pwmconfig

PWMCONFIG(8)                System Manager's Manual               PWMCONFIG(8)

NAME
       pwmconfig - tests the PWM outputs of sensors and configures fancontrol

SYNOPSIS
       pwmconfig

WARNING
       pwmconfig  will  attempt to stop your fans, one at a time, for approxi-
       mately 5 seconds each. This may cause  your  processor  temperature  to
       rise.  Verify that all fans are running at normal speed after this pro-
       gram has exited.  pwmconfig does its best to check that  the  fans  are
       spinning  when they are supposed to, but due to the diversity of avail-
       able motherboards and fans, it shouldn't  be  blindly  trusted.  Always
       verify by yourself.

       It  is strongly recommended to run pwmconfig at a time when there is no
       significant system load, to minimize the risk of overheating.

DESCRIPTION
       pwmconfig searches your sensors for pulse width modulation  (PWM)  con-
       trols,  and  tests each one to see if it controls a fan on your mother-
       board. Note that many motherboards do not have PWM circuitry installed,
       even if your sensor chip supports PWM.

       When  a connection is established between a PWM control and a fan, pwm-
       config can generate a detailed correlation, to show how a given fan  is
       responding to various PWM duty cycles.

       Lastly,  pwmconfig  will enter in fancontrol configuration mode (unless
       you decide to skip that part.) In this mode, you are invited  to  enter
       several parameters which will determine how the fancontrol daemon regu-
       lates the speed of one or more fans in your system based on temperature
       measurements. In particular, you will have the opportunity to establish
       mappings between fans and temperature inputs,  define  the  temperature
       range  over  which the speed of the fan should be adjusted dynamically,
       the minimum speed at which the fan should spin, etc. See  fancontrol(8)
       for additional information.

BUGS
       The  term  "PWM"  is used because most fan control systems in computers
       are based on pulse width modulation. Some motherboards however  use  DC
       variation  instead. So, the term "PWM" should be seen as a generic term
       for "fan speed control", regardless of the actual method used.

SEE ALSO
       fancontrol(8), sensors(1).

AUTHORS
       Marius Reiner <marius.reiner@hdev.de>, Jean Delvare <jdelvare@suse.de>

lm-sensors 3                  September 28, 2008                  PWMCONFIG(8)