IBM_ECW : Power management tool for T4x/R5x

[Adda]

Wow Europe seems to be working guys: France helping Poland and Germany

I'm from Denmark and would like to think I played my part as well *puppy eyes*

[IbmPad]

I have updated the latest version to optionally run as a service. When the program runs as a service (tick (as admin) the corresponding option in the config window), no window nor icon is present, the program just regulates the CPU, fan, etc. in the background. All subsequent instances (manually launched or automatically loaded at logon) will act as "terminals", communicating with the service using a named pipe. That should resolve the problems related to UAC (though I cannot test it) and/or limited accounts. You can also have multiples instances in different sessions (eg. when using Terminal service). As this adaptation required a lot of changes, you may encounter new bugs...

Regarding new features of the C2D family over the PM family (IDA, SLFM), I will have to read Intel documentation again to determine exactly what they are and how to use them (I don't have a C2D so I don't know them). Looking back to the source code it seems I tried to support SLFM (by halving the multiplier and setting a special flag) and x0.5 multipliers, but I'm not sure that it works.

I am aware of the spurious temp reading issue. In fact I haven't found yet a reliable method to get data from the embedded controller and sometimes the reading is incorrect. An option to disable monitoring of some probes could be useful to reduce this behavior.

For the digital signature issue, I think there is no alternative to disabling signature checking (if I recall correctly, even if you signed the driver with a self-generated certificate that you would add to the Windows root certificates store, it would not work since the root certificate must be approved by Microsoft)...

When I have some time I will also try to find out why PowerPlay cannot be controlled on Windows 7 and find documentation about Intel and Nvidia graphics adapters as well...

Thank to everyone for your help, wherever you live !

[Adda]

Sounds like you have been busy, I'll start testing tomorrow, stomach acid is eating me from the inside so tonight all I can do is endure.

[bartelon]

OK guys, my first impressions of the new version of IBM_ECW. So far I've tested it only under Windows 8 (x86) on my T60F with T9300 and Intel graphics.
I'm pleased to report that it works so big props to IbmPad again
It autostarts properly when run as a service - no more problems with UAC and the necessity to autostart it via Task Scheduler.

I'm not sure if I understood it right but when autostarted as a service the program normally displays its icon in the tray and its main window can be opened from there. Actually, launching another instance manually - either by clicking the programs icon or through cmd - brings up the message "The program is already running." I'm not sure how to have multiple instances running but If I got something wrong here, please correct me.

Running as a service, I can't see the erroneous 'jumps' in temp reading any longer I will need to run it longer to make it a conclusive statement, though. But maybe it's 'another bug bites the dust'

As I wrote before, I'm pretty positive SLFM is supported, even though there is no explicit option for that.
With FSB of 200 Mhz and the lowest multiplier of 6, the only way the T9300 can run at frequencies lower than 1200 Mhz (down to 800 Mhz on its own) is via SLFM. In IBM_ECW, as in e.g. ThrottleStop or RMClock it can be further lowered to 600 Mhz.
And all x0.5 multipliers work, too (an advantage over RMClock) - the CPU can be configured to run at 'half' multipliers of FSB (200 Mhz) - i.e. 2500 Mhz, 2300 Mhz, etc.

[Adda]

It doesn't work well on my T43p running Windows XP.

When I first installed the new version, I just overwrote the old one, after closing it.
I started it again, and had no issues, I went in to the config menu, ticked 'register as service' and all was fine, I can see the service in the services menu and that it is started.

I rebooted, and it seems to work there too until I log on, IBM_ECW tells me it couldn't start the driver.

So I uninstalled IBM_ECW from the config menu, restarted it and ticked run at startup and as service, and rebooted.
The service is running, but doing nothing and the IBM_ECW menu isn't started, I have to start it manually before IBM_ECW does anything at all, even though the service is running.
If I change anything in the config menu and click save, IBM_ECW just closes, I have to open it again manually, and every time I open it the 'register as service' field is unticked, but the service is running, but it does nothing if the IBM_ECW menu isn't running.

I'll try some things out and see what happens.

Hmm can't get it to change it's behavior, for some reason the service status says 'stopping'.

Ah got it start up properly, at boot, but the service didn't do anything until the IBM_ECW menu was started after logon.
I then went in to the config menu and clicked save, and the menu closed and the service status changed from started to stopping, the menu didn't open again and no IBM_ECW settings are in effect.

Everything works perfectly well if I don't enable the service.

[IbmPad]

I tested it on 2 computers with WinXP and one with Win2000 and have not got that kind of problem.
To help me determine why this happens, could you please tell me whether you use an administrator account, whether the window (when you get it) title contains "service" or not and report the size of the driver file (system32\drivers\ibm_ecwdrv.sys).

If you have some time, could you also download Process Hacker and look for these things regarding the service process and the one you launch later :
- the references to "\Device\IBM_ECWDRV" and "\Device\NamedPipe\IBM_ECW_PIPE" in the Handles tab ;
- optionally the call stack for each thread (by double-clicking on each entry in the Threads tab).

Thanks in advance.

[Adda]

I use an admin account.

If I run IBM_ECW without the service, and enable the service, and click save, the IBM_ECW windows does have service in the title.

At this boot the IBM_ECW menu didn't show up, once I ran it manually it did not say service in the title, there must be problem starting the service at boot.

\Device\IBM_ECWDRV after boot when service isn't working: Handle: 0x4c

\Device\NamedPipe\IBM_ECW_PIPE can't be found when service isn't working.

When the service is working after uninstalling IBM_ECW rebooting, starting IBM_ECW and ticking the service.

\Device\IBM_ECWDRV Handler is 0x74

\Device\NamedPipe\IBM_ECW_PIPE turns up three results:

3672 handler 0xe8
3672 handler 0x108
3728 handler 0x40

[IbmPad]

The three pipe instances show that the service can communicate with the app. Can you please show me the call stack of each thread for PID 3672 ?

[Adda]

3692, , 13, advapi32.dll!CryptVerifySignatureW+0x17, Normal
0, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x83f
1, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x87e
2, win32k.sys+0x2f15
3, win32k.sys+0x371e
4, win32k.sys+0x373b
5, ntdll.dll!KiFastSystemCallRet
6, user32.dll!GetCursorFrameInfo+0x1cc
7, user32.dll!DialogBoxIndirectParamAorW+0x36
8, user32.dll!DialogBoxParamA+0x4c
9, IBM_ECW.exe+0x7ab2
10, 0x87d83ec

3744, , , IBM_ECW.exe+0x6ff0, Normal
0, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x83f
1, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x87e
2, ntoskrnl.exe!NtWaitForSingleObject+0x94
3, ntoskrnl.exe!ZwYieldExecution+0xb78
4, ntdll.dll!KiFastSystemCallRet
5, kernel32.dll!WaitForSingleObject+0x12
6, IBM_ECW.exe+0x7084
7, 0x758b56ec

3724, , , IBM_ECW.exe+0x6e60, Normal
0, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x83f
1, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x87e
2, ntoskrnl.exe!ProbeForWrite+0x4eb
3, ntoskrnl.exe!ZwYieldExecution+0xb78
4, ntdll.dll!KiFastSystemCallRet
5, kernel32.dll!WaitForMultipleObjects+0x18
6, IBM_ECW.exe+0x6f14

3716, , , IBM_ECW.exe+0x7740, Normal
0, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x83f
1, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x87e
2, ntoskrnl.exe!NtWaitForSingleObject+0x94
3, ntoskrnl.exe!ZwYieldExecution+0xb78
4, ntdll.dll!KiFastSystemCallRet
5, kernel32.dll!WaitForSingleObject+0x12
6, IBM_ECW.exe+0x77fa
7, 0xff006aec

3676, , , IBM_ECW.exe+0xa3e0, Normal
0, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x83f
1, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlInitializeFileLock+0x87e
2, ntoskrnl.exe!PsCreateSystemThread+0x136
3, ntoskrnl.exe!FsRtlIncrementCcFastReadWait+0xd1
4, ntoskrnl.exe!ZwYieldExecution+0xb78
5, ntdll.dll!KiFastSystemCallRet
6, advapi32.dll!SetServiceStatus+0x23a
7, advapi32.dll!SetServiceStatus+0xce
8, advapi32.dll!StartServiceCtrlDispatcherA+0x93
9, IBM_ECW.exe+0x7c8b

Hope this is the right stuff.

[IbmPad]

Thanks. I will tell you when I find something.

[Adda]

I should probably add that my XP install is not a default one, is is heavily modified by nLite.
I'm not sure if it'll make a difference though, but it might alter the startup procedure and I have disabled plenty of services.

[IbmPad]

The call stack is 100% correct, so the service seems to work correctly... Can you add the columns "I/O total rate", "I/O read delta", "I/O write delta" and "I/O other delta" if not present in the main window of Process hacker and write down their approximate values when :
- the service and the application (tray icon) are running together ;
- the service is running alone.

PS: I don't think nLite is responsible for that. I also have disabled a lot of services and I don't rely on them.

[Adda]

Will do, I have a bit to add first though

I just tried my Windows 7 HDD, it worked well on there no probs, even with UAC enabled, very nice!!

I switched back to my XP HDD and at this boot the service works, BUT as I logged on IBM_ECW told me it is unable to start the driver and didn't open the IBM_ECW menu.
Edit: if I try to run IBM_ECW manually at this boot, it says it's already running, but no icon in the systray.
An no sorry forgot to close the error message, if I close that and run IBM_ECW it starts up fine with service written in the title.

It smells like my startup process is odd somehow causing random behavior from IBM_ECW.
But the bottom line is, my XP install must be the cause, we can't know if this is a common problem or not, I guess it's not, should we proceed or blame my OS and focus on better things?

[Adda]

Service and menu together:
I/O total rate: 174-186 sometimes jumping in to 300-400
I/O read delta: only active when using hotkeys ~6
I/O write delta: 1-3 jumps to 7-9 when using hotkeys
I/O other delta: 35 jumps to 49-53 when using hotkeys

Service alone:
I/O total rate: 118-122
I/O read delta: N/A
I/O write delta: N/A
I/O other delta: 33

[IbmPad]

Ok, so if no one else have the same issue and if it is not a problem for you to not use it as a service, we will give up (it might be some NTFS permission issues or something)...

Edit : just seen your last message : once more, the figures seem correct, like if it worked.

@bartelon: the program is limited to one instance per session. But if you use multiple sessions opened at the same time, each session can have their own instance of the program ; if one change a setting on their window, it gets updated on the others.

[Adda]

It's fine by me, I'll to migrate to Windows 7 once/if PowerPlay gets to work.

[IbmPad]

I went to the Lenono site to download the ATI driver for Windows 7 but I could only find the drivers for NT4, 2000, XP, Vista and OS/2. In a previous post, you said you have got it through Windows Update. I don't know if it is the same one as the one for Vista supplied by Lenovo. Anyway, first I am going to download the package for Vista and see if I can find something.
I have just one question at the moment : is the Powerplay slider in IBM_ECW grayed or can you move it (without effect obviously) ?

[Adda]

I think you will get the best results using the Windows Update supplied driver, it is the only driver for Win7 I have found that doesn't cause screen stretching problems with non native resolutions.
I use the fullscreen magnifier for flash video and games so screen stretching has to work.

The slider in IBM_ECW is not grayed, it just doesn't do anything, the clock frequency slider works fine though.
There are problems with using custom clocks though, you'd think you could set PowerPlay to Balanced in either windows power manager or ATi CCC, and set clocks in IBM_ECW that are stable in the active PowerPlay mode, but it causes the video card to crash once fullscreen apps are run and I think video and flash too, can't remember.

I can test a bit later, food first.

[Adda]

Bah, I forgot how sluggish video performance is on Windows 7, it just runs bad no matter what I do, back to XP.
Gotta' make another nLite XP install at some point.

Edit: hot and sluggish that is, the fan powers off quite frequently on XP with my settings, same settings on 7 and it just keeps blowing, and the CPU heats up all the time.
Heh, the fan didn't power off a single time in 7, but as I wrote the above it just powered off, right after boot.

[Adda]

I think I will try out Windows Vista SP2 (I never thought I'd say that), who knows how it will run, the old ATi GPU's are fully supported on there, they are not fully supported on 7.
From what I read it seems later versions of Vista are actually pretty good.

[IbmPad]

Perhaps one day I will install Win7 and be able to find out how PowerPlay is handled... but for now I don't have enough disk space & it would require me to change my partition layout, rewrite the boot sector, etc (I have patched the boot sector to undervolt the CPU at boot, though I know it's pretty useless since resuming from hibernation doesn't take a long time ).
I want to stick with XP as long as I can, but I know I will eventually need to upgrade. Everytime I see a computer running Vista or 7, I am upset seeing the number of processes running in background, etc. It's funny because I remember circa 5 years ago, I was still running Win2000 and thought exactly the same about XP... and eventually upgraded and after disabling all unneeded services, themes... it's even faster than 2000 (though I also disabled pagefile, all kind of automatic updates, have no antivirus and use a ramdisk for temp files).

BTW I just discovered and fixed 2 handle leaks in IBM_ECW, the ZIP file has been updated.

[Adda]

Well I'll figure out if Vista is a better choice anyway, 7 is sluggish, slow page scrolling and too much heat is a deal breaker.

Don't you have a spare drive lying around?

[Adda]

Windows Vista SP2 beats 7 by a large margin, fast and responsive, scrolling isn't quite as good as in XP, but I'm running with Aero enabled with PowerPlay at it's default Balanced mode.

No reason to use 7 what so ever, unless you plan on using a default install, Vista is bloated out proportion I need to make a vLite install at some point.

If only IBM_ECW could change PowerPlay modes

Edit: but getting back to XP still feels like a relief, I'll just stick with XP.

[Adda]

I have made another nlite XP install, very bare bone, the .iso is under 300MB, but IBM_ECW still doesn't work in service mode, same problem as before.

[bartelon]

I found a small bug introduced by running IBM_ECW as a service. With the GPU control set to "no control", the GPU section on the monitoring window displays some readings for both Core and Memory frequencies above the two grayed out sliders. The Core reading is 28 MHz (occasionally jumping to 56 MHz) and memory reading is 19,678,736 MHz and thus not fitting in one line (the word "MHz" is shown it the third line with only its upper half visible).

When not run as a service, only the grayed out sliders are shown in the "no control" mode, as in the previous version of the program.

Other than that, IBM_ECW runs fine under Windows 8 x86. Will test it in a couple of days under Window 7.

@IbmPad
Thanks for clearing the issue of running separate instances of the program. And I finally realized (doh!) what you meant by "no icon or window is present" - at first I selected both "register as a service" and "run at startup", and of course the icon and the window are visible; didn't notice that I can select only "register as a service" and then there is no icon or window yet the program is running (as a service). Silly me...

If you find the time to have a go at controlling the integrated Intel x3100 graphics, look at setPLL, which is basically a wrapper for the RW Everything program. I can email you setPLL if you don't find it; you will easily see what values it writes to which registers to change the graphics CoreRender clock.

[ajkula66]

Just installed it on my modded T43p running W7...uninstalled TPFC and NHC prior to that.

Very clever setup. So far so good - will post additional impressions after a few days.

[bartelon]

Just a short update: the display bug I described in my previous post is also present on Windows 7; again, only when the program driver runs as a service.
My other first impressions hold true, i.e. the program runs just fine and the occasional erroneous CPU temp reading seems gone

[IbmPad]

Sorry I corrected this bug several days ago and forgot to let you know...

BTW I did have access the other day to a T400 with Win7 and the program is unable to switch Powerplay modes. I tried to monitor CCC's DLL calls when changing Powerplay state and have 270MB of log files to analyze and could not find something yet... I also found an AMD documentation about a DLL (atiadlxx.dll) which comes with newer drivers and now have to see whether it can be used to switch PP modes...

[bartelon]

Sorry I corrected this bug several days ago and forgot to let you know...

Lo and behold, it is gone
That's better support than you get for many commercial programs...
Let's keep our fingers crossed for your battle to figure out Ati PowerPlay control - and then maybe Intel integrated...

[Adda]

Yup the temp monitor seems to work flawlessly now

My T43p must be cursed though, as I'm also having problems with IBM_ECW in service mode on a default Windows Vista install, similar behavior to XP.