ASense

A native Linux control panel for Acer Predator, Nitro and related notebooks. It provides performance profiles, fan control, lighting, selected firmware options and live telemetry without requiring PredatorSense or NitroSense.

The Predator Helios Neo 16 PHN16-72 is the reference-tested platform. ASense v0.2 also discovers compatible Linux, Acer WMI and HID interfaces on other models and shows only the controls found on the machine.

Features

• profile choices from live Linux kernel interfaces, with a known-command Acer Gaming-WMI fallback whose writes are verified by readback;
• firmware Auto, manual CPU/GPU and Maximum fan modes through kernel PWM or Acer Gaming-WMI;
• temperatures, load and up to eight detected fan RPM channels;
• NVIDIA load, VRAM, clocks, power, P-state and throttle telemetry;
• exact PHN16-72 Turbo GPU offsets with NVML readback and rollback;
• one-to-four-zone WMI lighting;
• ENEK5130 keyboard and cover-logo lighting with runtime-discovered zones and effects;
• battery charge limit and firmware calibration;
• USB-off charging, keyboard timeout, boot sound, LCD override and rear-logo controls when exposed by firmware;
• compact controls plus advanced graphs and hardware information;
• English and Czech UI.

Missing capabilities are hidden independently: a notebook can have profiles and RPM without fan writes, or lighting without battery options.

Supported hardware

Model	Profiles	Fans	Lighting	Platform
PHN16‑72	✅	✅	✅	✅
PH16‑72	🟢	🟢	🔎	🔎
PT14‑51	🟢	🟢	🔎	🔎
AN515‑58	🟢	🟢	🟡	🔎
PHN16‑71	🟢	🟢·🔎	🔎	🔎
PH16‑71	🟢	🟢·🔎	🔎	🔎
PH18‑71	🟢	🟢·🔎	🔎	🔎
PHN14‑51	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PHN16S‑71	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PHN16‑73	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
AN16S‑61	🔎	🔎	🔎	🔎
AN515‑45	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
AN515‑55	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
AN515‑56	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
AN515‑57	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
AN517‑41	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PH315‑52	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PH315‑53	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PH315‑54	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PH317‑53	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PH517‑61	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PT314‑51	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PT315‑51	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PT316‑51	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PT515‑51	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎
PT516‑52s	🔎	🔎	🟡	🔎

Legend: ✅ Reference tested · 🟢 Linux provides it · 🟡 Known Acer controller/protocol · 🔎 Enabled only when the live probe finds it · 🟢·🔎 RPM is available, fan control is probed · 🤝 Community confirmed.

PHN16-72 is the full reference platform. PHN14-51 has a known three-zone WMI layout; PHN16S-71 and PHN16-73 use ENEK5130 lighting. Yellow does not force a control: it still appears only after the controller answers correctly.

99 model and internal identifiers from the research inventory

The following identifiers occur in official Acer Sense packages or public hardware reports. They are useful machines to test; they are not an all-feature allow-list.

Current PredatorSense cohort

PH16-71 PH18-71 PH3D15-71 PHN16-71 PT14-51 PT16-51 PTX17-71
PH16-72 PH18-72 PHN14-51 PHN16-72 PHN18-71 PTN16-51 T7001
PH16-73 PH18-73 PHN14-71 PHN16-73 PHN18-72 PHN16S-71 PT14-52T PTN16-71

Current NitroSense cohort

AN14-41 AN16-41 AN16-42 AN16-43 AN16-51 AN16-61 AN16-72 AN16-73
AN16S-61 AN18-61 AN17-41 AN17-42 AN17-51 AN17-71 AN17-72
ANV14-61 ANV14-62 ANV14-71 ANV15-41 ANV15-42 ANV15-51 ANV15-52
ANV16-41 ANV16-42 ANV16-61 ANV16-71 ANV16-72 ANV16S-61 ANV16S-71
ANV17-41 ANV17-61

Legacy NitroSense cohort

AN515-42 AN515-43 AN515-44 AN515-45 AN515-46 AN515-47 AN515-51s
AN515-52 AN515-53 AN515-54 AN515-55 AN515-56 AN515-57 AN515-58
AN517-41 AN517-42 AN517-43 AN517-51 AN517-52 AN517-53 AN517-54
AN517-55 AN715-41 AN715-51 AN715-52

Additional Predator/Triton candidates

PH315-52 PH315-53 PH315-54 PH315-55 PH317-53 PH317-54 PH517-51
PH517-52 PH517-61 PH717-71 PH717-72 PT314-51 PT315-51 PT314-52s
PT315-52 PT316-51 PT316-51s PT515-51 PT515-52 PT516-52s PT917-71

Battery/APGE discovery can also help non-gaming Acers. Public working reports include A315-24PT, A315-44P, A315-59, A315-510P, A515-45, A515-46-R14K, A715-42G, AG15-42P, AV15-53P, EUN314A-51W, AN515-44, AN515-57, AN515-58, AN517-54, ANV15-51, AN16-43-R7N7, ANV16-42, PHN16-71, SF314-34, SF314-43, SFE16-44-R48X, SFG14-63-R6PU, SFG16-72, SFX14-71G and SFX16-61G.

The model names above do not control discovery. The live backend order is:

profiles: kernel platform_profile -> Acer Gaming-WMI -> unavailable
fans:     kernel PWM -> Acer Gaming-WMI -> RPM only
lighting: zoned WMI or a detected ENEK5130 target

Kernel-backed profile choices come from the live kernel choices interface. The Gaming-WMI fallback instead exposes the driver's bounded set of known commands; it is not a firmware-enumerated list. The probe makes this distinction explicit as profiles.choices_source = kernel-live or known-gaming-wmi-commands.

The battery 80% health limit is a firmware setting, not a Linux charge threshold file. Enabling it while the battery is already above 80% does not actively discharge the battery; the effect becomes visible after normal use, when firmware prevents a subsequent charge from exceeding the limit.

Install

Ubuntu PPA (recommended)

On Ubuntu 26.04, install ASense and receive updates through APT:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fladirmacht/asense
sudo apt update
sudo apt install asense

APT installs the application, privileged daemon, DKMS transport and desktop integration together. Rust is not required. Remove the package with sudo apt remove asense, or remove its ASense-owned configuration and state as well with sudo apt purge asense.

Standalone release

The recommended release asset is the ubuntu-26.04-x86_64-installer ZIP. It contains prebuilt asense and asensed binaries, so Rust is not required. Ubuntu 26.04 x86_64 is the supported prebuilt baseline.

Install runtime and optional DKMS prerequisites:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install \
  build-essential dkms "linux-headers-$(uname -r)" kmod udev util-linux \
  python3 unzip mokutil desktop-file-utils \
  libgtk-3-0t64 libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 libxdo3 libssl3t64

Download the installer ZIP and matching .zip.sha256 from the Release page, then verify and install it as the logged-in desktop user (not with sudo):

sha256sum --check asense-v0.2.2-ubuntu-26.04-x86_64-installer-*.zip.sha256
unzip asense-v0.2.2-ubuntu-26.04-x86_64-installer-*.zip
cd asense-v0.2.2-ubuntu-26.04-x86_64-installer-*/
./install.sh

The installer requests elevation only for system files, builds the optional DKMS transport when needed, configures the daemon/socket and verifies the installation. Re-running a newer installer upgrades in place.

Standalone releases can be reinstalled or upgraded in place. A Debian package can likewise be reinstalled or upgraded through APT and safely takes ownership of an older standalone installation. To avoid mixed ownership, the standalone installer and uninstaller refuse to modify an installation currently managed by dpkg. Run sudo apt purge asense before switching from the Debian package back to a standalone release; a plain apt remove deliberately leaves package state whose later purge could otherwise affect the standalone installation.

Launch ASense from the application menu or run:

asense

Create a local read-only report for a GitHub issue with:

asense probe > asense-probe.json

Close the ASense window first so the one-shot probe can use the daemon's single control session.

The report contains model, profile, fan, known WMI and known HID capability data. It sends only HELLO and CAPS to the local daemon so typed ENEK5130 zones and modes can be included when available; it sends no setter and falls back to passive HID inspection when the daemon is unavailable. It omits serial numbers, UUID, hostname, user and network identifiers, journals and raw ACPI tables. Review it before sharing.

Uninstall with the copy retained by the installer:

/usr/libexec/asense/uninstall.sh

Uninstall returns an active fan session to Auto, removes ASense services, DKMS/HWDB/udev integration and the desktop entry. Other firmware settings (profile, lighting, charge limit and similar choices) remain configured.

Secure Boot

DKMS uses the distribution signing setup. If module loading reports Key was rejected by service, import the key path printed by DKMS (commonly /var/lib/shim-signed/mok/MOK.der) and complete MOK enrollment after reboot:

sudo mokutil --import /var/lib/shim-signed/mok/MOK.der

Build from source

Install build dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install \
  build-essential pkg-config git dkms "linux-headers-$(uname -r)" libelf-dev \
  libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libxdo-dev libssl-dev \
  desktop-file-utils python3 mokutil udev

Install Rust with rustup, then run:

cargo test --locked
cargo build --release --locked --bin asensed --no-default-features
cargo build --release --locked --bin asense --features gui
./install.sh

Control behaviour

• profile and WMI settings are read back after writing;
• failed multi-step fan/profile changes use the existing rollback path;
• Manual fan mode is tied to the GUI session and returns to Auto after a disconnect;
• a confirmed Maximum request remains active after the GUI closes; daemon restart and resume reconciliation return firmware control to Auto;
• HID lighting without a getter shows State unknown after discovery and Last applied after a successful write;
• battery calibration shows only real firmware state and live battery/AC telemetry. Keep the AC adapter connected during calibration;
• NVIDIA offsets and the Predator hardware-key mapping remain exact PHN16-72 features.

The GUI is unprivileged. Hardware writes run through the root-owned, socket-activated asensed helper. ASense exposes typed profile, fan, lighting and platform operations; it does not expose a raw WMI/ACPI/EC/HID console.

Local API

The installed desktop user owns the 0600 Unix socket /run/asense-control.sock. Every UTF-8 command is newline-terminated; the first command must be HELLO 2:

python3 - <<'PY'
import socket

s = socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
s.connect("/run/asense-control.sock")
f = s.makefile("rwb", buffering=0)
for command in (b"HELLO 2\n", b"CAPS\n"):
    f.write(command)
    print(f.readline(4097).decode().rstrip())
PY

The expected replies begin with OK protocol=2 and OK caps=1; the latter is followed by capability JSON. Every reply is OK <payload> or ERR <message>.

Operation	Command
Discover	PING, CAPS, HARDWARE GET, PLATFORM GET
Profile	PROFILE <raw-token-from-CAPS>
Fans	FAN AUTO, FAN MAXIMUM, FAN MANUAL <cpu-20..100> <gpu-20..100>
Lighting	LIGHTING APPLY <device-id> <OFF|STATIC|BREATHING|NEON> <brightness-0..100> <speed-0..9> <RRGGBB> <-|RRGGBB,...>, LIGHTING POWER <device-id> <ON|OFF>
Platform toggles	PLATFORM <BATTERY_LIMIT|KEYBOARD_TIMEOUT|BOOT_SOUND|LCD_OVERRIDE> <ON|OFF>
Other platform controls	PLATFORM BATTERY_CALIBRATION <START|STOP>, PLATFORM USB_CHARGING <0|10|20|30>, PLATFORM REAR_LOGO <RRGGBB> <brightness-0..100> <ON|OFF>

Commands are limited to 192 bytes excluding the newline; response content is limited to 4096 bytes. A normal ERR rejects only that command and leaves the session usable. There is no generic raw-call command or required client library.

Development and releases

Release packaging, checksums, CI gates and reproducibility are documented in docs/RELEASING.md. Kernel-backed support follows the upstream Linux acer-wmi driver.

Donate

If ASense is useful to you, donations are optional:

• PayPal: paypal.me/fladirm (@fladirm)
• Bitcoin: bc1qqdumr0umlaak7tyrrh0jx729z272fv2jr4t5zp

See DONATE.md for the PayPal and Bitcoin QR codes.

Author and license

Fladirmacht — fladirmacht@gmail.com

ASense is provided AS IS and is licensed GPL-2.0-only. See LICENSE. ENEK5130 wire-protocol research was independently documented by predator-sense; ASense uses its own implementation and tests.