I had to build my own kernel to get my Dell XPS 9700 laptop fans configurable using the app-laptop/i8kutils package. The kernel parameter CONFIG_I8K=y must be set to use this utility, or the i8k module cannot be loaded. As far as I know there's no other easy way to control the fans on my XPS. Only reporting it because Immolism on YouTube requested I open a ticket to get this fixed in the distribution kernel. Reproducible: Always
I don't currently have the distribution kernel installed anymore so I can't paste the exact error message, but using "i8kfan" does not work without the I8K module loaded, and this module requires CONFIG_I8K=y when building the kernel. If any more info is needed let me know and I can reinstall the distribution kernel.
Note that you can customize the distribution kernel configuration by putting custom config snippets in /etc/kernel/config.d/. That being said, I don't see a reason why this is disabled so I think we can enable it in the next config.
As per the linked issue in github this is because app-laptop/i8kutils is using a deprecated interface which all dist kernels have been trying to phase out. This is a bug in app-laptop/i8kutils not sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel IMO.
(In reply to Andrew Nowa Ammerlaan from comment #2) > Note that you can customize the distribution kernel configuration by putting > custom config snippets in /etc/kernel/config.d/. > > That being said, I don't see a reason why this is disabled so I think we can > enable it in the next config. That's good to know, I'll try that instead of using genkernel next time - seems easier. (In reply to immolo from comment #3) > As per the linked issue in github this is because app-laptop/i8kutils is > using a deprecated interface which all dist kernels have been trying to > phase out. > > This is a bug in app-laptop/i8kutils not sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel IMO. Also good to know. I appreciate you both looking into this. Either way I have a workaround, so take whatever action is most appropriate.
(In reply to jryan32 from comment #4) > Also good to know. I appreciate you both looking into this. Either way I > have a workaround, so take whatever action is most appropriate. Would you mind submitting the output of emerge --info for us please to get some system info to look into. Also could I please ask if you mind installing sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel-bin and sys-apps/lms-sensors to see if fancontrol matches functionality as there are vague reports of fancontrol being a replacement to needing i8kutils. Thanks
Here is my emerge --info. I actually had reinstalled sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel for testing something else, so this output is using that kernel. I'll try out fancontrol when I get off work. Thanks. ----------------------------- Portage 3.0.65 (python 3.12.3-final-0, default/linux/amd64/23.0/desktop/plasma, gcc-13, glibc-2.40, 6.10.2-gentoo-dist x86_64) ================================================================= System uname: Linux-6.10.2-gentoo-dist-x86_64-Intel-R-_Core-TM-_i7-10875H_CPU_@_2.30GHz-with-glibc2.40 KiB Mem: 32598128 total, 26904384 free KiB Swap: 0 total, 0 free Timestamp of repository gentoo: Mon, 29 Jul 2024 00:15:00 +0000 Head commit of repository gentoo: f435c5f6d9616ed0b5cd2a14947c7463a28eb159 Timestamp of repository pf4public: Sun, 28 Jul 2024 22:33:43 +0000 Head commit of repository pf4public: 84be46857aa87ba41180e3f201783e7cde8ef479 Timestamp of repository sage-on-gentoo: Sun, 28 Jul 2024 17:48:54 +0000 Head commit of repository sage-on-gentoo: 3c3f23663bcbb6f1464dbf9799963d132c6ebffc Timestamp of repository steam-overlay: Mon, 15 Jul 2024 07:34:33 +0000 Head commit of repository steam-overlay: 8cfcc3f068b712dce3d91d3020afb058f68aa036 sh bash 5.2_p26-r8 ld GNU ld (Gentoo 2.42 p6) 2.42.0 app-misc/pax-utils: 1.3.7::gentoo app-shells/bash: 5.2_p26-r8::gentoo dev-build/autoconf: 2.13-r8::gentoo, 2.71-r7::gentoo, 2.72-r1::gentoo dev-build/automake: 1.16.5-r2::gentoo, 1.17-r1::gentoo dev-build/cmake: 3.30.1::gentoo dev-build/libtool: 2.4.7-r4::gentoo dev-build/make: 4.4.1-r1::gentoo dev-build/meson: 1.5.0::gentoo dev-java/java-config: 2.3.4::gentoo dev-lang/perl: 5.40.0::gentoo dev-lang/python: 3.11.9-r1::gentoo, 3.12.3-r1::gentoo, 3.13.0_beta4::gentoo dev-lang/rust-bin: 1.79.0::gentoo sys-apps/baselayout: 2.15::gentoo sys-apps/openrc: 0.54.2::gentoo sys-apps/sandbox: 2.39::gentoo sys-devel/binutils: 2.42-r2::gentoo sys-devel/binutils-config: 5.5.2::gentoo sys-devel/clang: 17.0.6::gentoo, 18.1.8::gentoo sys-devel/gcc: 13.3.1_p20240614::gentoo, 14.1.1_p20240720::gentoo sys-devel/gcc-config: 2.11::gentoo sys-devel/lld: 17.0.6::gentoo, 18.1.8::gentoo sys-devel/llvm: 17.0.6::gentoo, 18.1.8-r2::gentoo sys-kernel/linux-headers: 6.9::gentoo (virtual/os-headers) sys-libs/glibc: 2.40::gentoo Repositories: gentoo location: /var/db/repos/gentoo sync-type: rsync sync-uri: { removed since my account is new and can't post URLs yet } priority: -1000 volatile: False sync-rsync-verify-jobs: 1 sync-rsync-verify-metamanifest: yes sync-rsync-verify-max-age: 3 sync-rsync-extra-opts: pf4public location: /var/db/repos/pf4public sync-type: git sync-uri: { removed since my account is new and can't post URLs yet } masters: gentoo volatile: False sage-on-gentoo location: /var/db/repos/sage-on-gentoo sync-type: git sync-uri: { removed since my account is new and can't post URLs yet } masters: gentoo volatile: False steam-overlay location: /var/db/repos/steam-overlay sync-type: git sync-uri: { removed since my account is new and can't post URLs yet } masters: gentoo volatile: False astral-vault location: /data/gentoo-overlay/overlay masters: gentoo priority: 9999 volatile: True Binary Repositories: gentoobinhost priority: 1 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branding bzip2 cairo cdda cdr cet crypt cups dbus declarative dist-kernel dracut dri dts dvd dvdr elogind encode exif flac gdbm gif gpm gtk gui iconv icu ipv6 jpeg kde kf6compat kwallet lcms libnotify libtirpc mad mng mp3 mp4 mpeg multilib ncurses networkmanager nls ogg opengl openmp pam pango pcre pdf pipewire plasma png policykit ppds pulseaudio qml qt5 qt6 readline screencast sdl seccomp semantic-desktop sound spell ssl startup-notification svg test-rust tiff truetype udev udisks unicode upower usb vorbis vulkan wayland widgets wxwidgets x264 xattr xcb xft xml xv xvid zlib" ABI_X86="64" ADA_TARGET="gcc_12" APACHE2_MODULES="authn_core authz_core socache_shmcb unixd actions alias auth_basic authn_anon authn_dbm authn_file authz_dbm authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache cgi cgid dav dav_fs dav_lock deflate dir env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers include info log_config logio mime mime_magic negotiation rewrite setenvif speling status unique_id 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Created attachment 898805 [details] console output of pwmcofnig Just a quick update regarding fancontrol. I tried setting that up to use instead of i8kutils. It seems fancontrol can indeed control the fans, however, the setup is a bit complex due to the amount of sensors it wants me to choose from. Using the pwmconfig utility that lm-sensors provides, it detected my fans and was able to spin them up and down as expected. It offers to generate config but I'll need to do more research to get the configuration working. I attached the pwmconfig console output. If i8k is deprecated and this is the new suggested interface, perhaps i8kutils should update their method of controlling the fans as Immolo suggested. I'll try to get this properly configured and report back. In the meantime, I've been using the Gentoo distribution kernel with the CONFIG_I8K defined in my /etc/kernel/config.d/ Thanks again for all the help!
Thanks for confirming! Looking around the i8kutils issue tracker I feel this program is going to break again for users that depend on this program at some point in the future, so we should start the migration process from i8kutils to fancontrol and let users switch when they feel it's right. As I don't have the hardware to confirm could I please ask you to either write the steps on the Gentoo wiki for others to follow or just send me some rough notes on the steps needed and I can do the write up instead.
Sure give me a couple days to figure out a proper setup for fancontrol when I have time and I'll add any new findings to the fancontrol article on the wiki. I wanted to get involved with the wiki so this is a good place to start. This issue is resolved for me so you can close it if you want. Thanks again!
I'll add notes to the Dell XPS 17 page on enabling the CONFIG_I8K flag for using i8kutils, and noting that fancontrol is a possible alternative. Up to you guys if you want to enable the flag by default. I don't know how common the i8k interface is.
