FreeBSD on ThinkPad E590 fans loud and missing drivers for Cannon Point-LP Serial IO UART & MEI controllers

Senior-Moe

Senior-Moe

I'm trying to run FreeBSD on a ThinkPad E590 (daily driver currently running Void Linux). This is not first attempt to install FreeBSD on this device. After installing FreeBSD some devices appear to be missing drivers/firmware and the laptop fans run loudly compared to Linux. In additional, the battery goes empty fast.

I compared hardware probe outputs from both systems:

FreeBSD probe: https://bsd-hardware.info/?probe=5ff8c53ea0

Void Linux probe: https://linux-hardware.org/?probe=9556c5e3c2

Two devices I care about getting working are:

  • Cannon Point-LP Serial IO UART Controller
  • Cannon Point-LP MEI (Management Engine Interface) Controller
What I see?

On FreeBSD the thermal/fan behaviour is louder and more aggressive than on Linux (same workload). The hardware probes show some devices marked as none or not using drivers on FreeBSD while they are handled on Linux.

What I’ve tried so far
  • I installed FreeBSD on USB to run it any time for testing.
  • Compared the two hw-probe pages to find differences in modules/firmware used.
  • Looked for matching FreeBSD kernel modules (e.g. me/mei equivalents) but haven't found a clear mapping for Cannon Point-LP devices.
  • Searched FreeBSD forums and the handbook for Intel ME/SerialIO support but the information I found is incomplete for Cannon Point-LP.
  • Sent mail to FreeBSD hardware by same details in this post but no reply till date.
  • Post on Unix Stack Exchange no information about it.

What I want / questions

1- What are the correct FreeBSD kernel drivers or firmware packages for the Cannon Point-LP Serial IO UART Controller and the Cannon Point-LP MEI Controller? (Exact module names or package names would be ideal.)

2- How can I install or enable those drivers on FreeBSD (which kmod/module, and any necessary firmware files or loader.conf entries)?

3- Are there recommended resources or documentation for finding the right firmware/drivers for Intel Cannon Point / Cannon Lake-LP devices on FreeBSD?

4- Any tips for diagnosing the loud fan issue on FreeBSD (which syslogs, kernel messages or thermal driver outputs should I capture)?

5- Diagnostics I can add to this question (please tell me if you need any of these and I'll paste the output):


In attachment, you find the output of these command,

pciconf -lv

dmesg

sysctl dev.* and sysctl hw.* outputs related to sensors/thermal

kenv -q
 

Attachments

Senior-Moe said:
4- Any tips for diagnosing the loud fan issue on FreeBSD (which syslogs, kernel messages or thermal driver outputs should I capture)?
Click to expand...
This is usually caused by ACPI Thermal feedback. Sometimes a BIOS update will help this.

The rest of your stuff about UART and ME/AMT is a red herring. AMT works without any OS feedback.

What do you need a UART for on a Laptop? You realize this is a hardware debugging port? You probably have to tear the laptop apart to get to the pins.

If I look at pciconf on any of my computers you will find similar entries. Usually beginning with none@ for address.
This means there is no driver attached. FreeBSD still works fine. We don't support everything.
 
the laptop fans run loudly compared to Linux. In additional, the battery goes empty fast
Click to expand...

Check out powerd if you have not already.
I use it on my Thinkpad E595.
You can change what mode is used when running on battery power, so your battery doesn't drain so quickly.
I actually also use it to throttle my CPU all the time, because I don't like how hot the CPU gets at its maximum frequency (which was also causing the fan to run higher, if I remember correctly).
Maybe your Void OS was already doing something to manage the CPU frequency like this for you.
 
Phishfry said:
This is usually caused by ACPI Thermal feedback.
Click to expand...
Yes, this is cause for make the fan very loud. The driver of MEI " as I know" is handle if the computer need more cooling by fans or not.
Phishfry said:
The rest of your stuff about UART and ME/AMT is a red herring.
Click to expand...
No, it is not. If you see Wikipedia here, you will see what I read about MEI and its relationship fan and temperature. This is why I am thinking driver will solve this issue.

Phishfry said:
If I look at pciconf on any of my computers you will find similar entries. Usually beginning with none@ for address.
This means there is no driver attached. FreeBSD still works fine. We don't support everything.
Click to expand...
It is excellent If laptop is working smoothly without issues. This will give me motivation keep putting FreeBSD as first priority.
 
nbosley said:
Check out powerd if you have not already.
I use it on my Thinkpad E595.
You can change what mode is used when running on battery power, so your battery doesn't drain so quickly.
I actually also use it to throttle my CPU all the time, because I don't like how hot the CPU gets at its maximum frequency (which was also causing the fan to run higher, if I remember correctly).
Maybe your Void OS was already doing something to manage the CPU frequency like this for you.
Click to expand...
Can you please share your configuration? I am looking to compare it.
 
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