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**Snowhog** · May 09, 2011, 12:14 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Originally posted by craig10x

Now here is the problem..The new Kernel in 11.04 and that also appears in all other new linux distros is known to have a very serious bug which affects many laptops and desktops and is causing anywhere from 10-25% increase in power consumption...

I was running Linux Mint Debian for awhile, and when we got the kernel update (to the one 11.04 has) my nice QUIET computer started to run the fan almost all the time and loudly (like it was running fast) indicating a likely great increase in power and probably heating as well...I had to start booting back into the previous kernel again to avoid it!

When running the Live CD of Kubuntu 11.04...i noticed it was doing it AGAIN..so i am concerned that it will do it if i install..

Have others here had this problem with that new kernel? And i understand this bug has been in in for several months...anyone know if a fix will be coming down for it anytime soon?

I have no such issues with the 11.04 kernel on my Toshiba Satellite P105-S6147 laptop.

**ardvark71** · May 09, 2011, 12:47 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Hi Craig...

Personally, I would hold off and keep what you have. From what I am reading on the forums, there seems to be a bug with certain (I don't know hom many are affected) wireless broadcom chipsets as well. Hopefully, there will be some updates down the road that will fix these issues.

Regards...

**GreyGeek** · May 09, 2011, 12:54 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

The power consumption regression is discussed here. When the *.35 kernel was released I upgraded to it and then pinned it. I am running a Sony VIAO VGN-FW140E with the Mobil 4 chipset and have had no increases in power consumption. My two CPUs run at 118F and 104F (as I write this) with the avg being about 112F, which goes up and down as the fan cycles on and off. I never redline, regardless of the load I run.

Other info is in these links:
https://lkml.org/ (you can search on power consumption regression)
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...le_uffda&num=1
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to...er_consumption

So, IMO, the power consumption problem, while important, seems specific to certain hardware. Run Natty as a LiveUSB or LiveCD AGAIN, and watch your CPU temps carefully, and listen to your fan as you try various apps and watch videos. They'll tell you if it is a good idea or not to try Natty.

**craig10x** · May 09, 2011, 03:55 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Thanks Guys for the feedback and the links GreyGeek...It seems like it is "hit and miss" with this bug...some have it...others do not...and it's not hardware specific in that it could happen with ATI or Intel, and other differences in the hardware...

I'm in the Live CD right now and the fan stays on for about 15 minutes, then finally goes off for a minute or two (i guess that is at the point it has cooled down sufficiently) and then it starts up again....

So, yes, it looks like it would be best for me to stay with what i have for now and hope that in the future the problem is fixed...Oh well...and i was really liking it too

**GreyGeek** · May 09, 2011, 04:14 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

I'm confident, and their track record proves, that the Canonical dev crew, if not the kernel dev crew, will stomp this bug out rather quickly.

**Snowhog** · May 09, 2011, 04:19 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Originally posted by craig10x

(I use a Toshiba Laptop with 64 bit AMD Processor and Ati Radeon graphics...about 2 yrs old)

Something to concider, is upgrading your BIOS (if an upgrade is available). Toshiba is known to use buggy BIOS's in their laptops.

**craig10x** · May 09, 2011, 04:27 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Interesting, Snowhog...where would i look for possible upgrades for the bios on my toshiba?

Also...if anyone hears about fixes for this problem in the kernel coming down from Ubuntu, please post to this thread about it...Of course i will keep an eye out for news about it myself but if anyone should hear/see something in this regard, would appreciate letting me know here

Meanwhile, i guess it's best for me to stay in my Mint 10 install...good thing it works very well...

**Snowhog** · May 09, 2011, 04:36 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Start here.

First determine which BIOS version your laptop is using. It 'may' already be the most recent, in which case, nothing to do. But, if the sight above reports a version newer than what your laptop is using, you might want to concider upgrading it.

BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU DO DECIDE TO UPGRADE YOUR BIOS. YOU'LL NEED TO CREATE A RESTORABLE BACKUP OF THE EXISTING BIOS INCASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG.

I'm not suggesting that your BIOS is contributing to your observed issue, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility.

**craig10x** · May 09, 2011, 08:28 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Snowhog...i spoke to a friend who is pretty computer savvy (much more on the windows side of things then linux) but he mentioned that doing bios updates can be a bit "touchy" and suggested that i do not...i did find the updates for bios for my laptop but reading the various items listed that it was supposed to fix, it didn't really sound to me like any of them would likely help my problem...

I was curious though...I have always used the "stock" drivers in my ubuntu/kubuntu/mint, etc... installs...never installed the
optional driver available...might THAT make a difference for something like this?

Does Kubuntu have an auto driver installer like ubuntu and mint?
Also, is it possible to install it on the live cd so i can "test" it...or is a re-boot required to have it "kick in" which of course is not possible on a live cd session ?

I've installed various programs on a live cd (which is possible of course since they don't require reboots)....although doing updates doesn't work because the live cd session can't cope with that...it does have it's limitations

**Snowhog** · May 09, 2011, 08:57 PM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

You could also just try running the LiveCD and editing the kernel option, adding either acpi.power_nocheck=1 OR acpi_osi=linux (Disable the check of power state or changes the OS compatibility reported to the BIOS. Necessary on some broken BIOSes to make temperature/fan control work.) Ref: BootOptions - Kernel Options

**craig10x** · May 10, 2011, 08:39 AM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

I'm running on the live cd of Kubuntu again and when i typed in "drivers" in the kick-off menu it brought up the "install and configure drivers" window...but it just says: "no proprietory drivers installed on this system" and on the bottom where the "enable" button is, it is blanked out...

How would in install the fglrx driver? Or does that mean i cannot do it on the live session?
Any other way to do it? Still there is a question of whether a re-boot would be needed to have it activate and can't do that on live session of course...

Edit: I found it in the package manager and installed it...but i suspect it doesn't actually kick in until you re-boot...so i see no difference as far as the fan running/power problem of course....And since i can't reboot on live session, no way to test it...

I guess i will just have to wait until the bug gets fixed in the kernel....when someone sees it come down, please post to this thread and let me know...thanks so much

Looks like i will just have to delay on installing Kubuntu 11.04....

**GreyGeek** · May 10, 2011, 11:11 AM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Read the info here, and note that Catalyst 9.3 does NOT support Natty! The guide linked above shows how to download and install the proper fglrx driver.

ATTENTION RADEON USERS

NOTE: If you enter your card information on AMD/ATI's driver page, it will offer you the Catalyst 9-3 driver to download. However, the Catalyst 9-3 driver doesn't support X servers past 1.5, and it will not work with Natty! !!!SO BE CAREFUL!!! If you tried to install Catalyst on a system with one of these cards, see the 'Removing the Driver' section to restore the default/pre-installed drivers.
...
Restricted Drivers Manager

NOTE: You must have the restricted repository enabled in Applications -> Ubuntu Software Center -> Edit -> Software Sources... for this to work. You must also have the fglrx-modaliases and jockey-gtk (or jockey-kde for Kubuntu) packages installed. You will be limited to the drivers for your version of Ubuntu that Canonical deems stable. This may not give you the latest drivers, but should be safest. On Ubuntu Natty, this will install Catalyst 8.840, which is roughly equivalent to a prerelease of Catalyst 11-4. Go to the Additional Drivers Manager (System -> Administration -> Additional Drivers) and activate the "ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver" (or double-click the "available driver" notification icon). Ubuntu will then install and configure the driver for you.

**craig10x** · May 11, 2011, 12:18 AM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

Thanks...By the way...just curious...but the problem that many have been having (including myself) with the power management bug in the new kernel in 11.04, well i have been using 64 bit...but if i switched to 32 bit version, it wouldn't likely make any difference would it?

**craig10x** · May 11, 2011, 09:07 AM

Re: I Would Like to Install Kubuntu 11.04....BUT! (read on)

I am running Kubuntu 11.04 32 bit on the live cd as i type this...I can answer my own question and the answer is:
No...no change...even though i am even using less memory and cpu on the 32 bit version, the fan is running all the time, which means high power consumption and the fan is obviously running to prevent the computer from overheating...

Oh well...looks like no Kubuntu 11.04 for me...at least until this bug is fixed in the kernel

Please let me know in this post of mine when you see a fix come down for this...thanks so much!

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