kernel driver for USB liquid cooler controls

kernel driver for USB liquid cooler controls

[jaap aarts]

Hello USB mailing list,

There are all-in-one liquid coolers for your CPU (like the corsair
h100i), these are populair among gamers and high-end desktop
enthusiasts for cooling their CPU. Under windows these have
proprietary software that control the fan speed, pump speed and most
importantly (for gamers) the RGB led controls.
Under linux there is software that manages to control these devices by
talking to the device via USB. But this doesn't allow for the fans to
be controlled via generic fan control under linux.
As a hobby project I started to implement some of the features from
one of these user-space drivers as a kernel module.
Some features would have to be device specific like RGB controls, but
fan and pump speed could be controlled just like system fans.
I was wondering if there would be any interest in having a driver for
these all-in-one usb controlled coolers in the linux kernel itself?

Thanks

Jaap Aarts

Re: kernel driver for USB liquid cooler controls

[Greg KH]

On Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 11:39:27AM +0200, jaap aarts wrote:
> Hello USB mailing list,
> 
> There are all-in-one liquid coolers for your CPU (like the corsair
> h100i), these are populair among gamers and high-end desktop
> enthusiasts for cooling their CPU. Under windows these have
> proprietary software that control the fan speed, pump speed and most
> importantly (for gamers) the RGB led controls.
> Under linux there is software that manages to control these devices by
> talking to the device via USB. But this doesn't allow for the fans to
> be controlled via generic fan control under linux.
> As a hobby project I started to implement some of the features from
> one of these user-space drivers as a kernel module.
> Some features would have to be device specific like RGB controls, but
> fan and pump speed could be controlled just like system fans.
> I was wondering if there would be any interest in having a driver for
> these all-in-one usb controlled coolers in the linux kernel itself?

Sure, why not, just tie into the correct kernel subsystems and all will
be good.  What exact device do you have, I have one here that I could
test with if it's the same one.

thanks,

greg k-h

Re: kernel driver for USB liquid cooler controls

[jaap aarts]

I have a corsair h100i v2, I am currently only developing with that atm.
I am currently using the protocol from
https://github.com/audiohacked/OpenCorsairLink which supports pretty
much all corsair products.
I dont have the money myself to buy all the products available but
https://github.com/jonasmalacofilho/liquidctl has other devices
available.
They are both GPL licensed so that should be no problem.
I have no idea who would test other products/brands, but since a lot
share the same controller it might not be that big of a deal.

Jaap Aarts

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 at 11:56, Greg KH <greg@kroah.com> wrote:
>
> On Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 11:39:27AM +0200, jaap aarts wrote:
> > Hello USB mailing list,
> >
> > There are all-in-one liquid coolers for your CPU (like the corsair
> > h100i), these are populair among gamers and high-end desktop
> > enthusiasts for cooling their CPU. Under windows these have
> > proprietary software that control the fan speed, pump speed and most
> > importantly (for gamers) the RGB led controls.
> > Under linux there is software that manages to control these devices by
> > talking to the device via USB. But this doesn't allow for the fans to
> > be controlled via generic fan control under linux.
> > As a hobby project I started to implement some of the features from
> > one of these user-space drivers as a kernel module.
> > Some features would have to be device specific like RGB controls, but
> > fan and pump speed could be controlled just like system fans.
> > I was wondering if there would be any interest in having a driver for
> > these all-in-one usb controlled coolers in the linux kernel itself?
>
> Sure, why not, just tie into the correct kernel subsystems and all will
> be good.  What exact device do you have, I have one here that I could
> test with if it's the same one.
>
> thanks,
>
> greg k-h

Re: kernel driver for USB liquid cooler controls

[jaap aarts]

Can you send me the cooler you have?
From some research I did, all asetek gen 6 (asetek is the OEM for
almost all AIO coolers) coolers should use the same protocol.
I currently have fan control working in an out-of-tree driver, I still
had a few questions I asked on the kernel newbies list I wanted
answered  before submitting this driver.
It would be great if someone with a different cooler could test the
driver as well.

Thanks,

Jaap Aarts

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 at 13:04, jaap aarts <jaap.aarts1@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I have a corsair h100i v2, I am currently only developing with that atm.
> I am currently using the protocol from
> https://github.com/audiohacked/OpenCorsairLink which supports pretty
> much all corsair products.
> I dont have the money myself to buy all the products available but
> https://github.com/jonasmalacofilho/liquidctl has other devices
> available.
> They are both GPL licensed so that should be no problem.
> I have no idea who would test other products/brands, but since a lot
> share the same controller it might not be that big of a deal.
>
> Jaap Aarts
>
> On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 at 11:56, Greg KH <greg@kroah.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 11:39:27AM +0200, jaap aarts wrote:
> > > Hello USB mailing list,
> > >
> > > There are all-in-one liquid coolers for your CPU (like the corsair
> > > h100i), these are populair among gamers and high-end desktop
> > > enthusiasts for cooling their CPU. Under windows these have
> > > proprietary software that control the fan speed, pump speed and most
> > > importantly (for gamers) the RGB led controls.
> > > Under linux there is software that manages to control these devices by
> > > talking to the device via USB. But this doesn't allow for the fans to
> > > be controlled via generic fan control under linux.
> > > As a hobby project I started to implement some of the features from
> > > one of these user-space drivers as a kernel module.
> > > Some features would have to be device specific like RGB controls, but
> > > fan and pump speed could be controlled just like system fans.
> > > I was wondering if there would be any interest in having a driver for
> > > these all-in-one usb controlled coolers in the linux kernel itself?
> >
> > Sure, why not, just tie into the correct kernel subsystems and all will
> > be good.  What exact device do you have, I have one here that I could
> > test with if it's the same one.
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > greg k-h