ECReader

Read-only Windows tool for reading Embedded Controller registers via PawnIO driver.

‼️ CAUTION

• Claude Code / Sonnet - 4.5 assisted development. Author is not a C++ or embedded system dev. Use at your own risk.
• Do not run multiple instances. Do not run during BIOS updates. Easy to forget if running in background.

Features

• Monitor mode: Live 16×16 grid showing all 256 registers with change detection
• Dump mode: One-time snapshot of all registers
• Read mode: Query specific registers for scripting
• Fast: Optimized to scan all 256 registers in ~1.5 seconds
• Safe: Read-only, mutex-protected, no EC hammering

Quick Start

Prerequisites:

• Windows 10/11
• PawnIO driver installed
• Administrator privileges

Run:

ECReader.exe monitor           # Live grid monitor
ECReader.exe dump              # One-time snapshot
ECReader.exe -r 30 31 32       # Read specific registers
ECReader.exe version           # Show version

Commands

Monitor Mode

ECReader.exe monitor              # 5 second updates
ECReader.exe monitor -i 2         # 2 second updates (minimum)

Shows 16×16 grid with color coding:

• Red = value changed since last scan. First Scan always shows red.
• Green = non-zero unchanged value
• Gray = zero value

Grid format makes register addresses easy to calculate:

• Row labels: 00:, 10:, 20:, ..., F0:
• Column headers: +0, +1, ..., +F
• Register address = row + column (e.g., row 20: + column +5 = 0x25)

Dump Mode

ECReader.exe dump                 # Hex values
ECReader.exe dump -d              # Decimal values

One-time 16×16 grid snapshot. Red = non-zero, gray = zero.

Read Mode

ECReader.exe -r 30                # Single register
ECReader.exe -r 30 31 32          # Multiple registers
ECReader.exe -r 30 -d             # Decimal output

Output: 0x30:5A,0x31:3C,0x32:28

Options

Flag	Description
-i <seconds>	Update interval (min: 2, default: 5)
-d	Decimal instead of hex
-v	Verbose debug output (for -r command only)
-s	Show statistics

Use Cases

Find CPU temperature register:

1. Start monitor mode
2. Run stress test
3. Watch for increasing values

Find fan speed register:

1. Start monitor with -i 2
2. Change fan speed
3. Watch for changing values

Script automation:

while($true) {
  .\ECReader.exe -r 30
  Start-Sleep 1
}

Performance

• Full scan: ~1.5 seconds (256 registers)
• Per register: ~6ms average
• Memory: ~2MB runtime
• Optimizations: Adaptive busy-wait, retry logic, reduced timeouts

Safety

• ✅ Read-only (no write capability)
• ✅ Mutex synchronization
• ✅ 2-second minimum interval
• ✅ Automatic retry on conflicts
• ✅ Clean error handling

Troubleshooting

"Cannot open PawnIO driver"

sc query PawnIO
sc start PawnIO

Run as Administrator.

Monitor shows no changes

• Close HWiNFO and other monitoring tools
• Try faster updates: -i 2
• Use dump to see current values

Timing: ~6ms per register with optimized waits

Building

WSL + MinGW:

sudo apt install mingw-w64
./build.sh

License

Educational/utility. Use at your own risk.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY.

Credits

Built using PawnIO driver for EC access and LibreHardwareMonitor for Implementation approaches on how to use PawnIO driver.