MSI Control Center

MSI Control Center is a Linux control panel for supported MSI laptops. It combines a Qt 6 desktop client, a system D-Bus service, a helper library, and an EC kernel module for monitoring thermals and controlling laptop-specific features.

The packaged build is designed for daily use: the application is installed into /opt/msicontroller, Qt runtime files are bundled privately, and the kernel module is managed through DKMS so it is rebuilt when the kernel changes.

Features

• Dashboard with CPU/GPU temperatures, fan speed, battery state, and live GPU-rendered mini charts.
• Built-in and user-editable supported-device profiles in JSON format.
• Developer mode gate for advanced configuration and EC memory tools.
• Cooling modes: firmware auto, manual fan curve, target temperature, and Cooler Boost.
• Service-managed target temperature mode for CPU/GPU fan adjustment.
• Editable CPU and GPU fan curves with temperature-to-speed maps.
• CPU performance view for per-core frequency, usage, and frequency limits.
• CPU controls for frequency limit and governor selection.
• Shift mode switching where firmware supports it: Eco, Comfort, Sport, Turbo.
• Device controls for webcam, USB Power Share, FN/Meta swap, Super Battery, mute state, LEDs, keyboard backlight, and battery charge threshold where available.
• EC memory debugger for service-mediated hex byte and bit edits.
• Multiple UI themes, desktop entry, autostart entry, and system tray integration.
• System service over D-Bus with systemd integration.
• DEB/RPM packaging with DKMS-managed kernel module installation.
• Forgejo CI package artifacts, release uploads, and apt/dnf package registry publishing.

Feature availability depends on the detected firmware configuration in src/service/supported-devices.json plus optional user profiles stored by the service in /etc/MsiController/supported-devices.json.

Screenshots

Dashboard and cooling controls

CPU performance and device controls

Supported device profiles

EC memory debugger

Architecture

• src/client - Qt/QML desktop client (MsiControlCenterClient).
• src/service - privileged system service (MsiControlCenterService) exposing device state and commands over D-Bus.
• src/helper - shared D-Bus/helper library used by the client and service.
• src/module - EC kernel module and DKMS source files.
• cmake/packaging - DEB/RPM, DKMS, Docker, and Qt runtime bundling helpers.
• scripts - package build and package install test entry points.

The client does not talk to EC hardware directly. It talks to the service, and the service owns hardware access, CPU control readback, fan target control, and state synchronization.

Installation

DEB

sudo apt install ./packages/msicontroller_amd64.deb

RPM

sudo dnf install ./packages/msicontroller_x86_64.rpm

or:

sudo rpm -Uvh ./packages/msicontroller_x86_64.rpm

The install host needs DKMS, kmod, systemd, and kernel headers for the running kernel. The package installs application files into /opt/msicontroller and system integration files into standard locations:

• systemd service: /lib/systemd/system/msi-ec-service.service
• D-Bus policy: /etc/dbus-1/system.d/msi-ec-service.conf
• DKMS source: /usr/src/msiecmodule-<version>
• modules-load config: /etc/modules-load.d/msiecmodule.conf
• desktop/autostart entries: /usr/share/applications and /etc/xdg/autostart

Release packages also connect the Forgejo package repository during installation. After installing a downloaded .deb or .rpm, future tagged releases can be installed by the normal system updater:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

or:

sudo dnf upgrade

Repository files are installed as:

• apt source: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/msicontroller-forgejo.list
• apt key: /etc/apt/keyrings/msicontroller-forgejo.asc
• dnf/yum repo: /etc/yum.repos.d/msicontroller-forgejo.repo

After installation:

systemctl status msi-ec-service
/opt/msicontroller/bin/msicontroller-client

The desktop launcher is named MSI Control Center.

Building Packages

The recommended packaging path is Docker. It builds inside Ubuntu 22.04 with Qt 6.11.1 from aqtinstall, bundles the Qt runtime, and writes stable artifact names into packages/.

./scripts/build-packages-docker.sh

Generated files:

• packages/msicontroller_amd64.deb
• packages/msicontroller_x86_64.rpm

The filenames stay stable, but package release metadata is unique so upgrades work normally. The script keeps the packages/ directory in place and atomically replaces package files, which avoids breaking terminals opened inside that directory.

If your build environment needs a proxy:

export MSICONTROLLER_HTTP_PROXY="http://user:password@proxy.example:3128"
./scripts/build-packages-docker.sh

To build packages without Docker, install Qt 6.11.1 locally and run:

export MSICONTROLLER_QT_VERSION=6.11.1
export MSICONTROLLER_QT_HOST_DIR=/opt/Qt/6.11.1/gcc_64
./scripts/build-packages.sh

Testing Packages

Package install smoke tests run the generated DEB/RPM in clean containers and check dependency resolution, installed file layout, desktop/autostart entries, D-Bus/systemd files, DKMS source placement, and unresolved shared libraries.

./scripts/test-packages-docker.sh

The test matrix covers Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 26.04, Debian 12, and Fedora. DKMS build/load is skipped only inside these container tests with MSICONTROLLER_SKIP_DKMS=1; normal user installation still builds and installs the module.

Forgejo CI

Forgejo builds the project on pushes to main, has a dedicated package job, and runs package install smoke tests against the generated artifacts. Download ready-to-install packages from the workflow artifact named msicontroller-packages.

When a tag matching v* is pushed, packages are published only after the install smoke tests pass. The release job creates or updates the matching Forgejo Release and uploads:

• msicontroller_amd64.deb
• msicontroller_x86_64.rpm

The same files are uploaded to the Forgejo Package Registry as an apt/dnf repository:

• Debian registry: https://forgejo.acnas.net/api/packages/app/debian, distribution stable, component main
• RPM registry: https://forgejo.acnas.net/api/packages/app/rpm

If the GITHUBTOKEN secret is configured, the same tag is pushed to GitHub and the same package files are uploaded to the matching GitHub Release.

Application, package, and DKMS versions are derived from the Git tag. For example, tag v1.2.3 produces application version 1.2.3, package version 1.2.3, and DKMS module version 1.2.3.

The CI package job supports the same proxy variable:

MSICONTROLLER_HTTP_PROXY

Building From Source

Install development dependencies on Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install build-essential cmake ninja-build pkg-config git \
  qt6-base-dev qt6-declarative-dev qt6-tools-dev qt6-tools-dev-tools \
  qt6-charts-dev qt6-qmltooling-plugins \
  libdbus-1-dev libsystemd-dev \
  linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Build:

cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja
cmake --build build

Install from the source build:

sudo cmake --install build

Uninstall a source install:

sudo cmake --build build --target uninstall

For package-style builds, the module is not compiled during CMake build; DKMS compiles it during package installation and on kernel updates:

cmake -S . -B build-package -G Ninja \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/msicontroller \
  -DMSICONTROLLER_BUNDLE_QT_RUNTIME=ON \
  -DMSICONTROLLER_BUILD_KERNEL_MODULE=OFF \
  -DMSICONTROLLER_INSTALL_DKMS=ON

Runtime Commands

systemctl status msi-ec-service
journalctl -u msi-ec-service -f
/opt/msicontroller/bin/msicontroller-client

For a non-packaged source install, the client binary is usually available as:

MsiControlCenterClient

Supported Laptops

The current firmware configuration database contains 56 built-in MSI firmware profiles (CONF0 through CONF55). Feature availability is firmware-specific; the table below is based on src/service/supported-devices.json.

Config	Firmware(s)	Fan	Shift	Keyboard Backlight	Super Battery	Mic Mute
CONF0	14C1EMS1.012, 14C1EMS1.101, 14C1EMS1.102	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF1	17F2EMS1.103, 17F2EMS1.104, 17F2EMS1.106, 17F2EMS1.107	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF2	1552EMS1.115, 1552EMS1.118, 1552EMS1.119, 1552EMS1.120	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF3	1592EMS1.111	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF4	16V4EMS1.114, 16V4EMS1.115	✔	✔
CONF5	158LEMS1.103, 158LEMS1.105, 158LEMS1.106	✔	✔			✔
CONF6	1542EMS1.102, 1542EMS1.104	✔	✔		✔
CONF7	17FKEMS1.108, 17FKEMS1.109, 17FKEMS1.10A	✔	✔	✔
CONF8	14F1EMS1.114, 14F1EMS1.115, 14F1EMS1.116, 14F1EMS1.117, 14F1EMS1.118, 14F1EMS1.119, 14F1EMS1.120	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF9	14JKEMS1.104, 14JKEMS1.300	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF10	1582EMS1.107	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF11	16S6EMS1.111	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF12	16R6EMS1.104, 16R6EMS1.106, 16R6EMS1.107	✔	✔	✔
CONF13	1594EMS1.109	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF14	17L2EMS1.108	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF15	15CKEMS1.108	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF16	155LEMS1.105, 155LEMS1.106	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF17	15K1IMS1.110, 15K1IMS1.111, 15K1IMS1.112, 15K1IMS1.113	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF18	15HKEMS1.104	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF19	1543EMS1.113, 17K3EMS1.115	✔	✔		✔
CONF20	1581EMS1.107	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF21	16R3EMS1.100, 16R3EMS1.102, 16R3EMS1.104, 16R4EMS2.102	✔	✔	✔
CONF22	17LLEMS1.106	✔	✔			✔
CONF23	16WKEMS1.105	✔	✔	✔
CONF24	14D1EMS1.103	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF25	14F1EMS1.207, 14F1EMS1.209, 14F1EMS1.211	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF26	14DLEMS1.105	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF27	17S2IMS1.113	✔	✔		✔	✔
CONF28	1822EMS1.105, 1822EMS1.109, 1822EMS1.111, 1822EMS1.112, 1822EMS1.114, 1822EMS1.115	✔	✔		✔	✔
CONF29	16V5EMS1.107	✔	✔		✔
CONF30	17Q2IMS1.107, 17Q2IMS1.10D	✔	✔	✔
CONF31	16Q4EMS1.110	✔	✔
CONF32	158PIMS1.207, 158PIMS1.112, 158PIMS1.114	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF33	17N1EMS1.109	✔	✔		✔	✔
CONF34	14C6EMS1.109	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF35	15M2IMS1.113	✔	✔		✔	✔
CONF36	1585EMS1.112, 1585EMS1.115	✔	✔		✔	✔
CONF37	15M1IMS1.113	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF38	17E8IMS1.106, 17E8EMS1.101	✔	✔	✔
CONF39	16R8IMS1.108, 16R8IMS1.111, 16R8IMS1.117	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF40	17S1IMS1.105	✔	✔		✔	✔
CONF41	15M1IMS2.111	✔	✔			✔
CONF42	14L1EMS1.307, 14L1EMS1.308	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF43	14DKEMS1.104, 14DKEMS1.105	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF44	17LNIMS1.505	✔	✔		✔	✔
CONF45	1545IMS1.109	✔	✔		✔
CONF46	16W1EMS1.102, 16W1EMS1.103, 16W1EMS1.104, 16W1EMS2.103, 16W2EMS1.101	✔	✔	✔
CONF47	17KKIMS1.108, 17KKIMS1.109, 17KKIMS1.114	✔	✔
CONF48	158NIMS1.10D, 158NIMS1.30C	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF49	16R4EMS1.101, 16R4EMS1.102, 16R5EMS1.102	✔	✔	✔
CONF50	1584EMS1.112	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF51	158MEMS1.101, 158KEMS1.104, 158KEMS1.106, 158KEMS1.109	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF52	16V1EMS1.109, 16V1EMS1.116, 16V1EMS1.118, 16V3EMS1.106	✔	✔
CONF53	159KIMS1.108	✔	✔	✔		✔
CONF54	16R8IMS2.112	✔	✔	✔	✔
CONF55	17G1EMS1.107	✔	✔

Built-in profiles are shipped in src/service/supported-devices.json. User profiles and overrides are written by the service to /etc/MsiController/supported-devices.json and can be managed from the client via Supported devices in the left panel. Saved profile changes are applied live: the service rebuilds the active EC parameter set and the client refreshes without restarting the service.

Contact / Support

• Email: mikhail@acnas.net
• Telegram: @AcNasRu
• LinkedIn: Mikhail Bulatov

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to BeardOverflow/msi-ec for inspiration.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Note: This project uses the Qt framework, which is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 3.
See https://www.qt.io/licensing and the LICENSE.LGPL3 file for details.

MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.