fan-pippi

A scalable fan control tool for Raspberry Pi.

Requirements

sudo apt -y install libraspberrypi-bin
pip install -r requirements.txt

A reboot is required after the installation so that vcgencmd can be performed without a root privilege.

Setup

fancontrol.json

Choose what you prefer from fancontrol.sample/.

cp fancontrol.sample/<EITHER>.json fancontrol.json

If you always want to keep your fancontrol the same as one of the latest sample JSON files, execute below instead of above.

ln -fs fancontrol.sample/<EITHER>.json fancontrol.json

And then pull from this repository when fancontrol.sample/ is updated. No need to restart a daemon. The changes will be automatically applied.

.env

cp .env.sample .env

Key	Description	Type	Sample value
FAN_PIN	A GPIO pin number in which a fan control cable (a blue cable in general) is plugged (see the image below)	Integer	14
PWM_FREQ	A PWM frequency	Integer	45

References: https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-case-fan/

Usage

python main.py

How to make the fan control your own

You can tune up the fan control values referencing fancontrol.sample/.

Key	Description	Type
min_temperature	A minimum temperature that the function within the range is applied (include a boundary)	Integer
max_temperature	A maximum temperature that the function within the range is applied (not include a boundary)	Integer
min_speed	A minimum fan speed within the range of the function	Integer
max_speed	A maximum fan speed within the range of the function	Integer
interval	A value how often the function is updated	Integer

TODO: Make a graph like this.

TIPS: As you may know, the more a CPU fan speed gets down, the more a CPU temperature goes up. Try to find out your best preference while tuning up.

Daemonization

First, create a service file for systemctl under the $HOME/.config/systemd/user/ directory.

# $HOME/.config/systemd/user/fan-pippi.service

[Unit]
Description=fan-pippi
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/fan-pippi
ExecStart=python main.py # you may need to specify a full path of a executable python
TimeoutSec=15
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Secondly, perform the following commands.

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable fan-pippi.service # if you need to
systemctl --user start fan-pippi.service

Note that you need to setup and start the service at a user level, not a system wide.

The origin of this project’s name

This project’s name stands for a CPU "fan" control tool using "Pip" for Raspberry "Pi".

But, it has one more meaning. "Pippi" is a part of "Kare-pippi" (彼ピッピ), which is a Japanese slang used among high school girls in Japan. It means "more than friends, but not lovers." This project’s concept is "cooler enough, but not noisy", so it's a pun on the meaning "Kare-pippi."