[SOLVED] Why can I not control my Cooler Master ARGB fans from Cooler Master Masterplus?

[Aris87]

Hello everyone,

I have recently bought 6 Coolermaster ARGB Masterfan MF120 Halo and I connected them all to the Masterfan ARGB and PWM Hub. The problem is that when I try to run the MasterPlus software to control my fans, it doesn’t seem to work. Am I doing something wrong?
Also, it would be very much appreciated if you could help me reduce the fans' RPM as they are running on 2500+ and they are quite noisy.

System:
Windows 10 Pro
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900x
GPU: Sapphire Radeon rx 5700 xt nitro+
M/B: ASUS Rog Strix X570-F

Thank you very much.
Aris

 

[Paperdoc]

I presume you got the Cooler Master Masterfan ARGB and PWM Hub, which is ideal for your equipment. It allows you to connect BOTH the fan motors and the lights from up to six fans if the fans are of the PWM type with ARGB lights. And that is the fans you have.

I think the problem you have is you mistake how control is done with this 2-Hubs-in-One. There are many competitive systems out there for users who do NOT have the right headers on their mobos, so they include their own controllers and use free software to do the actual control. That requires a cable connecting the Hub to a mobo USB2 header for communication between that software and the Hub. BUT your Hub is simpler and relies on headers of your MOBO to do the control work and feed it the signals it need.The Hub has THREE cables (besides the fans' two each) to the mobo. One is a very wide one that gets power via a SATA power output from the PSU. Then there's a cable from one Hub port on the other end to a mobo 4-pin CHA_FAN1 or CHA_FAN2 header; this one gets a PWM signal from that header, and relays back to the header the speed from ONE of the fans. In the configuration options for that mobo CHA_FANn header (see your manual p. 3-7), it MUST be set in the upper right corner to use the newer PWM Mode (not DC Mode) so your Hub can get the speed control signal it needs for your fans. Further, it should be set to use the default Standard fan speed control system so your fan speeds will be adjusted for you as your workload changes. The third cable goes from another Hub port to a mobo ARGB header for control signals for the fan lights. This MUST be one of the two ADD_GEN2_n headers - see manual p. 1-11. You control the light displays using the mobo-supplied utility, Aura Sync, for that.

None of this requires any use of that MasterPlus software. All your fans are speed-controlled using just the one mobo fan header and its normal fan control system. All the lights are controlled by the mobo again via its ARGB header and the Aura Sync software you got with the mobo.

If you want an app for observing and adjusting your fans while actually running Windows, look for the Fan Xpert 4 utility that came with your mobo. This avoids having to go into BIOS Setup to do that work.

 

[Karadjgne]

in a nutshell, If you do not have an argb header on your motherboard, you use the usb connection and MasterPlus software to operate the argb lighting. If you Do have an available argb port, you use that instead and the hub will sync with any other argb lighting used by the motherboard software. If you use the argb port, it overrides the usb, so MasterPlus has no direct control of the lighting.

Its a one-size-fits-all hub, you just need to set it up for your particular application, according to the very generous explanation researched and given by Paperdoc.

 

[Aris87]

That's so helpful! Thanks so much guys! That's everything I needed to know!