Fans control without motherboard PWM ?

[Keichi]

Hello everyone,

 

I am testing Unraid for 3 weeks, and i guess now everything is set up and working. And i really like it.

I use 12 disks (2 parity + 10 data disks) in an old case with an old cpu/ram/alim and motherboard.

I bought Unraid Plus but i clearly need to switch to Pro, because i wanted to add more drive, don't know if there is a way to have a discount, because switching to Plus to Pro is more expensive than if i bought the Pro directly which is my mistake.

 

My main problem is the noise even if i use only new Noctua fans.

My Motherboard is a P8Z68-V LX from Asus, and i can't control fan speed inside Unraid (no sucess with Dynamax Fan Auto Control, IPMI or lm-sensors). I contacted Asus but they offer no support for Linux for this motherboard.

So i decided to add some acoustic foam all inside the case, but the noise persists. So, i bought a Define XL R2 case, hoping it will help and should receive it in few days.

 

I configure my bios to be in the quiet mode and my fans case and plugged in onto the cpu fan. Meaning that every fan is working at the same speed, basically, the max speed which is not really good (use the stock cpu fan of my i3 cpu which run at 1200 rpm).

I dont really know if there is a way to configure my fan speed according to HDD temp without passing through the motherboard, seems like the Define case have a small board to control fan speed, but don't know how it works... I bought Unraid because HDD are in standby if not in utilization, which is really good then i wanted to switch off the fans.

 

Do you have some advices for me ?

 

Thank you a lot !

 

ps: i really like your wiki, but there is a missing part for iOS backup, struggle a bit to move my iOS backup on Unraid, if i can explain how i did it it will be my pleasure.

 

 

 

[testdasi]

Typically fan is controlled in BIOS and failing that, external fan controller. Automatic fan control in Unraid has never worked for me across multiple servers.

[Vr2Io]

58 minutes ago, Keichi said:

fans case and plugged in onto the cpu fan. Meaning that every fan is working at the same speed

Why in same FAN socket, mothboard have different FAN socket and have individuals control. Besides, CPU FAN was PWM, if you connect another non-PWM FAN with it, then those FAN will run in their max speed.

 

1 hour ago, Keichi said:

if there is a way to configure my fan speed according to HDD temp

Plugin should be the only easy choice, but I don't apply this and I doubt if HDD sleep and no temperature reading what would plugin will do. If you really like to turn off some FAN during HDD sleep, then  you can make some hardware controller to detect the 12v power draw from HDD, if less then some drawing then off the FAN.

[Keichi]

48 minutes ago, Benson said:

Why in same FAN socket, mothboard have different FAN socket and have individuals control. Besides, CPU FAN was PWM, if you connect another non-PWM FAN with it, then those FAN will run in their max speed.

In fact, i use a splitter allowing me to pass PWM value to others fans. But as far as my understanding, motherboard only regulates fans according to CPU temp and pretty frequently as i can hear fan increasing speed for 2-3s then slow down. I should try the two other PWM but i guess it would be similar.

I have a manual option in the bios, but i don't know if a fixed value is better than an automatic regulation.

 

52 minutes ago, Benson said:

Plugin should be the only easy choice, but I don't apply this and I doubt if HDD sleep and no temperature reading what would plugin will do. If you really like to turn off some FAN during HDD sleep, then  you can make some hardware controller to detect the 12v power draw from HDD, if less then some drawing then off the FAN.

Well, easy way is not what i was looking for. Choosing unraid is about being able to control everything. 🙂

I can re-arrange my drivers to have 3 blocks of 4 drives, and i use a power-splitter 1 to 4 drives to power it. So i can add a module monitoring each block of 4 drives and turn on the fan related to this groupe if necessary i guess.

Do you have any example of this kind of hardware controller ?

 

Thanks !

 

 

[Vr2Io]

29 minutes ago, Keichi said:

motherboard only regulates fans according to CPU temp

Most mainboard can monitoring different source i.e. CPU, MB, Power module. Some BIOS also can mix different source and take multi in account. The problem may be you plug to a CPU FAN socket, so it will limited to monitor CPU only.

 

29 minutes ago, Keichi said:

pretty frequently as i can hear fan increasing speed for 2-3s then slow down.

This usually could be tune in BIOS, you can adjust slope/ramp  parameter manually.

 

29 minutes ago, Keichi said:

Do you have any example of this kind of hardware controller ?

Most are DIY build with hall effect current sensor to detect the current draw or pure hall effect sensor to detect HDDs motor rotate or not with suitable circuit.

 

But you could use some market build Temp. FAN controller which have temp. sensor, i.e. 4 channel, then monitor 4 groups HDDs and stop the fan if under certain temp. But this may have problem, the temp. will raise if FAN stop or affect by surrounding too.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by Benson

[Keichi]

Hello Benson,

 

Thanks for your detailed reply.

 

I plugged my fans on the chassis PWM controller and try to tweak the bios in manual mode. But clearly, it is no better than the "Silent" preset.

And, it seems that i can't tweak slope/ramp of the fans.

 

I guess it is because the motherboard is old. But right now, it does the job, except for the noise, so i don't really know if i want to change it.

 

Even in manual mode, can't see anything inside UNRAID :

 

So, i guess my best bet is hoping that the Desire case is better soundproof, or i will see to buy a new MO/CPU/RAM but i would like to avoid it..

 

Anyway, thanks again for your time !

[superloopy1]

Take a look at dynamix_auto_fan_control plugin. May work but thereagain depends on your harrdware, needs pwm fans. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by superloopy1