Commander Mini

I just got this fan controller, pretty sure it's bad..but before I RMA, I just wanted to know if anyone has seen this:

-Fans plugged into commander mini will begin running all full speed randomly, regardless of my custom fan curve. I have to go re-apply my custom profile across all fans for it to go back the way it should be (temperatures are fine..there is no reason for fans to be running max).

-For no reason and completely randomly, "Fan #5" will appear showing 0 RPM...I only have 4 fans plugged into Commander Mini..For the first time today, "Temp #1" appeared as well, which I do not have any of the temp meters plugged in. The only way to make them go away is to reboot the computer, and then the original 4 fans are displayed.

These problems are super annoying. This is a brand new computer built from scratch, with a fresh copy of Windows 10. Corsair Link is fresh installed (obviously). All firmware appears to be up-to-date as well as Corsair Link.

Also, does my H115i need to be plugged into the Commander Mini, or CPU_FAN? I was reading somewhere else that it should be plugged into Commander Mini. I currently have USB Header for both H115i and Commander Mini plugged into mobo.

Thanks in advance!

Looks like I was able to solve my issues..so far at least. I received these steps from support, hopefully this helps someone with the same problem(s) I had. Honestly I should have tried this before posting, or even submitting a ticket, but it was a brand new PC and fresh Windows.

1 - Uninstall the Corsair Link software and Link USB dongle, and Corsair Hydro Series 7289 USB Device through Windows Control Panel (Restart later for all programs)

2 - Hold the windows key and press "R" to open the windows run command

3 - Type in %APPDATA%

4 - Delete the Corsair Folder (backup any settings or profiles if you wish by saving it somewhere else)

5 - (Optional step) Run a registry cleaning software such as CCleaner (Run Registry Scan and fix issues - Link below): https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

6 - Restart your system

7 - Install the Corsair Link software. Please be sure to extract the zip file before running the installer.

I'm having the same problem as you describe where fans just randomly start running at 100%. I just don't understand how it happens. I also built a new PC, installed CL, plugged in my new Commander Mini. Setup profiles and BAM 1 of 2 front intake fans starts spinning at 2000rpm out of no where. Doing a clean un/reinstall seems logical but I don't see why it would be required for a newly setup PC and OS like ours?

Weird. Guess I'll try the same though.

Example:

http://www.doakwolf.com/uploads/wtf.png

This thing has a mind of its own.

As soon as I hit that apply button again (without changing anything) the fan drops back to ~750rpm as it should be.

This is on a clean install of Win10 Pro with no prior Corsair software ever installed.

In the picture, intake 1 and 2 are configured the same. So even if it were a sensor issue, or a spike in CPU temp, why only the 1st intake, not both?

Oh well, I'll go ahead now and do a clean reinstall and see what happens. Thanks for the info in your second post mate.

Well, I did a clean reinstall and all seemed OK at first.

Except I just finished a gaming session and noticed the fans haven't eased up... Check this out.

http://www.doakwolf.com/uploads/wtf2.png

Clearly the CL software is failing to realise the core temps have dropped?

I'm ready to return this POS.

Before you send it back. Stop using Corsair Link and all other monitoring software.

Install SIV, a user guide is here:

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=821198

With this tool you will be able to determine if your hardware is faulty.

Thanks for the idea.

Forgive my ignorance, but is SIV an alternate software to use to control the Commander Mini?

Thanks for the idea.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but is SIV an alternate software to use to control the Commander Mini?

Yes it is. Controlling the Commander mini is ONE of the many things it does well. The author is also active on this forum.

Please, before you begin, you must read and digest this thread:

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140665

I appreciate that there is a lot of information in there, but, it will save you time in the long run.

1. Read above thread

2. Digest

3. Download and read the previously mentioned PDF.

4. Test yourself

5. Come back and ask questions once you have done 1, 2, 3 & 4. I doubt anyone will help you unless you do this first.

It is well worth the investment of your time.

Thanks for this, Pip. I will make some time to read through it :)

No worries ...

Hey OP, try connecting the H115i directly to an available CPU_Fan/AIO_Pump header on your motherboard. The current version of the H115i draws power through the 3-pin cable coming out of the pump. Set whichever header you plug the H115i into to 100% to ensure that the H115i is getting all the power it needs for its pump and any connected fans.

This is incorrect :eek:. The Asetek H115i is SATA powered, it must be as it can supply 2.0 amps to the fans. What you have specified pertains to the H100iV2 + H80iV2.

After my initial post I half recalled the manual is incorrect. Looking at http://www.corsair.com/~/media/corsair/download-files/manuals/cooling/h115i_qsg.pdf it says to do as you specified, but this is incorrect and the manual needs to be corrected. I suspect the H110iGTX manual is also incorrect and you should check.

You may find my http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156661 thread helpful and I still feel Corsair should make it sticky.

Thanks for this, Pip. I will make some time to read through it :)

For the Commander Mini issues, I see some good suggestions to explore

Have I got this correct "You think the best solution is for doakwolf to use SIV"?

if you continue to have problems, please reach out to our support team.

I advise you to read http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=889520 and then not waste any time in contacting the Corsair Support team.

I suspect the advise from pip will result in a more reliable solution provided you do as he specified. You may wish to have a read of http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137428 + http://www.overclock.net/products/corsair-commander-mini/reviews/7428.

If Corsair addressed the CLCC firmware issues I itemised in http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=896054 I could further improve SIV.

In the context of this post, SIV was to be used to identify if the hardware was indeed faulty by removing all other monitoring software from the equation (it's logical to assume that if the issue is present in CL4 and your SIV utility, it could be a problem with the Commander Mini itself), this information could be helpful if a return needs to be initiated with the retailer that the Commander Mini was purchased from or if an RMA is needed through our support channel. I must be clear that we do not support the use of third-party tools such as SIV instead of CL4, but if a user prefers to, they are free to make that decision on their own if a solution works better for them.

Given GPU Temp shows that the temperature has just dropped and that CL4 is still reporting the 78.0 it's pretty obvious CL4 is failing to update as it should. Corsair need to get software engineers to work with the CL4 users who get this sort of issue otherwise CL4 will continue to be unreliable.

I would not expect Corsair to support SIV, but many users of Corsair Link hardware would benefit if Corsair made the NDA datasheets available to me. AMD and NVidia do this so I can't see why Corsair don't. I gather there are issues with the CoolIT ones, but given the below this should not be a real issue.

I understand IP quite well. The second Corsair were to hire him as a consultant, he becomes an agent of your company, and disclosing the IP to him at that point is not an issue. For the contract to become valid requires payment, but that can be for as little as one US dollar. I wouldn't save your bacon for that little, but that is between Red-Ray and Corsair.

We've been aware of the feedback you've provided and the appropriate teams have been notified. This does not guarantee that everything will be addressed, but we do look at this feedback as it comes in and prioritize items as necessary.

Thank you for confirming the issues I have reported are being looked at which is long overdue, but I am really none the wiser when any of these issues will be addressed. Given how long I have been waiting for some issues to be addressed (since 02-Feb-2015) I feel by now some progress should be visible.

I have been doing some more testing and I think I have a handle on what is happening. I have noted the following:

 

1) When I write 0xFF to the mode register it reads back as 0x8F, so my code thought the command had failed to enable manual feedback mode. This happens for the H100i/H110iGT/CL Mini, but the old Cooling node/H100/H80 which read back as the 0x00FF that I wrote.

2) If I ignore the unexpected returned mode and update the feedback temperature anyway then the fan speeds change.

3) SIV only writes the temperature feedback when the temperature changes. I have noticed that the firmware changes the feedback temperature I set to the internal temperature.

 

The net effect is that I think there are two firmware bugs:

 

1) The mode is not returned correctly.

2) The feedback temperature gets overwritten when it should not be.

 

Please will you pass this onto the development manager and provide feedback to me?

The interlocking semantics are still incorrect and given I reported this on 09-Aug-2016 why? I also e-mailed the product manager again who did not even reply to all my e-mails. I suspect it's a one line change and can be tested using SIV 5.12 or later. It might have been half fixed, but when I open Configure Fan then pressed [Apply] a few times [Link Test] reported @ 00:29:50.894 seq 40 5 = CreateFile( \\?\usb#vid_1b1c&pid_0c02#7289_1.0#{3c5e1462-5695-4e18-876b-f3f3d08aaf18} ) Access is denied. so I expect the CL4 locking semantics are still incorrect in some of the CL4 code. See http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=892949 for the details.

The above two issues are currently my main priority. Corsair, please will you work with me on these two issues so they can be addressed in a timely manor?

First - play nice. Don't attack specific people. If you want to complain about the company in general? Go for it.

Second - both of you (CJ / Ray) may be confusing the OP (Scoobaru) with the 2nd poster - doakwolf. Some of your posts confuse who said what.

First - play nice. Don't attack specific people. If you want to complain about the company in general? Go for it.

 

Second - both of you (CJ / Ray) may be confusing the OP (Scoobaru) with the 2nd poster - doakwolf. Some of your posts confuse who said what.

Thank you for stepping in and I know I should not, try not to and realise CJ is just the latest Corsair representative. The real issue is that Corsair have failed to provide sensible feedback on most of the issues I have raised since CL4 was released in January 2016.

Please will you put back all the examples you deleted?

I just grabbed an H115i and can confirm that it is SATA powered. Interesting find, and thanks for pointing that out. I'll give the team a headsup. Edit: Team has been notified and is aware.

I feel I should mention that the last the I looked the at H100iV2 + H80iV2 + H100iGTX + H80iGT manuals I could not see any information about needing to disable fan control in the BIOS so the cooler get's the constant +12 volts it needs.

I must have posted about needing to do this many tens of times and feel it would be good if you looked into this.

I further feel a sticky thread in the Cooling section about both these topics would be sensible.

I'm pretty busy right now so it'll be a week or two before I try out SIV but if it is what they're saying it is (here and in other posts) then I think Corsair would owe red-ray a big thank you.

His software may well prevent me from returning this product for a refund and going with another brand of fan controller.

Thanks for your input and support, red.

If it turns out to be faulty hardware, I'll call it bad luck and grab a replacement. Will report back here regardless. Sorry for hijacking, OP!

AFAIK there are only really 3 fan controllers and my views on them are:

1. CLCC SIV would be even better if Corsair worked with me to fix/improve the firmware. The fans can't be stopped. It's a HID device which I prefer. CL4 seems to have issues.
   
2. GRID+ V2 it's only 3-pin voltage and does not support 4-pin PWM fans which is a shame, SIV can stop the fans, it's a COM Port so rather slow which is why I prefer HID devices. NZXT CAM seems to have issues.
   
3. Aquaero 6 LT rather expensive, but maybe I will get SIV to support it. As I don't have one I can't sensibly say any more.

Please let me know how things turn out. One comment I got was "very useful though the great functionality makes for a steep learning curve!" :eek:.