Psensor Frequently Asked Questions

From c87631f4de9c4c263761b0546f104e6a0250b870 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jean-Philippe Orsini Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2012 17:59:12 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] added html version of the faq --- doc/faq.html | 660 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 660 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/faq.html diff --git a/doc/faq.html b/doc/faq.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c641fe2 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/faq.html @@ -0,0 +1,660 @@ + + + + + +Psensor Frequently Asked Questions + + + + + +

1. No sensors or only cpu usage is displayed

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 + âsensors-detectâ has been run and the kernel module + correctly installed. âsensorsâ can be used for checking. +
+
+
+GPUs: it depends on which driver you are using: +
+
- +
  +Opensource drivers (nouveau for Nvidia GPUs or + radeon/ati for ATI GPUs) is used and support sensor + monitoring for your GPU, the information is using + lm-sensors, same steps than above. +
  +
- +
  +proprietary driver Nvidia: run ânvidia-settingsâ to + check that it supports sensors monitoring. +
  +
- +
  +proprietary driver Catalyst/fglx: use âaticonfigâ 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 âsudo hddtemp + /dev/sd?â command. If hddtemp does not support your disk, + you may want to try using the libatasmart support instead + (option âuse-libatasmart option). +
+

If the underlying software is reporting sensors which are not +displayed by Psensor, it is probably a bug in Psensor, so please +report it. Otherwise, the issue is on the underlying software itself +and you should contact the corresponding development team or refer to +its documentation.

2. How to monitor an ATI card using the Catalyst driver?

For monitoring ATI card using the proprietary Catalyst driver, Psensor +must be compiled with a proprietary library which is not packaged in +any Linux distribution.

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 âATI/AMD GPU Supportâ of the +README file available in the Psensor source archives.

If you are using the ATI OpenSource driver, it is not needed to +compile Psensor with this proprietary library.

3. The reported temperature is obviously wrong

If the reported temperature is obviously wrong (never change, lower +than the ambiant temperature, negative, higher than the sun +temperature, etc):

+
+most of the time it is not a bug in Psensor nor in the + underlying monitoring libraries: +
+
- +
  +if the temperature does not change, it might be due + to an existent sensor not wired by the hardware + manufacturer. +
  +
- +
  +the goal of the sensor is to allow the system to + detect critical temperature and NOT to report an + exact temperature. Most sensors report a relative + temperature. The more it differs from the critical + temperature , the more it is wrong. +
  +
+
+
+It is only a bug in Psensor if the underlying libraries + report a different information than Psensor (use the + appropriate command or software: âsensorsâ, âaticonfigâ or + âhddtempâ to check). In this case, please report a bug. +
+

4. What is the sensors XXXX?

Since Psensor v0.7.0.4, open the preferences of the sensor (click on +its name in the main window and select the menu item Preferences), and +look at the Chip field.

For older Psensor releases, look at the Id field, if the string is +starting with:

+
+âlmsensor coretempâ: Intel CPU. +
+
+
+âlmsensor k10tempâ,'lmsensor k8tempâ,'lmsensor fam15h_powerâ: AMD CPU. +
+
+
+ânvidiaâ or âlmsensor nouveauâ: NVIDIA GPU. +
+
+
+âhddâ: hard disk drive. +
+
+
+âamdâ: AMD GPU. +
+
+
+âlmsensor C Bâ: 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.

5. How to report a bug?

Please use https://bugs.launchpad.net/psensor/+filebug to report bugs +even if it can only reproduced with a non-Ubuntu distribution or a +release not available in the standard Ubuntu repositories.

You can also use +https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/psensor/+filebug if the bug +can be reproduced with a package from the standard Ubuntu +repositories.

If you donât want to use the launchpad, you can send me the report by +email to jeanfi@gmail.com.

If the bug is concerning Debian or Ubuntu derivatives distribution, +please add in its description the output of the command âapt-cache +policy psensorâ.

If it is related to the Psensor source compilation, please add the +full output of the âconfigureâ command.

6. How to send ideas, questions or comments?

Check the FAQ or the TODO pages.

If you donât find the information, I am always happy to help, you can +contact me:

+
+by email: (jeanfi@gmail.com), please add â[psensor]â in the + subject, I speak English and French. +
+
+
+or IRC: I am on the #psensor channel of the irc.freenode.net + server. My nickname is âjfiâ. Even if I am most of the time + connected, I may not be in front of the computer or + available, be patient! +
+

7. How to contribute?

See http://wpitchoune.net/blog/psensor/how-to-contribute/.

8. How to install Psensor on Ubuntu?

Psensor is in the official repository, search âpsensorâ in the software center and install it. More information at: http://wpitchoune.net/blog/psensor/ubuntu-integration/.

9. 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.

10. What is the difference between the 3 Ubuntu PPAs?

+
+ppa:jfi/ppa: last stable version. +
+
+
+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 + incomplete features. Useful for contributors or testing + whether a bug is fixed. +
+

11. How to install Psensor on ArchLinux?

See http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=37807.

12. How to install Psensor on my Linux distribution?

Psensor packages are available in the standard repositories of Ubuntu +(since Oneiric) and Debian (since v7) distributions.

For other distributions, you will find the compilation and +installation instructions in the section âInstallation from source +archiveâ in the README file of the source archive. Psensor should +compile in any modern distribution.

13. How to log sensors temperatures?

The best way is probably to use sensord or a custom script based on +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 (âsensor-log-file +option).

14. Is there any other similar softwares?

Here is a list of few well-known sensors monitoring softwares:

+
+for X11: http://freecode.com/projects/xsensors +
+
+
+for GNOME2: http://sensors-applet.sourceforge.net/ +
+
+
+for Ubuntu Unity: https://launchpad.net/indicator-sensors +
+
+
+more general, but can be configured to display sensors + information: http://conky.sourceforge.net/ +
+

+ + + -- 2.7.4