Detecting and controlling the FAN

[abonnema]

Hi All,

I am really happy with my ASUS P6T SE motherboard (and Intel 920-i7 processor) and it all works like a charm.

Of course there must be reason for me to write you guys for advice, and there is.
From Windows7 I can use the ASUS utilities to manipulate the board to either be very quiet, a bit performant or very performant, depending on what I want to do.

However, of course ASUS did not write anything for Linux, and when I wrote to ASUS I got the following answer (at least I got an answer. :-) ):

"Dear customer,

It seems that there are some fan control options in Linux. Although you will have to find out what works for you. I might have a link with some usefull information.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_control_fan_speed

There is no defined API that i could give you information off.

Best regards,

Asus TSD

"

Now, I was wondering: is any of you guys using this board and capable of detecting and controlling the FAN speed?

Until now I installed using yum gtkrellm and lmsensors, and I think gtkrellm can see the fan, but I don't think it can control it.

What experiencies do you guys have in this area?

[macemoneta]

See this post (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpost.php?p=1311324&postcount=4). There is a search function for the forums that can save you some time finding answers to questions. Google also indexes this site.

[abonnema]

See this post (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpost.php?p=1311324&postcount=4). There is a search function for the forums that can save you some time finding answers to questions. Google also indexes this site.

Yes, thanks, I used the search function (internal, not Google) but for some reason didn't find this one. Obviously, this is the one post I needed, thanks for pointing me to it.

However, I have 2 issues with this :

1. Already having installed lm_sensors, I expected it to "just work", and when it didn't I assumed it was not for my machine. Usually, when Fedora installs a package, it also does configuration. I had no idea I had to do this by hand. So I am wondering, whether we need to make the user (installer) aware what he has to do to finish the job. Maybe I should ask for a feature update of the installer?

2. It doesn't work. I.e. I can run the configuration and get the simple message that there is no pwm-modules installed. I include the final part of the output showing the summary of sensors-detect and the result of pwmconfig.

"Do you want to probe the I2C/SMBus adapters now? (YES/no):
Using driver `i2c-i801' for device 0000:00:1f.3: Intel ICH10
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong into /etc/modprobe.d/.
Module i2c-dev loaded successfully.

Now follows a summary of the probes I have just done.
Just press ENTER to continue:

Driver `w83627ehf':
* ISA bus, address 0x290
Chip `Winbond W83667HG Super IO Sensors' (confidence: 9)

Driver `coretemp':
* Chip `Intel Core family thermal sensor' (confidence: 9)

Do you want to overwrite /etc/sysconfig/lm_sensors? (YES/no):
Starting lm_sensors: loading module coretemp w83627ehf [ OK ]
Unloading i2c-dev... OK

[root@localhost ~]# pwmconfig
# pwmconfig revision 5630 (2009-01-29)
This program will search your sensors for pulse width modulation (pwm)
controls, and test each one to see if it controls a fan on
your motherboard. Note that many motherboards do not have pwm
circuitry installed, even if your sensor chip supports pwm.

We will attempt to briefly stop each fan using the pwm controls.
The program will attempt to restore each fan to full speed
after testing. However, it is ** very important ** that you
physically verify that the fans have been to full speed
after the program has completed.

/usr/sbin/pwmconfig: There are no pwm-capable sensor modules installed
"

Am I missing something?

[macemoneta]

Most system packages (as opposed to user applications) require some administrative configuration, for future reference.

If pwmconfig is not detecting a pwm control sensor, then lm_sensors does not have a driver for the controlling chipset on that machine. Most BIOS have several settings that you can configure for pwm control (for example: quiet, workstation, performance). You will need to set the BIOS configuration you want when using Linux until a driver is available.

---------- Post added at 02:48 AM CST ---------- Previous post was at 02:40 AM CST ----------

This thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1245562.html) from the Ubuntu forms might be useful.

[abonnema]

Most system packages (as opposed to user applications) require some administrative configuration, for future reference.

If pwmconfig is not detecting a pwm control sensor, then lm_sensors does not have a driver for the controlling chipset on that machine. Most BIOS have several settings that you can configure for pwm control (for example: quiet, workstation, performance). You will need to set the BIOS configuration you want when using Linux until a driver is available.

---------- Post added at 02:48 AM CST ---------- Previous post was at 02:40 AM CST ----------

This thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1245562.html) from the Ubuntu forms might be useful.

I found the post you included most useful and I responded to the guy that posted it, as I think the situation may have changed for the better.

However,, pwmconfig still gives no module available, while the atk0110 delivers output fine:

atk0110-acpi-0
Adapter: ACPI interface
Vcore Voltage: +0.94 V (min = +0.80 V, max = +1.60 V)
+3.3 Voltage: +3.28 V (min = +2.97 V, max = +3.63 V)
+5 Voltage: +5.00 V (min = +4.50 V, max = +5.50 V)
+12 Voltage: +12.19 V (min = +10.20 V, max = +13.80 V)
CPU FAN Speed: 691 RPM (min = 600 RPM)
CHASSIS1 FAN Speed: 629 RPM (min = 600 RPM)
CHASSIS2 FAN Speed: 0 RPM (min = 600 RPM)
POWER FAN Speed: 0 RPM (min = 0 RPM)
CPU Temperature: +37.0°C (high = +60.0°C, crit = +75.0°C)
MB Temperature: +32.0°C (high = +45.0°C, crit = +75.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0: +30.0°C (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) (8 cores --> 8 times).

So I don't know what to think of this.

However, your post on how to configure sensors plus the post you pointed me to, did get me an understanding of how to do this. Now I also found the man-page that details this, which is hidden under "fancontrol".

When I installed lm-sensors, I did man on lm-sensors, which gave naught.

Anyway, I wanted to say " Thank you" for your assistance: Thank you!
Now I understand a little bit more about this sensory thing under Linux.

Guus Bonnema, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Fedora 12.