Software-based energy savings
Conclusions
Tweaking the right controls lets users fight power hogs on laptops and desktops. Some tips are fairly easy to implement, but for others, you will need to delve more deeply into your system settings. In all cases, the reward for your work will be vastly improved battery life on notebooks and power savings in the long run.
Laptop Mode Tools
Configuration file: /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf
Activity monitor: /proc/sys/vm/laptop-mode (1 = aktiv)
The Laptop Mode Tools are disabled by default on Ubuntu. To enable, change the value false in the ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=false line of the /etc/default/acpi-support file to true. The Powersave daemon provides functionality similar to the Laptop Mode tools on openSUSE.
Glossar
DPMS
Display Power Management Signaling is a method of using the graphics card to trigger monitor power state changes with three energy-saving states: Standby, Suspend, and Power off. Both devices need to support this approach.
C States
Sleep or idle states for ACPI-capable processors. Five levels range from C0 to C4. The higher the number, the less power the CPU uses.
Infos
- KThinkBat: http://lepetitfou.dyndns.org/projects/kthinkbat
- PowerTOP: http://linuxpowertop.org
- PowerTOP tips and tricks: http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/known.php
- Mount options: http://www.lesswatts.org/tips/disks.php
- Laptop Mode tools: http://samwel.tk/laptop_mode/
- Desktop PC hard disks: http://samwel.tk/laptop_mode/faq
« Previous 1 2 3
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Armbian 24.11 Released with Expanded Hardware Support
If you've been waiting for Armbian to support OrangePi 5 Max and Radxa ROCK 5B+, the wait is over.
-
SUSE Renames Several Products for Better Name Recognition
SUSE has been a very powerful player in the European market, but it knows it must branch out to gain serious traction. Will a name change do the trick?
-
ESET Discovers New Linux Malware
WolfsBane is an all-in-one malware that has hit the Linux operating system and includes a dropper, a launcher, and a backdoor.
-
New Linux Kernel Patch Allows Forcing a CPU Mitigation
Even when CPU mitigations can consume precious CPU cycles, it might not be a bad idea to allow users to enable them, even if your machine isn't vulnerable.
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 Released
Notify your friends, loved ones, and colleagues that the latest version of RHEL is available with plenty of enhancements.
-
Linux Sees Massive Performance Increase from a Single Line of Code
With one line of code, Intel was able to increase the performance of the Linux kernel by 4,000 percent.
-
Fedora KDE Approved as an Official Spin
If you prefer the Plasma desktop environment and the Fedora distribution, you're in luck because there's now an official spin that is listed on the same level as the Fedora Workstation edition.
-
New Steam Client Ups the Ante for Linux
The latest release from Steam has some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve.
-
Gnome OS Transitioning Toward a General-Purpose Distro
If you're looking for the perfectly vanilla take on the Gnome desktop, Gnome OS might be for you.
-
Fedora 41 Released with New Features
If you're a Fedora fan or just looking for a Linux distribution to help you migrate from Windows, Fedora 41 might be just the ticket.