Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

[pacific08]

I am unable to set correct 'ondemand' cpufreqpolicy on Kubuntu11.04, I tried the commands 'sudo cpufreq-set -c 0 -g ondemand -d 1000MHz -u 1.83GHz' and similarly for other core. When I typed cpufreq-info -- it stays the same (pasting it below)

cpufrequtils 007: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to cpufreq@vger.kernel.org, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
driver: acpi-cpufreq
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
maximum transition latency: 10.0 us.
hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 1.83 GHz
available frequency steps: 1.83 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1000 MHz
available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, userspace, powersave, performance
current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 1000 MHz.
The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 1000 MHz.
cpufreq stats: 1.83 GHz:0.00%, 1.33 GHz:0.00%, 1000 MHz:100.00%
analyzing CPU 1:
driver: acpi-cpufreq
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 1
maximum transition latency: 10.0 us.
hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 1.83 GHz
available frequency steps: 1.83 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1000 MHz
available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, userspace, powersave, performance
current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 1000 MHz.
The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 1000 MHz.
cpufreq stats: 1.83 GHz:0.00%, 1.33 GHz:0.00%, 1000 MHz:100.00%

Secifically, current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 1000 MHz.
The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
within this range.

Any help/suggestions? Thanks!

[67GTA]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

Read here for setting cpu freq in KDE http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3113359.0 This will not survive a reboot, so you will have to create a bash script to run at boot to set it if you want this to be permanent. What is the output of

sudo cat /proc/cpuinfo

from a terminal? You can look at the "cpu MHz" to see what speed it is currently running at.

[pacific08]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

Thanks 67GTA for the response! The output is:

processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5600 @ 1.83GHz
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dts tpr_shadow
bogomips : 3657.22
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5600 @ 1.83GHz
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 1
initial apicid : 1
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dts tpr_shadow
bogomips : 3656.36
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

[pacific08]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

I read the other thread as well, but I couldn't find and install 'solid-powermanangement'.

[wizard10000]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

I read the other thread as well, but I couldn't find and install 'solid-powermanangement'.

It doesn't exist

What worked for me was installing laptop-mode-tools and editing (as root) /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/cpufreq.conf like this - I made the changes in red:

#
# Configuration file for Laptop Mode Tools module cpufreq.
#
# For more information, consult the laptop-mode.conf( 8 ) manual page.
#

################################################## #############################
# CPU frequency scaling and throttling
# ------------------------------------
#
# Laptop mode tools can automatically adjust your kernel CPU frequency
# settings. This includes upper and lower limits and scaling governors.
# There is also support for CPU throttling, on systems that don't support
# frequency scaling.
#
# This feature only works on 2.6 kernels.
#
#
# IMPORTANT: In versions 1.36 and earlier, these settings were included in the
# main laptop-mode.conf configuration file. If they are still present, they
# overrule the settings in this file. To fix this, simply delete the settings
# from the main config file.
#
################################################## #############################

# Enable debug mode for this module
# Set to 1 if you want to debug this module
DEBUG=0

#
# Should laptop mode tools control the CPU frequency settings?
#
# Set to 0 to disable
CONTROL_CPU_FREQUENCY="auto"


#
# Legal values are "slowest" for the slowest speed that your
# CPU is able to operate at, "fastest" for the fastest speed,
# "medium" for some value in the middle, or any value listed in
# /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies.
# The "governor" can be any governor installed on your system, this usually
# includes "ondemand", "conservative", and "performance". The
# "IGNORE_NICE_LOAD" setting specifies that background programs that have
# a low priority ("nice level") should not cause the CPU frequency to
# be increased. (You generally want this to be enabled in battery mode.)
#
BATT_CPU_MAXFREQ=fastest
BATT_CPU_MINFREQ=slowest
#BATT_CPU_GOVERNOR=ondemand
BATT_CPU_GOVERNOR=performance
BATT_CPU_IGNORE_NICE_LOAD=1
LM_AC_CPU_MAXFREQ=fastest
LM_AC_CPU_MINFREQ=slowest
LM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=ondemand
LM_AC_CPU_IGNORE_NICE_LOAD=1
NOLM_AC_CPU_MAXFREQ=fastest
NOLM_AC_CPU_MINFREQ=slowest
#NOLM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=ondemand
NOLM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=performance
NOLM_AC_CPU_IGNORE_NICE_LOAD=0


#
# Should laptop mode tools control the CPU throttling? This is only useful
# on processors that don't have frequency scaling.
# (Only works when you have /proc/acpi/processor/CPU*/throttling.)
#
# This is only useful on older P4 processors that do not support frequency
# scaling. On such processors, this is the only way to reduce power consumption
# but at the cost of higher performance penalty.
#
# Enable this only if you have a processor that does not support frequency scaling
# On most new processors, you might want to disable it.
#
# Set to 0 to disable.
CONTROL_CPU_THROTTLING=0


#
# Legal values are "maximum" for the maximum (slowest) throttling level,
# "minimum" for minimum (fastest) throttling level, "medium" for a value
# somewhere in the middle (this is usually 50% for P4s), or any value listed
# in /proc/acpi/processor/CPU*/throttling. Be careful when using "maximum":
# this may be _very_ slow (in fact, with P4s it slows down the processor
# by a factor 8).
#
BATT_CPU_THROTTLING=medium
LM_AC_CPU_THROTTLING=medium
NOLM_AC_CPU_THROTTLING=minimum


hope this helps -

[wizard10000]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

One note - if your CPU is overclocked you might want to find another way to do this as it will override your clock settings in BIOS :P

I have a Core i7-920 desktop PC that I'd cranked up to 3.2GHz (stock is 2.66) and it had been running at 1.5GHz because of ondemand power settings. When I installed laptop-mode-tools and set the power management setting to performance it popped back up to 2.66GHz even though the BIOS clock was set to run the CPU at 3.2GHz.

Still playing with it, but 2.66 is better than 1.5

[67GTA]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

It looks like solid no longer controls this in 4.6. It seems to lie somewhere between powerdevil and the kernel now. You were actually on the right track to begin with. Judging by your output you are already using the ondemand freq. It is used by default unless your proc isn't seen/configured correctly. The cpufreq output shows

available frequency steps: 1.83 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1000 MHz

It should stay at the lowest speed (1000 MHz) until you need the boost up to the highest (1830 MHz).

[pacific08]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

It should stay at the lowest but the policy has both upper and lower limit as 1000MHz. I tried changing it through cpufreq-set but didn't work and stays at 1000MHz even if I am doing heavy computing.

current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 1000 MHz.
         The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
         within this range.

[pacific08]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

What worked for me was installing laptop-mode-tools and editing (as root) /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/cpufreq.conf like this - I made the changes in red:

#BATT_CPU_GOVERNOR=ondemand
BATT_CPU_GOVERNOR=performance
...
#NOLM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=ondemand
NOLM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=performance

I made these changes, still no luck

[pacific08]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

After some more looking -- I found out that the bios_limit is 1000MHz. My battery is old and doesn't stay charged up very well. Could battery be the reason for bios not detecting the correct cpufreq and in turn bios_limit could be the reason for cpu governor not to function properly?

$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq 
1833000
$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_min_freq 
1000000
$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/bios_limit 
1000000

[wizard10000]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

This appears to be a kernel bug - check it out:

https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/7/21/372

http://www.spinics.net/lists/cpufreq/msg01694.html

Apparently bios_limit is indeed what's holding you back.

[pacific08]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

Thanks! What is the best way to fix this? I have very little experience with kernel compiling.

[wizard10000]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

Your best bet might be to live with it until the next kernel's released - or roll back to an earlier kernel.

[wizard10000]

Re: Setting correct ondemand cpu governor policy

Found the solution.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...quency_Scaling