Improve battery life on linux

madcow · **Posted:** Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:47 pm

Thinkpad X60
8 Cell battery (90%)
Vista said 5 hours.
Ubuntu said 3.5 hours.

I would like to improve the battery life on Ubuntu.
1. reduce 1 Ghz to 500 Mhz
2. stop the fan if it is not hot (always on at 2770 rpm)

ZaZ · **Posted:** Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:55 am

Have you looked at PowerTop?

http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/

Marin85 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 01, 2009 5:54 am

FredGarvin wrote:

Have you looked at PowerTop?

http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/

Hm, this utility even provides suggestions what to tune. This is quite useful for unexperienced Linux users like me

Thanks for providing the link,

Marin

whizkid · **Posted:** Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:03 pm

Powertop is great for experienced Linux users like me too!

The default install for many distributions does not take advantage of as many power saving features as it could or should, and this tool really helps.

Some day, I'll even change my configuration files to make the settings permanent.

aaa · **Joined:** Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:36 pm **Posts:** 1062

For the fan

I don't think you can even use 500mhz in Windows...

Marin85 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 01, 2009 6:06 pm

Maybe it´s time to gather some information on that topic in one place, what do ya think?

madcow · **Posted:** Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:34 pm

Staying at 1 Ghz makes the CPU very hot and the fan is always on at 2700 rpm. I don't understand why the X60 or the processor doesn't support throttle down to any frequency lower than 1 Ghz. The right palm rest is very hot. I wonder if it would make a different if I switch the wifi card with one from an X41.

aaa · **Joined:** Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:36 pm **Posts:** 1062

I think the problem's somewhere else. 1ghz is the lowest setting, and should be a very cool setting (not sure exactly what "very hot" is). A program hogging the cpu might cause it to get hot regardless (powertop should point this out, if it's the case).

Also, the palmrest issue has been discussed:
viewtopic.php?t=36873
No, you can't switch to the X4 wireless, as that was a different type of card.
How about switching off the wifi as a test? If is still hot then it's probably not the wifi.

tonn · **Posted:** Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:28 pm

Hy, i have problem with powertop. When i put settings in place and do restart example. All the settings are disappeared! And i have do all the settings again. Ubuntu 8.10.

t140568 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:14 am

FredGarvin wrote:

Have you looked at PowerTop?

http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/

OH, I LIKE THIS! Thank you!

Alexiskass · **Posted:** Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:27 am

any improvements?

whats the battery life under ubuntu with these tweaks?

t140568 · **Posted:** Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:39 am

Alexiskass wrote:

any improvements?

whats the battery life under ubuntu with these tweaks?

The tool found a few things that could be tweaked. After making the changes, I've noticed no change in battery life. However, my battery is pretty much shot anyway, so it's not really a fair test for me to say one way or the other. ANY gain I can get is important to me though.

TheRedFox · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:32 pm

Linux-PHC helps, but I haven't had success with it yet (stupid archwiki PKGBUILD for compiling kernels didn't work very well). laptop-mode-tools if you don't have it (add it to either modules or daemons in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, I forget which), lower screen brightness. that's all I can think of off the top of my head

Owlbrudder · **Posted:** Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:34 am

Just found this thread. Installed powertop under Fedora 14 by simply issuing command sudo yum install powertop

Nice tool, especially as I have been getting +/- 1 hour battery life on my T61.

Thanks folks.
Doug

T23 WinXP / Fedora 14
T61 Fedora 14

Improve battery life on linux

Who is online