Simple fan speed control for the Firebox X750e

Steve Evans

Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 2.13GHz

I don't have PowerD enabled though. That could well explain it. I should probably enable that as I'm sure the CPU will "wake up" to a higher power state quite quickly on demand.

The temperature diode is part of the CPU die, not an external sensor.

Steve

stephenw10

Ah, in which case the diode values can vary between CPU models so the real temperature may be different.
I seem to remember reading that they are actually an offset from the CPU maximum temperature so you have allow for that. No idea if mbmon is doing that. I don't think it is because I just read out the register in WGXepc. If you read the docs for the superio chip there is quite a bit about configuring it for the correct sensor type.

Steve

power_matz

Hi,

I am using an Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.70GHz with PowerD enabled.

Matthias

Steve Evans

That explains it then. I'm being power mad again! :D

An interesting comparison for anybody trying to build a lower power router then. I went for the more powerful option as I wanted to be future proofed should my broadband speed increase again, and also as I didn't know if I'd want to be using squid etc when I started.

Steve

bmatic586

@Steve:

This has been working reliably for some time, so having just updated to 2.1 and re-applied this fix I though I might as well post a complete set of files.

Rename the attachment to lose the .png suffix and decompress. You'll find the following files. Copy them to the directory shown. Ensure that the sh files and WGXepc are executable.

| Filename | Target Directory |
| fanctrl.sh | /usr/local/etc/rc.d |
| fanctrld.sh | /usr/local/sbin |
| functions.inc.php | /usr/local/www/includes |
| system_information.widget.php | /usr/local/www/widgets/widgets |
| WGXepc | /usr/local/bin |

Start the fan control thus, or simply reboot:
# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/fanctrl.sh
You should hear the fans slow considerably. The daemon will try to maintain the set temperature of 64 degC. After some experimentation I found this to work well.

Credit is due here to stephenw10 for the WGXepc utility. Note that he's produced a couple of versions, and you need this one as it reports temperature.

The php scripts will read the CPU temperature and display it on the dashboard as the attached image.

Steve

For us n00bs… :) can you tell us how to copy these files to the pfSense file system? how do you change the permissions?

I guess I'm kind of looking for a step by step on how to do this. I just recently got a 1250e and it works great, but I'd like to quiet it down a bit and change the red LED.

Thanks.

stephenw10

One way of doing it is explained here:
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#Controlling_hardware_with_WGXepc
I've just noticed though that my Google site still has version 0.8 which doesn't read the temperature. I'll get that updated. (Edit: done)

You can also use SCP to move files onto the pfSense box. I use WinSCP for that.

Steve

bmatic586

@stephenw10:

One way of doing it is explained here:
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/PfSense_on_Watchguard_Firebox#Controlling_hardware_with_WGXepc
I've just noticed though that my Google site still has version 0.8 which doesn't read the temperature. I'll get that updated. (Edit: done)

You can also use SCP to move files onto the pfSense box. I use WinSCP for that.

Steve

Got it. I think it's working… I can see the temperature now being displayed in the status screen.

When I run WGXepc -f it shows me a value of bb... is that the lowest it'll go?
Thanks again for your help.

My temperature shows 45 deg. C.

stephenw10

BB is the lowest speed you can run the fans where the speed sensors work. The fans can run much slower though. The value is a two digit hexidecimal number so anything between 00 and FF. I wouldn't go below, say, 16 though.
If you're using the script it should be going lower than bb anyway.

Steve

bmatic586

@stephenw10:

BB is the lowest speed you can run the fans where the speed sensors work. The fans can run much slower though. The value is a two digit hexidecimal number so anything between 00 and FF. I wouldn't go below, say, 16 though.
If you're using the script it should be going lower than bb anyway.

Steve

when I ran

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/fanctrl.sh

it didn't really slow down, and when I checked the fan speed by running WGXepc -f, it just said bb, so I manually set it to 20. Temp is not going above 50 C, but it would be nice to have it automatically control the fan instead of me manually configuring it.

Any other thoughts as to why it's not working?

Thanks again for your help.

chpalmer

Where did you get your files?

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,66129.msg366219.html#msg366219

bmatic586

@chpalmer:

Where did you get your files?

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,66129.msg366219.html#msg366219

yes… that's where I downloaded them from and put them in the directories as outlined below.

Filename Target Directory
fanctrl.sh /usr/local/etc/rc.d
fanctrld.sh /usr/local/sbin
functions.inc.php /usr/local/www/includes
system_information.widget.php /usr/local/www/widgets/widgets
WGXepc /usr/local/bin

I also did a chmod 0755 on fanctrl.sh, fanctrld.sh and WGXepc and then executed```
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/fanctrl.sh


Also, when I executed the above code, the LED that normally red, didn't turn green like it was supposed to as described in this thread.

Thanks guys.

bmatic586

@bmatic586:

@chpalmer:

Where did you get your files?

https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,66129.msg366219.html#msg366219

yes… that's where I downloaded them from and put them in the directories as outlined below.

Filename Target Directory
fanctrl.sh /usr/local/etc/rc.d
fanctrld.sh /usr/local/sbin
functions.inc.php /usr/local/www/includes
system_information.widget.php /usr/local/www/widgets/widgets
WGXepc /usr/local/bin

I also did a chmod 0755 on fanctrl.sh, fanctrld.sh and WGXepc and then executed```
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/fanctrl.sh
Also, when I executed the above code, the LED that normally red, didn't turn green like it was supposed to as described in this thread.

Thanks guys.

Just an update… I rebooted the FW today and it's working the way it should now.

Thanks for all the help.

chpalmer

@bmatic586:

Just an update… I rebooted the FW today and it's working the way it should now.

Thanks for all the help.

I was coming here to mention that I had to reboot when I installed, according to my notes. Glad you got it working! :)

power_matz

@Steve:

Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 2.13GHz

I don't have PowerD enabled though. That could well explain it. I should probably enable that as I'm sure the CPU will "wake up" to a higher power state quite quickly on demand.

The temperature diode is part of the CPU die, not an external sensor.

Steve

Hi Steve,

have you enabled PowerD?
I got an Intel Pentium M with 2.13 GHz and I enabled PowerD. But the display shows max speed of 1592 Mhz.
Do you think this is incorrect and the speed is 2.13?

Matthias

stephenw10

Well that's obviously wrong somewhere. ;)
Did you switch both sets of jumpers? It looks like it's running a 400MHz FSB and should be 533MHz.
Which model Pentium-M exactly did you fit?
The 2.13GHz models are all 533MHz FSB and as such are not hard coded into the est(4) driver. I've not seen powerd work correctly with any 533MHz pentium-m. Usually it just doesn't start because there is no freq controlling driver loaded, there would be something in the logs to that effect.

Steve

power_matz

Hi Steve,

I set one jumper array: two DIP switches changed like the picture shows. Is there's another DIP array?

The speed is changing, so PowerD is doing something…

Matthias

stephenw10

There are two sets of DIP switches, one set of two and another set of 4(?). The larger set are between the CPU and the PSU. Both must be switched.
Interesting that powerd is working, perhaps it has mistaken the CPU for one that it knows about. Be interesting to find out what happens when you set the second DIP switches.

Steve

power_matz

Hi,

after changing the other jumpers accordingly everything runs like expected. ;D

Damn, I've done this to my X750e some time ago. I couldn't remember…. :-[

Thanks a lot!

Matthias

Steve Evans

@bmatic586:

@stephenw10:

BB is the lowest speed you can run the fans where the speed sensors work. The fans can run much slower though. The value is a two digit hexidecimal number so anything between 00 and FF. I wouldn't go below, say, 16 though.
If you're using the script it should be going lower than bb anyway.

Steve

when I ran
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/fanctrl.sh
it didn't really slow down, and when I checked the fan speed by running WGXepc -f, it just said bb, so I manually set it to 20. Temp is not going above 50 C, but it would be nice to have it automatically control the fan instead of me manually configuring it.

Any other thoughts as to why it's not working?

Thanks again for your help.

The fanctrl.sh script should be passed an argument of either start or stop. Unfortunately I omitted the start in my original instructions. I can no longer edit that post. To save further confusion could a moderator please amend my post, reply #34, to state:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/fanctrl.sh start

Thanks,

Steve

dwfa

Hi,

I liked the idea of the script file to monitor the temps. I think using cron to kick of a script to check the temps and react accordingly is also a good idea. This will ensure the temps are always checked; default 1 min if you use default cron entries. If the daemon script fails it may not restart; just my $0.02. I added this to crontab


#crontab for root
# Format is
# min hour dayOfMonth month dayOfWeek command2Execute

# backup home every 3 days starting from the 1st @ 2:05 am
# the first of every 3rd month purge
# min hour dom month dow
# --- ---- --- ----- ---
   *   *    *    *    *  /usr/local/bin/adjustFanSpeed.sh

use this command to edit the cron entries

crontab -e

The script I wrote looks like this


#! /bin/tcsh

set currentTemp = `/usr/local/bin/cpuTemp -t | sed '1,2d'`

if ( $currentTemp > 70 ) then
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f ff > /dev/null
  /usr/local/bin/setLED -l red_flash > /dev/null
  foreach indx (1 1 1 1 1)
    /usr/local/bin/beep -p 500 50
  end
else if ( $currentTemp > 65 ) then
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f ee > /dev/null
  /usr/local/bin/setLED -l red_flash > /dev/null
  foreach indx (1 1 1 1)
    /usr/local/bin/beep -p 500 50
  end
else if ( $currentTemp > 60 ) then
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f dd > /dev/null
  /usr/local/bin/setLED -l red_flash > /dev/null
  foreach indx (1 1 1)
    /usr/local/bin/beep -p 500 50
  end
else if ( $currentTemp > 55 ) then
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f bb > /dev/null
else if ( $currentTemp > 50 ) then
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f aa > /dev/null
else if ( $currentTemp > 45 ) then
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f 90 > /dev/null
else if ( $currentTemp > 40 ) then
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f 80 > /dev/null
else
  /usr/local/bin/fanspeed -f 50 > /dev/null
  /usr/local/bin/setLED -l off  > /dev/null
endif

fanspeed and cpuTemp are just links to WGXepc (thanks Stephen).