ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-03T20:44:15Z

Alain40: /* Reducing CPU voltage */

== Overview ==

I own the beautiful Lenovo X200 and run Ubuntu Intrepid on the machine. Its battery life is significantly lower than that under Windows and many users have reported that it runs hotter than under Windows.

With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight at the lowest level and wireless radios off. Before the changes I was only getting 5 hours.

The system also runs a lot cooler and I do not need tpfan (sw fan control for the ThinkPad available [[Fan_control_scripts|here]]), the built-in hw controller falls back to the lower speeds shortly after a CPU load subsides.

=== Details ===

The changes fall into 3 categories:
* '''Removing packages that create unnecessarily frequent wake up interrupts.'''
**These interrupts wake up the CPU, preventing it from staying in its most energy efficient state.
**I used Powertop from [[www.lesswatts.org]] for this task.
* '''Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU.'''
** Lowering CPU voltage does ''not'' impact performance since the clock frequency is unaffected
**I used phc patches and phctools available at [[www.linux-phc.org]] for this task.
*'''Turning off radios you do not need'''
**My X200 has 3 wireless radios: Wifi, Blutooth, Broadband wireless
== Finding and removing high interrupt packages ==
Install PowerTOP from [[www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/download.php | here]].

Run PowerTOP as root (sudo powertop) and look for the packages that come up on top of the interrupt frequency list. These are the packages that wake up the CPU most frequently.

In my case the majority of the ''easily'' ''preventable'' interrupts were from 3 packages:
*i915, the intel graphics driver
*SCIM
*Gnome Power Manager

With the first one accounting for the bulk of the battery life improvement.

The %'s in PowerTOP give you an indication of what to focus on, no need to worry about a 1% problem (unless it is easy to prevent that it), it will not have much impact on your battery life.

Remember that over time these packages will improve and will not need to be removed.
=== Turning off DRI ===
Just insert: Option "NoDRI"
to the "Device" section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. This turns off all 3D, so no compiz or other fancy effect. Worth it for me because the impact on battery life is substantial.
===Turning off SCIM===
I had my system set to accept foreign characters. Going to System > Language Support > Disable support to enter complex characters does the trick.
===Turning off Gnome Power Manager===
A nice feature set withotu which you may not want to live. On my system I disabled Gnome Power Manager from the startup list: System > Sessions > Power Management daemon. I replaced it with the Gnome Panel Battery Charge Monitor (Add to Panel...) which works well enough for me.

== Reducing CPU voltage ==
===Installing phc module patches===
The phc module patches are available [[www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=786402 | here]], make sure you get the version that matches you kernel version. You can easily check by typing uname -r in a console.

You need not compile your own module, check the thread, users have posted already compiled versions of the acpi-cpufreg.ko module for most kernel versions.

Once you have the apci-cpufreq.ko module, back up the old module:
sudo cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/acpi-cpufreq.ko.bak

Then copy the new module to the right place:
sudo cp acpi-cpufreq.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/cpufreq

Restart your system and check that you now have voltage controls by typing:
more /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/phc_vids

You should see something like: 39 25 17 13 (your values may be different). These are the voltage values for the 4 frequencies available on your CPU

===Intalling phctools===
===Experimenting with lower voltages===
===Making the voltages stick===

==Turning off the wireless radios==

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-03T20:35:03Z

Alain40: /* Finding and removing high interrupt packages */

== Overview ==

I own the beautiful Lenovo X200 and run Ubuntu Intrepid on the machine. Its battery life is significantly lower than that under Windows and many users have reported that it runs hotter than under Windows.

With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight at the lowest level and wireless radios off. Before the changes I was only getting 5 hours.

The system also runs a lot cooler and I do not need tpfan (sw fan control for the ThinkPad available [[Fan_control_scripts|here]]), the built-in hw controller falls back to the lower speeds shortly after a CPU load subsides.

=== Details ===

The changes fall into 3 categories:
* '''Removing packages that create unnecessarily frequent wake up interrupts.'''
**These interrupts wake up the CPU, preventing it from staying in its most energy efficient state.
**I used Powertop from [[www.lesswatts.org]] for this task.
* '''Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU.'''
** Lowering CPU voltage does ''not'' impact performance since the clock frequency is unaffected
**I used phc patches and phctools available at [[www.linux-phc.org]] for this task.
*'''Turning off radios you do not need'''
**My X200 has 3 wireless radios: Wifi, Blutooth, Broadband wireless
== Finding and removing high interrupt packages ==
Install PowerTOP from [[www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/download.php | here]].

Run PowerTOP as root (sudo powertop) and look for the packages that come up on top of the interrupt frequency list. These are the packages that wake up the CPU most frequently.

In my case the majority of the ''easily'' ''preventable'' interrupts were from 3 packages:
*i915, the intel graphics driver
*SCIM
*Gnome Power Manager

With the first one accounting for the bulk of the battery life improvement.

The %'s in PowerTOP give you an indication of what to focus on, no need to worry about a 1% problem (unless it is easy to prevent that it), it will not have much impact on your battery life.

Remember that over time these packages will improve and will not need to be removed.
=== Turning off DRI ===
Just insert: Option "NoDRI"
to the "Device" section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. This turns off all 3D, so no compiz or other fancy effect. Worth it for me because the impact on battery life is substantial.
===Turning off SCIM===
I had my system set to accept foreign characters. Going to System > Language Support > Disable support to enter complex characters does the trick.
===Turning off Gnome Power Manager===
A nice feature set withotu which you may not want to live. On my system I disabled Gnome Power Manager from the startup list: System > Sessions > Power Management daemon. I replaced it with the Gnome Panel Battery Charge Monitor (Add to Panel...) which works well enough for me.

== Reducing CPU voltage ==
===Installing phc module patches===
===Intalling phctools===
===Experimenting with lower voltages===
===Making the voltages stick===
==Turning off the wireless radios==

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-03T20:32:03Z

Alain40:

== Overview ==

I own the beautiful Lenovo X200 and run Ubuntu Intrepid on the machine. Its battery life is significantly lower than that under Windows and many users have reported that it runs hotter than under Windows.

With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight at the lowest level and wireless radios off. Before the changes I was only getting 5 hours.

The system also runs a lot cooler and I do not need tpfan (sw fan control for the ThinkPad available [[Fan_control_scripts|here]]), the built-in hw controller falls back to the lower speeds shortly after a CPU load subsides.

=== Details ===

The changes fall into 3 categories:
* '''Removing packages that create unnecessarily frequent wake up interrupts.'''
**These interrupts wake up the CPU, preventing it from staying in its most energy efficient state.
**I used Powertop from [[www.lesswatts.org]] for this task.
* '''Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU.'''
** Lowering CPU voltage does ''not'' impact performance since the clock frequency is unaffected
**I used phc patches and phctools available at [[www.linux-phc.org]] for this task.
*'''Turning off radios you do not need'''
**My X200 has 3 wireless radios: Wifi, Blutooth, Broadband wireless
== Finding and removing high interrupt packages ==
Install PowerTOP from [[http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/download.php|PowerTOP]].

Run PowerTOP as root (sudo powertop) and look for the packages that come up on top of the interrupt frequency list. These are the packages that wake up the CPU most frequently.

In my case the bulk of the ''easily'' ''preventable'' interrupts were from 3 packages:
*i915, the intel graphics driver
*SCIM
*Gnome Power Manager

With the first one accounting for the bulk of the battery life improvement. The %'s in PowerTOP give you an indication of what to focus on, no need to worry about a 1% problem (unless it is easy to prevent that it), it will not have much impact on your battery life.

Remember that over time these packages will improve and will not need to be removed when the new versions become better behaved.
=== Turning off DRI ===
Just insert: Option "NoDRI"
to the "Device" section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. This turns off all 3D, so no compiz or other fancy effect. Worth it for me because the impact on battery life is substantial.
===Turning off SCIM===
I had my system set to accept foreign characters. Going to System > Language Support > Disable support to enter complex characters does the trick.
===Turning off Gnome Power Manager===
A nice feature set which you may want to keep. On my system I disabled it from the startup list: System > Sessions > Power Management deamon. I replaced it with the Gnome Panel Battery Charge Monitor (Add to Panel...) which works well enough for me.

== Reducing CPU voltage ==
===Installing phc module patches===
===Intalling phctools===
===Experimenting with lower voltages===
===Making the voltages stick===
==Turning off the wireless radios==

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-03T17:22:59Z

Alain40: /* Finding and removing high interrupt packages */

== Overview ==

I own the beautiful Lenovo X200 and run Ubuntu Intrepid on the machine. Its battery life is significantly lower than that under Windows and many users have reported that it runs hotter than under Windows.

With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight on but at the lowest level and wireless radios off. Before the changes I was only getting 5 hours.

The system also runs a lot cooler and I do not need tpfan (sw fan control for the ThinkPad available [[Fan_control_scripts|here]]), the built-in hw controller falls back to the lower speeds shortly after a CPU load subsides.

=== Details ===

The changes fall into 3 categories:
* '''Removing packages that create unnecessarily frequent wake up interrupts.'''
**These interrupts wake up the CPU, preventing it from staying in its most energy efficient state.
**I used Powertop from [[www.lesswatts.org]] for this task.
* '''Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU.'''
** Lowering CPU voltage does ''not'' impact performance since the clock frequency is unaffected
**I used phc patches and phctools available at [[www.linux-phc.org]] for this task.
*'''Turning off radios you do not need'''
**My X200 has 3 wireless radios: Wifi, Blutooth, Broadband wireless
== Finding and removing high interrupt packages ==
Install PowerTOP from [[http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/download.php|PowerTOP]].

Run PowerTOP as root (sudo powertop) and look for the packages that come up on top of the interrupt frequency list. These are the packages that wake up the CPU most frequently.

In my case the bulk of the ''easily'' ''preventable'' interrupts were from 3 packages:
*i915, the intel graphics driver
*SCIM
*Gnome Power Manager

With the first one accounting for the bulk of the battery life improvement. The %'s in PowerTOP give you an indication of what to focus on, no need to worry about a 1% problem (unless it is easy to prevent that it), it will not have much impact on your battery life.

Remember that over time these packages will improve and will not need to be removed when the new versions become better behaved.
=== Turning off DRI ===
Just insert: Option "NoDRI"
to the "Device" section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. This turns off all 3D, so no compiz or other fancy effect. Worth it for me because the impact on battery life is substantial.
===Turning off SCIM===
I had my system set to accept foreign characters. Going to System > Language Support > Disable support to enter complex characters does the trick.
===Turning off Gnome Power Manager===
A nice feature set which you may want to keep. On my system I disabled it from the startup list: System > Sessions > Power Management deamon. I replaced it with the Gnome Panel Battery Charge Monitor (Add to Panel...) which works well enough for me.

== Reducing CPU voltage ==
===Installing phc module patches===
===Intalling phctools===
===Experimenting with lower voltages===
===Making the voltages stick===
==Turning off the wireless radios==

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-03T17:07:19Z

Alain40:

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-03T17:04:43Z

Alain40:

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-03T03:45:59Z

Alain40:

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-02T19:55:12Z

Alain40:

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-02T19:54:48Z

Alain40:

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-02T19:52:46Z

Alain40:

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-02T19:48:39Z

Alain40:

== Overview ==

I own the beautiful Lenovo X200 and run Ubuntu Intrepid on the machine. I noted that its batter life was significantly lower than that under Windows and many users have reported that it runs hotter than under Windows.

With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight on but at the lowest level. Before the changes I was getting a bit over 5 hours.

== Details ==

The changes fall in 2 categories:
* '''Removing packages that create unnecessarily frequent wake up interrupts.'''
**These interrupts wake up the CPU, preventing it from staying in its most energy efficient state.
**I used Powertop from [[www.lesswatts.org]] for this task.
* '''Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU.'''
** Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU has other positive side effects beside battery life: my system runs a lot cooler and ... I do not need tpfan (sw fan control for the ThinkPad), the built-in hw controller does a great job and falls back to lower speed shortly after a CPU load subsides.
** It should be noted that this does ''not'' affect performance since the clock runs at the same speeds (22700, 22600, 16000, or 800Mhz for the X200).
**I used phc patches and phctools available at [[www.linux-phc.org]] for this task.

== Finding and removing high interrupt packages ==
Installing Powertop
Turning off 3D
Turning off Gnome

== Reducing CPU voltage ==

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-02T19:43:35Z

Alain40:

== Overview ==

With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight on but at the lowest level. Before the changes I was getting a bit over 5 hours.

== Details ==

The changes fall in 2 categories:
* '''Removing packages that create unnecessarily frequent wake up interrupts.'''
**These interrupts wake up the CPU, preventing it from staying in its most energy efficient state.
**I used Powertop from [[www.lesswatts.org]] for this task.
* '''Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU.'''
** Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU has other positive side effects beside battery life: my system runs a lot cooler and ... I do not need tpfan (sw fan control for the ThinkPad), the built-in hw controller does a great job and falls back to lower speed shortly after a CPU load subsides.
** It should be noted that this does ''not'' affect performance since the clock runs at the same speeds (22700, 22600, 16000, or 800Mhz for the X200).
**I used phc patches and phctools available at [[www.linux-phc.org]] for this task.

== Finding and removing high interrupt packages ==

== Reducing CPU voltage ==

Extending battery life on X200

2009-03-02T19:37:03Z

Alain40: â†Created page with 'With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight on but at the lowest level. Before the changes I was getting a bit over 5 h...'

With the changes below and a 9 cell battery I get over 9 hours on an idle system with backlight on but at the lowest level. Before the changes I was getting a bit over 5 hours.

The changes fall in 2 categories:
* '''Removing packages that create unnecessarily frequent wake up interrupts.'''
**These interrupts wake up the CPU, preventing it from staying in its most energy efficient state.
**I used Powertop from [[www.lesswatts.org]] for this task.
* '''Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU.'''
** Lowering the voltage supplied to the CPU has other positive side effects beside battery life: my system runs a lot cooler and ... I do not need tpfan (sw fan control for the ThinkPad), the built-in hw controller does a great job and falls back to lower speed shortly after a CPU load subsides.
** It should be noted that this does ''not'' affect performance since the clock runs at the same speeds (22700, 22600, 16000, or 800Mhz for the X200).
**I used phc patches and phctools available at [[www.linux-phc.org]] for this task.