Lm_sensors And The Vnf3-250 Or It8712f - how to detect system specs.

qwijibow

Feb 14 2005, 01:35 PM

on my motherboard, gnu/linux (gentoo) was detecting my system specs VERY inacuratly.
the CPU tempreture was -110 degrees, and the detected voltages should have fried my motherboard.

this tutorial may only be of use for people with an identicle motherboard, there may be nobody here with this hardware, but last time i looked, google returned no hits on my queries, maybe google will find this page for other linuxers using similar hardware.

here is how i got it working accuratly.

i am using a Chaintech VNF3-250 motherboard (nforce 3 chipset, amd64 cpu)
however this may be usefull for all computers with the latest chip from ITE (the it8712F)
this chip is commonly used as a tepreture voltage and fan speed controller.

you need to load the following drivers..

CODE

modprobe it87
modprobe i2c_sensor
modprobe i2c_isa

different distro's use different methods to auto load modules dureing starup.
if you dont know how to do this for your distro, just add the above 3 lies to your /etc/init.d/ local script
somtimes called "local" sometimes called "rc.local" "find /etc/ | grep local" should find it.

now you need to install lm_sensors. again, each distro has a differen way to to this, some may have rpm's on your install cd's, gentoo requires you to run "emerge lm-sensors", and som may require you to compile it yourself.

here is the lm_sensors homepage http://www2.lm-sensors.nu/~lm78/

run the program "sensors-detect"
and when asked questions, simply answer with the default by hitting return.

read the output, it will give the details of any sensor hardware it finds.
remember, i am using it8712F, however this example may also work for any it87* chips.
for non it87* chips, this tutorial use useless.

now run the following code

CODE

sensors -s
sensors

is the output believeable ?
the default configureation for my motherboard was far off, detecting my cpu below freezing.

here is an example of good output

CODE

it87-isa-0290
Adapter: ISA adapter
VCore 1: +1.12 V (min = +4.08 V, max = +4.08 V)
VCore 2: +2.58 V (min = +4.08 V, max = +4.08 V)
+3.3V: +3.36 V (min = +4.08 V, max = +4.08 V)
+5V: +5.13 V (min = +6.85 V, max = +6.85 V)
+12V: +12.29 V (min = +16.32 V, max = +16.32 V)
-12V: -12.49 V (min = +3.93 V, max = +3.93 V)
-5V: -6.57 V (min = +4.03 V, max = +4.03 V)
Stdby: +2.53 V (min = +6.85 V, max = +6.85 V)
VBat: +2.69 V
fan1: 3375 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div = 8)
CPU Temp: +36 C (low = -1 C, high = -1 C) sensor = diode
System Temp: +27 C (low = -1 C, high = -1 C) sensor = thermistor
[code]

if the default onfigureation works for you then skip the next part.

if like me, the default onfigureation is way off, try this...
[code]
#make a backup
mv /etc/sensors.conf /etc/sensors.conf.backup
touch /etc/sensors.conf

open up /etc/sensors.conf, and add the following confureation file.

CODE

chip "it87-*"

label in0 "VCore 1"
label in1 "VCore 2"
label in2 "+3.3V"
label in3 "+5V"
label in4 "+12V"
label in5 "-12V"
label in6 "-5V"
label in7 "Stdby"
label in8 "VBat"

set in0_min 1.5 * 0.95
set in0_max 1.5 * 1.05
set in1_min 2.4
set in1_max 2.6
set in2_min 3.3 * 0.95
set in2_max 3.3 * 1.05
set in3_min 5.0 * 0.95
set in3_max 5.0 * 1.05
set in4_min 12 * 0.95
set in4_max 12 * 1.05
set in5_max -12 * 0.95
set in5_min -12 * 1.05
set in6_max -5 * 0.95
set in6_min -5 * 1.05
set in7_min 5 * 0.95
set in7_max 5 * 1.05

ignore vid

compute in3 ((6.8/10)+1)*@ , @/((6.8/10)+1)
compute in4 ((30/10) +1)*@ , @/((30/10) +1)
compute in5 (7.67 * @) - 27.36 , (@ + 27.36) / 7.67
compute in6 (4.33 * @) - 13.64 , (@ + 13.64) / 4.33
compute in7 ((6.8/10)+1)*@ , @/((6.8/10)+1)

label temp1 "CPU Temp"
set temp1_over 60
set temp1_low 15
label temp2 "System Temp"
set temp2_over 45
set temp2_low 15
ignore temp3
# label temp3 "Temp3"
# set temp3_over 45
# set temp3_low 15

# Fans
set fan1_min 3000
# set fan2_min 3000
ignore fan2
ignore fan3
# set fan3_min 3000

now re-run

CODE

sensors -s
sensors

hopefully, this should give a more accurate reading for this motherboard / chip.

the only thing left to do, is install a nice graphical display that can wars you, or shutdown the computer if it gets too hot, or the cpu fan fails.

i would recomnd ksensors from http://ksensors.sourceforge.net/

Reply

yquiensabe

Mar 4 2005, 05:14 AM

Hey kudos, that was just what I needed to get the sensors running right. Have you figured out how to enable the joystick port on the VNF3-250 riser card? My usb joystick works fine so I'm sure my kernel supports joysticks (FC3).

Reply

qwijibow

Mar 4 2005, 01:11 PM

QUOTE(yquiensabe @ Mar 4 2005, 06:14 AM)

Hey kudos, that was just what I needed to get the sensors running right. Have you figured out how to enable the joystick port on the VNF3-250 riser card? My usb joystick works fine so I'm sure my kernel supports joysticks (FC3).

I used both "coldplug" to autodetect my hardware, one of the drivers coldplug loads is "gameport"
i assume this is the joystick pot on the reiser card, but i dont have a joystick to test my theory.

Glad this post tutorial was usefull to you. How did you find it ? has google picked it up already ?

Reply

yquiensabe

Mar 14 2005, 03:09 AM

Yeah, I found your article doing a google search for "VNF3-250 hardware sensor". I finally got the gameport to work after reading the Linux Joystick driver readme. I had to do:
/sbin/modprobe joydev
/sbin/modprobe ns558
/sbin/modprobe analog
Teaches me right for not looking at the Readme file. Another thing about the VNF3-250 is that it hangs in FC3 with the Cool'nQuiet enabled in the BIOS. Not a big deal as it doesn't really quiet down my system anyways.

Reply

qwijibow

May 15 2005, 10:38 AM

Cool'n'quiet in the bios doesnt realy do anything as far as linux is concerned.

the Cool'n'quiet technology allows the operating system to lower the voltage, cpu-frequency, and fan speeds when the cpu is idle.

i have a 2.4Ghz amd64 cpu, but when idle, linux slows the cpu down to 1Ghz and lowers the voltage. this tends to lower my cpu tempreture by about 18 degrees C.

to find out if your kernel has been compiled to support Cool'n'quiet have a look in the kernel config file for the entry

CODE

CONFIG_X86_POWERNOW_K8=m # (or =y)

if like me its set as m, the driver will need to be modprobed first.
if it is neither m or y, then you will need a kernel re-compile.

and you dont need cool'n'quiet emableed in the bios for it to work... thats just for MS windows.

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