I’ve not much idea what I’m doing, but i want to achieve the question in the header.
I’ve a Fan shim and a booster header and some extended standoffs.
It would be nice to be able to control the fan rather than have it run all the time, but it’s currently above my pay grade to make this happen. Could a bigger brain than mine offer some advice?
Thanks
If I remember right, Pimoroni’s software tends to complain (and not install?) on operating systems other than RaspiOS, I take it because supporting other OSes becomes really complex when they do things different ways. So, the speed control won’t work unless you find a workaround for that.
However, the fan seems to spin when you attach it to the header, so it should run fine even without the software. The fan control doesn’t turn the fan on, it turns it off, so no fan control just means it runs at full speed.
The next question is pin conflicts: you don’t say which nanomesher HAT you’re using, but in theory it’s possible that the electronics on the Fan SHIM might upset whatever the NM HAT is trying to do with that pin, but we’d need to look at the exact pinout of the NM HAT to figure that out.
Hi Shoe, thanks for your reply. It’s a Nanmomesher DAC 2s. I’ve no idea what the pin configuration is.
I guess the next question is will the Raspberry run happily with out the fan cooling?
Depends a bit on what you use it for; if you’re driving it hard you might find it throttling, but I have a passive heat sink on my “working” Pi4, and run my “server” Pi4 completely bare.
It’s smart enough to throttle before it harms the hardware, so it might be easiest to try and it see ;-)
Is there a config.txt file like what’s in Raspbian?
Can volumio use dtoverlay’s?
Thanks Ahnlak for your reply. And alphanumeric too.
Well i,ve found this which might help. The power supply is actually applied to the HAT and it then powers the Pi. I don’t know if it will conflict with the GPIO?
The Fan shim pinout is here.
Fan SHIM at Raspberry Pi GPIO Pinout
I think you may have issues / conflicts on GPIO 14 and 18. GPIO 18 is the fan control pin, if it goes low the fan stops.
Alphanumeric, thank you for your wisdom. Looks like the Fan shim will have to go. Hey, ho, I guess i will have to look for a skinny heatsink instead. Do you know if the Pimoroni heatsinks will fit under the HAT? Sorry to ask so many dumb questions but it is a way to learn. . . .
If there isn’t anything protruding on the back side of the hat this one may work.
Raspberry Pi 4 Heatsink – Pimoroni
It has a very low profile.
Thank you for this! Most helpful.
I have one, used it for a while, it did make a difference. The SOC ran cooler with it on. I don’t remember how much cooler though?
Thanks again, just a thought, but if i have the fan installed but no control software, will it still call out to pins 14 and 18. Will it not just use the two power pins 2 & 4? Or is this wishful thinking? If I try it, what are the chances of blowing up the HAT? Sorry, more questions. . .
Even with no software installed, a low on GPIO 18 will turn the fan off. It doesn’t matter what sets the pin low, if it goes low the fan stops.
As an example I’ve controlled mine with a dtoverlay instead of the Pimoroni software.
dtoverlay=gpio-fan,gpiopin=18,temp=55000
Fan turns on at 55c and off again at 45c.
I’ve also turned the LED on off with the Plasma software.
Sorry unintentional post
dont be so hard on yourself, I still do [stupid} dumb stuff daily and i can’t cant answer you ? ,because I dont know the answer … I bought my first Pi about 8yrs ago,and have at least a dozen different Pi’s ,and 2 fanshims .one in use , enjoy!
Thanks for your encouraging thoughts. I’ve just read what i should have read before I bought the Fan - it won’t work in the application I intended it for (i2S HAT). Doh! First engage brain… .
Thanks to everybody for your input - most gratifying. Apologies for wasting your time.
It’s not a waist of time if you learn something on the way. ;)
not an issue for me ,allmost all my time wasted ,except sleep!
enjoy the Pi experience [i useto ,lol]
Hey Jack, I just ordered $100 CAN worth of stuff. A lot of it was on sale, some stuff was 30% or 25% off. Breakout garden stuff mostly, and some odds and ends stuff.
I probably saved 30 or more bucks.
@christowade It’s a love hate relationship for me with the Fan Shim. The Fan part I like, the minimal circuit board etc. The “shim” part not so much. I have several, about half are soldered to headers. Some work just fine, some have had to be fiddled with to get working. And most have been modified so the fan default state is off.
You might find some useful info here.
Fan Shim Button to turn Pi on and off FYI post - Discussion - Pimoroni Buccaneers
yeah i seen the sale advertised on twitter, but didnt go look ,not buying anything for a long time ,unless i really need it to use stuff i have … :( had a look and didn’t see anything i need or want .
