FrostCenter

MSI laptop fan control and thermal monitoring for Linux.

Dark-themed GTK3 app with real-time temperature graphs, interactive fan curve editor, and battery charge threshold control — no Windows required.

Screenshots

Dashboard	Fan Control

Battery	Settings

Features

• Dashboard — Live CPU/GPU temperature and fan RPM with rolling 60-second graphs
• Fan Control — Switch between Auto, Silent, Basic, and Advanced profiles. Interactive fan curve editor for Advanced mode with click-to-edit control points
• Cooler Boost — One-click toggle for maximum fan speed
• Battery Threshold — Set charge limit (50–100%) to preserve battery health
• 130+ MSI models — Auto-detects your laptop from the board name

Requirements

• MSI laptop (see Supported Models)
• Linux with /dev/port access (Secure Boot must be disabled or in permissive mode)
• Python 3.8+
• PyGObject + GTK3

Installation

git clone https://github.com/gsriram24/FrostCenter.git
cd FrostCenter
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

The installer checks dependencies and copies files to ~/.local/share/ofc/. It creates a frost launcher in ~/.local/bin/.

Installing dependencies

If PyGObject/GTK3 isn't installed:

Distro	Command
Fedora	sudo dnf install python3-gobject gtk3
Bazzite/Immutable	rpm-ostree install python3-gobject gtk3 then reboot
Ubuntu/Debian	sudo apt install python3-gi gir1.2-gtk-3.0
Arch	sudo pacman -S python-gobject gtk3

Usage

frost
# or directly:
sudo python3 OFC.py

Root access is required for EC register access via /dev/port.

The installer also creates a desktop entry — search "FrostCenter" in your app launcher to run it without a terminal.

Read-only mode

To monitor temperatures and fan speeds without writing to the EC:

frost --read-only

You can also toggle read-only mode live from the Settings page. When enabled, all profile buttons, fan curve editing, cooler boost, and battery threshold controls are disabled.

Secure Boot / Kernel Lockdown

FrostCenter requires access to /dev/port, which is blocked when kernel lockdown is active (typically due to Secure Boot). Check your status:

cat /sys/kernel/security/lockdown

If it shows [integrity] or [confidentiality], you need to disable Secure Boot in your BIOS settings. If it shows [none], you're good to go. The app will show a clear error dialog if access is blocked.

Supported Models

Auto-detection reads /sys/class/dmi/id/board_name and looks it up in the built-in database. 130+ MSI boards are supported across 21 configuration groups:

Family	Examples
GF series	GF63, GF65 Thin, GF75 Thin
GL series	GL62M, GL63, GL65, GL73, GL75
GE series	GE62, GE63, GE66, GE72, GE75, GE76 Raider
GP series	GP62, GP63, GP65, GP66, GP73, GP75, GP76 Leopard
GS series	GS40, GS43, GS63, GS65, GS66, GS73, GS75 Stealth
GT series	GT62, GT72 Dominator, GT75
Modern	Modern 14/15 A10, B10, B13, H
Prestige	Prestige 13/14/15/16 Evo
Creator	Creator 15/16/17
Katana/Cyborg	Katana GF66, Cyborg 15
Vector/Crosshair	Vector GP66/76, Crosshair 15/16/17 HX
Stealth/Titan	Stealth 14/16 Studio, Titan 18 HX
Summit	Summit E13/E16 Flip
Alpha/Bravo	Alpha 15/17, Bravo 15/17

If your model isn't detected, run cat /sys/class/dmi/id/board_name and open an issue with the output.

How It Works

FrostCenter communicates with the laptop's Embedded Controller (EC) through /dev/port using the ACPI EC protocol (ports 0x62 data, 0x66 command/status). This is the same interface that MSI's Windows tools use — no custom kernel modules required.

Project Structure

OFC.py              Entry point — window, sidebar, page switching
ec_access.py        EC read/write via /dev/port
model_config.py     Auto-detection, JSON database loading, user config
models/database.json  130+ MSI board definitions
ui/
  theme.py          Color palette, CSS, widget helpers
  helpers.py        EC helper functions (safe reads, profile switching)
  widgets.py        RollingGraph, StatCard (Cairo-drawn)
  fan_curve_editor.py  Interactive fan curve with click-to-edit popovers
  dashboard.py      Dashboard page
  fan_control.py    Fan control page
  battery.py        Battery threshold page
  settings.py       Settings page

Tested On

Device	OS	Status
MSI GF65 Thin 10UE (MS-16W2)	Bazzite 6.17.7 (Fedora Atomic)	Working

If you've tested FrostCenter on your setup, feel free to open a PR adding your device to this table.

Disclaimer

FrostCenter writes directly to your laptop's Embedded Controller (EC) registers. While the addresses and values used are based on well-documented open-source projects (msi-ec, isw) and match what MSI's own Windows tools do, incorrect EC writes can potentially cause hardware damage, system instability, or void your warranty.

• Use at your own risk. The authors are not responsible for any damage to your hardware.
• Back up your current EC state by noting your fan speeds and battery threshold before making changes.
• Start with read-only mode (Settings page) on untested models to verify temperature/RPM readings are correct before enabling writes.
• If your model is not in the database, do not manually force a different model's config group — the register addresses may differ.

Credits

Built on data from:

• msi-ec — Linux kernel module for MSI EC (config groups and board mappings)
• isw — MSI fan control tool (default fan curves)
• OpenFreezeCenter — Original project by YoCodingMonster

License

GPL-3.0