I8K module
Instructions:
If Ubuntu
was to be my permanent OS, it had to run thermal control, initially it
does but dependent on BIOS. Which meant the fans couldn't be sped up
for CPU and GPU. System ran, and without errorsto overheated CPU.
Thru arduous searching, and fortunately thanks to Massimo Dal Zotto for
years of coding, testing and moding, it is now satisfactorily added in
the distro. He assisted me once All you have to do is modprobe and
force the code and the kernel will read it, thats it. The fan will have
3 states, just like I8KFANGUI in WinXP. OFF,LOW,HIGH. Once this was
accomplished any other package in Ubuntu broken or not installed didn't
matter. The fan needed to be if not the most crucially important
factor.
Follow the instructions here, if confused getting just i8k running, follow these steps (commands to run):
Step 1:
Find the i8k.ko module:
ls /lib/modules/*/kernel/drivers/char
(if not found it will definitely not push it through)
Step 2:
Force in kernel:
sudo modprobe i8k force=1
(There will be a second of pause, then nothing, and then a prompt)
Step 3:
Verify module:
lsmod | grep i8k
(The output varies but it will look similar to this)
i8k
7160 0
That's all the instrcutions received directly from the developer of this module.
To read the data in the i8k module run cat /proc/i8k
1.0 A14 0ABC123 47 1 2 143220 153660 1 2
Important Step:
I8k module is released by kernel on
shutdown by default, so it has to be manually typed into the kernel on
startup. To avoid typing the command everytime, add modprobe i8k force=1 to the end of /etc/rc.local Restart and check if it loads, Great! job well done!
Multimedia Buttons:
The multimedia buttons are yet to be running. Check back later I'm sure I'll get it all running.
Gkrellm
Install
the GkrellM package to change Automatic/Manual Fan control. At the
moment I have no recollection of another monitoring package or fan
control package. Add it to GNOME startup session to automatically
launch on login. Next, use the Hardware Sensors Monitor applet in the
GNOME panel to monitor fan1,fan2 speed as well as cpu,hdd temperature.
In GkrellM Configuration, Choose Plugins and enable Dell I8K Plugin. Tweak the temperature Apply and Close!
Hope these instructions gave a better understanding.