SW SMI option

[gjun]

Hi,
My platform is Dell Embedded BOX PC 5000 which is Skylake-H chipset with ITE IT8528 EC. The system will be shutting down while running the HWInfo64 in a while, say around 5 minutes. But my system goes well if I deselect the "SW SMI" option in "Safety" drop-down menu. On top of that, the "Sensor warning" message shows up at the beginning of running the HWInfo64. Please see attached screenshot for the Sensor warning message.

My questions are:-
1. Does the HWInfo64 supports ITE IT8528 EC?
2. Is the behavior of shutting down the system correct? For some reason, the HWInfo64 would access registers via SW SMI. Does it make sense?

I have been suffering with this issue for a long time. Could anyone shed some light?

 

[Martin]

Shutting down the system is certainly not expected.
HWiNFO doesn't directly support the IT8528 EC, but indirectly using DELL SMI proprietary calls, which I assume are causing problem on your system (which is why you get the warning).
I suggest to disable the SW SMI option to avoid those problems.

 

[gjun]

Hi Martin,
I sincerely appreciate your time and attention.
I'm curious to know:
1. What does the DELL SMI do? It looks like the DELL SMI will cause the system shutdown, am I correct?
Is DELL SMI different from SW SMI of HWInfo64? If that is the case, what difference?
2. Does thermal (temperature of CPU DTS) will affect/trigger SW SMI (or DELL SMI)?
3. If CPU DTS in HWInfo64 reaches to 100 degree C (I mean the temperature of Core# Distance to TjMax is "ZERO") , will the HWInfo64 shutting down the system for thermal protection?

I would be grateful for further advice.

Sincerely
Center

 

[Martin]

DELL SMI is a DELL-specific proprietary interface (utilizing SW SMI calls) that can be used for various system-management tasks like reading of sensors, etc.
Problem with this interface seems to be a poor implementation on some systems, where it can cause problems, though on most systems there are no issues.
The "SW SMI" option in HWiNFO controls these DELL SMI methods too, so by disabling this option, HWiNFO will not utilize this interface.

CPU DTS has no influence on triggering SW SMI. It's something different.

HWiNFO will not automatically shutdown your system when reaching a critical temperature. But you can configure it to do so using the Alerts feature - define your threshold temperature and action to shutdown the system (run the Windows shutdown command). Anyway, all modern CPUs have built-in protection against over-temperatures - when they are reached, the CPU starts throttling and if that didn't help, it will automatically shut down to prevent damage.