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| -rw-r--r-- | BACKGROUND | 30 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README | 32 |
2 files changed, 32 insertions, 30 deletions
diff --git a/BACKGROUND b/BACKGROUND deleted file mode 100644 index add629a2..00000000 --- a/BACKGROUND +++ /dev/null @@ -1,30 +0,0 @@ -When you want to communicate with a piece of hardware, you need a kernel -driver (well, that is not quite true, but it is in most cases the only -way to do it safely). - -The kernel modules communicate their information through the /sys inter- -face. Because every motherboard is different, the sensor chips always -advert the measurements at their pins. This means that the values they -report are not always immediately relevant to you. They have to be -labelled properly, and sometimes they must be scaled to correspond to -the real world. - -libsensors is a (shared or static) library of access functions. It -offers a simple-to-use interface for applications to access the sensor -chip readings, to set new limits, and all other commonly needed things. -It has a configuration file where you can put all the -motherboard-specific labels and conversion rules. That way, all -applications do not need to duplicate the effort and can simply link -with libsensors and work out of the box. - -This package does not contain a nice graphical monitor. Look at the file -doc/useful_addresses.html for pointers to such programs. It does contain -an example console program that reports all current sensors values. This -program is called 'sensors'. You can use it as a reference implementation -for more intricate programs. - -The Linux 2.6 kernel has many, many sensor drivers, and there are lots -of different sensor chips supported. Sometimes, it can be hard to -determine what chips and adapters you have, and which modules correspond -to them. Fortunately, there is a user-space application 'sensors-detect' -that should tell you exactly what is available, and what you need to do. @@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ See the INSTALL file. HARDWARE SUPPORT ---------------- +To find out what hardware you have, just run 'sensors-detect' as root. + Most modern mainboards incorporate some form of hardware monitoring chips. These chips read things like chip temperatures, fan rotation speeds and voltage levels. There are quite a few different chips which can be used by @@ -52,6 +54,36 @@ even need to wait for a new kernel driver to be written. Updating the lm-sensors package itself will not help. +LIBSENSORS +---------- + +The kernel drivers communicate their information through the /sys +interface. Because every motherboard is different, the drivers always +advert the measurements at their pins. This means that the values they +report are not always immediately relevant to you. They have to be +labelled properly, and sometimes they must be scaled to correspond to +real-world values. + +libsensors is a (shared or static) library of access functions. It +offers a simple-to-use interface for applications to access the sensor +chip readings and configure them as you like. It has a configuration +file where you can put all the motherboard-specific labels and +conversion rules. That way, all applications do not need to duplicate +the effort and can simply link with libsensors and work out of the box. + + +APPLICATIONS +------------ + +This package does not contain a nice graphical monitor. Look at the file +doc/useful_addresses.html for pointers to such programs. It does contain +an example console program that reports all current sensors values. This +program is called 'sensors'. You can use it as a reference implementation +for more intricate programs. It also contains a daemon watching for +sensor values, logging alarms and feeding an RRD database with the sensor +measurements. + + OTHER INFORMATION ----------------- |