Controlling fan speed with 'external' PWM controller

[MrMeeb]

Hi guys, hope you're all keeping well.

 

I have an unraid server with an Intel S2600CP motherboard. It has 5-6 PWM fan control headers, but no matter what I've tried, I cannot make the BIOS manually adjust fans based on temps. I believe this is something to do with using an 'unsupported' case (i.e, anything other than the 2 or 3 cases this motherboard was integrated into when sold as a complete system), so the fans are just ramped to 100% at all times. I have attempted the various solutions suggested in the STH forums, with no success

 

Up until now, I've managed to reduce the fan speeds using noctua low-noise adapters. I believe they're basically just inline resistors. But fan speed is still fixed, and too noisy for my liking, especially now my circumstances are changing and the server will be living in the same room that I work in.

 

I have been thinking about alternative ways to control the fans. Anything that involves the PWM headers on the motherboard won't work, but what about an 'external' PWM controller? The two I've found that seem to be fully independent are the NZXT AC-2RGBC-B1 and the Corsair Commander Pro, since they are both controlled via their respective softwares. This, of course, isn't ideal; the software is all Windows-only, and a Windows 10 VM wouldn't know what the CPU temps. Not to mention that the Corsair option is very pricey!

 

What I'm wondering though is that, even without the controller software, would the NZXT controller show up as a generic PWM controller within unraid? It connects to the motherboard via an internal USB2.0 header, so would it then be controllable by an Unraid plugin without the NZXT software?

 

I'd appreciate any input, or alternative suggestions.

 

Thanks!

[Kanashii]

Look this:

https://github.com/jonasmalacofilho/liquidctl

Plus this:

https://github.com/jonasmalacofilho/liquidctl/blob/master/docs/nzxt-smart-device-v1-guide.md

Maybe someone can make a plugin to integrate natively to Unraid with NZXT V3 controller.

[mjorud]

Hi,

Has anyone been able to dockerify liquidctl or compile it for unRAID? I have to use an Ubuntu VM to be able to use liquidctl...

[FatzCat]

Hi there,

 

had the same problem, but managed to get this thing packed into a functioning docker-container.

Have to work some more on the README and how-to, but you should get it up and running

 

https://github.com/avpnusr/liquidctl-docker

 

Have a look, if you like.

 

It's running since about a week for me and no problems so far.

 

Regards

Edited June 23, 2021 by FatzCat

[randommusic]

Hi All,

 

I've got liquidctl packaged up in a python wheel. Switched smbus library for smbus2 as slackware and dev tools for unraid don't have an implemenation. Other prerequisites are the ones listed in liquidctl install instructions. pip, python will need be install with https://forums.unraid.net/topic/35866-unraid-6-nerdpack-cli-tools-iftop-iotop-screen-kbd-etc/

 

The wheel has all the required libraries included. Symbus 2 is all python. Git clone/download zip from https://github.com/thecutehacker/liquidctl---Unraid and in the command line go to the liquidctl/dist folder and type 

 

pip install liquidctl-1.7.2-py3-none-any.whl 

 

Hopefully I'll have time to put it into a plugin soon. Installing it is only temporary and will be lost on reboot. Could always have a startup script that reinstalls it from an existing user share/storage.  Hopefully this is useful for someone!

[eagle470]

On 6/23/2021 at 10:58 AM, FatzCat said:

Hi there,

 

had the same problem, but managed to get this thing packed into a functioning docker-container.

Have to work some more on the README and how-to, but you should get it up and running

 

https://github.com/avpnusr/liquidctl-docker

 

Have a look, if you like.

 

It's running since about a week for me and no problems so far.

 

Regards

have you looked at publishing this to the community apps? I'd like to run this.

[FatzCat]

On 1/11/2022 at 9:46 PM, eagle470 said:

have you looked at publishing this to the community apps? I'd like to run this.

 

I try to add this to community applications!