How to install p.w.m. (Pulse Width Modulation) sensors modules

hello everyone,

I’m experiencing a hard time installing a program that monitors my old laptop’s temperature.
First i tried to install CoreCtrl but i didn’t work. Then i tried to install CoolerControl but to no avail.
After some googling, i came across a website(baeldung.com)with a set of instructions to install LM-sensors/FanControl.It was doing fine, until i got the part when i issue on Roxterm the following command:
sudo pwmconfig
After which it replied me with a long text and in the end gave me the following message: There are no pwm-capable sensors modules installed
My question is:Can these modules be installed? If so,how do i do it in a debian-base distro(AntiX 23).
Thank you for your attention. :neutral_face:

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I think it means kernel modules
You have to find the module names… the modinfo command will help to identify them. Try a google search to find names.
You can temporarily load a module with modprobe command
You can see what modules are currently loaded with the lsmod command.
If that works, you can make them load automatically at boot time by putting an entry in the file /etc/modules

I have Antix23 running. It is a nice minimal distro.

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I would be interested in the solution to this. I brought back my mom’s old Acer laptop that kept failing with normal Linux distros (Linux Mint, etc.) due to overheating, even with a powered super fan.

First thing I did was install Artix on it since itsfoss had an article on the lightweight distros available. It has been running without issue for 10 days now, even without a fan underneath, but I would like to know the temps. I thought Conky did this, but if it does, I have not found a way.

For me, it is not as intuitive as MX Linux, but I am finding my way.

Sheila Flanagan

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I will have a look. I now have an Artix on HD. I think temp sensing depends on having some conky config files that only some distros supply.
Will be awl for a day or so.

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I don’t know why I keep getting the two confused: I installed AntiX not ArtiX. I knew you also had that install, so maybe you can help me figure it out.

Thanks,
Sheila

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Its OK, yes I have Antix on HD… after some trouble.
Hang on for a day or so.
Antix has a rather elaborate Conky

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Not heard about over heating as a result of mint … but for lightweight i would go xfce mint if you are giving the laptop back as it would be closer to the version she had before

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Not nearly as light as Antix IceWM.
Antix is also supposed to be the king of Wifi connectivity

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I was thinking more of the user experience

If her mother is going to take the laptop back she may prefer something that looks the same as before with minor changes in the menu system

Hi, @callpaul.eu

I am not going to give the laptop back to my mom. At this point in her illness, she no longer uses a computer.

I swear every computer I place in her home starts having issues. I left my older laptop plugged into ethernet & ac power (with battery attached just in case of power outage) and even set up my newest mini pc there as a backup. The old laptop still works for remote access, but the mini pc which has served me well for over a year in my home, now won’t boot.

I only took her laptop because it, too, had stopped booting. It first had Win 7 on it and at end of life, I installed W10. That was a mistake. Overheating started where it would shut down within minutes. So I installed Linux Mint last year and that worked for about a month. Then overheating made it shut down as well. I sent her an ac-powered super 6-fan plate to put the laptop on, had my granddaughter install it and that worked for about a month. Then it would no longer boot. So I just brought it back with me (that “I love a challenge” thing again) and wiped the drive, partitioned the 500 GB internal drive to install two of the lightest distros: AntiX and Solus Budgie.

The laptop is 2013 Acer with no bluetooth and because of previous attempts to use wifi (kept not staying connected), I figured the wifi card was going out. So first experiment was to use the ethernet in AntiX and see how it performed in regards to overheating. I do not even have it on a fan plate and it still has not overheated in 10 days.

Now I connected wifi today and will see how that works for the next 10 days. I have a feeling there was nothing wrong with the wifi, but apparently even Linux Mint (Cinnamon) had issues on this old laptop. So far, so good with AntiX and iceWM. It barely uses any RAM of the 8 GB installed and CPU usage is minimal.

I have now started using that laptop instead of always remoting into her computer from my home as last month, all of a sudden, her data usage spiked extremely high. I thought it was because I had left the webcam (Cheese, I think) open so that I had an additional view of her outside of the security cams I monitor remotely. Because it started spiking data use once I set that webcam up to have remote visits with her doctor. But even shutting that down did not stop the extreme data usage. I have access to the modem and found no devices logged in or using her network, so am at a loss as to what caused it, but figured I better stop the constant remote access to minimize it.

I have been so impressed with AntiX on her laptop that I am thinking about breaking out one I had given up on and trying to install it there as it is a 2010 model with only 4 gb RAM.

Sheila

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@Sheila_Flanagan :

Hi Sheila, :wave:

Yes, it does. You have to configure it, though.

Here´s what my conky looks like:

You´ll have to take of that in the conkyrc.

Here´s the relevant part of it:

${color lightgrey}CPU-Temp: ${execi 15 sensors | grep 'Core 0' | awk '{print $3}'}
Fan-Speed: ${execi 15 sensors | grep 'fan2' | awk '{print $2 " RPM"}'}
  • The 2nd part of it is for fan-speed. You might want to get the temperature only.
  • The colour designation is for my conky. You might want to choose another colour.
  • sensors has to be installed for that, of course

Hope it helps.

Many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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So used the baeldung.com article and had to install. I got the same result with “no pwm-capable sensors modules installed.”

sudo apt install lm-sensors
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
lm-sensors is already the newest version (1:3.6.0-7.1).
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libc++1-19 libc++abi1-19 libunwind-19
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
myviolinsings@MomsAcerAntiX:~
$ sudo sensors-detect
# sensors-detect version 3.6.0
# System: Acer Aspire 5733 [V1.08] (laptop)
# Kernel: 6.1.105-antix.1-amd64-smp x86_64
# Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 560 @ 2.67GHz (6/37/5)

This program will help you determine which kernel modules you need
to load to use lm_sensors most effectively. It is generally safe
and recommended to accept the default answers to all questions,
unless you know what you're doing.

Some south bridges, CPUs or memory controllers contain embedded sensors.
Do you want to scan for them? This is totally safe. (YES/no): y
Module cpuid loaded successfully.
Silicon Integrated Systems SIS5595...                       No
VIA VT82C686 Integrated Sensors...                          No
VIA VT8231 Integrated Sensors...                            No
AMD K8 thermal sensors...                                   No
AMD Family 10h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 11h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 12h and 14h thermal sensors...                   No
AMD Family 15h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 16h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 17h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 15h power sensors...                             No
AMD Family 16h power sensors...                             No
Hygon Family 18h thermal sensors...                         No
Intel digital thermal sensor...                             Success!
    (driver `coretemp')
Intel AMB FB-DIMM thermal sensor...                         No
Intel 5500/5520/X58 thermal sensor...                       No
VIA C7 thermal sensor...                                    No
VIA Nano thermal sensor...                                  No

Some Super I/O chips contain embedded sensors. We have to write to
standard I/O ports to probe them. This is usually safe.
Do you want to scan for Super I/O sensors? (YES/no): y
Probing for Super-I/O at 0x2e/0x2f
Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'...               No
Trying family `SMSC'...                                     No
Trying family `VIA/Winbond/Nuvoton/Fintek'...               No
Trying family `ITE'...                                      No
Probing for Super-I/O at 0x4e/0x4f
Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'...               No
Trying family `SMSC'...                                     No
Trying family `VIA/Winbond/Nuvoton/Fintek'...               No
Trying family `ITE'...                                      No

Some hardware monitoring chips are accessible through the ISA I/O ports.
We have to write to arbitrary I/O ports to probe them. This is usually
safe though. Yes, you do have ISA I/O ports even if you do not have any
ISA slots! Do you want to scan the ISA I/O ports? (YES/no): yes
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM78' at 0x290...       No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM79' at 0x290...       No
Probing for `Winbond W83781D' at 0x290...                   No
Probing for `Winbond W83782D' at 0x290...                   No

Lastly, we can probe the I2C/SMBus adapters for connected hardware
monitoring devices. This is the most risky part, and while it works
reasonably well on most systems, it has been reported to cause trouble
on some systems.
Do you want to probe the I2C/SMBus adapters now? (YES/no): yes
Using driver `i2c-i801' for device 0000:00:1f.3: Intel 3400/5 Series (PCH)
Module i2c-dev loaded successfully.

Next adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at 3000 (i2c-0)
Do you want to scan it? (YES/no/selectively): yes
Client found at address 0x48
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM75'...                No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM75A'...               No
Probing for `Dallas Semiconductor DS75'...                  No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM77'...                No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADT7410/ADT7420'...             No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADT7411'...                     No
Probing for `Maxim MAX6642'...                              No
Probing for `Texas Instruments TMP435'...                   No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM73'...                No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM92'...                No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM76'...                No
Probing for `Maxim MAX6633/MAX6634/MAX6635'...              No
Probing for `NXP/Philips SA56004'...                        No
Probing for `SMSC EMC1023'...                               No
Probing for `SMSC EMC1043'...                               No
Probing for `SMSC EMC1053'...                               No
Probing for `SMSC EMC1063'...                               No
Client found at address 0x50
Handled by driver `at24' (already loaded), chip type `spd'
    (note: this is probably NOT a sensor chip!)
Client found at address 0x52
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1033'...                     No
Probing for `Analog Devices ADM1034'...                     No
Probing for `SPD EEPROM'...                                 Yes
    (confidence 8, not a hardware monitoring chip)

Next adapter: i915 gmbus ssc (i2c-1)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): yes

Next adapter: i915 gmbus vga (i2c-2)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): yes

Next adapter: i915 gmbus panel (i2c-3)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): yes 

Next adapter: i915 gmbus dpc (i2c-4)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): yes

Next adapter: i915 gmbus dpb (i2c-5)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): yes

Next adapter: i915 gmbus dpd (i2c-6)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): yes


Now follows a summary of the probes I have just done.
Just press ENTER to continue: 

Driver `coretemp':
  * Chip `Intel digital thermal sensor' (confidence: 9)

To load everything that is needed, add this to /etc/modules:
#----cut here----
# Chip drivers
coretemp
#----cut here----
If you have some drivers built into your kernel, the list above will
contain too many modules. Skip the appropriate ones!

Do you want to add these lines automatically to /etc/modules? (yes/NO)yes
Successful!

Monitoring programs won't work until the needed modules are
loaded. You may want to run '/etc/init.d/kmod start'
to load them.

Unloading i2c-dev... OK
Unloading cpuid... OK

myviolinsings@MomsAcerAntiX:~
$ /etc/init.d/kmod start
Loading kernel modules...done.

Then:

sudo apt install fancontrol
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libc++1-19 libc++abi1-19 libunwind-19
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  fancontrol
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 30.5 kB of archives.
After this operation, 90.1 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 fancontrol all 1:3.6.0-7.1 [30.5 kB]
Fetched 30.5 kB in 1s (50.8 kB/s)     
Selecting previously unselected package fancontrol.
(Reading database ... 184432 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../fancontrol_1%3a3.6.0-7.1_all.deb ...
Unpacking fancontrol (1:3.6.0-7.1) ...
Setting up fancontrol (1:3.6.0-7.1) ...
Not starting fancontrol; run pwmconfig first. ... (warning).
Processing triggers for man-db (2.11.2-2) ...
myviolinsings@MomsAcerAntiX:~
$ sudo pwmconfig
# pwmconfig version 3.6.0
This program will search your sensors for pulse width modulation (pwm)
controls, and test each one to see if it controls a fan on
your motherboard. Note that many motherboards do not have pwm
circuitry installed, even if your sensor chip supports pwm.

We will attempt to briefly stop each fan using the pwm controls.
The program will attempt to restore each fan to full speed
after testing. However, it is ** very important ** that you
physically verify that the fans have been to full speed
after the program has completed.

/usr/sbin/pwmconfig: There are no pwm-capable sensor modules installed

So I am wondering about that last part where even though you have the sensor chips that support it, the motherboard does not have pwm circuitry installed.

I am currently working on the conkyrc to see if that will be sufficient info for me. Will update once I get it tested.

Sheila

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Yes that is what Antix is really made for… old laptops.
Is it Antix/SysVinit?
There is a gui in the control centre where you can turn servuces on and off… that might help with your experiments with overheating.
If it is Antix/Runit there is a different gui for managing services.

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I remember thinking it would ask me during install, but I downloaded both the init-diversity and x64-full.iso, don’t remember which I used. Is there a CLI to tell which I am using? I remember looking at one item in settings (maybe “login?”) and it said if I enabled that, systemd would be enabled so I left that be.

When I selected Choose Startup Services, a terminal opened up with SysV at the top, so guess that is what I am using.

Sheila

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From GRUB, it looks like antiX FULL as it shows 23.1 Arditi del Popolo vs. init edition. Do I need to reinstall that one to have the 4 init systems available?

Sheila

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So I assume this line to be added at the end? And do I also use ‘Core 0’ ?

“/sys/class/hwmon/hwmon0 = ”BAT0
“/sys/class/hwmon/hwmon1 = ”AC
“/sys/class/hwmon/hwmon2 = ”coretemp

I tried adding yours exactly at the end and CPU-Temp: appears at the bottom of desktop conky, but no temps display. Inxi -s does show cpu: 57.0 C.

Thanks,
Sheila

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Do ps ax | grep run and if it is runit you will see a whole heap of
runit supervision processes.
If you dont see that it must be sysVinit.

SysVinit will have a directory /etc/init.d containing all the startup scripts for daemons.
My HD install is sysVinit

Whatever you have, I would not bother changing it.

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It’s sysV, then.

Thanks,
Sheila

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@Rosika 's method works for me

I added

#Temp
CPU-Temp: ${execi 15 sensors | grep 'Core 0' | awk '{print $3}'

to ~/.conkyrc

The display changed immediately… I did not need to reboot.

Check your syntax… it should work

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Yep. Left off the last apostrophe. Now it works!

AND, after sitting without usage, it was 47 C. After using for this exercise, it spiked to 60 C, then went back down to 57 C, and after a minute settled on 48 C.

I had read that 60 C was max temp considered okay. I assume there is no issue with occasional spike to that.

Sheila

1 Like