FanControl.AXB35 1.1.0

Update recommended for everyone on 1.0.0.

1.0.0 talked to the EC only through its ports 0x62/0x66. Windows' own EC driver uses the same ports, and the two collided about three times an hour. Each time, Windows logged ACPI event 13, "The embedded controller (EC) did not respond within the specified timeout period", in the System log. On the test unit that meant 212 in 66 hours, against none before the plugin was installed. With 1.1.0 there were none in the first 3 hours.

• Fans 1-2 and the EC temperature now go through the BIOS's own WMI fan interface (root\wmi:PowerSwitchInterface). Its ACPI code reaches the EC through the memory-mapped EC RAM, so it cannot collide with Windows. The EC ports are used only for fan 3 (read every 30 s), the startup checks, and handing the fans back to the firmware when Fan Control closes.
• The remaining port traffic waits for an idle EC, gives way to Windows' queries, and never takes a byte meant for someone else. On a BIOS without the WMI interface, the plugin falls back to the ports and says so in Fan Control's log.
• If handing a fan back ever fails, the fan is held at 80 % instead, so it fails loud rather than hot.
• axb35ctl changes:
  • sniff (a read-only watch of who else talks to the EC);
  • --ports;
  • a transport line in status;
  • Ctrl+C now always releases the fans.
• Sensor and control names are unchanged, so saved curves keep working. Same 80 % cap as 1.0.0.

Upgrade: close Fan Control, replace FanControl.Axb35.dll in its Plugins folder with the one matching your build, unblock it, and start Fan Control again. The DLL to pick: net8.0-windows\FanControl.Axb35.dll if the folder has FanControl.runtimeconfig.json, or net48\FanControl.Axb35.dll if it has FanControl.exe.config. Fan Control's log should say through BIOS WMI.

Details and measurements are in the README ("How it works") and in #1.

SHA-256 of FanControl.AXB35-1.1.0.zip: 944b7706851f1f0fb4212fadbea609f50f2ca1e8115659dae1e024d1fb06d0ed
Per-file hashes are in SHA256SUMS.txt inside the zip.

FanControl.AXB35 1.0.0

First public release of the FanControl plugin for the Bosgame M5 and other boards built on the Sixunited AXB35-02 (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, "Strix Halo").

• EC temperature sensor, RPM of all three fans, and control of the two main fans through the ITE IT5570E EC.
• Talks to the EC through PawnIO (the signed driver FanControl installs) with its LpcACPIEC module. Secure Boot and Memory Integrity stay on.
• Refuses to write unless the board reports AXB35 and the EC registers look right; hands the fans back to the firmware when FanControl closes.
• Re-asserts the duty every 2 s (the EC otherwise takes a fan back), polls at high priority under full CPU load, and caps the fans at 80 %: when hot, the board cannot keep both fans at 100 %, while 80 % holds both at ~4,000 rpm.
• Includes axb35ctl.exe (status / watch / log / dump) for diagnostics.

Which DLL: net8.0-windows\FanControl.Axb35.dll if your FanControl folder has FanControl.runtimeconfig.json, net48\FanControl.Axb35.dll if it has FanControl.exe.config. Full instructions are in the README.

Background and measurements: Bosgame M5 Fan Control: Broken as Shipped, So I Fixed It With a Free Plugin (Hardware Busters).

SHA-256 of FanControl.AXB35-1.0.0.zip: b430fbad354bb136c88858a26d5c0d69810a25c528960dd0333206d7525700b2
Per-file hashes are in SHA256SUMS.txt inside the zip.