Laptop Power consumption

[flebber]

Hi

Barring changing the basic pwersave settings in mageia is there a way to make it conserve power better. mageia is chewing through my battery extremely quick approx just a scratch over an hour. The usual battery life for win7 would be approaching 2hrs and ubuntu wasn't far behind that.

initally I had kde installed and thought this may have been at fault, so I have installed gnome but the power consumption was the same. Note I have not been able to remove kde. Would kde and gnome have different usage in mageia.

Any idea on how to reduce the power consumption in mageia?

[flebber]

I installed powertop and it had these listings as bad.

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PowerTOP 1.97     Overview   Idle stats   Frequency stats   Device stats   Tunables                     


>> Bad           Wireless Power Saving for interface wlan0                                               
   Bad           Enable SATA link power management for /dev/sda
   Bad           Power Aware CPU scheduler
   Bad           VM writeback timeout
   Bad           Enable Audio codec power management
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced H
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Roo
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced H
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHC
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device ATI Technologies Inc Redwood [Radeon HD 5600 Series]
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device ATI Technologies Inc Redwood HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5600 Series
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Broadcom Corporation BCM43225 802.11b/g/n
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Roo
   Good          Autosuspend for USB device 1.3M WebCam (Suyin)
   Good          Autosuspend for unknown USB device 1-1 (8087:0020)
   Good          Autosuspend for unknown USB device 2-1 (8087:0020)
   Good          Autosuspend for USB device EHCI Host Controller [usb1]
   Good          Autosuspend for USB device EHCI Host Controller [usb2]

 <ESC> Exit | <Enter> Toggle tunable                                                                     


[doktor5000]

Do you remember what kernel version was used in Ubuntu?

[wilcal]

Do you remember what kernel version was used in Ubuntu?

I continue to run on the assumption that any kernel
2.6.38.x is a no no on any laptop, period. It is also
my assumption that the power consumption problem
related to the kernel is not fixed until Kernel 3.0.x

Correct?

[doktor5000]

That's why i asked. I can't tell that myself as my laptop does only run without battery,
but AFAIK there are serious regressions with many laptops, effectively halving battery time.

For reference, please look here: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a ... aspm&num=1

[wobo]

So, everybody who ffels like power is stolen by 2.6.38 should try the eimple workaround mentioned in the article at phoronix.com and it would be nice reporting back here.

[Cornelus]

I solved described problem in different way. I just replaced (with urpmi) cpufreq deamon by cpufreqd and its default settings stored in /etc/cpufreqd.conf file to my own. After that my Samsung R580 (core i5) works in battery mode more or less 2 hours and 20 minutes. For me is enough.

[zugunder]

But what about 3.x kernel in Mageia1? I heard they fixed a lot there, and the power consumption issue too...

[isadora]

Kernel 3.0.1 is in Cauldron these days.

[s106660]

Depends on your chipset. see http://forum.notebookreview.com/7764851-post181.html

[zugunder]

Depends on your chipset. see http://forum.notebookreview.com/7764851-post181.html

Funny, though it says that i915_enable_rc6=1 is default in 2.6 kernels, I have it =0 in 2.6.38.8 in Mageia... (Yes, I have Intel chipset).
But overall, it is all very sad... Do they really have to rush with new kernel versions so much?

[zugunder]

In the link above it says:

I found a workaround that brings the power back down to under 8W: add i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 to the kernel command line in the bootloader.

I have the following lines in /boot/grub/menu.lst:

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title linux
kernel (hd0,2)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=96f01cb4-83e2-4ca1-b352-ed5fe98c3326 resume=UUID=ccb4e5c6-0337-4a1d-99da-fc99290e054c splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,2)/boot/initrd.img


Where should I place the i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 line?

Thank you.

[wobo]

Where should I place the i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 line?

In the "kernel command line", means: in the line which starts with "kernel".
"add" means adding it at the end of the line. So your chapter in the menu.lst should look like:

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title linux
kernel (hd0,2)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=96f01cb4-83e2-4ca1-b352-ed5fe98c3326 resume=UUID=ccb4e5c6-0337-4a1d-99da-fc99290e054c splash=silent vga=788 i915.i915_enable_rc6=1
initrd (hd0,2)/boot/initrd.img


[doktor5000]

Behind the vga=788.

If you don't want to edit that file directly, you can do this from the MCC -> Boot -> Set Up Boot System -> Next ->
select the entry you want to add it to -> Modify -> add it at the end of the Append line, behind the last option, with a space in between.

[zugunder]

Surprisingly, in MCC the line for editing lacked the last option vga=788, so that after I added the i915 option, the vga=788 disappeared from the menu.lst too... So just edited everything manually. However, no problems with graphics or booting, looks like the vga option affects only graphic output during boot.
No crashes yet.
Thank you guys.

[doktor5000]

Well, click on the Advanced button below the "Default" checkbox in drakboot, there you can
select the resolution in a more useful manner, like 800x600 16bpp or 1024x786 24bpp in the dropdown box "Video Mode"

[zugunder]

Thanks, Doc, I have already made it... But I did not find my native 1366x768 resolution there, so it doesn't matter.
BTW, from Powertop's point of view nothing has changed - it still reports lots of "bads", I think exactly the same as before.

[doktor5000]

Well, because the option you added, AFAICS is for an Intel i915 graphics card. But from your powertop output you have an ATI Radeon HD 56XX. Or is this an laptop with two graphics devices? Also the other "Bad" mentions from powertop you need to rule out on a case-by-case basis. But probably the most efficient change would be this:

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   Bad           Power Aware CPU scheduler

Do you want to rule out all the other "Bad" things?

[zugunder]

doctor5000
The powertop output from above is not mine... I have Intel chipset with built-in intel video.
Mine is:

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           Bad           Wireless Power Saving for interface wlan0                                                             
   Bad           Enable SATA link power management for /dev/sda
   Bad           VM writeback timeout
   Bad           Enable Audio codec power management
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 6
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Atheros Communications AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
          Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
         Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
   Bad           Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3


And no, I am not going to turn all "bads" into "good"... I am kinda realist.
But video and wireless (which is not in use now) are definitely require tuning, I think.

BTW, I thought "Intel i915" cards implied all modern Intel cards or am I wrong?

UPD. I removed the i915 entry from the bootloader config, rebooted and ran powertop - no changes in output... Video is still under "Bad".
But there is one more thing - Wireless Power Saving for interface wlan0 is actually "Good" until the laptop goes to Sleep mode, after it returns - it turns into "Bad". I'd guess some module is not loaded (properly). Should I consider it a bug?

[doktor5000]

UPD. I removed the i915 entry from the bootloader config, rebooted and ran powertop - no changes in output... Video is still under "Bad".

Well, i'm not into intel graphics, but seems you should look into this:

[doktor5000@mageia1 ~]$ sudo modinfo i915
[...]
parm: powersave:int
parm: semaphores:int
parm: i915_enable_rc6:int

So i guess you should normally load the driver with an option like powersave=1 to activate this.
From a short look, this seems broken for now, and from what you can read here: http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/displ ... saving.php
there won't be many savings. The biggest thing you can do seems to lower the brightness of your display.

For the wireless issue, i don't know. Maybe you should compare that to somebody who has the same chipset.

[zugunder]

doctor5000
I have:

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parm:           modeset:int
parm:           fbpercrtc:int
parm:           powersave:int
parm:           semaphores:int
parm:           i915_enable_rc6:int
parm:           lvds_downclock:int
parm:           lvds_use_ssc:int
parm:           reset:bool

which is basically the same as you posted. I do not know if this i915 issue has something to do with my intel HD4500 to be honest.

As for the link you gave - I do not have backlight control working properly either. In a sense it can dim automatically, but never returns to initial brightness unless I do it manually. And regardless which button I press (increase or decrease), brightness increases to 100% instantly and only after that in could be regulated. It seems to me these things are somehow connected...

[Cornelus]

For 1366x768 resolution kernel command line should have following entry: vga=844.

[zugunder]

For 1366x768 resolution kernel command line should have following entry: vga=844.

Thanks for a tip, but for some reason it did not work for me...

[Cornelus]

To check what video modes are available for you video card, run Mageia CD/DVD and choose Hardware detection tool from its boot menu.

[flebber]

Is there any chance the devs can bump us up to a kernel version where these power concerns don't exist instead of forcing each user to "manually workaround" the issue?