| Naming and data format standards for sysfs files |
| ------------------------------------------------ |
| |
| The libsensors library offers an interface to the raw sensors data |
| through the sysfs interface. See libsensors documentation and source for |
| further information. As of writing this document, libsensors |
| (from lm_sensors 2.8.3) is heavily chip-dependent. Adding or updating |
| support for any given chip requires modifying the library's code. |
| This is because libsensors was written for the procfs interface |
| older kernel modules were using, which wasn't standardized enough. |
| Recent versions of libsensors (from lm_sensors 2.8.2 and later) have |
| support for the sysfs interface, though. |
| |
| The new sysfs interface was designed to be as chip-independent as |
| possible. |
| |
| Note that motherboards vary widely in the connections to sensor chips. |
| There is no standard that ensures, for example, that the second |
| temperature sensor is connected to the CPU, or that the second fan is on |
| the CPU. Also, some values reported by the chips need some computation |
| before they make full sense. For example, most chips can only measure |
| voltages between 0 and +4V. Other voltages are scaled back into that |
| range using external resistors. Since the values of these resistors |
| can change from motherboard to motherboard, the conversions cannot be |
| hard coded into the driver and have to be done in user space. |
| |
| For this reason, even if we aim at a chip-independent libsensors, it will |
| still require a configuration file (e.g. /etc/sensors.conf) for proper |
| values conversion, labeling of inputs and hiding of unused inputs. |
| |
| An alternative method that some programs use is to access the sysfs |
| files directly. This document briefly describes the standards that the |
| drivers follow, so that an application program can scan for entries and |
| access this data in a simple and consistent way. That said, such programs |
| will have to implement conversion, labeling and hiding of inputs. For |
| this reason, it is still not recommended to bypass the library. |
| |
| If you are developing a userspace application please send us feedback on |
| this standard. |
| |
| Note that this standard isn't completely established yet, so it is subject |
| to changes. If you are writing a new hardware monitoring driver those |
| features can't seem to fit in this interface, please contact us with your |
| extension proposal. Keep in mind that backward compatibility must be |
| preserved. |
| |
| Each chip gets its own directory in the sysfs /sys/devices tree. To |
| find all sensor chips, it is easier to follow the device symlinks from |
| /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*. |
| |
| All sysfs values are fixed point numbers. |
| |
| There is only one value per file, unlike the older /proc specification. |
| The common scheme for files naming is: <type><number>_<item>. Usual |
| types for sensor chips are "in" (voltage), "temp" (temperature) and |
| "fan" (fan). Usual items are "input" (measured value), "max" (high |
| threshold, "min" (low threshold). Numbering usually starts from 1, |
| except for voltages which start from 0 (because most data sheets use |
| this). A number is always used for elements that can be present more |
| than once, even if there is a single element of the given type on the |
| specific chip. Other files do not refer to a specific element, so |
| they have a simple name, and no number. |
| |
| Alarms are direct indications read from the chips. The drivers do NOT |
| make comparisons of readings to thresholds. This allows violations |
| between readings to be caught and alarmed. The exact definition of an |
| alarm (for example, whether a threshold must be met or must be exceeded |
| to cause an alarm) is chip-dependent. |
| |
| |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| [0-*] denotes any positive number starting from 0 |
| [1-*] denotes any positive number starting from 1 |
| RO read only value |
| RW read/write value |
| |
| Read/write values may be read-only for some chips, depending on the |
| hardware implementation. |
| |
| All entries (except name) are optional, and should only be created in a |
| given driver if the chip has the feature. |
| |
| |
| ******** |
| * Name * |
| ******** |
| |
| name The chip name. |
| This should be a short, lowercase string, not containing |
| spaces nor dashes, representing the chip name. This is |
| the only mandatory attribute. |
| I2C devices get this attribute created automatically. |
| RO |
| |
| |
| ************ |
| * Voltages * |
| ************ |
| |
| in[0-*]_min Voltage min value. |
| Unit: millivolt |
| RW |
| |
| in[0-*]_max Voltage max value. |
| Unit: millivolt |
| RW |
| |
| in[0-*]_input Voltage input value. |
| Unit: millivolt |
| RO |
| Voltage measured on the chip pin. |
| Actual voltage depends on the scaling resistors on the |
| motherboard, as recommended in the chip datasheet. |
| This varies by chip and by motherboard. |
| Because of this variation, values are generally NOT scaled |
| by the chip driver, and must be done by the application. |
| However, some drivers (notably lm87 and via686a) |
| do scale, because of internal resistors built into a chip. |
| These drivers will output the actual voltage. Rule of |
| thumb: drivers should report the voltage values at the |
| "pins" of the chip. |
| |
| in[0-*]_label Suggested voltage channel label. |
| Text string |
| Should only be created if the driver has hints about what |
| this voltage channel is being used for, and user-space |
| doesn't. In all other cases, the label is provided by |
| user-space. |
| RO |
| |
| cpu[0-*]_vid CPU core reference voltage. |
| Unit: millivolt |
| RO |
| Not always correct. |
| |
| vrm Voltage Regulator Module version number. |
| RW (but changing it should no more be necessary) |
| Originally the VRM standard version multiplied by 10, but now |
| an arbitrary number, as not all standards have a version |
| number. |
| Affects the way the driver calculates the CPU core reference |
| voltage from the vid pins. |
| |
| Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with voltages. |
| |
| |
| ******** |
| * Fans * |
| ******** |
| |
| fan[1-*]_min Fan minimum value |
| Unit: revolution/min (RPM) |
| RW |
| |
| fan[1-*]_input Fan input value. |
| Unit: revolution/min (RPM) |
| RO |
| |
| fan[1-*]_div Fan divisor. |
| Integer value in powers of two (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128). |
| RW |
| Some chips only support values 1, 2, 4 and 8. |
| Note that this is actually an internal clock divisor, which |
| affects the measurable speed range, not the read value. |
| |
| fan[1-*]_target |
| Desired fan speed |
| Unit: revolution/min (RPM) |
| RW |
| Only makes sense if the chip supports closed-loop fan speed |
| control based on the measured fan speed. |
| |
| fan[1-*]_label Suggested fan channel label. |
| Text string |
| Should only be created if the driver has hints about what |
| this fan channel is being used for, and user-space doesn't. |
| In all other cases, the label is provided by user-space. |
| RO |
| |
| Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with fans. |
| |
| |
| ******* |
| * PWM * |
| ******* |
| |
| pwm[1-*] Pulse width modulation fan control. |
| Integer value in the range 0 to 255 |
| RW |
| 255 is max or 100%. |
| |
| pwm[1-*]_enable |
| Fan speed control method: |
| 0: no fan speed control (i.e. fan at full speed) |
| 1: manual fan speed control enabled (using pwm[1-*]) |
| 2+: automatic fan speed control enabled |
| Check individual chip documentation files for automatic mode |
| details. |
| RW |
| |
| pwm[1-*]_mode 0: DC mode (direct current) |
| 1: PWM mode (pulse-width modulation) |
| RW |
| |
| pwm[1-*]_freq Base PWM frequency in Hz. |
| Only possibly available when pwmN_mode is PWM, but not always |
| present even then. |
| RW |
| |
| pwm[1-*]_auto_channels_temp |
| Select which temperature channels affect this PWM output in |
| auto mode. Bitfield, 1 is temp1, 2 is temp2, 4 is temp3 etc... |
| Which values are possible depend on the chip used. |
| RW |
| |
| pwm[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_pwm |
| pwm[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp |
| pwm[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp_hyst |
| Define the PWM vs temperature curve. Number of trip points is |
| chip-dependent. Use this for chips which associate trip points |
| to PWM output channels. |
| RW |
| |
| OR |
| |
| temp[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_pwm |
| temp[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp |
| temp[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp_hyst |
| Define the PWM vs temperature curve. Number of trip points is |
| chip-dependent. Use this for chips which associate trip points |
| to temperature channels. |
| RW |
| |
| |
| **************** |
| * Temperatures * |
| **************** |
| |
| temp[1-*]_type Sensor type selection. |
| Integers 1 to 6 |
| RW |
| 1: PII/Celeron Diode |
| 2: 3904 transistor |
| 3: thermal diode |
| 4: thermistor |
| 5: AMD AMDSI |
| 6: Intel PECI |
| Not all types are supported by all chips |
| |
| temp[1-*]_max Temperature max value. |
| Unit: millidegree Celsius (or millivolt, see below) |
| RW |
| |
| temp[1-*]_min Temperature min value. |
| Unit: millidegree Celsius |
| RW |
| |
| temp[1-*]_max_hyst |
| Temperature hysteresis value for max limit. |
| Unit: millidegree Celsius |
| Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta |
| from the max value. |
| RW |
| |
| temp[1-*]_input Temperature input value. |
| Unit: millidegree Celsius |
| RO |
| |
| temp[1-*]_crit Temperature critical value, typically greater than |
| corresponding temp_max values. |
| Unit: millidegree Celsius |
| RW |
| |
| temp[1-*]_crit_hyst |
| Temperature hysteresis value for critical limit. |
| Unit: millidegree Celsius |
| Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta |
| from the critical value. |
| RW |
| |
| temp[1-*]_offset |
| Temperature offset which is added to the temperature reading |
| by the chip. |
| Unit: millidegree Celsius |
| Read/Write value. |
| |
| temp[1-*]_label Suggested temperature channel label. |
| Text string |
| Should only be created if the driver has hints about what |
| this temperature channel is being used for, and user-space |
| doesn't. In all other cases, the label is provided by |
| user-space. |
| RO |
| |
| Some chips measure temperature using external thermistors and an ADC, and |
| report the temperature measurement as a voltage. Converting this voltage |
| back to a temperature (or the other way around for limits) requires |
| mathematical functions not available in the kernel, so the conversion |
| must occur in user space. For these chips, all temp* files described |
| above should contain values expressed in millivolt instead of millidegree |
| Celsius. In other words, such temperature channels are handled as voltage |
| channels by the driver. |
| |
| Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with temperatures. |
| |
| |
| ************ |
| * Currents * |
| ************ |
| |
| Note that no known chip provides current measurements as of writing, |
| so this part is theoretical, so to say. |
| |
| curr[1-*]_max Current max value |
| Unit: milliampere |
| RW |
| |
| curr[1-*]_min Current min value. |
| Unit: milliampere |
| RW |
| |
| curr[1-*]_input Current input value |
| Unit: milliampere |
| RO |
| |
| |
| ********** |
| * Alarms * |
| ********** |
| |
| Each channel or limit may have an associated alarm file, containing a |
| boolean value. 1 means than an alarm condition exists, 0 means no alarm. |
| |
| Usually a given chip will either use channel-related alarms, or |
| limit-related alarms, not both. The driver should just reflect the hardware |
| implementation. |
| |
| in[0-*]_alarm |
| fan[1-*]_alarm |
| temp[1-*]_alarm |
| Channel alarm |
| 0: no alarm |
| 1: alarm |
| RO |
| |
| OR |
| |
| in[0-*]_min_alarm |
| in[0-*]_max_alarm |
| fan[1-*]_min_alarm |
| temp[1-*]_min_alarm |
| temp[1-*]_max_alarm |
| temp[1-*]_crit_alarm |
| Limit alarm |
| 0: no alarm |
| 1: alarm |
| RO |
| |
| Each input channel may have an associated fault file. This can be used |
| to notify open diodes, unconnected fans etc. where the hardware |
| supports it. When this boolean has value 1, the measurement for that |
| channel should not be trusted. |
| |
| in[0-*]_fault |
| fan[1-*]_fault |
| temp[1-*]_fault |
| Input fault condition |
| 0: no fault occured |
| 1: fault condition |
| RO |
| |
| Some chips also offer the possibility to get beeped when an alarm occurs: |
| |
| beep_enable Master beep enable |
| 0: no beeps |
| 1: beeps |
| RW |
| |
| in[0-*]_beep |
| fan[1-*]_beep |
| temp[1-*]_beep |
| Channel beep |
| 0: disable |
| 1: enable |
| RW |
| |
| In theory, a chip could provide per-limit beep masking, but no such chip |
| was seen so far. |
| |
| Old drivers provided a different, non-standard interface to alarms and |
| beeps. These interface files are deprecated, but will be kept around |
| for compatibility reasons: |
| |
| alarms Alarm bitmask. |
| RO |
| Integer representation of one to four bytes. |
| A '1' bit means an alarm. |
| Chips should be programmed for 'comparator' mode so that |
| the alarm will 'come back' after you read the register |
| if it is still valid. |
| Generally a direct representation of a chip's internal |
| alarm registers; there is no standard for the position |
| of individual bits. For this reason, the use of this |
| interface file for new drivers is discouraged. Use |
| individual *_alarm and *_fault files instead. |
| Bits are defined in kernel/include/sensors.h. |
| |
| beep_mask Bitmask for beep. |
| Same format as 'alarms' with the same bit locations, |
| use discouraged for the same reason. Use individual |
| *_beep files instead. |
| RW |