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PPA Install macfanctld, Fan control daemon for MacBook

Last updated: November 12, 2013

Running Ubuntu on Apple MacBook / MacBook Pro computers?

Well, you may already know that there’s a fan control daemon which reads the temperature sensors in an Apple Macbook (or Macbook Pro) computer and throttles the fans accordingly to keep the temperature within configurable limits.

I don’t have an Apple MacBook. But I think this daemon will work good on Ubuntu because Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty has made this into its universe repository.

Apple Macbook fan control daemon in Ubuntu

Install macfanctld via PPA:

You can easily get this daemon from the developer’s PPA. So far, it supports Ubuntu 13.04 Raring, Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal, Ubuntu 12.04 Precise, and Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mactel-support/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install macfanctld

For Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy, install it from an unofficial repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:detly/mactel-utils

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install macfanctld

For Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty, search for and install macfanctld package in Ubuntu Software Center after checking for updates.

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    10 responses to PPA Install macfanctld, Fan control daemon for MacBook

    1. David Chute November 13, 2013 at 3:30 pm

      Thanks for this! Nice to know macfanctld will be supported in Trusty.

    2. Mr. White February 3, 2014 at 6:43 pm

      Nice, thank you very much!
      I would love to know also how to get screen backlight working properly. :]

    3. marksabbath April 22, 2014 at 11:57 pm

      Thanks for the tip. I’m running the Ubuntu 14.04 on my Macbook Pro Mid-2009, and it’s indispensable!

    4. Gary September 4, 2014 at 3:19 pm

      Awsome!
      I’m running Elementary Luna on my 2010 Core I5 MBP, and the fan has barely been audible despite a very warm laptop. As soon as I ran the install, the fan ramped-up to full speed and then settled down to a nice purr. The laptop case is now noticeably cooler.

      Great job, thanks!

    5. Matteo G. October 25, 2014 at 10:34 am

      Hi, thanks for this guide. Maybe I’ve messed up a little my Macbook Pro 9.1 (mid 2012): I’ve attempted to install the “fancontrol” and “lmsensors” packages before I could remember there’s also “macfanctld”. Now Ubuntu Studio is still working normally, but the problem is when I type macfanctld in the terminal emulator nothing happens. No problem has been detected during the installation of macfanctld, so I don’t know what to do (of course I’ve thought I should remove the other two packages, which seem to be unnecessary on Mac computers, but I haven’t done it yet, because I’m not completely sure). Thanks to anybody that will answer.
      ps I tried to start the program with root privileges too, but no differences

    6. ddurldo November 22, 2014 at 1:46 pm

      thank for this. running well on macbook pro 2011, my lap is colder now!!! thank you!

    7. Red January 12, 2015 at 12:14 pm

      THANKS! This saved my macbook air 2014 from roasting alive ;_;

    8. carlis May 15, 2015 at 5:51 pm

      Thanks so much, this package is absolutely necessary in Seville, Spain! thanks!

    9. joe February 17, 2016 at 7:15 pm

      Package is absolutely necessary on macbook pro 2006 with ubuntu 14.04

    10. Yager July 9, 2016 at 10:03 pm

      Running linux mint 18 on my 2014 macbook pro. This package immediately increased fan speed and returned CPU temp to optimal temperatures. I would also suggest the psensor package, a real time graph for all hardware temperatures.