Unraid Motherboard Temp API Shows 0? Here's The Fix!

Hey Unraid Users, Is Your Motherboard Temp API Stuck at Zero? Let's Talk!

Hey there, fellow Unraid enthusiasts! Ever logged into your Home Assistant, checked your system monitoring, and noticed something a little… off? Specifically, is your Unraid motherboard temperature API reporting a flat zero when you know your server's happily humming along at a much warmer temperature? You're definitely not alone, and it's a common snag that can throw a wrench into your carefully crafted monitoring setup. We're talking about the /api/v1/system endpoint's motherboard_temp_celsius field giving us a big, fat 0, even when your Unraid dashboard is proudly displaying a perfectly normal 45°C. Frustrating, right? This isn't just a minor cosmetic glitch; it genuinely impacts your ability to get accurate readings and set up crucial automations based on your motherboard's health. Imagine trying to create an alert if your motherboard overheats, only for the sensor to constantly report 0! It makes the whole monitoring game feel a bit pointless when the core data is misleading. Let's dive deep into this motherboard temp zero issue, explore why it's happening, and figure out how we can push for a solution to get those real, honest temperatures back.

This issue isn't just a curiosity; it directly affects how reliable your system monitoring truly is. When your Unraid Management Agent API consistently returns an incorrect value for a vital metric like motherboard temperature, it creates a significant blind spot. For those of us who rely on Home Assistant integrations or custom scripts to keep an eye on our server's performance and health, seeing a 0°C reading is both unhelpful and potentially alarming. You might spend precious time troubleshooting a non-existent cooling problem, or worse, miss an actual temperature spike because the API isn't providing the correct base value. We all want our Unraid setups to be rock-solid, and that includes having precise data from every sensor available. The goal here is to ensure that the motherboard_temp_celsius field provides the actual motherboard temperature reading that Unraid itself is clearly capable of acquiring, making our servers truly smart and responsive to their environment. This whole situation begs for a closer look, so let's roll up our sleeves and get into the nitty-gritty of this temperature mystery.

Diving Deep: Understanding the Unraid Motherboard Temp API Glitch

Alright, folks, let's peel back the layers and really get into what's happening with this Unraid motherboard temp API hiccup. It's more than just a number; it's about reliable data for your server's health. We're talking about a situation where the API just isn't giving us the full picture, and understanding the specifics is the first step toward finding a proper solution. This particular bug impacts users who are trying to pull system information directly from their Unraid server, often for integrations with other platforms like Home Assistant, which rely heavily on these API endpoints for real-time data. When such a fundamental piece of information is missing or incorrect, it undermines the entire monitoring stack. Let's break down the current behavior, the undeniable evidence, and the specific environment details that help us frame this challenge.

The Core Problem: A Zero-Value Mystery

The central issue revolves around a very specific piece of data from your Unraid Management Agent. When you query the GET http://192.168.20.21:8043/api/v1/system endpoint – or whatever your server's IP is – you expect to get a comprehensive snapshot of your system's vital statistics. And for most fields, it works like a charm! For instance, the cpu_temp_celsius field in the API response correctly returns 35°C, which is a perfectly valid and expected reading for a CPU under normal load. This confirms that the API is generally capable of pulling sensor data. However, the motherboard_temp_celsius field is where things go sideways. Instead of giving us an actual, measurable temperature that reflects the motherboard's current operating state, it consistently outputs 0. This 0°C is, quite frankly, impossible for an active motherboard in a running server unless you're perhaps operating in an arctic research lab! The contrast between the working CPU temperature and the non-working motherboard temperature is stark and points directly to an issue specific to how the Unraid Management Agent is handling or parsing the motherboard's thermal data. We're looking for a value typically in the 30-50°C range, not absolute zero.

Let's visualize this with the actual API response snippet, so you can see exactly what we're talking about. The JSON structure is clear, yet the data for one crucial component is conspicuously absent or misrepresented:

{
  "hostname": "Cube",
  "version": "",
  "server_model": "To Be Filled By O.E.M.",
  "cpu_temp_celsius": 35,
  "motherboard_temp_celsius": 0,
  "bios_version": "P4.30",
  "bios_date": "12/03/2019"
}

Notice how the cpu_temp_celsius gives us a solid 35, confirming that part of the sensor reading mechanism is robust. But then, motherboard_temp_celsius just sits there at 0. This isn't just an empty field; it's a field returning a specific, but incorrect, value. It suggests the sensor is detected in some capacity, but its value isn't being properly interpreted or passed through the API. This leads us to believe the problem isn't a total failure to find a sensor, but rather a misinterpretation or default fallback within the agent itself. Understanding this distinction is key to diagnosing and eventually fixing this Unraid API returns 0 anomaly, ensuring we can get those real temperatures flowing.

Evidence That Doesn't Lie: Unraid Dashboard vs. API

Now, here’s where things get really interesting and frustrating for us power users. We have direct, visual proof that the motherboard temp sensor is not only present but also actively reporting its temperature within Unraid itself. The Unraid dashboard, that beautiful interface we all know and love, clearly displays the motherboard temperature. In the specific case that brought this issue to light, the dashboard proudly showed 45°C for the motherboard. This isn't an approximation or a guess; it's a solid, real-time reading. The screenshot evidence provided clearly highlights the ASRock Z390M-ITX/ac motherboard and its corresponding temperature of 45°C. This crucial detail confirms a few things beyond a shadow of a doubt: first, the sensor itself is absolutely present and functional on the hardware level. Second, the Unraid operating system is capable of reading and interpreting this sensor data correctly, as it's displayed right there on the main screen. Therefore, the discrepancy between the Unraid dashboard showing a perfectly valid 45°C and the API stubbornly returning 0°C indicates that the problem lies somewhere in the pipeline between Unraid's internal sensor interpretation and the data being exposed through the Unraid Management Agent API. It’s not that the temperature isn't being read; it's that the API isn't correctly communicating that reading. This makes it a software-side issue within the API or the agent, rather than a hardware problem or a missing sensor. This critical piece of evidence narrows down our investigation considerably and validates that the expected value for motherboard_temp_celsius should indeed be a real, non-zero number, just like its CPU counterpart. The table below starkly illustrates this contrast:

This side-by-side comparison truly drives home the point: the system can read temperatures, but for some reason, the motherboard's reading gets lost or corrupted before it reaches the API output. It's like the data is there, Unraid sees it, but the API endpoint just shrugs its shoulders and says,