[Z690m Aorus Elite] Fans run at full speed after quitting FanControl

[vitduck]

Describe the bug FanControl: v155 When computer is restarted, fans will run at full speed. This sticks across subsequent reboots, i.e bios settings will be temporarily overridden. However, this issue also happens randomly, making it hard to pin down. It can also be reproduced by simply closing FanControl.

Relevant hardware specs and setup CPU: Intel 12600K MB: Gigabyte Z690m Aorus (F23 Bios-latest) OS: Windows 10 22H2 (19045.2846)

What I've tried Clear CMOS, and load optimized settings Downgrade FanControl and test until problem appears. (v147 ~ v152)

https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/575950/236435215-40366ed3-6a41-4be2-8a64-275d383bcfd8.mp4

As seen in this capture, CPU/System 1/System 2 are being controlled by FanControl. Once FanControl is closed, three fans kicks into maximum speeds. Only a cold boot can reset fans to their original setting in bios (Silent Mode).

Searching through the issues, it seems that most of them are from Gigabyte users. Once FanControl exits, the fans will simply run with setting from bios. I've observed this consistently with Asrock, MSI boards. So this one is likely due to Gigabyte firmware.

I understand that the Gigabyte support is from LibreHardwareMonitor. But if you have any suggestions that I can try, please let me know.

Regards.

[Rem0o]

What happens if you you disable the toggle button of the corresponding controls while FanControl is running?

[vitduck]

Hi, Do you mean to run Fan Control but disable all the curves ? Please kindly clarify.

I've searched for post with similar issues. Here is another user with similar symptom on a Z690 from Gigabyte. But he is using Argus Monitor instead. Argus Monitor Problem

My hunch is that there is a conflict between FanControl and other monitoring softwares. Though I didn't run any during reboot, with the exception of MSI Afterburner.

[vitduck]

@Rem0o I would like to provide additional testing results.

• I've tested with fresh install of W10 to rule out interference from other s/w like Afterburner/OpenRGB.
• If I repeatedly open and close Fan Control, the maxed fan speed issue happens once every 5 times.
• Some users have reported issue with Smart Fan profile on later bios versions. I've rolled back to F20, F21, F22 but same problem persists. I cannot go below F20 due XMP instability.
• I've tried Argus Monitor as well and did not observe this issue. It seems that they have ironed problem mentioned in my previous reddit link.
• I've tried original fan control from Libre Hardware Monitor. Repeatedly open and close does not trigger maxed fan speed.

Based on this, I've ruled out the hardware and backend issues. So there may be a rare bug when Fan Control surrender its control to MB upon exit.

[Rem0o]

^ Your LHM test must include a change in fan speed by right clicking a control for it to be meaningful.

[Alekak1]

Hi, I have similar problem. When starting PC, Fan Control won’t turn on automatically and the case fans goes 100%. When I enter the application:

1. Before last update: My case fan control had information that other program is controlling the case fans. I had to disable and enable it (inside FC) to work again.

2. After update (V171): there is a pop out “fan control was running under another instance [SID]”. I have checked the SID and it is my main user. However this time I didn’t have to do anything and fans goes back to the curve.

I have MSI afterburner and GCC from gigabyte, and thought they case the problem, but after turning them off problem still exists. I have also read the issue https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases/issues/1053 but turning off the PC does not solve that problem.

My eq: CPU: Intel 13700K MB: Gigabyte Z690m Aorus OS: Windows 11 Home

I would greatly appreciate your help with this problem :)

[vitduck]

Hi @Alekak1

Recent Gigabyte MBs do not play nice with 3rd party fan control. You can see the 100% fan speed issues reported on GB reddit, for instance: https://www.reddit.com/r/gigabyte/comments/144w41f/issues_with_3rd_party_fan_control_softwares/

Previous issue also without resolution: #1465

GB uses a proprietary ITE I/O chip, which lacks sufficient documentation. I did reach out to GB support, and they do not want to deal with issue caused by Fan Control.

I am afraid you are SOL and there is nothing can be done to fix this issue. Personally, I have switched to Asrock and there is no issue since then.

Regards.

[Alekak1]

@vitduck first I wanted to buy ASUS TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS MB but in the store they mistook the ASUS with AOURS so I ended up with GB... Do You thing changing the whole setup to replace MB with ASUS is worth it?

--- Fans at 100% walk around --- I found out that if I turn off FanControl (completely) before turning off the PC, fans will go back to the auto bios curves. With the next startup fans won’t go 100%. Still FC wont startup automatically, but after turning it on fans will follow programmed curves.

[vitduck]

Do You thing changing the whole setup to replace MB with ASUS is worth it?

Personally, I like the Aorus the most among z690 board with a m-itx form factor: good VRM, power delivery and not pumping too much voltage to the CPU. But, I need to enter bios frequently for tweaking CPUs, so the 100% fan issue quickly become a nuisance.

If you rarely need to reboot your PC, then it should not be a big enough problem worth switching to Asus. Nevertheless, Asus/Asrock/MSI use Nuvoton I/O chips, which are well supported.

I found out that if I turn off FanControl (completely) before turning off the PC, fans will go back to the auto bios curves. With the next startup fans won’t go 100%. Still FC wont startup automatically, but after turning it on fans will follow programmed curves.

I noticed this as well. But in my case, the fan still goes to 100% albeit less frequently than reboot. For the record, GB's Smart Fan works perfectly fine so GB has reason to ignore this issue.

There were several thing I've tried to avoid Fan Control with the Aorus:

• Use MSI afterburner to control NVIDIA GPU fans
• Use Phanteks T30 at fixed 1200 RPMs so a mixed temperature is not required
• Use a blower GPU card
• Open bench build

So unless a high profile media person points out this issue, I don't think GB will ever address it.

[bleeptech-nl]

Same problem. Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX.

I've done some research. A whole list of motherboards with the same issue is listed here https://www.reddit.com/r/gigabyte/comments/144w41f/issues_with_3rd_party_fan_control_softwares/ (with another reddit mention at https://www.reddit.com/r/gigabytegaming/comments/js7y9x/aorus_pro_b550m_unable_to_adjust_fan_speed_stuck/)

And then there seem to be duplicate issue reports in this github of people who seem to experience the same https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases/issues/1465 https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases/issues/2676 https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases/issues/2004 (list not exaustive)

@Rem0o You may be on to something when you say that FanControl does not get enough time to restore the BIOS settings. But still, plenty of people have these boards. Any chance you could look into this again?

I also noticed an effect where if I set my BIOS curve points to 0% (exept the highest one which is fixed at 100) the BIOS, when warm booting, turns the fans full-on 100% for say a second, and then off 0% for a second. This keeps repeating until FanControl starts when windows loads. This only happens with the BIOS points set to 0%. Anything higher defaults to 100% fan speed all the time until FanControl starts. Maybe that gives a clue, maybe not. You'll have to judge.

I'm available for testing.

[Rem0o]

@bleeptech-nl One thing I would like to know is, if you have the program running and before shutting off windows, you exit the program with the exit option. Only then does the issue still occurs where your fans are stuck at 100% upon reboot.

I feel like the way gigabytes has the io chip implemented, they need the explicit reset, otherwise it wont clear off on shutdown like with every other motherboard.

[bleeptech-nl]

@Rem0o I did a complete test, which, I think covers your question. Please let me know if I can assist further.

Ok as a base I left my Bios curves at 0% as I explained above. This will cause them to toggle full on (100%) and off (0%) with about a second interval when the problem occurs, which lets me identify if the pc follows the FanControl curve or the BIOS curve.

I'm running FC V207 (latest I believe). Win 10, latest version. The GB Aorus motherboard. 1 Noctua fan connected to the CPU header. (And a Gtx 960 video card which is not under fan control)

Test, chonologically:

1 st cold boot:

• BIOS should control the fans: I have set the BIOS curve points to 0% so the fans should be off. I don't hear them so I think that is what is happening. (I will redo this part to visually verify that that is so. Forgot to look)
• Win starts, Login, FanControl starts: Fans are running under FanControl correctly (19.9% according to my curve).

verification of problem

• warm reboot/restart windows (shutdown phase): Fans are going full on/off/on 0-100-0%. So the problem manifests already at windows shutting down, when FanControl receives the win shutdown notification
• warm reboot/restart windows (boot up phase): Fans are still going full on/off/on. The warm reset did not reset BIOS settings to default (assumably).
• warm reboot/restart windows (after logging in): FC takes over again and correctly controls the fans (around 19%).

closing FanControl

• close FC: Fans stay on the FanControl curve. They do NOT go full on/off/on as I would have expected (since FC is now off), neither does it turn off to 0% as I have set inthe BIOS. (*)
• Win restart/warm boot (shutdown part): Fans go full on/off/on again.
• Win restart/warm boot (boot up part): Fans go back to the FC curve after FC starts.

(*) On closing FanControl: Maybe there is a bug in FC here that was also a convenience on other MotherBoards; where the fans stay controlled after close. Perhaps it's possible to revert back to the BIOS settings on FC close, which then solves the issue. I can imagine a checkbox in the settings for GigaByte and similar boards. Just brainstorming here.

Does this help? Is the explicit reset you mentioned a correct assumption, and is it a possible option?

[Rem0o]

That does clarify! As I suspected gigabytes boards here dont behave as we'd expect to the reset() call like every other type of motherboards. It's not a fancontrol specific implementation detail for gigabytes boards.

To be fixed this would need to be investigated in LHM. However there is no guide or instructions as how this should be done, as implementation details are private, so either copying linux lm sensor stuff, or information from another source would be required. Can't do much here.

[bleeptech-nl]

I assume you don't have an affected board, but do you know if lm-sensors/linux fancontrol exhibits the same behaviour?

[Rem0o]

Couldn't say.

[VictorPLopes]

I have a Gigabyte B550M Aorus Elite and I am having this exact same issue. Since the last post was on November, does anybody know if a workaround has been found?

[vitduck]

@VictorPLopes

This is a systematic issue with Giba's firmware. And I don't think there is a workaround. As stated above, customer service had stated to me that they could not accommodate an issue arrising from 3rd party software. I think the only options is to switch to another brand of motherboards.

[VictorPLopes]

@VictorPLopes

This is a systematic issue with Giba's firmware. And I don't think there is a workaround. As stated above, customer service had stated to me that they could not accommodate an issue arrising from 3rd party software. I think the only options is to switch to another brand of motherboards.

Hmm, I see. If I remember correctly, if I close Fan Control before rebooting, it doesn't happen. I wonder if there's a way to automatically close it before shutdown. I tried using a PowerShell shutdown script to do that but by the time it runs, Fan Control has already shut itself down (but late enough to trigger the issue).

Also, if I remember correctly, this did not happen before updating my UEFI, which I did to solve another issue.