root/lm-sensors/tags/V2-2-0/README

Revision 232, 4.4 kB (checked in by frodo, 10 years ago)

Added MAX1617 support, and documented it.

  • Property svn:eol-style set to native
  • Property svn:keywords set to Author Date Id Revision
Line 
1 This is the completely rewritten version of lm_sensors, a collection of
2 modules for general SMBus access and hardware monitoring. There are quite
3 a few changes compared with 1.x.y versions; read doc/version-2 for the
4 most interesting ones.
5
6 WARNING! If you downloaded this package through our CVS archive, you walk
7 the cutting edge. Things may not even compile! On the other hand, you will
8 be the first to profit from new drivers and other changes. Have fun!
9
10 WARNING! Some things have changed since version 2.1.2. Most notably,
11 module piix4 is renamed i2c-piix4, module isa is renamed i2c-isa,
12 and module bit-mb is renamed i2c-via. You have been warned.
13
14 At least the following SMBus adapters are supported:
15   Intel PIIX4 (used in most Intel chipsets)
16   Acer Labs M1541 and M1543C (used in the Aladdin IV, V and Pro 2 chipsets)
17   VIA Technologies 82C586B (used in most VIA chipsets)
18
19 At least the following hardware sensor chips are supported:
20   National Semicoductor LM75, LM78, LM78-J, LM79 and LM80
21   Winbond W83781D
22   Genesys Logic GL518SM
23   Analog Devices ADM1021 and ADM9240
24   SiS Southbridge (integrated in the chipset; the I2C adapter will also be
25     supported in the near future)
26   Maxtor MAX1617
27
28 We could use some testers of hardware. If you own a specific monitoring
29 chip or I2C bus, and are willing to help us out, please contact us - even
30 if you did so before. Even if you have no programming knowledge, you could
31 help us by running new modules and reporting on the results and output.
32 If you want to offer more substantial help, this is very welcome too, of
33 course. We have access to LM78(-J), LM79, LM75, Winbond W83781D and
34 GL518SM chips, and PIIX4 and VIA chipsets.
35
36
37 SMBus, also known as System Management Bus, is a protocol for communicating
38 through a I2C ('I squared C') bus. Many modern mainboards have a System
39 Management Bus. There are a lot of devices which can be connected to a
40 SMBus; the most notable are modern memory chips with EEPROM memories and
41 chips for hardware monitoring.
42
43 Most modern mainboards incorporate some form of hardware monitoring chips.
44 These chips read things like chip temperatures, fan rotation speeds and
45 voltage levels. There are quite a few different chips which can be used
46 by mainboard builders for approximately the same results.
47
48 Hardware monitoring chips are often connected to the SMBus, but often they
49 can also be connected to the ISA bus. The modules in this package usually
50 support both ways of accessing them.
51
52 Because the SMBus is just a special case of the generalized I2C bus, we
53 can simulate the SMBus protocol on plain I2C busses. These busses are
54 sometimes used in other parts of your computer. If a supported chip is
55 attached to one of these additional busses, they can be used too.
56
57 Please read INSTALL before trying to compile and install these modules.
58 There is a lot of additional documentation in the doc/ subdirectory.
59 Amnong these is a list of supported busses and chips. Regrettably, there
60 are too many mainboards to keep a list of busses and chips used on them.
61 We will provide a user-space utility which probes for the presence of
62 chips and busses in one of the next releases.
63
64 The developers of this package can be reached through the email address
65 <lm78@stimpy.netroedge.com>. Do not hesitate to mail us if you have questions,
66 suggestions, problems, want to contribute, or just want to report it works
67 for you. But please try to read the documentation and FAQ first before you ask
68 any questions!
69
70 The latest version of this package can always be found on our homepage:
71 http://www.netroedge.com/~lm78. Pre-release  versions can be retrieved
72 through anonymous CVS; see doc/cvs for more information.
73
74 This whole package is copyright (c) 1998, 1999 by Frodo Looijaard and
75 Philip Edelbrock, except for (almost) everything in the i2c directory, which
76 is copyright (c) 1995-1999 by Simon Vogl, and a few drivers written by
77 other people. See the individual files for more exact copyright information. 
78 This package may be distributed according to the GNU General Public License
79 (GPL), as included in the file COPYING.
80
81 Note that at this moment, libsensors falls under the GPL, not the LGPL.
82 In more human language, that means it is FORBIDDEN to link any application
83 to the library, even to the shared version, if the application itself
84 does not fall under the GPL. This will probably be changed in the future.
85 In the meantime, you will have to contact us first if you want to do this.
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the browser.