Sensors let Dell Dimension 5000 freeze randomly

[MartinO]

Hi Martin,
I just discovered HWinfo32 today, looking for a program to read out the cpu temperature of my machine. First off I like it's design and features, most of which I haven't even tried out at that point.
However, and interestingly like any other sensor monitoring software I have tested so far, Hwinfo32 does not get a cpu temp from my system. Since the cpu fan is obviously temperature controlled, I would assume the information should be available, and maybe it is just a matter of including support for this specific motherboard.
GPU and hard drive temps are there, and randomly the cpu fan speed. But here is the issue.. whenever this one is listed, the computer crashes completely and I have to punch the reset button. I have attached log and debug file from such an event though (Otherwise I honestly don't have any issues with crashes and stability with this machine whatsoever, neither with Windows 7 nor XP which I am running in dual boot mode).
On another occasion Hwinfo32 froze shortly after startup and when showing the system summary, but I could not relate this to anything else. I was still able to kill Hwinfo32 and continue the session.
I would be curious and grateful to hear about whatever you can make of this information. Hope to hear from you again!
Martin

 

[Martin]

Hi Martin,

unfortunately the Report + Debug File you attached didn't contain the Sensor information. You need to open Sensors prior to saving the Report and sumbitting the Debug File as well. Please attach the files with required sensor data as well.
From the data I have now, I can only assume what's happening. The temperatures and fans on this machine are most probably measured and controlled via an Embedded Controller (custom) chip which unfortunately has a proprietary and undocumented interface, so it's not easy to support it. HWiNFO32 supports a special DELL interface for monitoring, however I'm not sure if it works properly here. This might be the cause of the machine freeze. I can analyze it more deepely only when I get the required Debug data from Sensors as well. You might also attach the Debug File after the machine freezes and you reboot it.

Regards,
Martin

 

[MartinO]

Martin, thanks for your prompt reply. Actually the previous debug file was generated with the sensors box open. The one I am posting now may be more useful though, since this time not my machine froze but only HWinfo32 ("Program has stopped working"). A cpu fan speed was displayed in the sensors list. Since I was not able to create a report anymore, I started a new session to do that. This time no cpu sensor information listed, but no crash either (as expected).
Hope his material will be of better use for you, let me know.
By the way, Core Temp by Arthur Liberman says in it's FAQ that "Pentium 4, D, M and older processors do not have the required digital sensor integrated to allow Core Temp to properly function".
Martin

 

[Martin]

Thanks for the additional data.
It's correct, that your CPU (and the others listed) does not feature a CPU Digital Thermal Sensor.
I have analysed the Debug Data and it confirms my thoughts: I have a special support for DELL machines implemented that can read various sensor data from the DELL EC (Embedded Controller). This seems to work quite well on notebook machines, but on desktop DELL machines it works only sometimes, moreover it can cause freezing and application/computer crash. Unfortunately I have not been able to determine the reason why this happens or how to fix it yet. The problem is, that this method is DELL proprietary.
So the only solution I have for you now is to:
1. Download the new HWiNFO32 release v3.56
2. After launching press the "Configure" button and disable the "LPC & EC Support"
this option will skip the "DELL EC" sensor support and should avoid crashing.
I know this is just a patch for the crash and doesn't bring you the CPU temperature or Fan speed, but this is unfortunately currently not possible. I'll keep trying to improve the DELL EC method in future, however it's quite difficult without vendor support.

 

[MartinO]

Martin.. I fully understand and I appreciate your time and dedication. Keep up the good work!