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i8krellm is a GKrellM interface to the Dell Inspiron 8000 fan control utilities and Linux kernel module written by Massimo Dal Zotto <dz@debian.org>.

i8krellm reports the system's current CPU temperature, AC/BAT status, "mode" LED, and two animated fans and their RPMs. Your Dell Service Tag appears as a tooltip. There are two modes of operation which can be toggled by clicking the temperature button.

        auto: fan speeds cycle off, low, or high based on current CPU temp.
        manual: fan states are cycled only when a fan image is clicked.

The GKrellM plugin periodically polls (user adjustable polling interval) the /proc/i8k file for the CPU temperature, AC/Battery state (if enabled in your i8k kernel module), and the fan speeds. It controls the fan state by calling the i8kfan (i8kctl) utility to control the fan states.

i8krellm GUI configuration:
All GUI options can be enabled/disabled under the plugin's configuration window. You can display your CPU temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit, enable/disable the one of the fans, toggle the CPU temperature chart, display the fan revolution-per-minutes speed, and toggle the mouseover display of your Dell Service Tag. Most of these GUI widgets are at the request of various users of the original i8krellm plugin. If you prefer, they may be disabled to the point where the original GUI layout can be displayed.

Power Status:
The AC/BAT state is determined first by using the i8k kernel module (try "insmod i8k power_status=1"), second by looking at /proc/apm, and lastly by looking at /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state. If no power status can be determined, you should use the battery temperature triggers as the default triggers.

Temperature Triggers:
i8krellm supports a hysteresis approach to cycling the fan states. Under the Temps tag you can set the hysteresis value for both AC and BAT states. As the CPU temperature exceeds the low value plus the hysteresis value, it will enter low speed. If the CPU temperature falls below the low value minus the hysteresis value, it will shut off. The same approach applies to the high temperature values also.

Temperature Units:
You may monitor your CPU temperature in either Celsius or Fahrenheit, but you will need to change the fan temperature triggers accordingly. They do not rescale if you toggle between the two temperature scales. Also, if you change temperature units, the chart will not rescale accordingly either.

Troubleshooting

If you are having problems installing the kernel module, please consult the various on-line resources for adding kernel modules or rebuilding your kernel. If you have successfully built the kernel module (i.e. /proc/i8k exists) and you cannot get this module to work, you may contact me for help.

Special thanks to the following,

        Massimo Dal Zotto for writing the Dell I8Kutils.
        Bill Wilson for GKrellM and the gkrellm-demos and all his help!
        Marcel Mol for /proc/apm, hysteresis, and other improvements.
        Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsåker for bugfixes and Debian package.
        Cole Tuininga for UI suggestions.
        Richard Kroonen and Mike Woods for pointing out that some laptops
                have only one fan and the plugin should allow for that.
        Alan Murphy for suggesting the temperature graphing.
        Ted Yu for finding a bug or two.
        Marc for requesting the RPM display.
        Frank Solensky and Keith Perkins for submitting patches for GKrellM 2.
        John D'Ausilio for submitting the patch for ACPI support.