Need help getting WFlow_1 header to report on SensorPanel (MSI MEG Z690 Unify-X)

[Winterfoot]

I'm currently trying to get my sensor panel to report flow from the Wflow_1 header on an MSI Unify-X Z690 Mobo. It's been.... a journey... but I Initially found I had a faulty sensor (pinout was wrong) which I replaced, then there was an obstruction in my loop filter which limited flow preventing it from reading. I cleared all that out and now I can get a flow reading from the sensor, but only while I'm in the bios. Both Aida 64 and Hwinfo are not reporting the reading from the Wflow header. 

I'd like to be able to get this reading on my sensor panel, but I need help getting the program to read the header. any advice or input would be appreciated.

On a side note, only partially related, HWinfo can see the corsair commander core for fan speeds, but Aida 64 cannot. This is less critical for me, but would be cool if there was a way to see those too... I have 10 fans in my system.

(Edit) both the EC and EC bank switching options are selected on based off past posts on this topic

Many thanks

[Fiery]

6 hours ago, Winterfoot said:

I'm currently trying to get my sensor panel to report flow from the Wflow_1 header on an MSI Unify-X Z690 Mobo. It's been.... a journey... but I Initially found I had a faulty sensor (pinout was wrong) which I replaced, then there was an obstruction in my loop filter which limited flow preventing it from reading. I cleared all that out and now I can get a flow reading from the sensor, but only while I'm in the bios. Both Aida 64 and Hwinfo are not reporting the reading from the Wflow header. 

I'd like to be able to get this reading on my sensor panel, but I need help getting the program to read the header. any advice or input would be appreciated.

On a side note, only partially related, HWinfo can see the corsair commander core for fan speeds, but Aida 64 cannot. This is less critical for me, but would be cool if there was a way to see those too... I have 10 fans in my system.

(Edit) both the EC and EC bank switching options are selected on based off past posts on this topic

Many thanks

Can you please post a photo of the BIOS Setup where it shows all fan RPM readings as well as the WFlow_1 reading?

[Winterfoot]

 

Everything is the most up to date. I also find it weird that the bios won't detect the corsair fans, but hwinfo 64 does... it's odd

 

 

[Winterfoot]

@Fieryany updates?

[Fiery]

1 hour ago, Winterfoot said:

@Fieryany updates?

Thank you for the screenshots.  We've contacted MSI and asked for guidelines on how to measure W_Flow_1.  We're waiting for their response.

[Winterfoot]

@Fieryawesome, thanks for the response! Hopefully msi comes up with something

[Fiery]

On 7/30/2025 at 8:43 PM, Winterfoot said:

@Fieryawesome, thanks for the response! Hopefully msi comes up with something

Please upgrade to the latest beta version of AIDA64 Extreme available at:

https://www.aida64.com/downloads/latesta64xebeta

After upgrading to this new version, make sure to restart Windows to finalize the upgrade.

Let me know how it works.

[Winterfoot]

Just made the upgrade, you're a genius!

Totally works now! Thanks @Fiery!

 

To do my part for the community, is there any testing you want me to do with this?

[Winterfoot]

did a little playing with it. I am getting a flow reading, but it's off.

First I thought it just needed a correction factor since the flow rate is ~0.8LPH with the pump speed at ~2800rpm.

I changed the ratio in the settings first to 10, then to 100 since I thought that was just moving the decimal over and that would be good enough (setting aside questions of accuracy and calibration). That gave me a reading of about 80 LPH which seems reasonable for a system at rest. 

When I put the system under load though, the flow reading gave an inverse effect, dropping down to ~40LPH while the pump speed increased to ~4800RPM. 

So I think we are halfway there. Doing some googling to see if other people have had this issue before. 

[Winterfoot]

@Fiery did a little more digging. I think there are two separate issues occurring at the same time. 

So in the bios LPH reports as ~65.5LPh, and as soon as the system starts up about 0.69LPH, so I believe we are off as a factor of 100, which is easily resolved from the preferences menu and the correction factors.

What is perplexing me is the secondary issue and I'm not sure how to resolve it from my side. That's the response of the sensor being inverse to what it should be. When the pump speed slows down (via control of a curve programmed in FanControl) the LPH will increase (even though an incorrect value), and when the pump increases in speed the LPH will decrease. 

Not sure what else I can look at, and searching the forums hasn't yielded anything yet. 

[Fiery]

14 hours ago, Winterfoot said:

@Fiery did a little more digging. I think there are two separate issues occurring at the same time. 

So in the bios LPH reports as ~65.5LPh, and as soon as the system starts up about 0.69LPH, so I believe we are off as a factor of 100, which is easily resolved from the preferences menu and the correction factors.

What is perplexing me is the secondary issue and I'm not sure how to resolve it from my side. That's the response of the sensor being inverse to what it should be. When the pump speed slows down (via control of a curve programmed in FanControl) the LPH will increase (even though an incorrect value), and when the pump increases in speed the LPH will decrease. 

Not sure what else I can look at, and searching the forums hasn't yielded anything yet. 

Thank you for your detailed feedback and test runs! We've contacted MSI to clarify and also to assist us in resolving this issue.

When comparing the measured values, please note that the UEFI Setup uses a different measurement unit than AIDA64.  The UEFI Setup shows the water flow reading in L/M (Litres per Minute) while AIDA64 uses the LPH unit (Litres per Hour).  So there should be a 60x difference (60x ratio) between the two values.

[Winterfoot]

Sure thing! I find it kind of fun doing stuff like this. Professionally I'm an engineer, but not in computer sciences. This is all learning for me. 

That would account for some of the discrepancy with the decimal value not quite matching the UEFI. I was making an assumption that the water pump increased in speed during boot. I'm going to put in the correct ratio value (60x) just so that portion is settled. We can worry about the value direction after.

I do know that a lot of these flow units just report in RPM via means of a paddle wheel in the flow stream and a hall effect sensor, and then utilize a conversion calculation to turn it into flow rate, looks like the MSI UEFI does that automatically since I haven't had to enter in anything myself. I believe Aida64 has that capability? I vaguely recall reading a post that you can convert RPM to flow. That would help with the conversion, but not the proportional directionality of the value unfortunately. Not sure I understand that, unless it's a case of switched leads ( like how a three phase motor changes direction if you swap legs) but even then I don't think the pin-out on my flow meter supports that theory

 

[Fiery]

5 minutes ago, Winterfoot said:

Sure thing! I find it kind of fun doing stuff like this. Professionally I'm an engineer, but not in computer sciences. This is all learning for me. 

That would account for some of the discrepancy with the decimal value not quite matching the UEFI. I was making an assumption that the water pump increased in speed during boot. I'm going to put in the correct ratio value (60x) just so that portion is settled. We can worry about the value direction after.

I do know that a lot of these flow units just report in RPM via means of a paddle wheel in the flow stream and a hall effect sensor, and then utilize a conversion calculation to turn it into flow rate, looks like the MSI UEFI does that automatically since I haven't had to enter in anything myself. I believe Aida64 has that capability? I vaguely recall reading a post that you can convert RPM to flow. That would help with the conversion, but not the proportional directionality of the value unfortunately. Not sure I understand that, unless it's a case of switched leads ( like how a three phase motor changes direction if you swap legs) but even then I don't think the pin-out on my flow meter supports that theory

Quite frankly we use the formula provided by MSI, but it looks strange so it may not be how we've interpreted it the first time we've implemented it.  That's why we've asked them for clarification and a more detailed explanation on the formula they provided.  We will make sure to fix it in case it requires adjustment.

[Winterfoot]

Interesting, is that a formula you can share, or is it under proprietary agreeement?

[Fiery]

1 hour ago, Winterfoot said:

Interesting, is that a formula you can share, or is it under proprietary agreeement?

It's under NDA, so I cannot share  

[Winterfoot]

Figured that may be the case, ahh well