Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce AIO Coolers Linux Driver Being Developed

Joining the likes of the Aquacomputer and NZXT water/liquid cooling hardware monitoring/control "HWMON" kernel drivers, a Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce AIO Coolers Linux driver is being developed.

Independent developer Aleksa Savic has been working on "gigabyte_waterforce" as a HWMON Linux kernel driver for supporting Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce all-in-one coolers. This open-source driver exposes the hardware sensors of the Waterforce liquid cooling systems, which rely on a proprietary USB HID protocol. Currently this driver means Linux users can read pump and fan speed RPMs as well as coolant temperatures. There is also support for controlling the fan speed if attached.

As with most enthusiast/gamer oriented AIO liquid coolers, there are RGB LEDs and an LCD screen with this Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce hardware but that functionality isn't yet supported by this gigabyte_waterforce Linux driver.

This reverse-engineered, open-source Linux driver has been confirmed to be supported with the Gigabyte AORUS WATERFORCE X240, Gigabyte AORUS WATERFORCE X280, and Gigabyte AORUS WATERFORCE X360 CPU liquid cooler products.

Those that happen to have these Gigabyte Waterforce coolers or considering such a purchase, more details on this under-review driver can be found via this mailing list post. With some luck it will be all cleaned up and ready for the Linux v6.8 cycle.