have been great discussions with the Admins about how to deal with this going forward.

 

[Oussebon]

PCS do honour their warranties, and my personal experience has been that they'll go above and beyond to make sure clients are satisfied.

So the issue about whether they give a fig isn't an issue. They do care if there is a problem, and they do make sure it gets fixed, at least as far as my own experience (2 systems) goes.

As for the github repository, the issue was that the OP was effectively promoting something they 'had an interest' in, which isn't allowed.

It's possible the rule wasn't conceived for a scenario like this, but for now it is what it is.

PCS don't officially support Linux on their systems, so they're hardly obliged to ensure all software fixes for various issues are available on the forums, but they are happy enough to allow a pinned sticky with user experiences of Linux on the various systems: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/linux-laptop-compatibility.60811/ so they're hardly anti-Linux either. I mean, they have this sub-forum which is used primarily not to discuss Linux in general, but rather Linux on the computers they sell.

if you decide to buy from a different store because they offer better value, a better product, or whatever, that's entirely your call - but I wouldn't recommend letting the application of a rule against self-promotion in this topic overly influence you tbh.

 

[Stephen M]

I would have thought a fairly simple solution would be to ask people who have free software worth using to contact PCS or the mods direct, they can then decide whether to post a link to it. Unfortunately the rule has to be there to stop those who would use these fora for their own ends, it is a pity that there will be times when the innocent fall victim of them as well.

 

[ubuysa]

Why the confusion? I see someone trying to help with a fan issue with this laptop under Linux and being shut down. Linking to a git repo of linux software to solve the problem seems entirely reasonable, but I've read through, and can see that such help will not be tolerated here. Doesn't augur well for the longer term. And I know, "rules are rules"

There is no problem posting links to public repositories.

There link was removed only because the poster was asking for bug reports and comments.

At the time, on the old forum platform, the rules very specifically prohibited promoting your own sites or services. The mods are tasked with ensuring that all posts conform to the forum rules.

Were not unthinking robots but we don't own the fora either, so we can't pick and choose which rules to apply and which to ignore.

 

[qqdc]

Can I suggest to @batzkass, and anyone else providing patches/utilities, to put a few good keywords in their github/gitlab repository. E.g. "lafite" and "PC specialist", as well obvious ones like "linux" and "fan noise". This thread will be buried in the 2nd page in a few months, and we'll be reliant on google.

And if someone can find it by google, they will be post the link here, which will be allowed because they won't have the self-interest in it. ;-)