This is a script to control the active cooler fan on a Raspberry Pi 5.
At the time of writing, I'm running Ubuntu Server 23.10 and there have been issues integrating with the fan:
- Fan speed control not working on Pi 5 under Ubuntu 23.10 - Fixed
- Fan toggles on/off repeatedly - Fixed
The 2nd issue means that hysteresis is not working and the fan keeps going on and off at around 50°C. With a 5°C hysteresis, the fan is turned on at 50°C, it runs until the Pi cools down to 45°C. Without hysteresis, the fan turns off immediately the temperature goes below 50°C. A few seconds later, the Pi heats up a little and the fan turns on again... You get the idea.
Here are the results while my Pi 5 4GB is idle-ish (running home assistant on Docker Swarm, connected to the official active cooler fan and a 256GB SSD through a USB3.0 to SATA interface):
| Min (°C) | Mean (°C) | Max (°C) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No hysteresis | 48.0 | 49.4 | 50.7 |
| 5°C hysteresis | 44.1 | 47.2 | 50.1 |
(most of these actions require root access)
Install pinctrl from here if you don't have it already:
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake
$ git clone https://github.com/raspberrypi/utils.git
$ cd utils/pinctrl
$ cmake .
$ make
$ sudo make installCopy the cyclone.py script in this repository to your Raspberry Pi. You can use the secure copy protocol (scp) if you're doing this via SSH.
Make it executable:
$ sudo chmod +x cyclone.pyCreate a service template (change the path to point to where you've stored the cyclone.py script):
[Unit]
Description = Pi Cyclone
[Service]
Type = simple
ExecStart = python3 /home/stephen/cyclone.py
User = root
Group = root
Restart = on-failure
SyslogIdentifier = pi-cyclone
RestartSec = 5
TimeoutStartSec = infinity
[Install]
WantedBy = multi-user.target
Save the file as pi-cyclone.service and place the file in your daemon service folder (usually /etc/systemd/system/).
Enable the service to start on boot and start it:
$ sudo systemctl enable pi-cyclone
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/pi-cyclone.service → /etc/systemd/system/pi-cyclone.service.
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl start pi-cycloneTo check that the script is running, run:
$ sudo systemctl status pi-cyclone
● pi-cyclone.service - Pi Cyclone
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/pi-cyclone.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sun 2024-01-14 13:18:24 EAT; 1min 30s ago
Main PID: 40454 (python3)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 4592)
Memory: 6.2M
CPU: 104ms
CGroup: /system.slice/pi-cyclone.service
└─40454 python3 /home/stephen/cyclone.py
Jan 14 13:18:24 luna systemd[1]: Started pi-cyclone.service - Pi Cyclone.
Jan 14 13:18:24 luna pi-cyclone[40454]: 2024-01-14 13:18:24 INFO: Temperature = 51.6°C, current speed = 0%, new speed = 30%Here are some logs after running stress --cpu 4 and letting the Pi cool down:
$ cat /var/log/pi-cyclone.log
2024-01-14 13:18:24 INFO: Temperature = 51.6°C, current speed = 0%, new speed = 30%
2024-01-14 13:21:40 INFO: Temperature = 44.4°C, current speed = 30%, new speed = 0%
2024-01-14 13:24:05 INFO: Temperature = 53.8°C, current speed = 0%, new speed = 30%
2024-01-14 13:24:35 INFO: Temperature = 60.4°C, current speed = 30%, new speed = 50%
2024-01-14 13:24:50 INFO: Temperature = 52.7°C, current speed = 50%, new speed = 30%
2024-01-14 13:28:05 INFO: Temperature = 44.4°C, current speed = 30%, new speed = 0%You can check the CPU temperature yourself by running:
$ vcgencmd measure_temp
temp=46.6'CTo customize the setting while running the script, use the following options:
$ /home/stephen/cyclone.py --help
usage: cyclone.py [-h] [--low_speed_temp LOW_SPEED_TEMP] [--med_speed_temp MED_SPEED_TEMP] [--high_speed_temp HIGH_SPEED_TEMP] [--full_speed_temp FULL_SPEED_TEMP] [--hysteresis HYSTERESIS]
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--low_speed_temp LOW_SPEED_TEMP
Low fan speed temperature threshold (°C)
--med_speed_temp MED_SPEED_TEMP
Medium fan speed temperature threshold (°C)
--high_speed_temp HIGH_SPEED_TEMP
High fan speed temperature threshold (°C)
--full_speed_temp FULL_SPEED_TEMP
Full fan speed temperature threshold (°C)
--hysteresis HYSTERESIS
Hysteresis (°C)The script will run the following during operation (not necessarily in order):
Unload the pwm_fan driver:
$ sudo rmmod pwm_fanYou can then export and activate the pwm channel:
$ pinctrl FAN_PWM
45: a0 pd | hi // FAN_PWM/GPIO45 = PWM1_CHAN3
$ cd /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0
$ echo 3 > exportYou should now see /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm3:
$ cd /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm3 && ls
capture duty_cycle enable period polarity power ueventFinally, you need to enable the channel:
$ echo 1 > enableWe're now be able to control the fan speed by updating the duty_cycle:
$ echo 10000 > duty_cycleThe maximum duty_cycle is:
$ cat period
41566Credits to this StackExchange answer for the setup instructions.
Stop & disable the service:
$ sudo systemctl disable pi-cyclone
$ sudo systemctl stop pi-cycloneClean up the files:
$ sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/pi-cyclone.service
$ rm /home/stephen/cyclone.pyDisable the pwm channel:
$ cd /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0/pwm3
$ echo 0 > enableLoad the pwm_fan driver:
$ sudo modprobe pwm_fanRestart!
React
Typescript
Django
Laravel
Facebook
Microsoft
Google
Alibaba
D3
Tencent