CLEVO Drivers Update Utility by OBSIDIAN-PC

I've upgraded to a new laptop and want to move over my licenses for Fan Control and Updater - how do I do this?

Edit: I purchased another license, got the confirmation email but when I enter the order number into the application I just get a message saying "not a valid license"...
@John@OBSIDIAN-PC

 

Hello, everyone! Just got this weird issue with software not being activated (FanControl, Updater), probably happened after installing the latest NVidia driver. So, since the UUID is missing for some reason, I decided to check it from the command prompt myself and got nothing from it in return. That's when I found this solution. I've just copied it from "stackoverflow" so it's easier to read for everyone.

Open the advanced System Properties window (you can open the System page with Windows+Pause/Break) and on the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables. In the section for system variables, find PATH (or any capitalization thereof). Add this entry to it:
%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem

This will not only allow you to access your UUID from the command prompt using the "wmic" command, but it should also bring it back to the John's software. Just activate again with your order number.

 

Does anyone know what is happening with Obsidian PC/John? I ordered a Fan Control license on 5th March but the license doesn't work even til now in spite of the order going through on their site. Have lost 30 euros for over two weeks now.

 

With all my sympathy for John's new work and family priorities I'm afraid this great software is now practically EOL.

 

That's understandable, but perhaps they should disable the option to buy more licenses if they simply don't work to even activate the software anymore. Not like it's cheap. I'm happy with the software as it is if it doesn't even receive updates more than once a year if that.

 

So with still nothing back from Obsidian and after trying out RLECViewer for a while (failed me as well because sometimes it would fail to detect the GPU), I decided to put something together myself, sort of a more simple version of John's Fan Control (borrowed the app icon from there).

Basically this:


Only starting some long term real world testing on it now but if people are interested and John is ok with it, I could put the code/executable up somewhere eventually.

 

I would join testing.. Better create separate topic with executable and description)

Join the club, i went same way with keyboard and cover LEDs )) https://github.com/rzrwolf/LED-manager-for-Clevo

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/clevo-p870xx-p775xx-cover-kb-led-manager.835084/

 

Nice, I have installed this as I hate the default blue.

I put my code up here for now: https://github.com/djsubtronic/ClevoFanControl

App starts minimized in tray, if you want it to run on startup you will have to create the entry manually. Did a session of gaming last night and the fan control was stable as per the configured curves. Of course, use at your own risk. I'll create a separate thread at some point.

 

Link not found. Could you relink it please?

I would also like to test it out to see if it works just like the obsidian tool.

 

Works for me, can you try again? The UI is inspired by Obsidian, but that's where the similarities end. It's nowhere near as advanced. For example, the temperature stops are fixed for example and there is no custom ramping speed. Also it only supports 2 fans right now (1 x GPU and 1 x GPU) as that is the only machine I have at the moment.

 

Doesnt open, have you shared access to this repository?

 

Ah, it was private. I've made it public now.

 

Maybe you should start a different thread for your tool so people can find it more easily?

 

I've created a thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/wip-fan-control-application.835672/

 

I'm curious.

I know some people had issues with memory leak, which I personally never saw.

I've now some weird memory leak at kernel level (win 10) up to 17gb of RAM on the HalB tag (checked via poolmon.exe). Where you guys seeing similar leaks or what?

EDIT: the culprit was most likely (not 100% sure since I couldn't track explicitly who was leaking under the HalB tag) some serious leakage in the Google Drive File Stream services, even though it's not clear at all so I'm still curious about what exactly was happening the users reporting memory leakage.

 

I have the same issue. I try to contact with John, but unfortunately no answer until now...

 

I would go on a limb here and say that Obsidian-PC is affected by the Pandemic and with it the disruption of the business chain.
Without many products to move, and with little product substitute, any reseller will have to struggle to keep afloat.
Then Again they belong to Corcet LDA, a specialized car repair company.
So until a Obsidian or Corcet Rep shows up here and gives a roadmap, its all just a hypothesis.

Then again this is a wild guess but what I can see here, is that the Staff of Obsidian-PC is less active here and the website hasnt been updated with new products.

 

I think it has been stated here that John developed an app or something which is now their primary project and Obsidian stopped being a Clevo reseller for all intents and purposes. I think he didn't mean to drop support for the Tools but that's what happened.

 

Considering almost absent support, i would recommend John to release at least some of the source codes for the software, so that we can at least collaborate with further software development / fixes

We could also make target community donation of some fixed $ sum for releasing the sources, so no line of code written in vain..

The most annoying case with proprietary software is that no sources released ever, even if software support is dead already or dying..

 

Sent a private message to John on his Facebook regarding the post above mine which I totally agree with.

BTW if anyone wants to check out of curiosity, his projects now:
https://www.thorkracing.com/
And
https://www.drivemodedashboard.com/

 

Well i did send a message to John but he didn't reply back. only saw my message

 

I admit that I got tired of waiting for John (or support) to reply, and whilst I'm using the new applications now, I went ahead and used x64dbg to find a neuter the license checks in my local files, just for the ability to use John's programs in future if I want to. The result is not something I will share, to respect John's copyright, but it can be done with some thought and commonsense, just using the x64dbg tool.

I do want to find some time to look at the newer tools and their code to see how they work internally. Too many side projects, too little time.

 

The main thing for me is to get a refund on the 30 euro I spent on a second license...

 

Are there any strong alternatives to the Obsidian tools? To be honest, only the Updater tool doesn't work anymore for me, the rest is fine.

 

Hey folks, so here's the situation I'm facing. I rely on obsidian fan control to make my NH58AF1 a machine I can live with, fan noise and constant ramping up and down make it painful otherwise.

Fan control works at the moment, however need to do a bios update I've been putting off for a year - I know this bios update will cause fan control to stop working (break its UUID check). It sounds like there will be no way to recover this software or purchase it again since support is responding. Is there still some way to get in contact with Obsidian ( @John@OBSIDIAN-PC ) ?

Failing that, @philstopford, would you be willing to share your workaround if I provide you with my proof of purchase email / screenshot? I no desire to share this software, only to continue using the license I paid for that is soon to be in limbo.

@djsubtronic - I just came across your thread about the fan control as well, had some questions but I'll post on that thread to keep these separate.

 

Seems like a reasonable approach, yes. Using the open source implementation from djsubtronic also might be a plan. At least that way, you have something that is maintained (or maintainable)

 

Thank you and I'll get a screenshot from my old fan control invoice later and message to you directly. My plan is to try djsubtronic's version though I need to do my best to make sure I can have the old fan control installed an functional in the interim / as a backup.

The reason I tread lightly is that I use the NH58AF1 for work (probably not a wise decision, I know). I hope to transition some work duties to a Zbook in the future, but for now I need to make sure the Clevo stays fully usable and quiet enough to keep my sanity while working from it

 

Does anyone know about the brightness fix - how to do it without the Control Station? I want to set up a hotkey so I can apply the fix using just the keyboard. My screen (Chinese knockoff bought off AliExpress) is not able to handle the maximum brightness before the fix is applied and sometimes blanks out or starts blinking, and then it is very difficult to apply the brightness fix using the mouse.

 

A real shame I purchased my current Laptop from you guys and the whole process was very simple, from initial questions through to order and delivery (to UK), software is very good and laptop excellent with no issues, I thank you and the team and wish you all well in your new venture oland when at some stage you return

 

The brightness fix in the Control Station no longer works for the latest Intel graphics driver 30.0.100.9805. Brightness stays stuck at 100% all the time.

 

You can use this tools it's free or by donation if you like it.
https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases
You can check the tutorials on youtube ..
works very well on my Alienware Area 51 R2

 

Hey @mhp32 , I have a problem with the software. I have no control cards for my CPU and GPU fan even after it finishes the detection process. I am on XMG Apex15 (Clevo N950TP6).

 

Sorry for the necro-ping, but does that mean that Updater can be uninstalled as (for now) it won´t be doing much?

 

For the programs to work properly you need to install control station, updater, fan control and the keyboard program. 4 of them

Enviado do meu ASUS_I001DC através do Tapatalk

 

AFAIK the Updater can be used (or not used) independently of the others. The Keyboard utility depends on the files installed by Fan Control, so that won't work without Fan Control, but not installing the Updater at all shouldn't be a problem.

That said, I still use the Updater - not for updating, but to tell me at a glance which drivers my system is currently using. Saves me having to dig through Device Manager for each device one by one. I still use the Control Station for the brightness fix. I didn't pay for the Fan Control, but I still use it sometimes to make my fans run at full speed when I'm doing something heavy, like video encoding.

So if you don't want the Updater, you can uninstall it, while continuing to use the other apps. I would urge you, however, to keep a screenshot somewhere just in case you install a driver that doesn't work and want to know which ones had worked earlier. Or do like I do, and set it to run only on demand.

 

nm I just read this software if no longer being updated, so I will find somewhere else.

 

If you find something that works better, please let us know too.
I haven't found anything else that helps with my brightness issue - stuck at maximum brightness after waking from 'turn off display after n minutes.
Intel Driver Support Assistant for Intel graphics and WiFi and Bluetooth.
Geforce website for NVIDIA graphics drivers. (Although on my laptop the latest driver that works is 457.20. Anything later than that keeps the GPU fans running constantly, even when nothing is using the GPU).
Windows Update for everything else.
Be careful of apps like SUMo and DUMo - they have been known to suggest drivers that are not suitable. Run them, by all means, but don't blindly update to everything that's recommended.

 

I'm sympathetic to Obsidian but fml. Microsoft is up to its same anal **** again. Updates have fragged my HP650HS which was rock solid up to the last two weeks. I'm sure MS is up to installing random drivers again.

Damn, I really didn't want to get another laptop this year.

It was a good run, but I cannot tolerate this blue screen ****. My supplier is great, Clevo blows.

 

good luck with that. Obsidian made my machine stable for the past two years. Actually usable.

I like my rebranded Clevo, but I won't go there again. I use my machine for development, and the complete lack of driver support from Clevo is a no-go for me. I use VM machines extensively, and I note that the VM machines have never BSOD'd, just my base hardware.

 

John@OBSIDIAN-PC hi, how much will the complete set of programs cost for my clevo 775? (updater and other)

 

No longer being developed and John hasn't been here in ages (sadly)

 

Yeah last activity January.

 

One thing @John@OBSIDIAN-PC could do would open source his programs so others could follow his legacy

 

I don't think he is coming back. Their shop has shut down for one.

 

Looks like their web front has no products and only references older models

 

Yep, he had another project that was taking off making handlebar mounted control systems for bikes.

 

The Obsidian utilities still work fine on my laptops, but I'm dreading the day when I have to do a clean Windows install because I don't know whether they'll activate properly or even keep running with newer OS builds.

 

If you check for update, does it still work? If it does, I think it means the activation server is still up.

 

Yes it does work

 

Yup, still reports that I'm running the latest version. Here's hoping it stays up for a good long while.