CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

[rtfirefly1000]

I recently enabled the "ubuntu lucid partner" repository and a bunch of updates went through. (I did it to get Adobe Acrobat Reader because PDF printing through Okular is very, very broken...) I had to force a couple of updates through, but when all was said and done, Power Management/Powerdevil no longer was able to scale the CPU frequency--all I get on that tab is: "When loading profile execute: [ ]"

Any ideas out there? This problems give me a [frowny face]

[ANOKNUSA]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

What KDE edition are you running? If it's 4.5, this feature has been disabled...I'm sitting here trying to figure why and how to fix it right now. I need need need cpu scaling, since Toshiba doesn't want to support linux, apparently. Every person I've contacted in the Ubuntu community with the same model laptop as mine has the same overheating problem I do, so...pain in the ass...

I'll let you know if I find anything; please keep us posted, as I'm sure we aren't the only two with this issue. Good luck!

[GreyGeek]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

Does Systemsettings --> Advanced --> Power Management have any affect when changing settings?

[kubicle]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

Don't know if this will work with Lucid, but on Maverick KDE 4.5 you can still change cpu scaling with powerdevil (If you really want to):

1. check for supported policies:

solid-powermanagement query cpufreq

(Here's my list:
ondemand[*]
userspace
powersave
performance
conservative)

2. You can set policy for the selected powerdevil profile by adding the command:

solid-powermanagement set cpufreq <policy>

(for example, 'solid-powermanagement set cpufreq ondemand')
to the "When loading profile, execute:" -field

[dibl]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

If the cpufreqd daemon is not automatically started, then Powerdevil will gray out the frequency scaling capability in your power management settings utility, and you won't be able to change it there either.

sudo service cpufreqd start

should start it.

[kubicle]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

If the cpufreqd daemon is not automatically started, then Powerdevil will gray out the frequency scaling capability in your power management settings utility, and you won't be able to change it there either.

Are you using KDE 4.5? (the cpu scaling dropdown selection has been purposefully removed from the powerdevil interface in 4.5, because the power saving effect of these policies is a bit muddled, instead using the "ondemand" governor for all profiles).

Users that want to change them anyway, can still use the the commands I mentioned in powerdevil config to affect cpu scaling in profiles.

sudo service cpufreqd start

should start it.

I don't have cpufreqd running (or even installed) on my laptop, seems to me that cpufreq is handled by hal on my end (hald-addon-cpufreq).

[ANOKNUSA]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

Thanks for the info; it definitely did the job. Quick question: where the hell did you learn than? The documentation for powerdevil is very out-of-date, and solid-powermanagement shows no man page. I s there a repository of up-to-date documentation anywhere? Is the IRC channel helpful for this sort of thing? The complete lack of KDE info on the web can be a little disheartening at times. Thanks again for the help, and any extra info would be greatly appreciated!

[dibl]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

Are you using KDE 4.5? (the cpu scaling dropdown selection has been purposefully removed from the powerdevil interface in 4.5, because the power saving effect of these policies is a bit muddled, instead using the "ondemand" governor for all profiles).

NOPE -- caught with a brain-fart! I was running Debian when I wrote that. I just now tried playing with power management on Kubuntu 10.04, and you are soooooooooo right, kubicle! So, a new trick is learned -- thanks!

[kubicle]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

Quick question: where the hell did you learn than?

I follow kde development quite closely through the devel mailing lists, which is where I read about the removal of the drop-down options, and the reasons for that. The rest took some digging (luckily I've got enough experience to know where to start)

The documentation for powerdevil is very out-of-date, and solid-powermanagement shows no man page.

Yes, no man page (unfortunate). But in those cases, '<command> --help' is the next step, and it reveals that you can get a list of available commands for solid-powermanagement with 'solid-powermanagement --commands'. After that it's just testing whether things work as expected.

Is there a repository of up-to-date documentation anywhere? Is the IRC channel helpful for this sort of thing? The complete lack of KDE info on the web can be a little disheartening at times.

I use IRC very rarely (a bit too hectic for me), but I'm sure there are helpful people around in there. As for online documentation, up-to-date information can sometimes be hard to find (things change so rapidly that writing full-scale documentation takes some dedication), although there is currently a bit of a push to improve kde online documentation. Usually the best sources are google (or another search engine), docs.kde.org and userbase.kde.org. Forums, mailing lists and IRC are good when you can't find what you're looking for.

[ANOKNUSA]

Re: CPU Frequency Scaling disappeared!

Thanks for the tips, kubicle; this'll go a long way toward helping me further get into KDE, which seems to me to be the superior DE for more those of us wanting more advanced features to play with. As for the overheating issue, a year of (literally) exhaustive research has pointed me toward a buggy DSDT file, which I've fixed; however, I now need to compile a custom kernel to test everything out. On the one hand, a new learning experience; on the other, a bit of tedium, compounded by the lack of an in-home internet connection. Oh well, it's worth it if this works, and now I'm just rambling... Anyway, thanks again, and take care!