lm_sensors on a Gigabyte GA-7VAXP
 

For those that have tried (and failed) to get the onboard sensors configured under Linux with this relatively new motherboard, I finally found a configuration that provides fan speed/voltages as well as temperatures. It appears the "it87" chip driver works with this chipset/mobo. Here are the modules I am loading in /etc/rc.local
I hope this helps anyone else using this mobo. I would assume it applies to the GA-7VAX, GA-7VAXP and GA-7VAXP-ULTRA all using hre new KT400/VT8235 chipsets.

Kernel addons are i2c and lm_sensors, see more here: http://secure.netroedge.com/~lm78/index.html

Hi,
I have this motherboard, GA-7VAXP, and tried your suggestion, but i2c-viapro and adm1021 failed to load. I use just i2c-isa and it87 at the moment and cannot read cpu temp and core voltage with lm-sensors.
I understood that this motherboard used Nationals LM90 which is unsupported by LM_sensors.
Do you have any futher information that may help me correctly see the CPU temp? I am still new to linux and am not really sure how hardware drivers and modules work, nor can I yet compile and install things (unless they are rpms!) I'm using lm_sensors 2.6.5 and intend to try and install the new 2.7.0 version asap.
BTW other voltages and MB temp are read correctly.
Mike
(Mandrake 9.0, AMD Athlon)

I used the CVS of 2.6.6 - but you must be able to compile both lm_sensors2 and i2c and I found that the kernel headers where not as they should have been. Can I suggest you wait for 2.7.0 then?

I'll wait until 2.7.0 is available as a Mandrake RPM then I'll reply to this thread to let anyone who's interested know if it worked.
Cheers,
Mike

Fedora Core 1
Linux rknight.degunino.net 2.4.22-1.2129.nptl #1 Wed Dec 3 19:36:20 MSK 2003 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux
GA-7VAX
Athlon XP 1800+

I think that 43 is right for motherboard, but 88 for processor 100% is not right. It must be about 55-56.
Where is the problem? Why i have so many alerts in voltages?

Hi there,
Not sure if I can help you with all your questions, but I'll try to write my experiences with lm_sensors2. I use an AthlonXP 1600+ in a GA-7VTX motherboard. It uses the it87 chip as well. I run Vectorlinux 4.0 as my primary desktop.

That said, I installed lm_sensors2 from the cvs. I upgraded to 2.6.1 kernel recently, which has all the i2c support neatly built into the kernel. So I just compiled and installed the lm_sensors2 user programs, sensors-check and etc etc. Dump of the 'sensors' program is as follows:
As you can see, I can't get any temperature reading from the sensor. Reason, I don't know. Any help would be appreciated. And yeah, you're right, my average running temperature is around 60 celsius for the CPU. So yours should be around the same mark. Unless, the makers of the machine forgot to apply the thermal paste before putting the heat sink on the processor (now that wouldn't be nice!).

The alarms are due to the settings in the sensors.conf file. Probably it's using a default setting. You have to tweak the values in that file by looking at your bios output of the sensors. Googling around, I've found that the negative values returned by the sensor is not too reliable. That would be a point worth mentioning.

I've tried using ACPI to monitor CPU temperature, with no success. So I switched to lm_sensors2.. sadly.. without any success as well. I guess I just have to know that magical combination of sensors and modules and all that to get lm_sensors2 working for my mobo/CPU combination.

Ciao,
Benguin

My results
 

First, thanks for the great info. It works, and it brought me to few descisions (detailed below).
My results for this test:
max1617-i2c-0-4c
Adapter: SMBus Via Pro adapter at 5000
Algorithm: Non-I2C SMBus adapter
Board: +52°C (low = +0°C, high = +70°C)
CPU: +72°C (low = +0°C, high = +70°C) ALARM (HIGH)

it87-isa-0290
Adapter: ISA adapter
Algorithm: ISA algorithm
VCore 1: +1.79 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +4.08 V)
VCore 2: +1.23 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +4.08 V)
+3.3V: +6.40 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +8.16 V)
+5V: +4.87 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +6.85 V)
+12V: +12.56 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +16.32 V)
-12V: -10.64 V (min = -27.36 V, max = +3.93 V)
-5V: -8.88 V (min = -13.64 V, max = +4.03 V)
Stdby: +4.89 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +6.85 V)
VBat: +0.00 V
fan1: 4821 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div = 8)
fan2: 0 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div = 8)
fan3: 0 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div = 8)
M/B Temp: +44°C (low = +127°C, high = +127°C) sensor = thermistor
CPU Temp: -55°C (low = +127°C, high = +127°C) sensor = thermistor
Temp3: -55°C (low = +127°C, high = +127°C) sensor = thermistor

MoBo - GA-7VAXP
Modules, as described in the topmost message.
My assumption is that the CPU temp described under SMBus adapter is the correct one, and not the it87. It sounds resonable. My CPU works underclocked for a year now, trying to bring it to full speed (It's XP2100+ and working as XP1500+) failed few minutes after trying.
This temp sounds resonable, and it means my CPU is overheated. I will buy Zalman CPU cooler tomorrow morning, and with any luck, I can get back to using it full speed.
Due to the weird results of the CPU Temp under the it87, I assume them to be incorrect, and ignore them. You could see that your results, using the SMBus were far better, and probably, accurate.
External docapps (using LM_Sensors) are using the SMBus value as their display value, so I assume they trust it better, and so am I.

Hope it helps.

Ez.

Ez,
thanks for the post. I have some questions though about the following data.

I have the viapro adapter loaded as well. What sensor is the max1617 module for? and how is it non-I2C SMBus? Could you mind explaining it a bit? I use a GA-7VTX mobo as I've already stated in a previous post. Also, what kernel are you running? I have failed getting any temp readings using a 2.6.1 custom compiled kernel.

Thanks,
Benguin

well
 

I used the above detailed modules, one for one. I can assume it's the viapro module, but that's its output.
I can say the info is quite accurate, as the current output is as following:

[ezaton@cactus ezaton]$ sensors
max1617-i2c-0-4c
Adapter: SMBus Via Pro adapter at 5000
Algorithm: Non-I2C SMBus adapter
Board: +40°C (low = +0°C, high = +70°C)
CPU: +41°C (low = +0°C, high = +70°C)

it87-isa-0290
Adapter: ISA adapter
Algorithm: ISA algorithm
VCore 1: +1.78 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +4.08 V)
VCore 2: +1.20 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +4.08 V)
+3.3V: +6.52 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +8.16 V)
+5V: +4.92 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +6.85 V)
+12V: +12.56 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +16.32 V)
-12V: -8.80 V (min = -27.36 V, max = +3.93 V)
-5V: -2.43 V (min = -13.64 V, max = +4.03 V)
Stdby: +4.92 V (min = +0.00 V, max = +6.85 V)
VBat: +0.00 V
fan1: 2678 RPM (min = 664 RPM, div = 8)
fan2: 0 RPM (min = 664 RPM, div = 8) ALARM
fan3: 0 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div = 8)
M/B Temp: +34°C (low = +127°C, high = +127°C) sensor = thermistor
CPU Temp: -55°C (low = +127°C, high = +127°C) sensor = thermistor
Temp3: -55°C (low = +127°C, high = +127°C) sensor = thermistor

[ezaton@cactus ezaton]$ uname -a
Linux cactus 2.4.22 #3 Fri Nov 21 01:43:46 IST 2003 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

This is a manually compiled kernel (with preemptive support), and it works like charm for quite a while now. I compiled the kernel sensors as modules, so there is no problem downloading the correct sources, and recompiling them locally using method 1 (as external modules)
I'm happy to say that this Zalman 6000Cu has proven itself to be worth my money (30c less!), and during the replacement, I cleaned lots of dust out of the computer, and revived the o/b fan (which got stucked, and very much noisy)
I'm intended to replace my PS to one including a huge fan right in front of the CPU, so things will probably get even better!

Now, about your questions, I don't know well detailed about these levels of hardware configuration. SMBus and I2C are both interfaces of internal communication. Why one of them supplied accurate results, while the other did not, I have no idea. I know that every sensor monitor program, using LM_Sensors, checks the top section of the results, and not the bottom one. Why? I have no idea. It might be that the ISA adapter is the south bridge, but I'm not sure about it at all.
I think that the best way it to read LM_Sensors' code a bit.
Sorry.

Ez.

Gentoo 2.6.12-gentoo-r9

modprobe it87:
it87: unknown symbol i2c_which_vrm
it87: unknown symbol i2c_detect


sensors

no sensors found

Same mobo as you all... GA-7VAXP Rev1.1


did a
sensors-detect (pressed enter a coulea times)
then
/etc/init.d/lm_sensors start

sensors

still nothing

lm_sensors start gives [!!] on i2c-isa and i87, the two modules it loads

Yep.. those unknown symbols... investigating further...