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Sensors and RGB
VirtualDeck integrates LibreHardwareMonitor (LHM) to show your hardware's temperatures, loads and speeds (CPU, GPU, motherboard, RAM, storage) in the sidebar and in the left panel of fullscreen mode.
LHM is not bundled: you install it separately, like OpenRGB. It was removed from the package because it writes its configuration next to its own executable, which prevents packaging the app for the Microsoft Store, where the install directory is read-only.
After installing it there is one step you cannot skip: LHM ships with its web server switched off. Open it and enable Options → Remote Web Server → Run, on port 8085. Without that, VirtualDeck receives no data.
Open the title bar → SENSORS (LIBRE HARDWARE MONITOR) section:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| ENABLED | Turns sensor reading on, polling every 5 s. |
| SHOW SENSOR WIDGET | Shows or hides the sensor cards in the sidebar and in fullscreen. On by default. |
| START LHM WITH VIRTUALDECK | Starts LHM when VirtualDeck launches, using the path below. |
| START LHM AS ADMINISTRATOR (UAC) | Launches LHM elevated. Required if the web server on port 8085 does not answer without admin rights. |
| LHM PATH | Path to LibreHardwareMonitor.exe. Auto-detected if installed in a common folder. |
| HOST / PORT | LHM's web server endpoint (default 127.0.0.1:8085). |
| VISIBLE CATEGORIES | Filters which kinds of hardware are shown. |
LHM exposes its sensor tree at http://127.0.0.1:8085/data.json using .NET's
HttpListener. On Windows that API needs either administrator
privileges or a URL ACL reservation registered with the system. Without
one of the two, the web server starts but cannot bind the port, and VirtualDeck
never receives any data.
Three ways around it:
-
Turn on "START LHM AS ADMINISTRATOR" — simplest, but a UAC prompt on every launch.
-
Register the URL ACL reservation once — no further UAC prompts after that. The REGISTER URL ACL button in the title bar → SENSORS asks for one UAC confirmation and leaves the reservation permanently. You can then turn "START LHM AS ADMINISTRATOR" back off.
The manual equivalent, in an elevated PowerShell:
netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:8085/ user=Everyone
-
Run VirtualDeck as administrator — LHM inherits the privileges.
- The title bar → SENSORS section shows the state:
-
● LHMgreen = connected and reading. -
○ OFFLINEamber = enabled, but the web server is not answering. -
○ DISABLEDgrey = the integration is turned off.
-
- TEST checks the endpoint without starting anything.
- START LHM starts it and retries the check for up to 12 s, because LHM's first launch is slow.
If there is still no answer after 12 s, the message suggests running as administrator.
If you would rather not see the sensor cards in the interface but still need the readings available for sensor actions, turn SHOW SENSOR WIDGET off. The cards disappear from the sidebar and from the fullscreen left panel, but the readings stay available to any button that uses them.
RGB settings live on their own screen — the RGB button in the top bar — not here. VirtualDeck connects to the OpenRGB SDK to apply colours, modes and profiles to compatible devices. OpenRGB must be running with its SDK server enabled.
VirtualDeck can start it for you: set the path to OpenRGB.exe in the settings
panel (⚙ → RGB section) and it will be launched in --server mode, without a
window.
18 built-in presets. There is no animation engine behind them: each preset carries a colour and a list of modes to try, from the most specific to the most generic, until it finds one the device actually supports. That is why the same preset can look slightly different on two devices.
The RGB manager can save the current state of every device as a profile,
and a button can apply it with the rgb-profile action. One profile can also be
marked to apply automatically when VirtualDeck starts — useful because a Direct
mode's colour is not stored anywhere and is lost when the machine powers down.