.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
.. include:: <isonum.txt>
===========================
Linux HP WMI Sensors Driver
===========================
:Copyright: |copy| 2023 James Seo <[email protected]>
Description
===========
Hewlett-Packard (and some HP Compaq) business-class computers report hardware
monitoring information via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
This driver exposes that information to the Linux hwmon subsystem, allowing
userspace utilities like ``sensors`` to gather numeric sensor readings.
sysfs interface
===============
When the driver is loaded, it discovers the sensors available on the
system and creates the following sysfs attributes as necessary within
``/sys/class/hwmon/hwmon[X]``:
(``[X]`` is some number that depends on other system components.)
======================= ======= ===================================
Name Perm Description
======================= ======= ===================================
``curr[X]_input`` RO Current in milliamperes (mA).
``curr[X]_label`` RO Current sensor label.
``fan[X]_input`` RO Fan speed in RPM.
``fan[X]_label`` RO Fan sensor label.
``fan[X]_fault`` RO Fan sensor fault indicator.
``fan[X]_alarm`` RO Fan sensor alarm indicator.
``in[X]_input`` RO Voltage in millivolts (mV).
``in[X]_label`` RO Voltage sensor label.
``temp[X]_input`` RO Temperature in millidegrees Celsius
(m\ |deg|\ C).
``temp[X]_label`` RO Temperature sensor label.
``temp[X]_fault`` RO Temperature sensor fault indicator.
``temp[X]_alarm`` RO Temperature sensor alarm indicator.
``intrusion[X]_alarm`` RW Chassis intrusion alarm indicator.
======================= ======= ===================================
``fault`` attributes
Reading ``1`` instead of ``0`` as the ``fault`` attribute for a sensor
indicates that it has encountered some issue during operation such that
measurements from it should not be trusted. If a sensor with the fault
condition recovers later, reading this attribute will return ``0`` again.
``alarm`` attributes
Reading ``1`` instead of ``0`` as the ``alarm`` attribute for a sensor
indicates that one of the following has occurred, depending on its type:
- ``fan``: The fan has stalled or has been disconnected while running.
- ``temp``: The sensor reading has reached a critical threshold.
The exact threshold is system-dependent.
- ``intrusion``: The system's chassis has been opened.
After ``1`` is read from an ``alarm`` attribute, the attribute resets itself
and returns ``0`` on subsequent reads. As an exception, an
``intrusion[X]_alarm`` can only be manually reset by writing ``0`` to it.
debugfs interface
=================
.. warning:: The debugfs interface is subject to change without notice
and is only available when the kernel is compiled with
``CONFIG_DEBUG_FS`` defined.
The standard hwmon interface in sysfs exposes sensors of several common types
that are connected as of driver initialization. However, there are usually
other sensors in WMI that do not meet these criteria. In addition, a number of
system-dependent "platform events objects" used for ``alarm`` attributes may
be present. A debugfs interface is therefore provided for read-only access to
all available HP WMI sensors and platform events objects.
``/sys/kernel/debug/hp-wmi-sensors-[X]/sensor``
contains one numbered entry per sensor with the following attributes:
=============================== =======================================
Name Example
=============================== =======================================
``name`` ``CPU0 Fan``
``description`` ``Reports CPU0 fan speed``
``sensor_type`` ``12``
``other_sensor_type`` (an empty string)
``operational_status`` ``2``
``possible_states`` ``Normal,Caution,Critical,Not Present``
``current_state`` ``Normal``
``base_units`` ``19``
``unit_modifier`` ``0``
``current_reading`` ``1008``
``rate_units`` ``0`` (only exists on some systems)
=============================== =======================================
If platform events objects are available,
``/sys/kernel/debug/hp-wmi-sensors-[X]/platform_events``
contains one numbered entry per object with the following attributes:
=============================== ====================
Name Example
=============================== ====================
``name`` ``CPU0 Fan Stall``
``description`` ``CPU0 Fan Speed``
``source_namespace`` ``root\wmi``
``source_class`` ``HPBIOS_BIOSEvent``
``category`` ``3``
``possible_severity`` ``25``
``possible_status`` ``5``
=============================== ====================
These represent the properties of the underlying ``HPBIOS_BIOSNumericSensor``
and ``HPBIOS_PlatformEvents`` WMI objects, which vary between systems.
See [#]_ for more details and Managed Object Format (MOF) definitions.
Known issues and limitations
============================
- If the existing hp-wmi driver for non-business-class HP systems is already
loaded, ``alarm`` attributes will be unavailable even on systems that
support them. This is because the same WMI event GUID used by this driver
for ``alarm`` attributes is used on those systems for e.g. laptop hotkeys.
- Dubious sensor hardware and inconsistent BIOS WMI implementations have been
observed to cause inaccurate readings and peculiar behavior, such as alarms
failing to occur or occurring only once per boot.
- Only temperature, fan speed, and intrusion sensor types have been seen in
the wild so far. Support for voltage and current sensors is therefore
provisional.
- Although HP WMI sensors may claim to be of any type, any oddball sensor
types unknown to hwmon will not be supported.
References
==========
.. [#] Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.,
"HP Client Management Interface Technical White Paper", 2005. [Online].
Available: https://h20331.www2.hp.com/hpsub/downloads/cmi_whitepaper.pdf
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