Hey, I had the same problem. Here's how I solved it.
First, the annoying high pithced sound emitting from the motherboard?
https://github.com/fenrus75/powertop
Download and Compile it, only if apt-get's version ain't got the
'--auto-tune' option.
First issue,
$ powertop --calibrate #and wait until it finishes
Then issue,
$ powertop --auto-tune #wait...
##if the sound still persists, just repeat the two commands,
##i remember, the sound still persisted after my first time.
##also issuing 'powertop --auto-tune' before plugging in my
##external sound card, then plugging it in, the noise will come
##back into effect. I have not tried to issue the command
##after plugging in my external sound card.
##ALSO, leaving my USB wireless card plugged in WHILE
##having my ath9k modules loaded removes the high pitched
##noise. As well as, writing to files, temporarily removes the
##noise. I've not tested doing things in RAM.
##I don't know, is that a stupid question?
The noise will be significantly decreased, however on my x60, it still is to
some degree, but not at the point of annoyance.
Actually, the high pitched sound is gone, replaced by a more low pitch,
almost harddrive working sound.
sources: coreboot.org #can't remember the exact url this solution was at.
As to the temperature problem, I've managed to get my x60 at an usual 40-50
degrees (before at 90-100) (celsius) (without any external tools except a few
kernel modules).
I suspect that this solution works for any computer running Linux as its
kernel (with these modules). It also works without coreboot, so it's a
solution regardless, though I noticed the temperatures did increase after i
installed libreboot, so i did never care until now to find a solution.
modules you'll need:
acpi_cpufreq
cpufreq_powersave
cpufreq_stats
look, i don't know the details and the dependencies these modules have got,
but i think they're found in many (gnu/busybox/*)linux distributions by
default.
I've seen them in, debian and Tiny Core. I suspect they're also in Trisquel.
Issue,
$ lsmod | grep cpu
If you see them there, then that's cool, otherwise i guess you'll have to
find a way to install them.
You could try loading them,
$ modprobe acpi_cpufreq
$ modprobe cpufreq_stats
$ modprobe cpufreq_powersave
So, i wrote these two sh scripts that i call on startup to handle the
temperature and high pitched noise problem automatically.
I leave them here as attachments, they're public domain, so you may use them
however you like.
First, i call,
$ ./lowlevel.sh #as root
$ ./dectemp.sh #
Also, you might want to disable cpufreqd,
$ service cpufreqd stop
or, something like that, i'm not sure. it might intervene
or something.
Also, these scripts are entirely informal, not professional, and maybe not
100% correct. They work for me, and maybe they're a little bit unorganized /
messy.
sources: a little bit of everywhere, and https://ixquick.com/ with keywords
such as: cpufreq, acpi, linux, overheat, coreboot, temperature, etc
