Easy fix fan/temp OS6 issues on x86 legacy #no support

Ok here is some info from an Ultra 4. Have only just set it up, so am not specifically recommending these settings, and it may depend on your personal trade-off between noise & temperature.

For what's it's worth, 6.1.1 on the Ultra 4 seems to adjust the fan speed about every 25 minutes, and the temperature graph has a very regular variation to it:



I'm guessing the fan speed is adjusted every ~25 minutes, as it's pretty close to 100 minutes between the peaks, and about 25 minutes between when it drops and when it starts to slowly rise again. Just a guess (could easily be 10 or 12.5 minutes).

First up, here's the output from "sensors":

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Core 0:       +34.0°C  (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

it8721-isa-0a10
Adapter: ISA adapter
in0:          +0.00 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +0.00 V)  ALARM
in1:          +4.88 V  (min =  +0.56 V, max =  +4.36 V)  ALARM
in2:          +0.00 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +0.00 V)  ALARM
in3:          +0.00 V  (min =  +0.00 V, max =  +0.00 V)
in4:          +3.30 V  (min =  +2.48 V, max =  +0.06 V)  ALARM
in5:          +1.16 V  (min =  +1.18 V, max =  +0.41 V)  ALARM
in6:         +12.18 V  (min =  +7.06 V, max =  +1.67 V)  ALARM
in7:          +3.24 V  (min =  +3.84 V, max =  +4.20 V)  ALARM
in8:          +3.22 V  
fan1:        2481 RPM  (min = 4017 RPM)  ALARM
fan2:           0 RPM  (min =  607 RPM)  ALARM
temp1:         +0.1°C  (low  = +120.0°C, high = +94.0°C)  sensor = thermal diode
temp2:         +0.0°C  (low  = -61.0°C, high = -127.0°C)  ALARM  sensor = thermal diode
temp3:         -0.1°C  (low  = +32.0°C, high = -112.0°C)  sensor = disabled
cpu0_vid:    +2.050 V

The ReadyNAS front-end shows both CPU and Case temperature sensors, but I can only see the CPU temperature here. Not sure how to access the case temperature, but suspect that's not a big deal.

The Ultra 4 has only one PWM-controlled fan (CPU fan is fixed speed I think). Here's the output from pwmconfig detecting the hardware:

Found the following devices:
   hwmon0/device is coretemp
   hwmon1/device is it8721

Found the following PWM controls:
   hwmon1/device/pwm1           current value: 96
   hwmon1/device/pwm2           current value: 0
   hwmon1/device/pwm3           current value: 255

And here is pwmconfig characterising the chassis fan:

    PWM 255 FAN 3358
    PWM 240 FAN 3358
    PWM 225 FAN 3358
    PWM 210 FAN 3341
    PWM 195 FAN 3341
    PWM 180 FAN 3308
    PWM 165 FAN 3229
    PWM 150 FAN 3125
    PWM 135 FAN 2973
    PWM 120 FAN 2812
    PWM 105 FAN 2626
    PWM 90 FAN 2410
    PWM 75 FAN 2163
    PWM 60 FAN 1880
    PWM 45 FAN 1537
    PWM 30 FAN 1130
    PWM 28 FAN 1033
    PWM 26 FAN 975
    PWM 24 FAN 924
    PWM 22 FAN 876
    PWM 20 FAN 827
    PWM 18 FAN 774
    PWM 16 FAN 716
    PWM 14 FAN 636
    PWM 12 FAN 534
    PWM 10 FAN 421
    PWM 8 FAN 260
    PWM 6 FAN 115
    PWM 4 FAN 0
    Fan Stopped at PWM = 4

Further testing showed the fan started back up with a PWM value between 24 and 34, so 64 was chosen by pwmconfig as a safe value.

Finally, here is the /etc/fancontrol file generated by pwmconfig, just using the defaults, having selected the one appropriate pwm & temp sensor for the Ultra 4:

# Configuration file generated by pwmconfig, changes will be lost
INTERVAL=10
DEVPATH=hwmon0=devices/platform/coretemp.0 hwmon1=devices/platform/it87.2576
DEVNAME=hwmon0=coretemp hwmon1=it8721
FCTEMPS=hwmon1/device/pwm1=hwmon0/device/temp2_input
FCFANS= hwmon1/device/pwm1=hwmon1/device/fan1_input
MINTEMP=hwmon1/device/pwm1=20
MAXTEMP=hwmon1/device/pwm1=60
MINSTART=hwmon1/device/pwm1=64
MINSTOP=hwmon1/device/pwm1=4

And to get the fan control up and running...
# sudo /etc/init.d/fancontrol start

Having run it for the time it's taken to write this post, I've learned:

• it seems to be updating more regularly (ie at the 10 second interval specified)


• so far CPU temp has risen from ~30 to ~34 with fan speed rising in line (around 2000 up to 2400)


• it looks like it's going to be a much steadier temperature (almost perfectly flat at 34º), but won't know for an hour or two i guess if its got any variation anymore


• I don't remember what my CPU/case temps were like before, but it's definitely noisier than before... so either I can set the MINTEMP higher (maybe 40) or OS 6.1.1 is wasting more cpu with btrfs daemons or readynasd perhaps...