Jetson Customize Fan

Modify nvfancontrol Fan Profile (BSP-side)

Purpose

Edit the per-board nvfancontrol configuration so the device boots with the desired fan curve / control mode / governor / default profile. BSP-side only — all writes land in the overlay tracker, the upstream bsp_image copy is read-only.

This skill handles BSP-side edits to the per-board nvfancontrol configuration file: adding profiles, removing profiles, editing the temp → PWM / RPM curves, changing the boot default profile / control mode / governor, and listing defined profiles. Applies on Jetson / Tegra platforms (T234 Orin, T264 Thor).

File format (canonical, per the BSP file header)

POLLING_INTERVAL <seconds>

<FAN <index>>
    TMARGIN <ENABLED|DISABLED>
    FAN_GOVERNOR <type> {
        STEP_SIZE <int>
    }
    FAN_CONTROL <close_loop|open_loop> {
        RPM_TOLERANCE <rpm>
    }
    FAN_PROFILE <name> {
        # TEMP HYST PWM RPM
        <T0> <H0> <P0> <R0>
        ...
    }
    FAN_PROFILE <name> { ... }       # one or more profiles
    THERMAL_GROUP <id> {
        GROUP_MAX_TEMP <C>
        # zone-name <coeffs csv> <max-temp>
        <zone> <coeffs> <max-temp>
        ...
    }
    FAN_DEFAULT_CONTROL  <close_loop|open_loop>
    FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE  <name>
    FAN_DEFAULT_GOVERNOR <type>
    KICKSTART_PWM <0..255>

Rules:

• Profile curve tuples are 4-column: TEMP HYST PWM RPM. Sort points by ascending TEMP; the daemon interpolates between them.
• PWM is 0..255 (8-bit duty cycle); RPM is the close-loop target speed. A trailing 0 0 row at the high end pins the fan off above GROUP_MAX_TEMP.
• HYST is hysteresis (°C) at that point — the controller waits HYST degrees of cooling before stepping the curve down.
• FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE must reference an existing FAN_PROFILE block in the same <FAN N>. nvfancontrol fails to start if the default names a missing profile.
• FAN_DEFAULT_CONTROL = close_loop (drives toward target RPM, requires tach) or open_loop (writes PWM directly).
• FAN_DEFAULT_GOVERNOR = cont (continuous interpolation) and other family-specific values; copy verbatim from existing per-board files when introducing one.
• THERMAL_GROUP maps thermal zones to the controller's input. Coefficients are a 20-element CSV — copy verbatim from existing entries; values vary by chip family and zone.
• <FAN N> is one block per fan index (typical: <FAN 1>). Block boundaries <...> and {...} are strict; preserve indentation matching neighboring lines.
• Curves are characterised, not invented. Add or edit curves from real thermal-acoustic data for the platform; do not interpolate from neighbouring profiles or copy across chip families.

Prerequisites

Resolve the active profile per ../../context/target-platform-contract.md. Refuse and route in these cases:

Resolve paths:

• <bsp_image.root_path> from bsp_image.root_path: if present, else <workspace>/Image.
• <source.root_path> from source.root_path: if present, else <workspace>/Source.

<bsp_image.root_path> is read-only for this skill; every write lands under <source.root_path> (the overlay tracker). This is the workflow invariant in ../../context/bsp-customization-workflow.md#workflow-invariants — hand-editing upstream silently destroys the diff trail and makes /jetson-promote-image a noop.

The per-board file

The conf this skill edits has the relative path:

Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/nvpower/nvfancontrol/nvfancontrol_<active-sku>.conf

It lives in two roots; the skill walks both:

Subsequent sections refer to the per-board file to mean the overlay copy under <source.root_path>. Operations 1–4 all read, edit, and save against that overlay copy. The <bsp_image.root_path> copy is read once during the "Resolving <active-sku>" detection step and once during the Overlay edit recipe's pristine-import step, then never touched again.

Resolving <active-sku> — which file to edit

Filename conventions vary per product family:

• nvfancontrol_<module.id>_<module.sku>.conf — most Orin parts (e.g. nvfancontrol_p3767_0000.conf, nvfancontrol_p3701_0008.conf).
• nvfancontrol_<module.id>_<module.sku>_<carrier.id>_<carrier.sku>.conf — Thor variants where the carrier disambiguates (e.g. nvfancontrol_p3834_0008_p4071_0000.conf).
• nvfancontrol_<carrier>_<sku>_<rev>.conf — IGX revision variants (e.g. nvfancontrol_p3740_0002_b01.conf).

The nvfancontrol daemon resolves the right file at startup based on the booted hardware's DT compatible plus board IDs (no helper script — it's done inside the binary). To map BSP-side without a running target, against <bsp_image.root_path>:

1. List <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/nvpower/nvfancontrol/.
2. Filter to filenames that contain <module.id>_<module.sku> from the active profile.
3. If multiple candidates remain, refine with <carrier.id>_<carrier.sku> and (when relevant) the carrier revision tag.
4. If still ambiguous, run the per-board flash conf dispatch chain to read the kernel DTB's compatible and pick the file whose name aligns with the resolved board / carrier.
5. Verify the chosen file actually exists under <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/nvpower/nvfancontrol/.

Don't blindly compose a filename — the naming convention varies by product family.

Propagation set — confs to keep in sync

The active-SKU file is rarely the only conf that should carry a customization. After editing it, apply the same edit to every sibling in the propagation set so the change survives regardless of which module / baseboard SKU is booted:

• The reference platform's nvfancontrol conf — the upstream conf the active file was forked from (resolve via reference_devkit in the active profile, or jetson-derive-carrier fork ancestry). For a BSP that contains only the reference (no derived carriers), this is the same file as the active and the rule reduces to a no-op.
• Every carrier-derived nvfancontrol conf — each nvfancontrol_*.conf produced by jetson-derive-carrier for a custom carrier on top of the same module SKU.

"Apply the same edit" ≠ blanket file copy. Port the changed FAN_PROFILE / control lines into each sibling; preserve every other line. Sibling confs often hold carrier-specific deltas (different THERMAL_GROUP coefficients for a different thermal solution, different tach RPM ceilings) that must stay intact — a blanket overwrite would mis-tune the fan on those carriers. Blanket-copying is safe only when both confs were byte-identical before the edit.

Overlay edit recipe (apply before any Operation)

Follow the canonical Off-skill edits recipe in the workflow doc — pristine import + customization commit pair, both gated by the preview gate. Apply once per run, covering every per-board file the run touches (the active conf plus every sibling in the Propagation set).

Concrete substitutions for this skill:

• <rel>/<file> is rootfs/etc/nvpower/nvfancontrol/<conf>.
• Suggested pristine-import message: import pristine: <comma-separated rel paths of imported confs>, body Source: <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/ (BSP <bsp_image.version>).
• Suggested customization-commit header: jetson-customize-fan: <summary>, body lines like nvfancontrol_p3767_0000.conf: added FAN_PROFILE static (open-loop, PWM=255 flat), FAN_DEFAULT_CONTROL close_loop -> open_loop, FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE quiet -> static.

Instructions

Pick the operation that matches the user's intent and follow the matching subsection. All write-side operations (1–4) must first apply the Overlay edit recipe.

• Operation 1 — Add a new fan profile.
• Operation 2 — Remove a fan profile.
• Operation 3 — Edit an existing fan profile (curve, hysteresis).
• Operation 4 — Change the boot default (control / profile / governor).
• Operation 5 — List defined fan profiles (read-only).

After any write-side operation, run the Deploy chain (## Deploy) to land the change on the device.

Examples

Add an aggressive profile to a P3767-0000 (Orin Nano dev kit) target and pin it as the boot default:

/jetson-customize-fan
> add a profile called "aggressive" with the curve {0:255, 40:150, 80:0}
> set FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE to aggressive

Soften the fan ramp on the existing quiet profile (raise HYST, lower mid-PWM):

/jetson-customize-fan
> edit FAN_PROFILE quiet — raise HYST to 5 from 30 °C up, drop PWM at 60 °C to 80

List which profiles the active SKU currently defines and which is the boot default:

/jetson-customize-fan
> list defined fan profiles

Operation 1 — Add a new fan profile

Apply the Overlay edit recipe first.

1. In the per-board file, inside the <FAN N> block, add a new FAN_PROFILE <name> { ... } between existing profiles. Daemon parse order doesn't matter, but grouping with siblings keeps the file scannable.
2. Pick <name> lowercase, no whitespace (e.g. quiet, cool, aggressive).
3. Fill the curve table — 4-column TEMP HYST PWM RPM tuples, ascending TEMP. End with at least one row above GROUP_MAX_TEMP so behavior at over-temp is defined.

Example skeleton:

FAN_PROFILE aggressive {
    #TEMP HYST PWM RPM
    0    0    255 6000
    20   2    255 6000
    40   2    150 3500
    60   2    50  1500
    80   0    0   0
    105  0    0   0
}

Validate (see Rules):

• Every TEMP lies within 0..GROUP_MAX_TEMP of the THERMAL_GROUP.
• PWM ∈ [0, 255]; RPM ≤ the platform's tach-reported max (varies by fan part).
• Tuples are sorted ascending by TEMP.

If you intend the new profile to be the boot default, follow Operation 4.

Operation 2 — Remove a fan profile

Apply the Overlay edit recipe first.

1. In the per-board file, delete the entire FAN_PROFILE <name> { ... } block including all curve rows and the closing }.
2. If the deleted <name> matches the trailing FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE, point FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE at a remaining profile — otherwise the daemon fails to start.
3. Search for hard-coded references in the rootfs before declaring the change safe:

   grep -rn "nvfancontrol.*profile\|FAN_PROFILE" \
     Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc 2>/dev/null
   

The remaining profiles do not need renaming.

Operation 3 — Edit an existing fan profile

Apply the Overlay edit recipe first.

1. In the per-board file, modify the curve rows of the target FAN_PROFILE <name>. Keep the 4-column TEMP HYST PWM RPM shape.
2. Maintain ascending TEMP ordering; insert or remove rows as needed.
3. Adjust HYST to tune anti-oscillation: too low → fan thrashes near a curve point; too high → fan lags reality.
4. Validate per Operation 1's rules.

Edits to KICKSTART_PWM, RPM_TOLERANCE (inside FAN_CONTROL), or STEP_SIZE (inside FAN_GOVERNOR) sit outside the profiles but tune the same fan; same per-board file.

Operation 4 — Change the boot default

Apply the Overlay edit recipe first.

Edit the trailing default lines inside the <FAN N> block:

FAN_DEFAULT_CONTROL  <close_loop|open_loop>
FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE  <name>
FAN_DEFAULT_GOVERNOR <type>

FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE must reference an existing FAN_PROFILE in the same <FAN N> block. FAN_DEFAULT_CONTROL and FAN_DEFAULT_GOVERNOR must reference values the binary supports — copy from existing per-board files when changing.

Operation 5 — List defined fan profiles

This is a read-only operation; no overlay-tracker setup is needed. Run against whichever copy you want to inspect (<bsp_image.root_path>/... for the pristine state, <source.root_path>/... for the post-edit state):

grep -E '^[[:space:]]*FAN_PROFILE ' <per-board file>
grep -E '^[[:space:]]*FAN_DEFAULT_'  <per-board file>

The first prints every profile name in the file; the second prints the boot defaults (control / profile / governor).

Limitations

• BSP-side scope only — this skill never touches a running target's /etc/nvpower/nvfancontrol/ directly. Live tuning requires reboot via Deploy, or the side-channel scp + systemctl restart flow described in ## Deploy.
• Edits land in the overlay copy under <source.root_path> only; the <bsp_image.root_path> copy is read-only and is rewritten by /jetson-promote-image. Hand-editing bsp_image is silently lost on the next /jetson-init-image re-extract.
• Curve tuples must reflect characterised thermal-acoustic data for the platform — this skill does not interpolate or copy curves across chip families.
• Propagation across sibling carriers (same module SKU) is partial by design: only the changed FAN_PROFILE / control lines are ported, never a blanket file overwrite, since sibling confs may hold carrier-specific THERMAL_GROUP / RPM ceilings.
• Curve point limits are family-specific; copy verbatim from existing confs when introducing new THERMAL_GROUP coefficients or FAN_DEFAULT_GOVERNOR values.

Troubleshooting

Deploy

The customization commit in the overlay tracker does not reach the device on its own. The Deploy chain:

1. /jetson-promote-image — copies every tracked file in the overlay into <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/. Diff-aware (skip byte-identical); uses sudo cp -p for rootfs/* destinations.
2. /jetson-flash-image — flashes the updated bsp_image to the device.
3. (Alternate, no flash) Copy <source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/nvpower/nvfancontrol/<conf> directly to the running target's /etc/nvpower/nvfancontrol/<conf>, then sudo systemctl restart nvfancontrol.service (or reboot).

Editing <source.root_path>/... without committing — or editing <bsp_image.root_path>/... directly — does nothing for /jetson-promote-image and is silently lost on the next /jetson-init-image re-extract.