summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation/hwmon/via686a.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/hwmon/via686a.rst')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/hwmon/via686a.rst84
1 files changed, 84 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/hwmon/via686a.rst b/Documentation/hwmon/via686a.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a343c35df740
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/hwmon/via686a.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+Kernel driver via686a
+=====================
+
+Supported chips:
+
+ * Via VT82C686A, VT82C686B Southbridge Integrated Hardware Monitor
+
+ Prefix: 'via686a'
+
+ Addresses scanned: ISA in PCI-space encoded address
+
+ Datasheet: On request through web form (http://www.via.com.tw/en/resources/download-center/)
+
+Authors:
+ - Kyösti Mälkki <kmalkki@cc.hut.fi>,
+ - Mark D. Studebaker <mdsxyz123@yahoo.com>
+ - Bob Dougherty <bobd@stanford.edu>
+ - (Some conversion-factor data were contributed by
+ - Jonathan Teh Soon Yew <j.teh@iname.com>
+ - and Alex van Kaam <darkside@chello.nl>.)
+
+Module Parameters
+-----------------
+
+======================= =======================================================
+force_addr=0xaddr Set the I/O base address. Useful for boards that
+ don't set the address in the BIOS. Look for a BIOS
+ upgrade before resorting to this. Does not do a
+ PCI force; the via686a must still be present in lspci.
+ Don't use this unless the driver complains that the
+ base address is not set.
+ Example: 'modprobe via686a force_addr=0x6000'
+======================= =======================================================
+
+Description
+-----------
+
+The driver does not distinguish between the chips and reports
+all as a 686A.
+
+The Via 686a southbridge has integrated hardware monitor functionality.
+It also has an I2C bus, but this driver only supports the hardware monitor.
+For the I2C bus driver, see <file:Documentation/i2c/busses/i2c-viapro>
+
+The Via 686a implements three temperature sensors, two fan rotation speed
+sensors, five voltage sensors and alarms.
+
+Temperatures are measured in degrees Celsius. An alarm is triggered once
+when the Overtemperature Shutdown limit is crossed; it is triggered again
+as soon as it drops below the hysteresis value.
+
+Fan rotation speeds are reported in RPM (rotations per minute). An alarm is
+triggered if the rotation speed has dropped below a programmable limit. Fan
+readings can be divided by a programmable divider (1, 2, 4 or 8) to give
+the readings more range or accuracy. Not all RPM values can accurately be
+represented, so some rounding is done. With a divider of 2, the lowest
+representable value is around 2600 RPM.
+
+Voltage sensors (also known as IN sensors) report their values in volts.
+An alarm is triggered if the voltage has crossed a programmable minimum
+or maximum limit. Voltages are internally scalled, so each voltage channel
+has a different resolution and range.
+
+If an alarm triggers, it will remain triggered until the hardware register
+is read at least once. This means that the cause for the alarm may
+already have disappeared! Note that in the current implementation, all
+hardware registers are read whenever any data is read (unless it is less
+than 1.5 seconds since the last update). This means that you can easily
+miss once-only alarms.
+
+The driver only updates its values each 1.5 seconds; reading it more often
+will do no harm, but will return 'old' values.
+
+Known Issues
+------------
+
+This driver handles sensors integrated in some VIA south bridges. It is
+possible that a motherboard maker used a VT82C686A/B chip as part of a
+product design but was not interested in its hardware monitoring features,
+in which case the sensor inputs will not be wired. This is the case of
+the Asus K7V, A7V and A7V133 motherboards, to name only a few of them.
+So, if you need the force_addr parameter, and end up with values which
+don't seem to make any sense, don't look any further: your chip is simply
+not wired for hardware monitoring.