You need to use the i8kfan and sensors commands to get the following information on Dell laptop powered by Linux operating systems:
- Cpu temperature
- Left or right fan status
- Left or right fan speed
- Ac power status
- Fn buttons status
Say hello to i8k driver
You need to load a driver called i8k. It is used for accessing SMM BIOS on Dell laptops. It is well supported on business class Dell laptop modules such as Latitude, Inspiron, Vostro and so on. This module is included with Linux kernel version 3.0 or above.
How do I load the driver?
Type the following modprobe command to load the i8k driver:
$ sudo modprobe -v i8k
OR
# modprobe -v i8k
Sample outputs:
insmod /lib/modules/3.5.0-30-generic/kernel/drivers/char/i8k.ko
Install i8kutils package on Debian / Ubuntu
Open a terminal and type the following command:
$ sudo apt-get install i8kutils
Sample outputs:
Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following NEW packages will be installed: i8kutils 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 0 B/35.4 kB of archives. After this operation, 184 kB of additional disk space will be used. Selecting previously unselected package i8kutils. (Reading database ... 256376 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking i8kutils (from .../i8kutils_1.33_amd64.deb) ... Processing triggers for man-db ... Processing triggers for ureadahead ... Setting up i8kutils (1.33) ... * Not starting. Disabled via /etc/default/i8kmon. * Not starting. Disabled via /etc/default/i8kbuttons.
Edit the file /etc/default/i8kbuttons and /etc/default/i8kmon and set ENABLED to 1:
ENABLED=1
Alternatively, use the sed command to do all your dirty work:
sed -i.bak 's/ENABLED=0/ENABLED=1/' /etc/default/{i8kmon,i8kbuttons} |
Start the service (this is equivalent of running the modprobe -v i8k command):
# /etc/init.d/i8kmon start
Sample outputs:
* Starting Dell Inspiron fan/cpu-temperature monitor i8kmon [ OK ]
How do I see the current status?
Type the following command
$ i8kctl
Sample outputs:
1.0 (null) XYZABC123 43 1 1 77130 78120 0 -1
Where,
- 1.0 i8k format version
- (null) bios version
- XYZABC123 machine id (Dell serial number)
- 43 cpu temperature
- 1 left fan status
- 1 right fan status
- 7713 left fan speed
- 7812 right fan speed
- 0 ac power status
- -1 : fn buttons status
Just print the CPU temp, enter:
$ i8kctl temp
Sample outputs:
52
Controlling fan speed on Dell laptop
First, just print the fan status info:
$ i8kctl fan
Sample outputs:
1 1
The fan command can accept two optional parameters which specify the new fan state for left and right fans. The state parameter can be:
Where,
- 0 : turn the fan off (not recommended)
- 1 : set low speed
- 2 : set high speed
- - : don’t change the state of this fan
For example, the following command sets the left fan (usually used by CPU) to high speed and leaves the right unchanged:
$ i8kctl fan 2 -
In this example, sets the left fan (usually used by CPU) to high speed and leaves the left unchanged:
$ i8kctl fan - 2
The following will set both fans to low speed:
$ i8kctl fan 1 1
This is equivalent of running the following commands:
## the syntax is ## i8kfan leftFan rightFan # Set left fan on high and leaves the right unchanged i8kfan 2 - # Set right fan on high and leaves the left unchanged i8kfan - 2 # Set both fans to low i8kfan 1 1 |
Please note that the service /etc/init.d/i8kmon starts i8kmon in daemon mode. So setting the speed with i8kfan is pointless since the daemon will override the speed with its own value on fly as per system temperature.
Using sensors command
First, install and configure lm_sensors package as described here and type the following command to see information about your FAN and cpu core temperature:
$ sensors
Sample outputs:
I also suggest that you use the acpi -V command to see the current battery status and thermal temperature under Linux operating systems.
See also
- Linux: Monitor hard disks temperature with hddtemp command.
- Linux Laptop: Display battery status and thermal temperature from command line.
- FreeBSD: Get / Read hard disk temperature using smartd.
- Monitoring hard disk health with smartd under Linux or UNIX operating systems.
36 comment
How this would work for Dell XPS variants?
It should work as Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is official supported on many XPS variants. Why not try it out the commands and let us know the result?
HTH.
Great article indeed. Would you please correct the following line?
The start argument was missing.
The faq has been updated. I appreciate your post.
Great Article. FYI, I always had stress with this on my Dell Studio 1735. systems locks etc…
Is there any module for ASUS Laptops ??
Please check the following wiki page and search for Asus:
http://www.lm-sensors.org/wiki/Devices
Try installing lm_sensors package.
HTH
I use fedora and I got a dell laptop yesterday. Not using the dedicated graphics seems to do the trick, but the simple fact of the matter is that i cannot spend all of my time checking the temperature and changing the fan speeds all the time. Seriously, didn’t anyone at Dell think about these scenarios? or did they even bother to test it a bit, at least with the most common distros (hint: ubuntu/debian/suse/fedora)?
It’s great thanks , but I had a question .. the first parameter of the fan option is always “-1 ” what does that mean ?
there is the out put of “i8kctl fan” it is “-1 1”
and thanks a lot :)
> there is the out put of “i8kctl fan” it is “-1 1″
obviously your system does not have a left fan . . . ; -)
Hi,
I would like to have some auto control for my Dell M4600 fans in Ubuntu since they are much louder in that than with Windows.
Any suggestion?
Thx!
Hi,
I use ‘i8kmon’ from ‘i8kutils’ for fan auto control on my Dell, and that is running very nice.
How do you use this command to auto control the fan?
The command issued at init is
after installing and running the commands there are to things
1. fan turns on and of constantly =(
2. it looks like it is set to auto
set PROG_VERSION “v1.30 11/16/2013”
array set config {
sysconfig /etc/i8kmon.conf
userconfig ~/.i8kmon
i8kfan /usr/bin/i8kfan
acpi “acpi”
geometry {}
use_conf 1
auto 1
daemon 1
verbose 0
timeout 5
unit C
t_high 80
min_speed 2000
and last there is no /etc/default/i8kbuttons and /etc/default/i8kmon
e 6530 -linux mint
some ideas
thank you
Tried editing the files in the etc/default folder but I keep getting file permission erros, any work around to that?
Run command as root using su or sudo.
Thanks that worked for me :)
thanks for this. i have an old D620 with lubuntu on it which was getting mega hot because the fan wouldn’t come on. problem solved now.
Why enable i8kbuttons?
It seems it was used the old days. The manpage of i8kbuttons says
‘Monitor the status of Fn-buttons on Dell Inspiron laptops.’.
But now, perhaps it is not necessary. I can say that for me it is not!
One question, why don’t the good people of i8kmon put the ENABLED standard on 1?
I was struggling with permission hence the question. :-)
I love linux but the temperature was so high, I hesitated, then found this site.
It was a bit fiddly, but I love it. It just switched of automatically and now it started on speed 1 again. It is on 30 celsius now.
Thank you
I have a dell D610 kernel 3.13 on Rebecca, I installed i8kutils by means of the software manager but still can’t access/manipulate the fan speed. After I set i8kctl fan 2 0 the fan runs fast for 5 seconds and then I’m right back to square one again. -1 0. Am I missing something?
A bit lost here; the fan configuration for 1 and 1 as well as changing the etc file to enabled 1 works fine; how do I make the settings default? When I reboot the laptop, the fan speeds revert to normal which shows 1 and 3.
Thanks!
sed: impossible de lire /etc/default/i8kmon: No such file or directory exist
sed: impossible de lire /etc/default/i8kbuttons: No such file or directory exist
Followed this and worked fine…
But after a while the fan seemed to stop working all together…
Please help me to get this sorted out
Dell Latitude D810. Ubuntu 14.04.1 fully up to date.
Did install latest i8kutils.
Had following problems.
$ sudo modprobe -v i8k
gave no output for insmod
# sed -i.bak ‘s/ENABLED=0/ENABLED=1/’ /etc/default/{i8kmon,i8kbuttons}
sed: can’t read /etc/default/{18kmon,: No such file or directory
sed: can’t read i8kbuttons}: No such file or directory
# /etc/init.d/i8kmon start
* Starting Dell fan/cpu-temperature monitor i8kmon [fail]
Explain/help needed.
tia
The sed -1.bak command gives:
sed: can’t read /etc/default/i8kmon: No such file or directory exist
sed: can’t read /etc/default/i8kbuttons: No such file or directory exist
How to fix?
The command /etc/init.d/i8kmon start
shows [fail]
What did I miss
tia
Do not know what I did right or incorrectly but what I did above stands.
Before beginning the install process the temp was at 54c.
However yesterday when I powered up and left it on for a while and checked
the temp it was down to 36c I maaged to check the right side vent and found
the fan was in fact working.. I powered up again today and after 1 hour the
temp was 36c and after 2 hours was 37c. The room temp was 26c.
It would be nice if someone could resolve issues in my earlier post.
Thanks for the program.
1.0 (null) 9SX2LX1 51 -1 1 27660 144630 0 -1
This is result that I got, but I want to know why the fn is -1,and how to use fn function
Thanks
Can this software allow me to set the temperature level for when the cooling fan is started, currently is turns on at 32 or 34 degrees (see below), with is too low, can I change this to a higher level?
Thanks for this article, it’s been a lifesaver! Since I’ve been running this utility, both my left and right fans are acting erratically. They constantly switch on and off every few seconds. Your article mentioned that the daemon assumes control overriding any commands that you throw at it. Has anybody run into this issue?
Vintage machine help
machine:
Dell
Intel PII @ 397 Mhz
256Megs RAM
40 Gig HDD
Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid
Kernel 4.1.4-040104-gen
i get the same error on this machine. but i do question the age of the laptop. It is old! but that aside, I have tried the above method with no resolve. I do not how ever, have any fan speed issues.
Thanks for the article.
Linux!
It will work!
I have 1 vostro 1510 , i install ubuntu 15.10 , after i install i8kutils (1.60) 1 have problens (freezes) , for my solution is :
IN FILE : /etc/i8kmon.conf
# Run as daemon, override with –daemon option:set config(daemon) 1
# Automatic fan control, override with –auto option
set config(auto) 0
# Status check timeout (seconds), override with –timeout option
set config(timeout) 2
# Report status on stdout, override with –verbose option
set config(verbose) 1
# Temperature thresholds: {fan_speeds low_ac high_ac low_batt high_batt}
set config(0) {{-1 0} -1 50 -1 50}
set config(1) {{-1 1} 50 70 50 70}
set config(3) {{-1 2} 70 128 70 128}
# end of file
AND IN FILE : /etc/init.d/i8kmon
I change line for : I8KMON_ARGS to :
I8KMON_ARGS=”–daemon –noauto –nouserconfig “
after have a flag –auto , for my causes freezes (i understain , automode try detect , but a moment to change values for fan , try change into fan 2 , and i no have 2 fan , i have 1 )
note : my notebook have 1 fan not 2 , i found others peoples inform same problem in autodiscovery for i8kmon
note 2 : if possible , try inform for this project to try create a check is possible fix auto detection for others models if have 1 fan .
thx
Changing
I8KMON_ARGS="–daemon –nouserconfig –auto"to
I8KMON_ARGS="–daemon –nouserconfig –noauto"in
“/etc/init.d/i8kmon”
Worked for my issues when fans would shut off and on to throttle temperature. Now constant on :)
Did not work on my DELL XPS 13 with ubuntu 14.04
gus@XPS:~$ sudo apt-get install i8kutils