High-performance, lightweight, zero-bloat hardware control suite for Acer gaming laptops.
Warning
Work in Progress Notice:
- Graphical User Interface (GUI): The standalone GUI client is currently under active development. The background service daemon (
openpredator-service) and CLI utility (openpredator) are fully functional. - Linux Support: Linux hardware control (ACPI WMI, fans, telemetry, and power modes) is functional and verified on physical hardware. However, installation and service setup are currently manual (standalone binaries work; automated installers are planned).
OpenPredator is an open-source replacement for Acer's proprietary NitroSense / PredatorSense software stack (PSSvc.exe and NitroSense.exe / PredatorSense.exe).
The project interacts directly with the Embedded Controller (EC) via ACPI WMI (root\wmi) and kernel SMBIOS tables. It aims for full feature parity with OEM controls while removing background bloat, telemetry, and Windows Registry dependencies in favor of a single %AppData%\OpenPredator\config.json configuration file.
OpenPredator's daemon is also wire-compatible with the OEM named pipe interface (\\.\pipe\predatorsense_service_namedpipe), allowing it to serve as a drop-in replacement service or run entirely standalone in direct hardware access mode. If you prefer to keep using the official Acer NitroSense / PredatorSense UWP app, you can bridge it to OpenPredator using IFEOPredatorPatcher with its bundled OpenPredatorPlugin.
Note
Testing is currently based on physically verified hardware. If you test OpenPredator on another Nitro or Predator model, please share your results in GitHub Issues or submit a Pull Request to help expand this table.
| Laptop Model | Telemetry | Fan Control & CoolBoost | Power Modes | Keyboard Lighting | LCD Overdrive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Nitro 5 AN515-57-577G | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (Quiet, Balanced, Perf) | ✅ (Monochrome Red Brightness & Timeout) | ❌ (Unsupported on this display) |
| Operating System | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 | ✅ | Tested on Windows 11 (25H2) |
| Windows 10 | ❓ | Expected working (uses identical ACPI WMI drivers) |
| Linux | ✅ | Tested on MX Linux (23.6). Manual binary deployment for now. |
OpenPredator targets parity with all standard NitroSense / PredatorSense hardware controls:
- Thermal & Fans: Automatic dynamic curves with CoolBoost™ offset/boost, manual custom speeds (0–100% duty cycle per fan), and 100% Max mode.
- Power Modes: Quiet, Balanced/Default, Performance, and Turbo (Turbo mode is automatically filtered and scoped to Predator models).
- Keyboard Backlight: Brightness adjustment and 30-second idle timeout for monochrome laptops; 4-Zone RGB effects, colors, speed, and brightness for RGB-equipped SKUs.
- Hardware Probing: Automatic feature detection (such as 4-Zone RGB vs. Monochrome) via OEM SMBIOS Type 171 tables.
- Reboot Persistence: Saves and restores user settings on startup via
%AppData%\OpenPredator\config.jsonwithout touching the Windows Registry.
Tip
If any feature does not work as expected on your specific device, please open an issue with your laptop model and telemetry output.
Measured on physical hardware (Acer Nitro 5 AN515-57-577G, Windows 11 24H2):
| Component / Layer | OEM NitroSense Stack | OpenPredator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background Service Daemon | PSSvc.exe26.29 MB RAM (13.23 MB Private) |
openpredator-service.exe39.61 MB RAM (24.49 MB Private) |
OpenPredator daemon uses ~13 MB more memory because it embeds its own real-time ACPI hardware probing engine and NVML direct GPU telemetry daemon self-contained, with zero external driver dependencies. |
| User Interface / App | NitroSense.exe (UWP)140.85 MB RAM (123.05 MB Private) |
(GUI client in development) | OEM UWP application consumes over 140 MB of RAM while running. |
| CLI Tool | ❌ None | openpredator.exe~15 MB RAM |
Lightweight standalone executable that runs and exits immediately. |
| Total Active Stack Running Load | 167.14 MB RAM (136.28 MB Commit) 31 Threads / 1,006 Handles |
~54.61 MB RAM (39.61 MB Daemon + ~15 MB CLI during run) 16 Threads / ~300 Handles |
-67.3% total active memory footprint during command execution (-76.3% at idle with daemon only). |
| Measurement | OEM NitroSense Stack | OpenPredator |
|---|---|---|
| Cold UI Launch to Render | ~3,900 ms (3.90 s) | (GUI client in development) |
CLI Command Lifecycle (status) |
❌ N/A | 286 ms median (Total process start, ACPI/NVML probe, render, exit) |
OpenPredator.Core: Hardware abstraction layer, ACPI WMI caller, kernel SMBIOS reader, and JSON configuration manager.OpenPredator.Client: IPC client for communicating with the service daemon over named pipes or Unix sockets.OpenPredator.Service: Standalone background service daemon providing wire-compatiblePSSvcpipe support.OpenPredator.Gui: High-performance native C# desktop control center built with MewUI and Direct2D.OpenPredator.Cli: Command-line interface with dynamic hardware capability probing.OpenPredator.TestingSuite: Interactive terminal interface and diagnostic hardware tool.builder: Cross-platform C# build runner and Inno Setup installer packaging pipeline.
# Telemetry
openpredator status
openpredator watch
# Fan controls
openpredator fan auto
openpredator fan max
openpredator fan custom 70 85
openpredator coolboost on|off
# Power profiles
openpredator mode quiet|default|perf|turbo
# Backlight controls
openpredator brightness 100
openpredator kb-timeout on|off
# RGB controls (RGB SKUs)
openpredator rgb static FF0000 00FF00 0000FF FFFFFF
openpredator rgb effect wave 5 5
# Configuration
openpredator config show
openpredator config applyLinux support is fully implemented and verified on real hardware, providing real-time hardware telemetry, fan speed and curve control, power modes, and keyboard backlight management through ACPI firmware calls. While automated packaging (e.g., .deb/.rpm or systemd service packages) is planned, binaries are fully usable right now with manual execution.
OpenPredator communicates directly with Acer ACPI WMI tables on Linux via /proc/acpi/call and decompresses the BIOS BMOF table via wmi-bmof.
Debian / Ubuntu / MX Linux / Linux Mint:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y acpi-call-dkms
sudo modprobe acpi_call
sudo modprobe wmi-bmof
# Verify interfaces are loaded:
ls -l /proc/acpi/call
ls -l /sys/bus/wmi/devices/*/bmofFedora / RHEL:
sudo dnf install -y akmod-acpi_call
sudo modprobe acpi_call
sudo modprobe wmi-bmofArch Linux:
sudo pacman -S acpi_call-dkms
sudo modprobe acpi_call
sudo modprobe wmi-bmofRun the service daemon as root. It creates a Unix domain socket (/tmp/predatorsense_service_namedpipe) with open permissions (0666) and caches discovered WMI methods to ~/.config/openpredator/wmi_methods.json, allowing non-root users and desktop sessions to interact with hardware safely without sudo:
# Terminal 1: Start the service daemon
sudo ./openpredator-service
# Terminal 2: Run commands as a regular user
./openpredator watch # Live dashboard
./openpredator fan max # 100% fan speed
./openpredator fan auto -c # Auto curve with CoolBoost
./openpredator mode perf # Switch power mode
./openpredator-gui # Desktop GUIIf the background service is not running, the CLI can interact with hardware directly, but requires root privileges to write to /proc/acpi/call:
sudo ./openpredator status
sudo ./openpredator fan max
sudo ./openpredator fan auto
sudo ./openpredator coolboost on
sudo ./openpredator mode perf
sudo ./openpredator watch- .NET 10.0 SDK
- Native compilation toolchain (required for NativeAOT: Visual Studio C++ on Windows;
clang,build-essential,zlib1g-devon Linux) - Inno Setup 6 (optional, for compiling Windows installer package)
OpenPredator features a cross-platform, zero-dependency C# build runner located in builder/. You can invoke it via the root wrappers (./build / build.bat on Windows, ./build / ./build.sh on Linux) or dotnet run --project builder:
# 1. Release build for current OS (dist/<rid>/) - excludes test suite
./build
# or: ./build all
# 2. Release build + package Windows Setup Installer (dist/installer/)
./build installer
# 3. Release build + package Portable standalone archive (dist/portable/)
./build portable
# 4. Full Release Packaging (Installer + Portable archive + SHA256SUMS manifest)
./build pack
# 5. Development debug build with interactive Testing Suite included
./build dev
# 6. Clean all build outputs, .temp caches, and bin/obj directories
./build clean
# 7. Version management
./build version # Inspect current version
./build version 1.0.1 # Bump version across build props & installer
# 8. Explicit OS target prefixes
./build windows:pack
./build linux:allOpenPredator is licensed under the MIT License. Acer, Nitro, Predator, PredatorSense, NitroSense, and CoolBoost are trademarks of Acer Inc. OpenPredator is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Acer Inc.