next a1ctl version
January 23, 2009 at 2:39 pm 25 comments
Since I now have very little free time since I started my new job, I decided to clarify the situation on some bugs/features of the current and next a1ctl versions:
The current a1ctl version may not work (no fan control & temperature) or only partially work (no slow mode for fan control), due to some different embedded controllers in newer Aspire One models. Since I don’t own those models, I’m not able to debug what good values may be for theses new chips, unfortunately.
In order to fix a1ctl for theses models, I’m going to release a tool (with some explanations of course) on how to find these “magic” values to read and control the EC chips in charge of the fan and temperature control, so any model may become compatible with a1ctl by the simple change of these “magic” values in the .ini file.
Concerning slow mode, while it may be working for most, sometimes you may have remarked that instead of going slow, the fan blows at full speed or is completely stopped. This is because there a temperature threshold preventing slow mode to be set: under a certain temperature, slow mode “magic” value activate full speed instead of slow mode.
In order to prevent that problem, I’ve added internally a threshold (set at 37°c) in the current version under which slow mode stop the fan completely until the effective slow mode can be activated. But it seems this threshold may be too tight sometimes (and maybe different on some models), causing full speed to be activated instead of slow speed.
As for the magic values, it will be possible to change the value of this threshold in the .ini in the next version, and I will set the default one a little bit higher (40°c) to prevent temperature yo-yo problem around the “real” threshold (found at 37°c on my AA1).
Please not also that I’ve read all comments and next a1ctl version will mostly include all your feature requests, exception the overclocking feature which is not possible to realize for now.
Thanks everyone for your support.
Entry filed under: PC Projects. Tags: a1ctl, acer, aspire one, fan control.
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Noda's Dev Blog 
1.
floehchen | January 24, 2009 at 5:56 am
I’m using your great tool under XP on two European ZG5 150, one with and one without G3-Module.
If I can help, just let me know, it seems there are some problems with a runtime ‘mscomctl.ocx’ and Windows7.
2.
JacobRV | January 29, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Thanks for the great work, this is an amazing tool.
But to go along with what floehchen said, the problem with windows 7 is that they took out the VB6 libraries from Win7. And not only that, but if you try to register a VB6 lib in Win7 it errors out. So from what I can tell, the only way to update it to work would be to update to VB.net. Unfortunately, that could be complicated depending on how library dependent the code is.
Now on that note, if you updated this to VB.net I would squeal for joy and then proceed to make Win7 my primary operating system.
3.
Deniskyn | January 30, 2009 at 3:01 pm
How can I get the new version to test?
4.
Noda | February 2, 2009 at 12:01 pm
JacobRV> Unfortunately, updating a1ctl to VB.net would increase its memory footprint by 4-5 times (30-40MB) which is not really reasonnable for a small util running in background on a resource-limited netbook
Deniskyn> The new version is not yet available.
5.
Deniskyn | February 5, 2009 at 8:00 pm
We look forward to the new version =)
6.
JacobRV | February 6, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Noda> Ouch, that really sucks. I don’t get why they took VB6 out of Win7, it worked in Vista. ={
But yeah, thanks again.
7.
tomas | February 18, 2009 at 2:36 am
its just a comment can you make the app to adjust the fan rpms with a slider or something and for example have some presets to stablish full rpm (of the fans obviously), medium and slow like the mac app called smcfancontrol … hope you can get it working….incredible app bye!
8.
ao150 | February 21, 2009 at 12:11 pm
hello noda, is it possible for you to ad a function to change GMA 950 speed ?
nice app. btw.
9.
Noda | February 23, 2009 at 11:42 am
@tomas> It’s not possible to adjust the fan RPM, there’s only 4 settings for the fan (off, slow, auto, full)
@ao150> The GMA 950 speed seems to be controlled by the BIOS, there’s nothing I can do here.
10.
DynaMight | February 25, 2009 at 11:47 pm
I think ao150 is referring to http://www.gmabooster.com/
11.
ao150 | March 1, 2009 at 1:01 pm
yep, thats what i mean, but that program is badly coded and does not work with a1ctl running, i thought it would be a nice function/add on for a1ctl …
(quoted from the gmabooster site)
Q.: 2.4x boost without adjusting the voltage (yes, Your hardware will not be exposed in any way!), how is it possible?
A.: A short preamble is needed to explain what makes a GMABooster technology possible. Let’s consider an Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (GMA 950). This integrated solution, while not fully supporting the latest and the most demanding games, still allows a user to enjoy the mass of brilliant gaming hits of all genres. GMA 950 does also fully support Aero (enhanced GPU-driven user interface of a Windows® Vista operating system). It features a basic video playback acceleration, as well. However, if You have own a laptop/netbook/nettop computer built on Intel® 945GM/GME/GMS or GSE943/940GML/GU Express chipset, the above statements may not be truth for You. These all chipsets are LV (low voltage) versions of what we normally call Intel® 945. Thus, integrated graphics core has been underclocked dramatically: 166/133 MHz instead of 400 MHz (default GMA clock in a “normal” Intel® 945 chipset). But the truth is, the indicated devices could handle up to 400 MHz with ease: at a nominal low voltage, without the loss of system stability, and with minimal to none impact on thermal specifications/battery life (proven by preliminary testing). Here the GMABooster comes! It allows a user, not a manufacturer to choose the desired GMA speed. It combines a sophisticated assembler-level technology and the user-friendly graphic user interface, offering You to near double the GMA core perfomance without even a need to restart a computer. No doubt that GMABooster may be considered as a unique and safe software-level GPU core upgrade!
12.
Morris Lee | March 22, 2009 at 5:41 am
I have used GMABooster, barely helped my performance, it says 400MHz, but I think it actually runs at 250 max, everest reports 250Mhz, but the developer insisted that it is a bug in everest. I do not think so.
Any of the full speed intel 950 seen on youtube was able to run Half Life 2 at least on lowest quality at very decent performance, even the intel atom is faster then the pentium 3 I used to play half life 2 with, so it shouldn’t be the limit.
The results I was getting was not described like some users has reported, I had to go through so much trouble to get the program going, I am sure it is not working properly.
Noda, I am sure you can do a better job, please find a way to make it work!!
13.
Joel Kollin | March 25, 2009 at 6:53 pm
I would like to try a1ctl. I am not that technical, so wonder if you can advise of good starting values for the temperature settings. I do not want to overheat my Acer One
14.
silenzio | March 29, 2009 at 10:22 pm
hi, are you still working on a next version of a1ctl ?
If so could you add “cardreaders” under devices so it can be switched on/off ?
15.
Noda | March 30, 2009 at 8:03 am
@joel> it’s not possible to overheat your a1, there’s a hardware override on the fan settings if it’s needed. Use the default values if you d’ont know what to choose.
@silenzio> I’m still working on it, but my free time is very limited now. I may add the possibility to add the device you want in the .ini, so you can add your card readers if you want.
16.
Sarah | May 6, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Thanks for your hard work, Noda. Sadly my Aspire One doesn’t seem to play well with your program (recent A110 with bios 3309), but I’m looking forward to your next version. Congratulations on the new job too… although I guess it’s not so new now. 🙂
17.
Rex | May 16, 2009 at 5:58 am
My AA1 ZQ5 doesn’t work with this software.
Must I flash the BIOS to an earlier version, or is there other software that successfully controls the fan?
Is it safe to assume that if the chips are different, then flashing might not even work?
18.
kostelo | May 16, 2009 at 3:21 pm
It seems also that it doesnt work well with my aspire one D150X. It cant recognise the fan speed correctly, however it can successfully enable/disable the devices. Also it crashes instantly upon launching GMAbooster.
If only a newer version could be released soon… Greetings from Greece.
19.
ArchAngel | May 18, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Hi Noda! Awesome little utility you’ve made here!
You’ve probably been very busy these past few months, but I’m sure I speak for all Aspire One users who’ve tried your app when I say that we’re all waiting with bated breath over the release of your next A1CTL version.
Hopefully, there will soon be joy for users of the latest BiOS versions, including the Gateway & Packard Bell versions.
Thanks in advance! 🙂
20.
JD | May 21, 2009 at 3:37 am
Hi Noda,
21.
TheName | May 25, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Keep up the good work, can’t wait for the next version !
22.
remusblack | June 11, 2009 at 10:56 am
Hi Noda! Will you be accommodating a scalable 1280×768 on the next release? Will it be possible? The current a1ctl supports scalable 1024×768 but I’m not a big fan of squashed images. =D On the other hand, will it be possible for you to tweak v.04 to contain the scalable 1280×786 screen resolution? Thanks!
23.
thegooddieyoung | July 10, 2009 at 5:09 pm
RIP A1CTL
24.
schuess | July 14, 2009 at 3:38 am
If anyone had the issue where the event logs were packed with warning notifications and the PC would crash often. The fix I found. uninstall the fan control program all together. I have not had any problems since. About a month.
25.
tong | July 23, 2009 at 10:16 am
thx for graet program
we wait for new version