Gamemax-linux-apps/README.md

GAMEMAX LCD — Linux bridge & tray app

Drive the LCD panel of a GAMEMAX IceBurg Digital AIO cooler from Linux: a small sender plus a tray application (GUI) with live monitoring, settings and autostart.

Reverse engineered independently from the Windows vendor software (PcInfoMonitorPro.exe / "IceBurg Digital Software"); the protocol notes are in docs/reverse-engineering.md (Indonesian).

 hwmon · /proc/stat · cpufreq · meminfo · statvfs
                    │
                    ▼
        gamemax_report.py  ──►  65-byte HID report  ──►  LCD panel
          (stdlib only)          hidraw, 5131:2007
                    ▲
        gamemax_gui.py (tray)  ──►  systemd user unit + udev rule

Author: oxpoe · License: MIT · Independent project, not affiliated with the vendor — please read DISCLAIMER.md before using it.

Compatibility

• OS: Linux only (Windows is handled by the vendor software). No kernel module, no patched driver — it talks to the standard hidraw interface.
• Tested on: CachyOS (Arch) · kernel 7.2.9 · KDE Plasma Wayland · Python 3.14, with the panel of a GAMEMAX IceBurg 240 Digital BK (HID 5131:2007, vendor-defined usage page 0xFF00, 64-byte reports).
• Other IceBurg Digital models/sizes very likely share the same protocol; if a panel revision differs, gamemax_report.py --dry-run lets you inspect the report without writing to the device.
• The panel keeps animating on its own; the firmware offers no command to power the display off and no way to change the logo — blank mode simply sends zeros.

On real hardware

The cooler's LCD while driven by this project on Linux, during protocol testing (GAMEMAX IceBurg 240 Digital BK).

Screen modes

Normal — sensor values	Blank — zeros (indicator is clear)

Tested hardware

The target is the LCD block of an AIO cooler. Two things confuse people, so they are stated up front:

1. lsusb shows this device as "MSR MSR-101U Mini HID magnetic card reader". That is a VID/PID collision in the usb.ids database (the 0x5131 range is shared by cheap OEM modules), not what the device is. The HID report descriptor is vendor-defined (0xFF00, 64-byte input + 64-byte output, no report IDs) — a card reader or keyboard looks completely different. Check it yourself:

   cat /sys/class/hidraw/hidraw*/device/report_descriptor | xxd | head
   

2. The panel is not a general monitor. It belongs to one specific cooler family, and its firmware decides what it renders (two digits, fixed °C label, its own animations).

Component	What it is / what it provides
Cooler + LCD panel	GAMEMAX IceBurg 240 Digital BK — 240 mm AIO, round 66×45 mm LCD block
Panel USB identity	VID 0x5131 / PID 0x2007 · USB 1.10 full-speed · 2 × 64-byte interrupt endpoints · bInterval 160 ms · no report IDs
Vendor software analysed	PcInfoMonitorPro.exe V_1.0.0.04 ("IceBurg 240 Digital Software", product page)
CPU (temperature source)	AMD Ryzen 5 5600 → k10temp (Tctl, Tccd1; the script sends the highest)
Motherboard (fan source)	ASUS PRIME B550M-A WIFI II → Nuvoton nct6798 (fan1..fan7; only the connected headers read non-zero)
GPU	AMD Radeon RX 6600 (Navi 23) → amdgpu hwmon (temp, fan, power, busy %)
Memory / storage	32 GB RAM · NVMe root filesystem
OS / session	CachyOS (Arch) · kernel 7.2.9 · KDE Plasma on Wayland
Tooling	Python 3.14.7 · PySide6 6.12.0 · hidraw (no kernel module, no driver patch)

Because fan headers differ per board, the fan channel is a setting, not a constant: the GUI lists every fan*_input channel with its current RPM and (if the chosen one reads 0 RPM while another spins) tells you which channel to pick. Same idea for the CPU temperature source (Tctl vs Tccd).

Features

• Sends CPU temp/load/clock/fan/power, GPU temp/load/clock/fan/power, RAM and disk usage to the panel as a 65-byte HID report (the layout the firmware understands)
• Reads sensors from standard Linux interfaces: hwmon, /proc/stat, cpufreq, /proc/meminfo, statvfs — no extra dependencies (pure Python, stdlib only)
• Tray app (--tray-only) plus a window with an animated gauge, bars and details
• Settings: fan channel (pick the header your fans are on), CPU temperature source, send/sample interval — saved to ~/.config/gamemax-report/config.json
• Clear mode indicators: green "showing sensor data" / orange "blank (zeros)" / grey "sending stopped", dimmed tray icon and a desktop notification per change
• Autostart via a systemd user unit (equivalent of the vendor's Task Scheduler trick)
• Plug and play: the service waits for the device, streams while present and keeps waiting through unplug/replug; a udev rule grants access to the logged-in user
• Single instance: launching the app again just raises the running window
• Self-update from GitHub Releases (check + one-click update)
• Donate / GitHub buttons in the app (window and tray menu)
• AppImage build script (packaging/build_appimage.sh, PySide6 bundled)

The GUI labels are in Indonesian. The app itself is named IceBurg LCD (no vendor brand in the UI); the repository keeps the hardware and brand name only to describe what it supports.

Requirements

• A GAMEMAX IceBurg Digital panel connected over USB (VID 0x5131, PID 0x2007)

• hidraw access for your user (see the udev rule in Install)

• Linux with a working hidraw stack (tested on CachyOS / Arch, KDE Wayland)

• Python 3.10+ for the sender (stdlib only)

• For the tray app: PySide6 (uv run --with pyside6 python src/gamemax_gui.py) or use the prebuilt AppImage

Install

One command (downloads the latest release, verifies its SHA-256, installs the app, the systemd user unit, the menu entry and the udev rule):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oxpoe/Gamemax-linux-apps/main/install.sh | bash
# uninstall:  bash install.sh --uninstall        (add --remove-data to drop settings too)

Manual steps, if you prefer to see every command:

# 1. device access for the logged-in user (once, needs root)
sudo cp packaging/70-gamemax.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
sudo udevadm control --reload && sudo udevadm trigger --subsystem-match=hidraw

# 2. try it without installing anything
cd src
python3 gamemax_report.py --dry-run      # build and print a report, no device writes
python3 gamemax_report.py --listen 5     # read panel -> host reports (none on this panel)

# 3. send for real
python3 gamemax_report.py --count 3      # a few reports
python3 gamemax_report.py                # keep streaming (Ctrl-C to stop)

Run as a background service (autostart + plug and play)

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gamemax-report ~/.config/systemd/user
cp src/gamemax_report.py ~/.local/share/gamemax-report/
cp packaging/gamemax-report.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now gamemax-report.service
journalctl --user -u gamemax-report -f        # shows "waiting for 0x5131:0x2007" / "opened ..."

The tray app can do all of this for you (buttons Pasang / perbarui layanan, Mulai otomatis saat login).

Tray app / AppImage

Download (recommended): grab GAMEMAX-LCD-x86_64.AppImage from Releases — it bundles PySide6, the sender script and the icon, and is built automatically from source by .github/workflows/release.yml.

chmod +x GAMEMAX-LCD-x86_64.AppImage
./GAMEMAX-LCD-x86_64.AppImage --selftest     # verify it starts (no display needed)
./GAMEMAX-LCD-x86_64.AppImage                # window + tray

# or run from source
uv run --with pyside6 python src/gamemax_gui.py            # window + tray
uv run --with pyside6 python src/gamemax_gui.py --tray-only

bash packaging/build_appimage.sh                            # -> dist/GAMEMAX-LCD-x86_64.AppImage

Protocol (verified on hardware)

VID 0x5131 / PID 0x2007, vendor-defined HID page 0xFF00, 64-byte IN + 64-byte OUT, no report IDs. The host sends 64 data bytes:

Offset	Field	Notes
0	report ID	always 0
1	64	payload length
2	CPU temp	0..99 °C, two digits only; values ≥ 128 are ignored by firmware
3	CPU load %
4..5	RPM slot	big-endian u16 — the panel shows this field next to the fan icon
6..7	CPU clock MHz	big-endian u16
8..9	CPU power W	big-endian u16
10	GPU temp	0..99 °C
11	GPU load %
12..13	GPU clock MHz	big-endian u16
14..15	GPU fan RPM	big-endian u16
16..17	GPU power W	big-endian u16
18	RAM usage %
19..20	total RAM MiB	big-endian u16
21	disk free %
22..23	total disk GB	big-endian u16
24..64	unused	zero

Firmware behaviours worth knowing: the panel latches values it accepts, blinks the value area when the data stops changing, cannot display three digits, has a fixed °C label, and offers no command to power the display off.

Repository layout

src/         gamemax_report.py (sender)  gamemax_gui.py (tray app)  icon.png
packaging/   build_appimage.sh  70-gamemax.rules  gamemax-report.service
tools/       ildump.py, string_refs.py — helpers used to read the vendor MSIL
docs/        reverse-engineering.md — full analysis (Indonesian)
assets/      previews and icon

Updates

The app keeps itself current from GitHub Releases:

• On start (when running from an AppImage) and from the Periksa pembaruan button or the tray menu, it asks the GitHub API for the latest release and compares it with its version.
• When a newer release exists, a Perbarui ke vX.Y.Z button appears. One click downloads the release asset, replaces the running AppImage atomically, refreshes the sender from the new bundle and restarts the service. Restart the app to use the new version.
• The download is verified against the release's published SHA-256 before the AppImage is replaced; a mismatch aborts the update. Older releases without a checksum are updated with a warning in the log.
• Nothing is downloaded without that click, and no other files are touched.

Each release publishes three assets: the AppImage, its .sha256, and a .zsync file for appimageupdatetool / AppImageUpdate (delta updates). The zsync file is optional — the built-in updater does not need it — but the AppImage also carries the zsync URL as embedded update information (releases built after v1.2.3), so appimageupdatetool ./GAMEMAX-LCD.AppImage works directly.

If the check fails (offline, proxy), the message appears in the app log. GAMEMAX_DEBUG=1 also mirrors the log to stdout for headless runs.

Support

If this project is useful to you:

• ❤ Donate: https://donasi.oxpoe.qzz.io/ (buttons for it and for this repository are in the app: window bottom row and the tray menu)
• ⭐ Star the repo, or open an issue with your cooler model and what worked — reports from other IceBurg Digital revisions are the best way to widen hardware support.

Credits

Reverse engineered and written by oxpoe, with the help of REA (managed-code analysis) and Ghidra. Not affiliated with GAMEMAX/GameMax — see DISCLAIMER.md.