-Psensor Frequently Asked Questions
-==================================
+= Psensor Frequently Asked Questions
+:docinfo2:
+:toc:
+
+The last version of this FAQ is available at http://wpitchoune.net/gitweb/?p=psensor.git;a=blob_plain;f=doc/faq.html;hb=HEAD.
[[S_NoSensors]]
No sensors or only cpu usage is displayed
-----------------------------------------
-Psensor is relying on few libraries or softwares for retrieving the information about the computer:
+Psensor is relying on few libraries or softwares for retrieving the
+information about the computer:
- motherboard and CPUs sensors: the information is retrieved
from the lm-sensors library, it requires that
- ‘sensors-detect’ has been run and the kernel module
- correctly installed. ‘sensors’ can be used for checking.
+ +sensors-detect+ has been run and the kernel module
+ correctly installed. +sensors+ can be used for checking.
- GPUs: it depends on which driver you are using:
monitoring for your GPU, the information is using
lm-sensors, same steps than above.
- * proprietary driver Nvidia: run ‘nvidia-settings’ to
+ * proprietary driver Nvidia: run +nvidia-settings+ to
check that it supports sensors monitoring.
- * proprietary driver Catalyst/fglx: use ‘aticonfig’ to
+ * proprietary driver Catalyst/fglx: use +aticonfig+ to
check that it supports sensors monitoring. Important
note: it requires that you are using a Psensor
binary compiled with the ATI support.
- - HDDs: it uses the hddtemp daemon. Verifies that it is
- correctly reporting temperature by using the ‘sudo hddtemp
- /dev/sd?’ command. If hddtemp does not support your disk,
- you may want to try using the libatasmart support instead
- (option –use-libatasmart option).
+For hard disk drives, psensor can use:
+
+ - udisks2: added since 1.1.2 release. It is the default and
+ recommended provider.
+
+ - hddtemp: verify that it is correctly reporting temperature by
+ using the command: +sudo hddtemp /dev/sda+. It is the default
+ provider until 1.1.2 release.
+
+ - atasmart library: before the 1.1.2 release it can be enabled
+ by using the command line option +--use-libatasmart+.
If the underlying software is reporting sensors which are not
displayed by Psensor, it is probably a bug in Psensor, so please
and you should contact the corresponding development team or refer to
its documentation.
+Since the release 1.1.2, the providers can be enabled or disabled directly
+from the user interface (+Preferences>Provider+).
+
[[S_ATIMonitoring]]
How to monitor an ATI card using the Catalyst driver?
-----------------------------------------------------
Unfortunely, due to the license of this library, I cannot provide a
compiled version of Psensor, even in a Ubuntu PPA or Ubuntu/Debian
standard repositories. You have to compile Psensor sensor. You can
-find the instructions in the section “ATI/AMD GPU Support” of the
+find the instructions in the section +ATI/AMD GPU Support+ of the
README file available in the Psensor source archives.
If you are using the ATI OpenSource driver, it is not needed to
- It is only a bug in Psensor if the underlying libraries
report a different information than Psensor (use the
- appropriate command or software: ‘sensors’, ‘aticonfig’ or
- ‘hddtemp’ to check). In this case, please report a bug.
+ appropriate command or software: +sensors+, +aticonfig+ or
+ +hddtemp+ to check). In this case, please report a bug.
[[S_WhatIsTheSensor]]
What is the sensors XXXX?
For older Psensor releases, look at the Id field, if the string is
starting with:
- - ‘lmsensor coretemp’: Intel CPU.
- - ‘lmsensor k10temp’,'lmsensor k8temp’,'lmsensor fam15h_power’: AMD CPU.
- - ‘nvidia’ or ‘lmsensor nouveau’: NVIDIA GPU.
- - ‘hdd’: hard disk drive.
- - ‘amd’: AMD GPU.
- - ‘lmsensor C B’: C is the name of the chip, B the name of the adapter.
+ - +lmsensor coretemp+: Intel CPU.
+ - +lmsensor k10temp+, +lmsensor k8temp+, +lmsensor fam15h_power+: AMD CPU.
+ - +nvidia+ or +lmsensor nouveau+: NVIDIA GPU.
+ - +hdd+: hard disk drive.
+ - +amd+: AMD GPU.
+ - +lmsensor C B+: C is the name of the chip, B the name of the adapter.
For more information about lmsensor devices, see
http://lm-sensors.org/wiki/Devices.
If you don’t want to use the launchpad, you can send the report by
email to:
- - psensor-users@googlegroups.com (require registration at:
- https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups&hl=en#!forum/psensor-users)
+ - psensor-users@googlegroups.com
- or jeanfi@gmail.com.
If the bug is concerning Debian or Ubuntu derivatives distribution,
-please add in its description the output of the command ‘apt-cache
-policy psensor’.
+please add in its description the output of the command: +apt-cache
+policy psensor+.
If it is related to the Psensor source compilation, please add the
-full output of the ‘configure’ command.
+full output of the +configure+ command.
[[S_SubmitIdea]]
How to send ideas, questions or comments?
Check the FAQ or the TODO pages.
If you don’t find the information, you can send an email to the public
-mailing-list psensor-users@googlegroups.com (require registration at:
-https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups&hl=en#!forum/psensor-users)
-or send an email directly to me: jeanfi@gmail.com.
+mailing-list psensor-users@googlegroups.com or directly to me:
+jeanfi@gmail.com.
[[S_Contribute]]
How to install Psensor on Ubuntu?
---------------------------------
-Psensor is in the official repository, search “psensor” in the software center and install it. More information at: http://wpitchoune.net/blog/psensor/ubuntu-integration/.
+Psensor is in the official repository, search +psensor+ in the
+software center and install it. More information at:
+http://wpitchoune.net/blog/psensor/ubuntu-integration/.
[[S_DebianInstall]]
How to install Psensor on Debian?
---------------------------------
-Psensor will be in the official repository since Debian 7.0. You can get the last packaged version from the sid repository. More information at: http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/psensor.html.
+Psensor is in the official repository since Debian 7.0. You can get
+the last packaged version from the sid repository. More information
+at: http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/psensor.html.
[[S_PPA]]
What is the difference between the 3 Ubuntu PPAs?
-------------------------------------------------
- - ppa:jfi/ppa: last stable version.
+ - +ppa:jfi/ppa+: last stable version.
- - ppa:jfi/psensor-unstable: last development version, no major
- bug is expected.
+ - +ppa:jfi/psensor-unstable+: last development version, no
+ major bug is expected.
- - ppa:jfi/psensor-daily-trunk: build each day directly from
- the SVN source repository. It may contain major bugs or
+ - +ppa:jfi/psensor-daily-trunk+: build each day directly from
+ the GIT source repository. It may contain major bugs or
incomplete features. Useful for contributors or testing
whether a bug is fixed.
(since Oneiric) and Debian (since v7) distributions.
For other distributions, you will find the compilation and
-installation instructions in the section ‘Installation from source
-archive’ in the README file of the source archive. Psensor should
+installation instructions in the section +Installation from source
+archive+ in the README file of the source archive. Psensor should
compile in any modern distribution.
[[S_LOG]]
--------------------------------
The best way is probably to use sensord or a custom script based on
-the output of the different commands like sensors.
+the output of the different commands like +sensors+.
Anyway, as I received several requests about such feature, since the
0.7.0.4 release it is implemented in both psensor ( menu preferences >
-sensors > enable log of measures) and psensor-server (–sensor-log-file
-option).
+sensors > enable log of measures) and psensor-server
+(+--sensor-log-file+ option). For psensor the log file is
++$HOME/.psensor/sensors.log+.
[[S_NO_GRAPH_DISPLAYED]]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the sensors table of the main window, switch on the checkbox of the last
-column (named "Enabled" or "Graph" depending on the Psensor version).
+column (named +Enabled+ or +Graph+ depending on the Psensor version).
+
+[[S_autostart]]
+Launch Psensor automaticaly on session startup
+----------------------------------------------
+
+Since the version 1.0.1, Psensor is no more started automaticaly by default.
+
+Open the +Preferences+ window, select the +Startup+ tab and switch on
+the option +Launch on session startup+.
+
+This feature is requiring that the Desktop Environment supports the
+http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html[XDG
+specification].
+
+[[S_disk]]
+How to monitor the temperature of a disk with +hddtemp+?
+--------------------------------------------------------
+
+Until the release 1.1.2, Psensor is using +hddtemp+ by default to
+retrieve the temperature of the disks.
+
+If +hddtemp+ is installed but no disk temperature is reported, check
+that the daemon is running by using for example the command +ps
+-eaf|grep hddtemp+.
+It should output something like:
+
+---------------------
+root 1433 1 0 May28 ? 00:00:21 /usr/sbin/hddtemp -d -l 127.0.0.1 -p 7634 -s | /dev/sdb
+---------------------
+
+Depending on the Linux distribution, the installation of the +hddtemp+
+package does not enable the hddtemp daemon automaticaly.
+
+In this case, edit the file +/etc/default/hddtemp+ and set
++RUN_DAEMON+ to +"true"+. After edition, it should contain the
+following line:
+
+------------------
+RUN_DAEMON="true"
+------------------
+
+For Debian/Ubuntu, you can use at root:
+------------------
+dpkg-reconfigure hddtemp
+------------------
+
+and reply +yes+ when asked whether hddtemp daemon must be
+run during the startup.
[[S_SimilarSoft]]
Is there any other similar softwares?
- more general, but can be configured to display sensors
information: http://conky.sourceforge.net/
+
+[[S_HideSensor]]
+Is it possible to hide sensors in the main window?
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+Before v1.1.1, the sensors retrieved from the lm-sensor library can be
+ignored directly in the lm-sensor configuration. See the manpage
+of sensors.conf(5).
+
+Since v1.1.1, it is possible to hide a sensor, uncheck the setting
+'Display sensor in the list of sensors' in the sensor preferences.