i8kctl(1)

📦 version 1.45build1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 i8kctl(1) — bestie edition 💖

okay so this is the manual for i8kctl, from the General Commands Manual section, and it's genuinely one of my faves because it's smol and it does exactly what it says. no notes. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

i8kctl — the utility that gets you information and sets fan states. that's it, that's the whole job. 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

i8kctl [<param> [<args>]]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so like, i8kctl can be used to retrieve all the info listed below. how does it do it? by means of querying the system through the dell-smm-hwmon kernel module. periodt. 🫶

when you invoke it with no arguments at all, it reports all the information at once in one single line of text. iconic behaviour honestly. and the info it gives you is the exact same as the file /proc/i8k. same vibe, different delivery. ✨

  1. i8k output format version
  2. Dell bios version
  3. service tag (later known as 'machine id')
  4. cpu temperature
  5. left fan status
  6. right fan status
  7. left fan speed
  8. right fan speed
  9. ac power status
  10. fn buttons status

the following parameters let you select one of those pieces of info: version, bios, id, temp, fan, speed, ac and fn. pick your fighter. 💖

some examples of usage and output are below, and they are lowkey adorable:

$ i8kctl
1.0 A17 B5W123K 52 2 1 8040 6420 1 2

$ i8kctl temp
52

$ i8kctl fan
2 1

🧚 the fan parameter (yes it's special) 🧚

the fan parameter accepts two optional arguments for the fans states. those state arguments can be:

  • 0 — turn the fan off 😴
  • 1 — set low speed 🌬️
  • 2 — set high speed 🔥
  • - — don't change the state of this fan 🙅

and here's an example of usage, bestie:

$ i8kctl fan - 2

this sets the right fan to high speed and leaves the left unchanged. slay.

⚠️ okay important note: if the i8kmon(1) daemon is being used to control the fans, then setting the speed with i8kctl fan is pointless, because the daemon overrides the speed regularly with its own value. like, it will just steamroll you. so don't. 💀

if i8kctl fan is invoked without the optional arguments, the states of the fans are returned, and the output may contain a -1 which indicates that the corresponding fan does not exist. rude but informative. 😭

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /proc/i8k

👑 AUTHORS 👑

  • 2013-2017 Vitor Augusto <vitorafsr@gmail.com>
  • 2001-2009 Massimo Dal Zotto <dz@debian.org>

legends, honestly. giving us the tools we needed. 🙌

i8kctl is part of the i8kutils package. all files are distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). on Debian GNU/Linux systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL'.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

  • i8kmon(1) — the daemon bestie that will absolutely override your fan speeds, iykyk 💅

okay that's the whole page!! written by Vitor Augusto and dated 2017-02-26, and this is the i8kctl(1) manual — go check your temps, stay cool (or set your fans to high speed, your call 🍓✨). mwah. 💖🦋🎀

📦 where this page comes from