diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/hwmon/sysfs-interface | 45 |
1 files changed, 29 insertions, 16 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/hwmon/sysfs-interface b/Documentation/hwmon/sysfs-interface index bc59a5113d17..d1d390aaf620 100644 --- a/Documentation/hwmon/sysfs-interface +++ b/Documentation/hwmon/sysfs-interface @@ -3,15 +3,15 @@ Naming and data format standards for sysfs files The libsensors library offers an interface to the raw sensors data through the sysfs interface. See libsensors documentation and source for -more further information. As of writing this document, libsensors -(from lm_sensors 2.8.3) is heavily chip-dependant. Adding or updating +further information. As of writing this document, libsensors +(from lm_sensors 2.8.3) is heavily chip-dependent. Adding or updating support for any given chip requires modifying the library's code. This is because libsensors was written for the procfs interface older kernel modules were using, which wasn't standardized enough. Recent versions of libsensors (from lm_sensors 2.8.2 and later) have support for the sysfs interface, though. -The new sysfs interface was designed to be as chip-independant as +The new sysfs interface was designed to be as chip-independent as possible. Note that motherboards vary widely in the connections to sensor chips. @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ 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-independant libsensors, it will +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. @@ -39,15 +39,16 @@ If you are developing a userspace application please send us feedback on this standard. Note that this standard isn't completely established yet, so it is subject -to changes, even important ones. One more reason to use the library instead -of accessing sysfs files directly. +to changes. If you are writing a new hardware monitoring driver those +features can't seem to fit in this interface, please contact us with your +extension proposal. Keep in mind that backward compatibility must be +preserved. Each chip gets its own directory in the sysfs /sys/devices tree. To -find all sensor chips, it is easier to follow the symlinks from -/sys/i2c/devices/ +find all sensor chips, it is easier to follow the device symlinks from +/sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*. -All sysfs values are fixed point numbers. To get the true value of some -of the values, you should divide by the specified value. +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 @@ -77,6 +78,9 @@ RW read/write value Read/write values may be read-only for some chips, depending on the hardware implementation. +All entries are optional, and should only be created in a given driver +if the chip has the feature. + ************ * Voltages * ************ @@ -213,32 +217,32 @@ temp[1-*]_type Sensor type selection. Not all types are supported by all chips temp[1-*]_max Temperature max value. - Unit: millidegree Celcius + Unit: millidegree Celsius (or millivolt, see below) RW temp[1-*]_min Temperature min value. - Unit: millidegree Celcius + Unit: millidegree Celsius RW temp[1-*]_max_hyst Temperature hysteresis value for max limit. - Unit: millidegree Celcius + Unit: millidegree Celsius Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta from the max value. RW temp[1-*]_input Temperature input value. - Unit: millidegree Celcius + Unit: millidegree Celsius RO temp[1-*]_crit Temperature critical value, typically greater than corresponding temp_max values. - Unit: millidegree Celcius + Unit: millidegree Celsius RW temp[1-*]_crit_hyst Temperature hysteresis value for critical limit. - Unit: millidegree Celcius + Unit: millidegree Celsius Must be reported as an absolute temperature, NOT a delta from the critical value. RW @@ -256,6 +260,15 @@ temp[1-4]_offset itself, for example the thermal diode inside the CPU or a thermistor nearby. +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. |