ips_monitor(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 ips_monitor — the temp/power monitoring thread ✨

okay so bestie, this one's from the Kernel API Manual and it's called ips_monitor, and it is literally the main character of the IPS driver. no cap. let's get into it 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS

int ips_monitor (void *data );

that's it. that's the whole vibe check. one argument, one int coming back at you 💖

🎀 ARGUMENTS

  • data — the ips driver structure. yes bestie, it's a void *, so it's giving "trust me, I know what I am" energy 🙈

✨ DESCRIPTION

so <pink>this is the main function for the IPS driver</pink> — like, the whole thing runs through here 👑

what does it actually do? it monitors power and temperature in the MCP and then adjusts the CPU and GPU power clamps accordingly. it's giving thermostat but make it kernel 🧚

here's the lil algorithm moment, and honestly? kinda iconic:

  • we keep a 5s moving average of power consumption and temperature ⭐
  • using that data, plus the CPU vs GPU preference, we adjust the power clamps up or down 🔥

that's it. that's the whole loop. no notes. periodt 💅

💜 RETURN

  • 0 on success 🎉
  • -errno on error 😭 (the classic, the beloved, the "something went sideways")

🦋 SEE ALSO

the kernel file ./drivers/platform/x86/intel_ips.c — and yeah, this thing has friends, a whole squad, a group chat if you will 🌈:

like, twenty entries. she's popular. we love a social butterfly 🦋💖

ngl bestie, if you're touching this, go read the whole squad up there first — they're all in ./drivers/platform/x86/intel_ips.c and they very much do the work together 🫶

okay and before I go — this lil page lives in ./drivers/platform/x86 and the version/date stamp on it says October 2026. slay. that's the sign-off, mwah 😘💅✨

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