TPFanCtrl2

Fan control for ThinkPads running Windows 10/11.

This repository carries on FanDjango's TPFanCtrl2 line, which was archived in August 2026. The full history is preserved here — every branch and tag, and the release binaries from V2.3.4 through V2.3.23 mirrored under Releases.

Lineage

troubadix's TPFanControl (thinkwiki.de) → ThinkPad-Forum/TPFanControl → byrnes' dual-fan mod → Shuzhengz/TPFanCtrl2 → FanDjango/TPFanCtrl2 (archived) → this repository. Public domain all the way through.

How it works

One executable, two roles:

• The engine owns the embedded controller and drives the fan from a configurable temperature curve. It runs either as a plain window or as the TPFanControl Windows service, which controls the fan from boot as SYSTEM with no window.
• The tray window is a client of the engine. With the service running it needs no rights at all: it draws the state the engine publishes, mirrors the engine's log and hands over mode changes.

Changes since FanDjango V2.3.23

• Fixed a crash that killed a tray client on its first data cycle (uninitialized sensor name pointers in the client path).
• The engine log is mirrored into client windows, timestamps intact, including a backlog of recent lines when the window starts.
• The tray menu no longer competes with the engine for the EC mutex; the hardware toggles are grayed out in a client.
• ErraticSensorGuard quarantines sensors that swing tens of degrees back and forth between cycles — multiplexed EC registers on newer machines that hold no temperature.
• LidSmartLevel runs a second smart profile while the lid is closed, for machines that work docked.
• The EC is reached through PawnIO, so fan control works with memory integrity (HVCI) enabled. TVicPort remains as a fallback, loaded dynamically only when needed.
• Start with Windows manages a Startup folder shortcut instead of a run key entry, which Windows 11 was seen silently skipping at logon.

Requirements

The EC is reached through one of two port drivers, tried in this order (override with PortBackend= in the ini):

• PawnIO — install it from pawnio.eu or winget install namazso.PawnIO, and keep LpcACPIEC.bin (bundled here under fancontrol/pawnio/, part of the release zip) next to the exe. The driver is WHQL-signed and works with memory integrity (HVCI) enabled — this is the right choice on any current Windows 11 machine, where TVicPort's driver is refused. The signed module reaches the EC through the classic ports 0x62/0x66.
• TVicPort — put TVicPort.dll next to the exe with its kernel driver (TVicPort64.sys in System32\drivers) in place. Both ship with the original TPFanControl installer from the SourceForge days; uninstalling that program removes them again, so keep your own copies. Only works with memory integrity off, and it is the only backend that reaches the UseTWR sensor interface.

Install

1. Put TPFanControl.exe, TPFanControl.ini and LpcACPIEC.bin (or TVicPort.dll) in a folder of their own, e.g. C:\Program Files\TPFanCtrl2.
2. Run the exe as administrator once and enable Start with Windows in the tray menu. That installs the service and puts a shortcut in your Startup folder that brings up the tray window at logon, without elevation prompts. The same from a prompt: TPFanControl.exe -i as administrator. Up to 2.5.0 the toggle wrote a run key entry instead, which Windows 11 was seen silently skipping at logon — flipping the toggle in either direction also cleans up such a leftover entry.
3. Adjust TPFanControl.ini next to the exe. The ones that matter most:
   • Level=temp fan hystUp hystDown — the fan curve, one line per step
   • IgnoreSensors= — sensors that should not drive the fan
   • SingleFan=1 — on machines with one fan
   • PowerSuspendMode=2 — keep controlling the fan with the lid closed, for docked use; the default hands the fan to the BIOS on lid close

To uninstall, disable Start with Windows in the menu (or run TPFanControl.exe -u as administrator) and delete the folder.

Building

Visual Studio Build Tools with the C++ workload, toolset v145. From a developer prompt:

msbuild fancontrol\fancontrol.sln /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=Win32

The icon helper projects under TPFCIcon and TPFCIcon_noballons still name the v143 toolset; add /p:PlatformToolset=v145 when building them with current tools.

Tested hardware

ThinkPad X13 Gen 3 (21BN, single fan) runs the service + tray setup as its daily driver. For models confirmed on earlier versions, see the upstream README.

License

Public domain (Unlicense), inherited from upstream. No warranty — this program writes to your embedded controller, use it at your own risk.