Does anyome have a suggestion howto monitor CPU temperature from Linux? Now I can check the temperature from BIOS setup and from Windows using software from the motherboard maker.

It would be quite nice if I could check this (and other things like cpu load and so on) via SNMP. Then I could do monitor it all from MRTG that I'm already running on another box. This is probably really simple if you know what to get.

I'm using a QDI P4I865GMA-6AGL motherboard.

Regards
håkan

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe they could add it to the system status button under tv or just create another button altogether just for this. I think adding it as a button is trivial, just need a nice linux program that can display the info.

well lmsensors is the program in linux that displays that info, but I think it requires a kernel module, which I'm not sure is in knoppmyth (Have no idea on this one). And I also do not know if lmsensors will output the info through snmp, but it's a place to start looking.

I'm all for the temp monitoring thing. After my cpu fan started to die, it would have been quite helpful. My new cpu should be here tommorrow ..

My KnoppMyth box is an off the shelf emachine T2692 (2.6GHz Celeron) and its processor fan is very loud.

In retrospect, not a good choice. My bad, moving on...

To fix this problem I am purchasing a Zalman CNPS7000-Cu quiet heatsink to replace the stock intel HSF. Hopefully that helps.

It would be tremendously helpful to know what the CPU temperature is though while MythTV is running, as of now I have not a clue.

I think a small module with CPU stats would be very nice addition to KnoppMyth.

Thanks!

Andrew Lynch

LOL, I know what you mean lynchaj. My box sounds like a jet engine (the cpu fan does 5000-6000+ rpms). I forgot how loud it was, I use to only turn it on to play games. Now that I leave it on all the time I noticed that I can hear the thing from anywhere in the house. It's driving me crazy. Now I have to buy a new HSF. This myth box just keeps costing me more and more money

Thanks Xsecrets. I'll look into that lmsensors. Just one more thing for me to obsess over for hours and hours

Feed the processor fan with 5V instead of 12V (using e.g. a Zalman fanmate or just tap off a Molex connector). I did this to a stock Intel PIII cooler and it made a huge difference. From annoyingly whining to barely audible. In many cases this will still provide adequate cooling (make sure you check it before frying your CPU :) ). If you haven't got the temp monitoring from Linux working, just check it from the BIOS.

Darn, lmsensors requires a kernel recompile. I do not have the balls yet to do such a thing. Here is the site http://secure.netroedge.com/~lm78/.



For kernel 2.4 you need to use lmsensors-2.70 which requires at least i2c.2.8.1. Because we use i2c for mythtv (am I correct?), then we will have to apply the addional patches:
http://www.ensicaen.ismra.fr/~delvare/devel/i2c/

These patches are the ones that require a recompile of the kernel. Darn wish we had kernel 2.6 (Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink), works right out of the box with it.

Cesman,

Any chance you could include lm_sensors in the next release of Knoppmyth? I, too, am not daring enough to recompile the kernel to get this thing up and running.

Perhaps I'm just being chicken, but I'm scared to screw up my box!

TIA

I suppose this feature will not be included in the next distro. Can anyone point to some good sources for compiling the kernel? Specifically related to knoppix/knoppmyth .

My myth box lives in a closet along with my other a/v equipment. It gets pretty spicy in there and I need to keep an eye on things (read cpu temp). I think I may even need to put in an exhaust fan to get rid of some of the excess heat.

Thanks

Yes, including lm_sensor is being looked into... It requires i2c 2.80 which requires patching several other modules that will be included.

_________________
cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

Just a follow up to my previous posting on this subject:

I did install the Zalman CPU heatsink and the fanmate controller. Turning the CPU fan RPMs down to ~2000 really lowered the noise level a lot.

It turns out the GeForce4 440 MX SE PCI video card had a noisy fan on it as well. I read some place (knoppmyth or myth mailing list?) that since I am only using the frame buffer + TV-OUT functions and not the 3D modes that the additional cooling was not necessary on the GPU. At any rate, it was really noisy so I unplugged the fan, keeping the heatsink in place. If the video card burns up anyway, then it just was not a suitable part for my knoppmyth box and I will replace it. So far after several days of testing I have not noticed a difference.

To supplement the cooling, I added a system case fan with a simple custom 5 volt adaptor (off the molex connector). It really reduces the RPMs on the case fan and lowers the noise to practically silent.

With those 3 mods, overall noise produced by my KnoppMyth box is dramatically reduced. On a quiet evening with no ambient noise, I can still hear the fans from the CPU, PSU, and Case but it no longer screams or interferes with conversation like it used to. I guestimate less than 25 dBA or so total noise.

I checked last night while running the box watching a recorded TV show, transcoding in the background and recording some other show for about 2 hours. When I rebooted and checked in the BIOS system monitor it reported the CPU at 41C degrees which really is pretty good. The outside of the box case is barely warm to the touch.

BTW, now I can hear my HD chattering while recording.

Next time I design a KnoppMyth box, I am keeping silent performance as my #1 priority. I could kick myself for being so PC centric I did not even think about this whole noise performance issue.

I still think lm_sensors and a CPU stats page would be a good and useful addition to KnoppMyth R5. Getting MB and GPU temps would be great too as would various fan speeds.

I also think that Myth and KnoppMyth should strongly integrate with ACPI and its software suspend/timer reawake modes in R5. That would eliminate the off duty cycle noise problem entirely.

just my $0.02 and lessons learned. Please do not misconstrue as criticism of KnoppMyth!!

Love my KnoppMyth box though, you guys are awesome!

Andrew Lynch

PS, speaking of unintended side effects... WAF and KAF are 100%.
My wife and kids like it so much that I may have to abandon tweaking on this KnoppMyth box altogether. Seems like "Joan of Arcadia", "Trading Spaces", and "Caillou" are too important to mess with HW and SW tweaks. Scheduling around everyones favorite show is a major PITA.

Sounds like a great excuse^h^h^h^h^h^hreason to get some new hardware...

since we are talking about monitoring cpu temperature and fan speed and such, has anyone bother install one of those LCD screen that monitor those? I think it would be cool to have that.

I've got one, but you still need lm_sensor to make that work.

_________________
Netsurge
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Host and Producer of the techPhile, simple.reboot, and Digital Underground.tv podcasts - http://nsightproductions.com

Long time KnoppMyth lover/user

Any of you have a link to a good LED screen to monitor the temps?