SM (System Management) bus controller is a protocol used by laptops to obtain information about the health of the battery. Also, some computer models transmit information about the processor temperature, the status of fans and other service information via this channel.
SM bus
Information transfer via the SM controller is carried out via a two-wire loop. Usually, the bus is not configurable, but in some cases it may be necessary to install the SMB (System Management Bus) driver, which can be downloaded from the website of your laptop or motherboard manufacturer. Also, controllers for Intel processors can be downloaded from the official website of the company by going to the technical support section.
Diagnostics
If an error message occurs in the system related to the functioning of the bus, you must first try to reinstall the driver. To do this, download the controller software from the appropriate site and install it by running the resulting file and following the instructions on the screen. If reinstalling the driver does not resolve the error that occurs, it is likely that your computer may be experiencing some problems. So, an error can occur as a result of some malfunctions in the operation of the motherboard memory chipset. In this case, the computer may show other functional problems, for example, a decrease in the performance of the processor, RAM, or graphics subsystem.
The drop in performance may be noticeable during daily use of the computer. Sometimes bus problems accompany USB or sound card malfunctions. For a more accurate diagnosis of the problem, you may need to contact a computer service center.
Controller advantages
The very use of the bus allows the computer to communicate with the rest of the system, i.e. all the necessary messages from the equipment go directly to other devices, which allows you to constantly monitor the state of the computer in real time. Moreover, the technology can significantly reduce the number of wires in the computer case, since to create an alternative protocol, a larger number of loops could be required to organize the sending of service information via special control lines.
Using the SM bus, you can determine the amount of installed memory in the computer and configure its parameters. Also, SM can retrieve information about the equipment manufacturer as well as the model number of the device according to the user-defined specification. The protocol is used to send various messages about errors in the operation of the device. The controller also allows you to determine the status of the laptop battery, its total capacity, operating temperature, used discharge cycles, etc.
