123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559560561562563564565566567568569570571572573574575576577578579580581582583584585586587588589590591592593594595596597598599600601602603604605606607608609610611612613614615616617618619620621622623624625626627628629630631632633634635636637638639640641642643644645646647648649650651652653654655656657658659660661662663664665666667668669670671672673674675676677678679680681682683684685686687688689690691692693694695696697698699700701702703704705706707708709710711712713714715716717718719720721722723724725726727728729730731732733734735736737738739740741742743744745746747748749750751752753754755756757758759760 |
- Naming and data format standards for sysfs files
- ------------------------------------------------
- The libsensors library offers an interface to the raw sensors data
- through the sysfs interface. Since lm-sensors 3.0.0, libsensors is
- completely chip-independent. It assumes that all the kernel drivers
- implement the standard sysfs interface described in this document.
- This makes adding or updating support for any given chip very easy, as
- libsensors, and applications using it, do not need to be modified.
- This is a major improvement compared to lm-sensors 2.
- Note that motherboards vary widely in the connections to sensor chips.
- There is no standard that ensures, for example, that the second
- temperature sensor is connected to the CPU, or that the second fan is on
- the CPU. Also, some values reported by the chips need some computation
- before they make full sense. For example, most chips can only measure
- voltages between 0 and +4V. Other voltages are scaled back into that
- range using external resistors. Since the values of these resistors
- can change from motherboard to motherboard, the conversions cannot be
- hard coded into the driver and have to be done in user space.
- For this reason, even if we aim at a chip-independent libsensors, it will
- still require a configuration file (e.g. /etc/sensors.conf) for proper
- values conversion, labeling of inputs and hiding of unused inputs.
- An alternative method that some programs use is to access the sysfs
- files directly. This document briefly describes the standards that the
- drivers follow, so that an application program can scan for entries and
- access this data in a simple and consistent way. That said, such programs
- will have to implement conversion, labeling and hiding of inputs. For
- this reason, it is still not recommended to bypass the library.
- Each chip gets its own directory in the sysfs /sys/devices tree. To
- find all sensor chips, it is easier to follow the device symlinks from
- /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*.
- Up to lm-sensors 3.0.0, libsensors looks for hardware monitoring attributes
- in the "physical" device directory. Since lm-sensors 3.0.1, attributes found
- in the hwmon "class" device directory are also supported. Complex drivers
- (e.g. drivers for multifunction chips) may want to use this possibility to
- avoid namespace pollution. The only drawback will be that older versions of
- libsensors won't support the driver in question.
- All sysfs values are fixed point numbers.
- There is only one value per file, unlike the older /proc specification.
- The common scheme for files naming is: <type><number>_<item>. Usual
- types for sensor chips are "in" (voltage), "temp" (temperature) and
- "fan" (fan). Usual items are "input" (measured value), "max" (high
- threshold, "min" (low threshold). Numbering usually starts from 1,
- except for voltages which start from 0 (because most data sheets use
- this). A number is always used for elements that can be present more
- than once, even if there is a single element of the given type on the
- specific chip. Other files do not refer to a specific element, so
- they have a simple name, and no number.
- Alarms are direct indications read from the chips. The drivers do NOT
- make comparisons of readings to thresholds. This allows violations
- between readings to be caught and alarmed. The exact definition of an
- alarm (for example, whether a threshold must be met or must be exceeded
- to cause an alarm) is chip-dependent.
- When setting values of hwmon sysfs attributes, the string representation of
- the desired value must be written, note that strings which are not a number
- are interpreted as 0! For more on how written strings are interpreted see the
- "sysfs attribute writes interpretation" section at the end of this file.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
- [0-*] denotes any positive number starting from 0
- [1-*] denotes any positive number starting from 1
- RO read only value
- WO write only value
- RW read/write value
- Read/write values may be read-only for some chips, depending on the
- hardware implementation.
- All entries (except name) are optional, and should only be created in a
- given driver if the chip has the feature.
- *********************
- * Global attributes *
- *********************
- name The chip name.
- This should be a short, lowercase string, not containing
- spaces nor dashes, representing the chip name. This is
- the only mandatory attribute.
- I2C devices get this attribute created automatically.
- RO
- update_interval The interval at which the chip will update readings.
- Unit: millisecond
- RW
- Some devices have a variable update rate or interval.
- This attribute can be used to change it to the desired value.
- ************
- * Voltages *
- ************
- in[0-*]_min Voltage min value.
- Unit: millivolt
- RW
-
- in[0-*]_lcrit Voltage critical min value.
- Unit: millivolt
- RW
- If voltage drops to or below this limit, the system may
- take drastic action such as power down or reset. At the very
- least, it should report a fault.
- in[0-*]_max Voltage max value.
- Unit: millivolt
- RW
-
- in[0-*]_crit Voltage critical max value.
- Unit: millivolt
- RW
- If voltage reaches or exceeds this limit, the system may
- take drastic action such as power down or reset. At the very
- least, it should report a fault.
- in[0-*]_input Voltage input value.
- Unit: millivolt
- RO
- Voltage measured on the chip pin.
- Actual voltage depends on the scaling resistors on the
- motherboard, as recommended in the chip datasheet.
- This varies by chip and by motherboard.
- Because of this variation, values are generally NOT scaled
- by the chip driver, and must be done by the application.
- However, some drivers (notably lm87 and via686a)
- do scale, because of internal resistors built into a chip.
- These drivers will output the actual voltage. Rule of
- thumb: drivers should report the voltage values at the
- "pins" of the chip.
- in[0-*]_average
- Average voltage
- Unit: millivolt
- RO
- in[0-*]_lowest
- Historical minimum voltage
- Unit: millivolt
- RO
- in[0-*]_highest
- Historical maximum voltage
- Unit: millivolt
- RO
- in[0-*]_reset_history
- Reset inX_lowest and inX_highest
- WO
- in_reset_history
- Reset inX_lowest and inX_highest for all sensors
- WO
- in[0-*]_label Suggested voltage channel label.
- Text string
- Should only be created if the driver has hints about what
- this voltage channel is being used for, and user-space
- doesn't. In all other cases, the label is provided by
- user-space.
- RO
- cpu[0-*]_vid CPU core reference voltage.
- Unit: millivolt
- RO
- Not always correct.
- vrm Voltage Regulator Module version number.
- RW (but changing it should no more be necessary)
- Originally the VRM standard version multiplied by 10, but now
- an arbitrary number, as not all standards have a version
- number.
- Affects the way the driver calculates the CPU core reference
- voltage from the vid pins.
- Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with voltages.
- ********
- * Fans *
- ********
- fan[1-*]_min Fan minimum value
- Unit: revolution/min (RPM)
- RW
- fan[1-*]_max Fan maximum value
- Unit: revolution/min (RPM)
- Only rarely supported by the hardware.
- RW
- fan[1-*]_input Fan input value.
- Unit: revolution/min (RPM)
- RO
- fan[1-*]_div Fan divisor.
- Integer value in powers of two (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128).
- RW
- Some chips only support values 1, 2, 4 and 8.
- Note that this is actually an internal clock divisor, which
- affects the measurable speed range, not the read value.
- fan[1-*]_pulses Number of tachometer pulses per fan revolution.
- Integer value, typically between 1 and 4.
- RW
- This value is a characteristic of the fan connected to the
- device's input, so it has to be set in accordance with the fan
- model.
- Should only be created if the chip has a register to configure
- the number of pulses. In the absence of such a register (and
- thus attribute) the value assumed by all devices is 2 pulses
- per fan revolution.
- fan[1-*]_target
- Desired fan speed
- Unit: revolution/min (RPM)
- RW
- Only makes sense if the chip supports closed-loop fan speed
- control based on the measured fan speed.
- fan[1-*]_label Suggested fan channel label.
- Text string
- Should only be created if the driver has hints about what
- this fan channel is being used for, and user-space doesn't.
- In all other cases, the label is provided by user-space.
- RO
- Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with fans.
- *******
- * PWM *
- *******
- pwm[1-*] Pulse width modulation fan control.
- Integer value in the range 0 to 255
- RW
- 255 is max or 100%.
- pwm[1-*]_enable
- Fan speed control method:
- 0: no fan speed control (i.e. fan at full speed)
- 1: manual fan speed control enabled (using pwm[1-*])
- 2+: automatic fan speed control enabled
- Check individual chip documentation files for automatic mode
- details.
- RW
- pwm[1-*]_mode 0: DC mode (direct current)
- 1: PWM mode (pulse-width modulation)
- RW
- pwm[1-*]_freq Base PWM frequency in Hz.
- Only possibly available when pwmN_mode is PWM, but not always
- present even then.
- RW
- pwm[1-*]_auto_channels_temp
- Select which temperature channels affect this PWM output in
- auto mode. Bitfield, 1 is temp1, 2 is temp2, 4 is temp3 etc...
- Which values are possible depend on the chip used.
- RW
- pwm[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_pwm
- pwm[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp
- pwm[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp_hyst
- Define the PWM vs temperature curve. Number of trip points is
- chip-dependent. Use this for chips which associate trip points
- to PWM output channels.
- RW
- temp[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_pwm
- temp[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp
- temp[1-*]_auto_point[1-*]_temp_hyst
- Define the PWM vs temperature curve. Number of trip points is
- chip-dependent. Use this for chips which associate trip points
- to temperature channels.
- RW
- There is a third case where trip points are associated to both PWM output
- channels and temperature channels: the PWM values are associated to PWM
- output channels while the temperature values are associated to temperature
- channels. In that case, the result is determined by the mapping between
- temperature inputs and PWM outputs. When several temperature inputs are
- mapped to a given PWM output, this leads to several candidate PWM values.
- The actual result is up to the chip, but in general the highest candidate
- value (fastest fan speed) wins.
- ****************
- * Temperatures *
- ****************
- temp[1-*]_type Sensor type selection.
- Integers 1 to 6
- RW
- 1: CPU embedded diode
- 2: 3904 transistor
- 3: thermal diode
- 4: thermistor
- 5: AMD AMDSI
- 6: Intel PECI
- Not all types are supported by all chips
- temp[1-*]_max Temperature max value.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius (or millivolt, see below)
- RW
- temp[1-*]_min Temperature min value.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- RW
- temp[1-*]_max_hyst
- Temperature hysteresis value for max limit.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta
- from the max value.
- RW
- temp[1-*]_min_hyst
- Temperature hysteresis value for min limit.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta
- from the min value.
- RW
- temp[1-*]_input Temperature input value.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- RO
- temp[1-*]_crit Temperature critical max value, typically greater than
- corresponding temp_max values.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- RW
- temp[1-*]_crit_hyst
- Temperature hysteresis value for critical limit.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta
- from the critical value.
- RW
- temp[1-*]_emergency
- Temperature emergency max value, for chips supporting more than
- two upper temperature limits. Must be equal or greater than
- corresponding temp_crit values.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- RW
- temp[1-*]_emergency_hyst
- Temperature hysteresis value for emergency limit.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta
- from the emergency value.
- RW
- temp[1-*]_lcrit Temperature critical min value, typically lower than
- corresponding temp_min values.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- RW
- temp[1-*]_lcrit_hyst
- Temperature hysteresis value for critical min limit.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta
- from the critical min value.
- RW
- temp[1-*]_offset
- Temperature offset which is added to the temperature reading
- by the chip.
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- Read/Write value.
- temp[1-*]_label Suggested temperature channel label.
- Text string
- Should only be created if the driver has hints about what
- this temperature channel is being used for, and user-space
- doesn't. In all other cases, the label is provided by
- user-space.
- RO
- temp[1-*]_lowest
- Historical minimum temperature
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- RO
- temp[1-*]_highest
- Historical maximum temperature
- Unit: millidegree Celsius
- RO
- temp[1-*]_reset_history
- Reset temp_lowest and temp_highest
- WO
- temp_reset_history
- Reset temp_lowest and temp_highest for all sensors
- WO
- Some chips measure temperature using external thermistors and an ADC, and
- report the temperature measurement as a voltage. Converting this voltage
- back to a temperature (or the other way around for limits) requires
- mathematical functions not available in the kernel, so the conversion
- must occur in user space. For these chips, all temp* files described
- above should contain values expressed in millivolt instead of millidegree
- Celsius. In other words, such temperature channels are handled as voltage
- channels by the driver.
- Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with temperatures.
- ************
- * Currents *
- ************
- curr[1-*]_max Current max value
- Unit: milliampere
- RW
- curr[1-*]_min Current min value.
- Unit: milliampere
- RW
- curr[1-*]_lcrit Current critical low value
- Unit: milliampere
- RW
- curr[1-*]_crit Current critical high value.
- Unit: milliampere
- RW
- curr[1-*]_input Current input value
- Unit: milliampere
- RO
- curr[1-*]_average
- Average current use
- Unit: milliampere
- RO
- curr[1-*]_lowest
- Historical minimum current
- Unit: milliampere
- RO
- curr[1-*]_highest
- Historical maximum current
- Unit: milliampere
- RO
- curr[1-*]_reset_history
- Reset currX_lowest and currX_highest
- WO
- curr_reset_history
- Reset currX_lowest and currX_highest for all sensors
- WO
- Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with currents.
- *********
- * Power *
- *********
- power[1-*]_average Average power use
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_average_interval Power use averaging interval. A poll
- notification is sent to this file if the
- hardware changes the averaging interval.
- Unit: milliseconds
- RW
- power[1-*]_average_interval_max Maximum power use averaging interval
- Unit: milliseconds
- RO
- power[1-*]_average_interval_min Minimum power use averaging interval
- Unit: milliseconds
- RO
- power[1-*]_average_highest Historical average maximum power use
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_average_lowest Historical average minimum power use
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_average_max A poll notification is sent to
- power[1-*]_average when power use
- rises above this value.
- Unit: microWatt
- RW
- power[1-*]_average_min A poll notification is sent to
- power[1-*]_average when power use
- sinks below this value.
- Unit: microWatt
- RW
- power[1-*]_input Instantaneous power use
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_input_highest Historical maximum power use
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_input_lowest Historical minimum power use
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_reset_history Reset input_highest, input_lowest,
- average_highest and average_lowest.
- WO
- power[1-*]_accuracy Accuracy of the power meter.
- Unit: Percent
- RO
- power[1-*]_cap If power use rises above this limit, the
- system should take action to reduce power use.
- A poll notification is sent to this file if the
- cap is changed by the hardware. The *_cap
- files only appear if the cap is known to be
- enforced by hardware.
- Unit: microWatt
- RW
- power[1-*]_cap_hyst Margin of hysteresis built around capping and
- notification.
- Unit: microWatt
- RW
- power[1-*]_cap_max Maximum cap that can be set.
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_cap_min Minimum cap that can be set.
- Unit: microWatt
- RO
- power[1-*]_max Maximum power.
- Unit: microWatt
- RW
- power[1-*]_crit Critical maximum power.
- If power rises to or above this limit, the
- system is expected take drastic action to reduce
- power consumption, such as a system shutdown or
- a forced powerdown of some devices.
- Unit: microWatt
- RW
- Also see the Alarms section for status flags associated with power readings.
- **********
- * Energy *
- **********
- energy[1-*]_input Cumulative energy use
- Unit: microJoule
- RO
- ************
- * Humidity *
- ************
- humidity[1-*]_input Humidity
- Unit: milli-percent (per cent mille, pcm)
- RO
- **********
- * Alarms *
- **********
- Each channel or limit may have an associated alarm file, containing a
- boolean value. 1 means than an alarm condition exists, 0 means no alarm.
- Usually a given chip will either use channel-related alarms, or
- limit-related alarms, not both. The driver should just reflect the hardware
- implementation.
- in[0-*]_alarm
- curr[1-*]_alarm
- power[1-*]_alarm
- fan[1-*]_alarm
- temp[1-*]_alarm
- Channel alarm
- 0: no alarm
- 1: alarm
- RO
- OR
- in[0-*]_min_alarm
- in[0-*]_max_alarm
- in[0-*]_lcrit_alarm
- in[0-*]_crit_alarm
- curr[1-*]_min_alarm
- curr[1-*]_max_alarm
- curr[1-*]_lcrit_alarm
- curr[1-*]_crit_alarm
- power[1-*]_cap_alarm
- power[1-*]_max_alarm
- power[1-*]_crit_alarm
- fan[1-*]_min_alarm
- fan[1-*]_max_alarm
- temp[1-*]_min_alarm
- temp[1-*]_max_alarm
- temp[1-*]_lcrit_alarm
- temp[1-*]_crit_alarm
- temp[1-*]_emergency_alarm
- Limit alarm
- 0: no alarm
- 1: alarm
- RO
- Each input channel may have an associated fault file. This can be used
- to notify open diodes, unconnected fans etc. where the hardware
- supports it. When this boolean has value 1, the measurement for that
- channel should not be trusted.
- fan[1-*]_fault
- temp[1-*]_fault
- Input fault condition
- 0: no fault occurred
- 1: fault condition
- RO
- Some chips also offer the possibility to get beeped when an alarm occurs:
- beep_enable Master beep enable
- 0: no beeps
- 1: beeps
- RW
- in[0-*]_beep
- curr[1-*]_beep
- fan[1-*]_beep
- temp[1-*]_beep
- Channel beep
- 0: disable
- 1: enable
- RW
- In theory, a chip could provide per-limit beep masking, but no such chip
- was seen so far.
- Old drivers provided a different, non-standard interface to alarms and
- beeps. These interface files are deprecated, but will be kept around
- for compatibility reasons:
- alarms Alarm bitmask.
- RO
- Integer representation of one to four bytes.
- A '1' bit means an alarm.
- Chips should be programmed for 'comparator' mode so that
- the alarm will 'come back' after you read the register
- if it is still valid.
- Generally a direct representation of a chip's internal
- alarm registers; there is no standard for the position
- of individual bits. For this reason, the use of this
- interface file for new drivers is discouraged. Use
- individual *_alarm and *_fault files instead.
- Bits are defined in kernel/include/sensors.h.
- beep_mask Bitmask for beep.
- Same format as 'alarms' with the same bit locations,
- use discouraged for the same reason. Use individual
- *_beep files instead.
- RW
- ***********************
- * Intrusion detection *
- ***********************
- intrusion[0-*]_alarm
- Chassis intrusion detection
- 0: OK
- 1: intrusion detected
- RW
- Contrary to regular alarm flags which clear themselves
- automatically when read, this one sticks until cleared by
- the user. This is done by writing 0 to the file. Writing
- other values is unsupported.
- intrusion[0-*]_beep
- Chassis intrusion beep
- 0: disable
- 1: enable
- RW
- sysfs attribute writes interpretation
- -------------------------------------
- hwmon sysfs attributes always contain numbers, so the first thing to do is to
- convert the input to a number, there are 2 ways todo this depending whether
- the number can be negative or not:
- unsigned long u = simple_strtoul(buf, NULL, 10);
- long s = simple_strtol(buf, NULL, 10);
- With buf being the buffer with the user input being passed by the kernel.
- Notice that we do not use the second argument of strto[u]l, and thus cannot
- tell when 0 is returned, if this was really 0 or is caused by invalid input.
- This is done deliberately as checking this everywhere would add a lot of
- code to the kernel.
- Notice that it is important to always store the converted value in an
- unsigned long or long, so that no wrap around can happen before any further
- checking.
- After the input string is converted to an (unsigned) long, the value should be
- checked if its acceptable. Be careful with further conversions on the value
- before checking it for validity, as these conversions could still cause a wrap
- around before the check. For example do not multiply the result, and only
- add/subtract if it has been divided before the add/subtract.
- What to do if a value is found to be invalid, depends on the type of the
- sysfs attribute that is being set. If it is a continuous setting like a
- tempX_max or inX_max attribute, then the value should be clamped to its
- limits using clamp_val(value, min_limit, max_limit). If it is not continuous
- like for example a tempX_type, then when an invalid value is written,
- -EINVAL should be returned.
- Example1, temp1_max, register is a signed 8 bit value (-128 - 127 degrees):
- long v = simple_strtol(buf, NULL, 10) / 1000;
- v = clamp_val(v, -128, 127);
- /* write v to register */
- Example2, fan divider setting, valid values 2, 4 and 8:
- unsigned long v = simple_strtoul(buf, NULL, 10);
- switch (v) {
- case 2: v = 1; break;
- case 4: v = 2; break;
- case 8: v = 3; break;
- default:
- return -EINVAL;
- }
- /* write v to register */
|