WG x750e - automatic speed adjustment: mbmon going crazy

stephenw10

Nice work. That seems odd though. I'll have to read the data sheet myself unless you can enlighten me. How was anything able to be read if the base address had changed? Only the extended registers changed? Why did it change? :-
Like you say it should be relatively easy to check that and set it back. :)

Hmm, just wondering if the base address changed due to some other piece of hardware requiring access to that address space. I didn't think it could change except at boot on the ISA bus but really I don't know. Perhaps even our own script is trying to access the space twice causing the shift.
It might be better to read the base address and just use it rather than trying to change it back.

Steve

sthames42

Nothing was able to read from the hardware monitor but everything else seems to have been okay. I've been doing some thinking about that and looking at the WGXepc code.

As I said, the only difference in the registers was device 0x0b (Hardware Monitor) register 0x61 changed from 0x90 to 0x0b. I run a daemon that uses WGXepc to continually check the temp and adjust the fan speed accordingly. The basic script came from https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=66129.msg360358#msg360358. bigramon was doing the same thing which started this topic.

I'm working on the theory that WGXepc is writing 0x0b to the 0x61 register for device 0x0b. I can see how this could happen if port_out(EFDR, 0x0b) was done after a call to get_w83627_addr_port() but it does not look like that is whats happening.

Any thoughts?

sthames42

I decided I didn't want to modify WGXepc. It's not my code and I really don't know where any repository for it is. I believe this problem is caused by a bug in it, though. There is one issue I saw: get_w83627_addr_port() leaves the chip in Extended Function mode. The result of subsequent port I/O might be unpredictable at times.

What I did instead, Steve, was to modify my daemon script to check for a temp of 255 and then use your writeio tool to reset the base address for the hardware monitor. Not the most elegant solution but it works reliably, so far.

For anyone interested in this solution, here is the relevant section of the script:

   cpu_temp=`/usr/local/bin/WGXepc -t | sed '1,2d'`

   # Temperature of 255 means Winbond chip hardware monitor base address
   # has been hosed. Use writeio to reset the address. This has only been
   # tested on the X550e.
   if [ $cpu_temp -ge 255 ]
   then
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2e 0x87 > /dev/null # Put Winbond into 
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2e 0x87 > /dev/null #   Extended Function mode.
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2e 0x07 > /dev/null # Set logical device number
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2f 0x0b > /dev/null #   to Hardware Monitor.
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2e 0x60 > /dev/null # Reset  
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2f 0x02 > /dev/null #   monitor base
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2e 0x61 > /dev/null #   address to
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2f 0x90 > /dev/null #   0290h.
    /usr/local/bin/writeio 0x2e 0xaa > /dev/null # Exit Extended Function mode.
    continue
  fi

The writeio tool you can get from Steve's google site. There is a link to it earlier in this topic.

Thanks again for your help, Steve.

stephenw10

Thanks for that. I'll have to look into that bug. However I don't think it should be an issue for just reading the temperature because to do so does not require using extended function mode.

It also interesting to note that in the third post in this thread Bigramon's box fails to a state where the temperature is showing 88C and the fan speeds stop reading but the hardware monitor base address in unchanged. Perhaps a completely different bug. ::)

Steve

sthames42

get_w83627_addr_port() enters extended mode to get the base address, adds 0x05 to it, and returns the result. getcputemp() calls get_w83627_addr_port() and uses the result (0295h) as the index port and +1 as the data port. The reads fail afterward because they're using the wrong ports.

This was why I didn't want to change the code. It was unclear why this was done this way so I didn't have enough confidence in my level of knowledge and I only had the X550e to test with.

I agree bigramon's original problem must have been something else.

stephenw10

Ha, I should really re-familiarise myself with the code before commenting. ;)
Interestingly that's how it should be done and what I suggested above. Read in the base address and use it, don't assume it's 290. However that implies that if the base address changed it should still work. :-\ It seems then that the register indicating the base address changed but the actual address perhaps did not. It might have worked better if I had just assumed it was at 290! ::)

Steve

sthames42

Actually, from reading the data sheet, your approach seems correct. Didn't realize you were the original author. Also, after the chip got hosed, I tried getting the temp using writio/readio and got the same result. Don't know if that's significant.

I suggest you change get_w83627_addr_port() so it exits extended function mode. Let me know if you do and I'll test it here.

Cheers.

stephenw10

Hmm, you mean you got an invalid temperature value? What base address did you use?

I'll definitely look at that function, it shouldn't be left in extended mode.

Steve

sthames42

after it was showing 020Bh I used 0290h directly and it gave me 255. For fan speed too.

I will confirm that again on Monday and let you know for sure. I don't have the equipment here.

sthames42

I've confirmed the problem happens outside of WGXepc when the hardware address in 60 and 61 has been altered.

breakwinbond script sets 60 and 61 to a bad value just as I believe WGXepc is doing:

./writeio 0x2e 0x87
./writeio 0x2e 0x87
./writeio 0x2e 0x07
./writeio 0x2f 0x0b
./writeio 0x2e 0x61
./writeio 0x2f 0x0b
./writeio 0x2e 0xaa

fixwinbond script restores 60 and 61 to the correct value:

./writeio 0x2e 0x87
./writeio 0x2e 0x87
./writeio 0x2e 0x07
./writeio 0x2f 0x0b
./writeio 0x2e 0x60
./writeio 0x2f 0x02
./writeio 0x2e 0x61
./writeio 0x2f 0x90
./writeio 0x2e 0xaa

getwinbond returns the fan speed and cpu temp:

./writeio 0x0295 0x5a > /dev/null
fan=`./readio 0x296 | cut -d: -f2 | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'`

./writeio 0x0295 0x4e > /dev/null
./writeio 0x0296 0x01 > /dev/null
./writeio 0x0295 0x50 > /dev/null
cpu=`./readio 0x296 | cut -d: -f2 | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'`
cpu=`echo "ibase=16; $cpu" | bc`

./writeio 0x0295 0x4e > /dev/null
./writeio 0x0296 0x00 > /dev/null

echo "Fan Speed = $fan"
echo "CPU Temp  = $cpu"

Test sequence:

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): WGXepc -f 40
Found Firebox X-E
Fanspeed set to 40

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): WGXepc -f
Found Firebox X-E
Fanspeed is 40

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): WGXepc -t
Found Firebox X-E
SuperIO sensor 2 reads:
36

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): ./getwinbond
Fan Speed = 40
CPU Temp  = 37

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): ./breakwinbond
Setting 2e to 87
Setting 2e to 87
Setting 2e to 7
Setting 2f to b
Setting 2e to 61
Setting 2f to b
Setting 2e to aa

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): WGXepc -f
Found Firebox X-E
Fanspeed is ff

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): WGXepc -t
Found Firebox X-E
SuperIO sensor 2 reads:
255

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): ./getwinbond
Fan Speed = FF
CPU Temp  = 255

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(93): ./fixwinbond
Setting 2e to 87
Setting 2e to 87
Setting 2e to 7
Setting 2f to b
Setting 2e to 60
Setting 2f to 2
Setting 2e to 61
Setting 2f to 90
Setting 2e to aa

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): WGXepc -f
Found Firebox X-E
Fanspeed is 40

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(81): WGXepc -t
Found Firebox X-E
SuperIO sensor 2 reads:
37

[2.1.5-RELEASE]/tmp(94): ./getwinbond
Fan Speed = 40
CPU Temp  = 36

WGXepc uses registers 60 and 61 as the base address from which to build the port numbers for the Index and Data port of the hardware monitor. After register 61 is corrupted, WGXepc returns bad data because it is accessing the wrong ports.

The getwinbond script uses the 295h and 296h ports directly and still gets bad data. I'm guessing this is because changing the value in register 61 changes the circuit path in the LPC bus. The data sheet indicates the LAD pins of the LPC interface are used to control peripheral addressing so maybe this has something to do with it. Just as getting the temp from sensor 2 requires setting the bank before reading the output, 60 and 61 must be setting the correct location for port I/O to work as expected.

As I said, I'm guessing but this seems most likely.

stephenw10

Hmm, interesting. Having read back through the code (amazing what you forget ::)) I remember now I added the code to read in the base address correctly because the XTM5 uses a different address. However I think that was before I added the temperature code for the X-e. So the bug that left it in extended function mode may have always been there. However since it also happens in mbmon it's probably not the cause. Anyway it's easy enough to put in a check so I'll do that when I get a chance. Another solution would be to use the B8 bios and read the temperature exported by ACPI via the sysctl. I have this on my home box where the temperature is shown on the dashboard and it hasn't failed yet. It probably only polls the value while the dash is shown though.
Anyway some good progress. :)

Steve

stephenw10

I've updated WGXepc to include code to check the SuperIO data base address when the X-e model is detected. I've also fixed the bug that left the chip in extended function mode and attempted to rationalise some of the code somewhat. It's still pretty awful though! ::)
Anyway the updated source and binaries are on my Google site as normal. I'd welcome some testing.

https://sites.google.com/site/pfsensefirebox/home

One thing I did notice when testing here is that entering something unexpected for the fan speed can result in a setting of 0. I have never tried 0. It really does shut off the fans completely. Do you think that should be possible or should there be some check to make sure a minimum fan speed is maintained?

Steve

sthames42

I will do some testing.

Something weird happened today. The router stopped passing traffic inbound or outbound. Fixed when I rebooted. I noticed the temp from WGXepc kept coming back as 0 and the fanspeed as well. Don't know if this is related to WGXepc. I will update if this happens again.

sthames42

Steve, I tried to install superiotool with this:

pkg_add -r ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages/All/superiotool-20121019.tbz

Same command I used before and it worked fine on the other box. Now when I try to use it I get this:

/libexec/ld-elf.so.1: Shared object "libz.so.6" not found, required by "superiotool"

Any thoughts?

stephenw10

If you're doing this in pfSense 2.1.5 you need to use the FreeBSD 8.3 repo which has now been archived. It lloks like you're using a current repo. Try:

pkg_add -r http://ftp-archive.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/ports/i386/packages-8.3-release/Latest/superiotool.tbz

You may have to remove whatever you previously installed first and it may have installed some depedencies. :-\

Steve

bigramon

Hi guys,

I had not seen you had been investigating further before today.
Just downloaded the new WGXepc and restarted my auto-speed script.
Let"s see how it behaves now :)