Made a CPU/GPU temp mod for iMON, now what else do we need?

[jesterace]

After trying a few iMON mods that try to display temps and being a bit dissapointed with what they can do i've had a go myself. Also, unlike some mods i managed to hook onto the software well enough to be able to retain the scrolling text abilities. I can also display double lines of text for special situations.

What does this mean? Well for a start it will integrate better with iMON, you can control the scroll speed, text size etc and it will work seamlessly with my mod.

At the moment i've added CPU temps (for Intel Dual/Quad cores) and GPU temps for nVidia video cards. Oh and an E-Mail check that will do POP3 and SSL. I'd like this mod to have everything everyone needs out of their iMON, so if you think this is a good idea and what to contribute. Write down what you think should be in it e.g. HDD temps, GPU core/memory clocks etc. The most popular i'm going to have a go at adding in. It's going to be plug-in based anyway so if you know some c++ / c# you can just make your own .dll to work with my mod :)

I'm going to release this mod quite soon and will continue making plugins to go into it.

Lets make iMON what it should be!

[majstang]

At the moment i've added CPU temps (for Intel Dual/Quad cores) and GPU temps for nVidia video cards. Oh and an E-Mail check that will do POP3 and SSL.

Please, let us know when u added GPU temps for ATI cards as well, only then it will be intresting at least for me :)

Will your plugin have some kind of on screen alarmfunction telling me if temp gets dangerously high or such?

[jesterace]

Hi majstang,
There isn't a temp. alarm function nope, but pretty simple task to include one:)

This is why i made this thread... to gather info on what people want. ATi GPU temps are a certain addition, that will be going in without a doubt.

[majstang]

There isn't a temp. alarm function nope, but pretty simple task to include one:)

This is why i made this thread... to gather info on what people want. ATi GPU temps are a certain addition, that will be going in without a doubt.
Sounds really good, man! One more thing...when i started to use a HTPC i soon discovered one videocard wasnt enough. I now have two, but not even AMD/ATI drivers/software gives the opportunity to read the temps for both cards/GPUs...only one. It would be great if its possible to gets measures from both GPUs in your plugin.

Regards majstang

[jesterace]

Hi,
You can monitor all temperatures of cards in sli from what i gather of using the nvidia sdk so far - can't say if thats the case for ati yet. I haven't got a second gtx 260 to try at the moment though. I'm going to grab a cheap Ati card with temp monitoring to get that sorted shortly, and see if theres any cheap gtx 260's i can buy or borrow - or someone donate one lol.

[jesterace]

UPDATE: managed to grab a cheap second hand gtx 260 so that i can add sli temperature support to this mod. Will post some screens/video of the mod/lcd working soon.

I'll be getting an ati card in a few days but since none of my PC's support crossfire it's gonna be a prob adding support for that at the moment. Perhaps those who use ATi crossfire can let me know what programs are most commonly used to read the temperatures? I could for the moment, probably stream the temps from such programs into my mod until i can get hold of a crossfire system for development.

[Ponders]

Nice work jesterace,

Couple of quick questions ...

Will your methods work with AGP cards?
Will this mod still work without Dual/Quad Core?

(I'm not fussed about CPU myself, but GFX readings would be great)

Thanks.

[majstang]

I'll be getting an ati card in a few days but since none of my PC's support crossfire it's gonna be a prob adding support for that at the moment. Perhaps those who use ATi crossfire can let me know what programs are most commonly used to read the temperatures? I could for the moment, probably stream the temps from such programs into my mod until i can get hold of a crossfire system for development.
Since nobody seem to have an answer for your question maybe the little i know about it could be helpful. Dont know much about crossfire, but I know that the Catalyst software/drivers supports it. Dont think you are abled to get temp for both cards simultainously even if crossfire is enabled. This is because the temp is read in Catalyst "ATi Overdrive" menu (only one temp meter) and not the Crossfire menu. I think you must have GPU-z to get temp from both cards. Not completly sure though....

[jesterace]

@ Ponders:

All card types supported, PCI, AGP, PCI-E... I finished the nvidia SLI support last night, up to 4 cards can have their temps read. Also added fahrenheit readings along side celsius.

On the display it looks like this e.g.

[GPU0] GeForce GTX 260 ~ Core Temp: xxc (xxxf)
[GPU1] GeForce GTX 260 ~ Core Temp: xxc (xxxf)
[GPU2] GeForce GTX 260 ~ Core Temp: xxc (xxxf)
[GPU3] GeForce GTX 260 ~ Core Temp: xxc (xxxf)

Each line displays seperately, and they scroll like normal iMON info.

For gamers you can switch the scrolling mode off in the mod and the info will show like this:

GeForce GTX 260 <--- top line
46c 47c 43c 49c <--- bottom line

In this mode the info stays on the screen and the temps are updated in realtime...

@ majstang

Thanks, i'll see if i can grab the readings from GPU-Z then offer up the mod for testing (gfx temps only).

[mitraleks]

I think that GPU/CPU temp in iMON not need. For that you may use many software programs. But for more easy development this feature Soundgraph may contact with developers of RivaTuner for use their hardware monitoring components(EVGA did it and now they have own monitoring software).

[jesterace]

@ mitraleks

Hi there, i can see you point there are lots of monitoring programs around. I flip between GPU-Z and RivaTuner regulary for tweaking and checking sensors etc. but the whole idea of this is for gamers, benchmarkers, overclockers etc or general enthusiasts who want constant monitoring of their PC. I for one like to know the health of my PC when it's under stress/load like when gaming.

IMO the IMON is really good, it is just missing some crucial functions ... that's what i'd like to sort out :)

[Zinger]

It's been compiled under x64...
Don't start iMonMod.exe in Se7en(rtm)x64.
Error: "It was not possible to start the appendix as its parallel configuration is wrong" (translate from russian)
iMon ver. 7.62.0721
Thanks for this project and sorry for my bad english :)

[jesterace]

Hello,
That error is probably because you don't have the c++ runtime package installed on your PC. To save anyone having to go thorough installing that i have just recompiled a 32 and 64 bit version that doesn't need the runtime. This compilation also includes a GPU-Z version that can be used to obtain ATi GPU temperatures. Here is a new link for you all:

http://rapidshare.com/files/270565090/iMonMod.zip

That should fix the startup error too.

[Zinger]

...you don't have the c++ runtime package installed on your PC
No, C++RP2005 has already been installed...
---
In the new version, after mod start shows:

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4572/93276719.jpg

But on the vfd (in system inf.) does not show gpu temp
---
iMon f/w 0x30, GTX280

[jesterace]

Hi,
It's the 2008 c++ runtime that this software uses, but no need for that now that it's working with the new compile.

Looking at the screenshot, are you finding that after "system information" a blank screen appears? This can happen if you haven't copied the new iMON.exe into the Program Files (x86)\SOUNDGRAPH\iMON folder.

Please check that first making sure you renamed your old iMON.exe (after exiting iMON) and put the new iMON.exe in it's place. Then launch iMON again followed by iMonMod64.exe. Also ensure that only System Information and iMON RC are ticked in iMON Manager.

Running iMonMod64 as Administrator can overcome this problem too.

If none of these tips work please let me know and i'll try and replicate this problem on another PC.

P.S. the "............." indicates that the mod is idle (not trying to display any information). When it works you'll notice brief sections of "............." followed by "displaying data/header" each time the vfd displays the temperatures.

[Zinger]

after "system information" a blank screen appears?
No, after "system information" it is instantly switched to date-time

Please check that first making sure you renamed your old iMON.exe (after exiting iMON) and put the new iMON.exe in it's place. Then launch iMON again followed by iMonMod64.exe. Also ensure that only System Information and iMON RC are ticked in iMON Manager.
Yes, I read a manual :) And all has been made correctly:
* Replacing original to modified iMON.exe
* Start iMON.exe and after that - iMonMod64.exe
* Only Sys.Info and RC are ticked
I work with disabled UAC and as administrator.
---
imho, does not initialization my vfd display?

[jesterace]

Hi again,
Please check the system information page of iMON and place a tick in "OS information". Remove tick from all others, then retry. Let me know how it goes :)

[Zinger]

...place a tick in "OS information". Remove tick from all others...
No problems, I'll make it! :) But I am assured of the same result...
---
Result on vfd display: date-time -> sys.info -> OS info "windows 7..." -> date-time -> sys.info -> OS info "windows 7..."
iMonMod64.exe continues to show points "............."
---
For example:
At Russian forum (iXBT.com) there was a similar experiment with Everest.exe. Problems were in initialization concrete firmware vfd display.
You are assured, what not in it the reason? Really - it is very similar!

[jesterace]

Hi there,
Thanks for trying that, it would seem there is some issue stopping iMonMod.exe from writing to the iMON.exe process properly from what i can tell. I am going to try this again on some more Win7 PC's to replicate the problem.

It shouldn't be any kind of VFD initialization problem, since this program "hooks" onto the string pointers of iMON and injects new strings into the process. So it doesn't disturb the normal initialization sequence of the VFD/iMON. I will of course check into that though.

While i am testing further, can you please confirm the software and hardware you are running?

O.S. / RAM / VFD TYPE

I am assuming you are running the iMON UltraBay? and not any other Soundgraph VFD? In iMON it says for me Firmware Version 0x9a.

[Zinger]

confirm the software and hardware you are running?
iMON VFD Thermaltake Media Lab (http://www.thermaltake.com/product_overview.aspx?PARENT_CID=C_00000158) f/w 0x30, soft ver. 7.62.0721, M/b Chipset X48, CPU Q9550, RAM 6Gb(1066), GTX280, Se7en x64, Everywhere the latest drivers.

[jesterace]

Thanks, i'm not sure how similar the VFD is to the UltraBay but at the moment this looks like the most likely cause of the problem - different hardware. I wonder if there is anyone here with the UltraBay who could confirm it is working at all?

I will continue checking on other Win7 PC's...

[majstang]

Hi majstang,
There isn't a temp. alarm function nope, but pretty simple task to include one:)
Hi jesterace!

I had a close call yesterday morning when my Zalman Reserator XT for unknown reasons simply stopped pumping water and cooling my system. I was asleep and heard the alarm from the resreator after about 20 minutes (a low sound alarm). My system was without cooling just as long :( I have now ordered an extra pump.

Do you think it would be possible updating your plugin for the latetst iMON Manager update 7.63.0831 (cuz it fixed crucial bug i have suffered from a whole year) and adding this alarmfunction preferable with a strong sound alarm? And maybe if not too hard to accomplish a system shutdown feature if temperatures gets too high :)

Regards majstang

[jesterace]

Hi there,
Been a little busy sorry i haven't got back earlier... i've been testing or a few PC's and haven't had a troubles with my mod yet. However, i'm reluctant to do much more with it yet until i've found some testers who can confirm it is working for them.

Firstly i need someone with a standard UltraBay (not OEM brand etc) who can try this please? Then i can move on to support for OEM's if needed. I can certainly make the mod compatible with new iMON updates. I'll post another version shortly for the latest iMON.