How to turn on my sensors for MX Quick Info? [Solved]

[Solon]

I was checking up on my new Acer laptop (Dual boot with Win 11 (which I never use)) computer, and noticed that it did not give me any information about temperature, etc.

I also use an older Toshiba Satellite laptop - MX 19/Win 7 dual-boot - with a somewhat clogged up fan (really hard to access & clean per YouTube videos (hence time for the new computer (& transfer over files, etc.)). When on the Toshiba - from time to time I hit the <Quick Info> to check on the temperature of the CPU in case it gets up past 90 degrees C. And QI in MX 19 on my Toshiba readily gives me that CPU temperature information.

Speaking of Quick Info, here's my MX 21 Acer data:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 6.1.0-2mx-amd64 [6.1.7-1~mx21+1] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-2mx-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.20.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM 
           Distro: MX-21.3_KDE_x64 Wildflower September 18  2022 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire A715-42G v: V1.08 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LN model: Azalea_CAS v: V1.08 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.08 
           date: 09/15/2021 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 50.1 Wh (100.0%) condition: 50.1/47.8 Wh (104.8%) volts: 12.5 
           min: 11.2 model: LGC AP18C8K type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:       Info: 6-Core model: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
           arch: Zen 2 family: 17 (23) model-id: 68 (104) stepping: 1 microcode: 8608103 cache: 
           L2: 3 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 50304 
           Speed: 1211 MHz min/max: 1400/2100 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1636 
           2: 1400 3: 4044 4: 4048 5: 1400 6: 1746 7: 1600 8: 1400 9: 1553 10: 1793 11: 1701 
           12: 1400 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected 
           Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT enabled with STIBP protection 
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: always-on, RSB 
           filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA TU117M [GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile / Max-Q] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
           driver: nvidia v: 525.116.04 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1f9d class-ID: 0302 
           Device-2: AMD Lucienne vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: amdgpu v: kernel 
           bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:164c class-ID: 0300 
           Device-3: Chicony HD User Facing type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 3-3:3 
           chip-ID: 04f2:b72b class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter> 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.14 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: 
           loaded: amdgpu,ati,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa alternate: nv 
           display-ID: :0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: eDP res: 1920x1080 hz: 144 dpi: 142 size: 344x194mm (13.5x7.6") 
           diag: 395mm (15.5") 
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD RENOIR (LLVM 14.0.5 DRM 3.49 6.1.0-2mx-amd64) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 05:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: AMD ACP/ACP3X/ACP6x Audio Coprocessor 
           vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Processor driver: N/A 
           alternate: snd_pci_acp3x, snd_rn_pci_acp3x, snd_pci_acp5x, snd_pci_acp6x 
           bus-ID: 05:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480 
           Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 05:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.1.0-2mx-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 
           chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: MEDIATEK MT7921 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On 
           driver: mt7921e v: kernel modules: wl port: 2000 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:7961 
           class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Lite-On Wireless_Device type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-4:3 
           chip-ID: 04ca:3802 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter> 
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: down bt-service: N/A rfk-block: 
           hardware: no software: no address: <filter> 
           Info: acl-mtu: 1021:6 sco-mtu: 240:8 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: slave accept 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 49.65 GiB (5.3%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD Blue SN570 1TB 
           size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 
           type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 234110WD temp: 37.9 C scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 34.18 GiB size: 33.35 GiB (97.56%) used: 18.29 GiB (54.9%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5 
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 260 MiB size: 256 MiB (98.46%) used: 55 MiB (21.5%) fs: vfat 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 
           ID-3: /home raw-size: 195.31 GiB size: 191.19 GiB (97.89%) used: 31.3 GiB (16.4%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 9.77 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 maj-min: 259:7 
Sensors:   Message: No sensor data found. Is lm-sensors configured? 
Repos:     Packages: 2464 note: see --pkg apt: 2458 lib: 1381 flatpak: 6 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
           2: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye ahs
Info:      Processes: 264 Uptime: 3h 35m wakeups: 2 Memory: 7.11 GiB used: 2.19 GiB (30.8%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 10.2.1 
           alt: 10 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: UEFI

You will note that it says that I may need to "configure" my sensors.

While I'm not afraid to get into Konsole or Yakuake, I don't really know what I am doing when it comes to using: command lines. So some exact instructions would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Eadwine Rose]

You will need to google on sensors for that system and see what pops up.

For example my sensors are VERY minimal if I don't run through a procedure to activate them. It has nothing to do with QSI or MX, simply has to do with the mobo and sensors drivers or something like that.

[MXRobo]

Ditto what Eadwine said.
A search for linux how to configure lm-sensors brought up a few - what seemed to be relevant - hits.

[Eadwine Rose]

Do include your mobo, that will significantly lessen the result. "Activate sensors on motherboardname" or something like that.

[Stevo]

sudo sensors-detect

[Eadwine Rose]

I am thinking way too difficult again.. yes start with that Stevo says

I had to do extra things to activate them.

[Solon]

You will need to google on sensors for that system and see what pops up.

For example my sensors are VERY minimal if I don't run through a procedure to activate them. It has nothing to do with QSI or MX, simply has to do with the mobo and sensors drivers or something like that.

Okay, sorry about the delay (real world got in the way), but I did get ahold of my temperature sensors and can read them. Turns out that with a modern Laptop, this is not really much of an issue, because temperature is handled by the computer's ACPI. I also went out to the AMD website, and the 'do not exceed' temperature for my chip is around 105C, while the computer keeps it around 45C!!!

Anyway, I did what you discuss, Eadwine Rose, and I did find a way to read the temperatures for ALL modern laptops using Linux. I found a great video on YouTube, and this fellow has a full written description of the same. Both are listed here:

How to check CPU temperature on Linux - Youtube
How to check CPU temperature on Linux - written - addictivetips website

IMPORTANT: Every one agrees that you need to activate < lm-sensors >. (That first letter is lower case "L" if you're wondering.) But MX is not pure Debian. Good news is that < lm-sensors > exists in the MXPI under the "Enabled Repos" TAB. So type in your search, and two boxes will pop up. Just check the box titled < lm-sensors > and hit the "Install" button.
Do NOT install the second offering < mrtgutils-sensors >, it is no help at all (I record my investigation and the results at the end of this posting (see below)).
At this point you need to follow the instructions in the video and from Stevo here.

sudo sensors-detect

This will activate your computer's sensors. I did as instructed and only followed the CAPITALIZED recommendations in the list that came up in Konsole (or Yakuake). Note: there are a lot of choices, just keep hitting Y or N! All of this input and effort, HOWEVER, did NOT allow me to see my temperatures in the Quick Info screen under the "Sensors" section... BUT there is a solution, as per the video.
You NEXT need to install: Psensor.

So, go back to the "Enabled Repos" TAB, type in "Psensor" and you will find three offering for "Psensor". The first two are relevant, and the last looks a lot like it is for a network system, similar to the the offering for "mrtg", and so I did not install it. I installed the first two: < psensor > and < psensor-common >.

Once you install them, and reboot your computer, you will find that you have a new program listed in your start-up menu under "System". It is called, not surprisingly: "Psensor". Click on it and it will pop-up and show you all your sensor readings. Once you activate it, a small icon that looks like a 'Thermometer' will appear in the bottom task tray of your desktop. That way you can access it any time you wish. HOWEVER, it will NOT appear next time you boot-up, unless you call it up from "System" again. (You can probably change this in your settings if you wish it to be permanent.)

NOW: I recommend that you check out the YouTube video + article mentioned above about managing the 'settings' to get Psensor labeling, readouts and graph set-up to be useful for you.

So that is IT guys, how to get sensor readings. However, my inability to get them to show in the Quick Info, is still a mystery. One possibility is that I have an AMD chip, and there were a few questions in the 'detect' section, which dealt with AMD stuff, but they were recommended as NO, so I did not activate them (whatever they were); which may be what is going on here with Quick Info.

Have fun with Psensor -- it's not complicated, and it will satisfy your needs!

About MRTG (for the curious!):
[< mrtgutils-sensors > appears underneath < lm-sensors >. In Enabled Repos TAB -- you can check another box titled "mrtgutils-sensors". While the description says that it is designed to '...generate statistics for mrtg (from lm-sensors)", it is NOT useful for our purposes, and will have no effect on what happens above. So do NOT install it!
A quick search of "mrtg" leads you "Multi Router Traffic Grapher". You quickly understand that it involves generating an overall picture of the sensors and operation of multiple systems in a network. Also, mrtg has to be installed separately, and according to some comments, mrtg is constantly active and is accused of bogging down a system! (Note: I did install the mrtgutils-sensors and rebooted after I got my sensors working, but it did not result in my sensors coming up on the Quick Info, so I then uninstalled it.)]