Install notes for it87 module for more sensors

[Meliox]

can you post what you did to make it87 work?

nevermind i figured out my issue. you need to install pve-headers apt install pve-headers-$(uname -r) then make commands work

Originally posted by @asulwer in #136

[asulwer]

the installation had no effect for me but this is what i did

basically, you run the following

apt-get install make
apt install pve-headers-$(uname -r)
git clone https://github.com/frankcrawford/it87.git
cd it87
make clean
make
make install

reboot

[Meliox]

Can you check if the module is loaded?

lsmod | grep it87

Also another this should be repeated

sensors-detect

Can you share the output from this command?

[asulwer]

well then....lsmod | grep it87 this command showed nothing, so maybe it is not loaded? what did i miss? i ran make install and it did something

Linux pve 6.14.11-2-pve #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC PMX 6.14.11-2 (2025-09-12T09:46Z) x86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
root@pve:~# lsmod | grep it87
root@pve:~# cd ..
root@pve:/# cd home
root@pve:/home# ls
it87
root@pve:/home# cd it87
root@pve:/home/it87# make clean
  CLEAN   Module.symvers
root@pve:/home/it87# make
  CC [M]  it87.o
  MODPOST Module.symvers
  CC [M]  it87.mod.o
  CC [M]  .module-common.o
  LD [M]  it87.ko
  BTF [M] it87.ko
Skipping BTF generation for it87.ko due to unavailability of vmlinux
root@pve:/home/it87# make install
mkdir -p /lib/modules/6.14.11-2-pve/kernel/drivers/hwmon
cp it87.ko /lib/modules/6.14.11-2-pve/kernel/drivers/hwmon/
depmod -a -F /boot/System.map-6.14.11-2-pve 6.14.11-2-pve
root@pve:/home/it87# ^C
root@pve:/home/it87# 

[Meliox]

The module has been installed, but needs to be loaded.
For tempoary loading you could try

modprobe it87

and for permanent, add it to /etc/modules

echo it87 | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

Expected result is somewhat this

root@pve:~# cat /etc/modules
# /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
#
# This file contains the names of kernel modules that should be loaded
# at boot time, one per line. Lines beginning with "#" are ignored.
# Parameters can be specified after the module name.
vfio
vfio_iommu_type1
vfio_pci
vfio_virqfd

# Generated by sensors-detect on Wed Apr 17 19:18:15 2024
# Chip drivers
coretemp

it87

A reboot is required to load it. And then of course "sensors detect"

[asulwer]

root@pve:/home/it87# modprobe it87
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'it87': No such device

[Meliox]

I see. Refer to the instructions in the first post here: https://gist.github.com/ar-/8bf97ef1878d7e9934a496d84f9e6174

What does sensors-detect report on chip?

Trying family `ITE'...                                     
Found unknown chip with ID 0x8688
Probing for Super-I/O at 0x4e/0x4f

Also, here's chatgpt answer.
that error means the kernel can’t find a supported IT87 chip on your system. It’s not a missing module file; it’s that the driver doesn’t detect any compatible hardware.

Common reasons:

1️⃣ Your chip isn’t supported automatically

Many modern IT87 chips require a force_id parameter. Example:

sudo modprobe it87 force_id=0x8628

Replace 0x8628 with your chip’s ID.

Check dmesg | grep it87 after trying — it often tells you which ID it expects.

2️⃣ The hardware is disabled in BIOS/UEFI

Some motherboards disable Super I/O monitoring by default.

Look for “Hardware Monitoring” or “SIO” settings and enable them.

[asulwer]

Linux pve 6.14.11-2-pve #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC PMX 6.14.11-2 (2025-09-12T09:46Z) x86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
root@pve:~# sensors-detect
# sensors-detect version 3.6.2
# System: Hewlett-Packard HP Z620 Workstation
# Board: Hewlett-Packard 158A
# Kernel: 6.14.11-2-pve x86_64
# Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2670 v2 @ 2.50GHz (6/62/4)

This program will help you determine which kernel modules you need
to load to use lm_sensors most effectively. It is generally safe
and recommended to accept the default answers to all questions,
unless you know what you're doing.

Some south bridges, CPUs or memory controllers contain embedded sensors.
Do you want to scan for them? This is totally safe. (YES/no): 
Module cpuid loaded successfully.
Silicon Integrated Systems SIS5595...                       No
VIA VT82C686 Integrated Sensors...                          No
VIA VT8231 Integrated Sensors...                            No
AMD K8 thermal sensors...                                   No
AMD Family 10h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 11h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 12h and 14h thermal sensors...                   No
AMD Family 15h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 16h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 17h thermal sensors...                           No
AMD Family 15h power sensors...                             No
AMD Family 16h power sensors...                             No
Hygon Family 18h thermal sensors...                         No
AMD Family 19h thermal sensors...                           No
Intel digital thermal sensor...                             Success!
    (driver `coretemp')
Intel AMB FB-DIMM thermal sensor...                         No
Intel 5500/5520/X58 thermal sensor...                       No
VIA C7 thermal sensor...                                    No
VIA Nano thermal sensor...                                  No

Some Super I/O chips contain embedded sensors. We have to write to
standard I/O ports to probe them. This is usually safe.
Do you want to scan for Super I/O sensors? (YES/no): 
Probing for Super-I/O at 0x2e/0x2f
Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'...               Yes
Found unknown chip with ID 0x1c11
Probing for Super-I/O at 0x4e/0x4f
Trying family `National Semiconductor/ITE'...               No
Trying family `SMSC'...                                     Yes
Found unknown chip with ID 0x0b00

Some systems (mainly servers) implement IPMI, a set of common interfaces
through which system health data may be retrieved, amongst other things.
We first try to get the information from SMBIOS. If we don't find it
there, we have to read from arbitrary I/O ports to probe for such
interfaces. This is normally safe. Do you want to scan for IPMI
interfaces? (YES/no): 
Probing for `IPMI BMC KCS' at 0xca0...                      No
Probing for `IPMI BMC SMIC' at 0xca8...                     No

Some hardware monitoring chips are accessible through the ISA I/O ports.
We have to write to arbitrary I/O ports to probe them. This is usually
safe though. Yes, you do have ISA I/O ports even if you do not have any
ISA slots! Do you want to scan the ISA I/O ports? (YES/no): 
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM78' at 0x290...       No
Probing for `National Semiconductor LM79' at 0x290...       No
Probing for `Winbond W83781D' at 0x290...                   No
Probing for `Winbond W83782D' at 0x290...                   No

Lastly, we can probe the I2C/SMBus adapters for connected hardware
monitoring devices. This is the most risky part, and while it works
reasonably well on most systems, it has been reported to cause trouble
on some systems.
Do you want to probe the I2C/SMBus adapters now? (YES/no): 
Using driver `i2c-i801' for device 0000:00:1f.3: Intel Patsburg (PCH)

Next adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at e000 (i2c-0)
Do you want to scan it? (YES/no/selectively): 

Next adapter: AMDGPU DM i2c hw bus 0 (i2c-1)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): 

Next adapter: AMDGPU DM i2c hw bus 1 (i2c-2)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): 

Next adapter: AMDGPU DM i2c hw bus 2 (i2c-3)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): 

Next adapter: AMDGPU DM aux hw bus 0 (i2c-4)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): 

Next adapter: AMDGPU DM aux hw bus 1 (i2c-5)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): 

Next adapter: AMDGPU DM aux hw bus 2 (i2c-6)
Do you want to scan it? (yes/NO/selectively): 


Now follows a summary of the probes I have just done.
Just press ENTER to continue: 

Driver `coretemp':
  * Chip `Intel digital thermal sensor' (confidence: 9)

To load everything that is needed, add this to /etc/modules:
#----cut here----
# Chip drivers
coretemp
#----cut here----
If you have some drivers built into your kernel, the list above will
contain too many modules. Skip the appropriate ones!

Do you want to add these lines automatically to /etc/modules? (yes/NO)

Unloading cpuid... OK

root@pve:~# 

[Meliox]

So the chip is 0x1c11/unknown and there is no explicit support for that in the it87 tree.

A force try could be attempted, but will mostlikely not work or is at best incomplete

Try the following

modprobe it87 force_id=0x1c11
dmesg | tail -n50   # look for "it87:" lines

If success load of driver then sensors detect.