[ltp] "powerplay" under gnu/linux (and always on fan "feature")

[Suso Baleato]

I think the trick to the fan problem is the PowerPlay support. I was
testing it with the factory-shipped-software, and GNU/ Linux (Debian) in
kernels from 2.4 to 2.6.9 with latests ACPI patchs, and different
combinations with X.org and XFree86 (I did not test the proprietary ATI
driver because it's proprietary).

The best results in GNU/ Linux are with 2.6.9, acpi-20041105 patch and
x.org with DynamicClocks plus noflushd and powernowd (laptop-mode not
tested yet).

In the factory-shipped-software, there is a relevant difference in the
behaviour of the fan when AC off (so BAT on). The fan stops inmediatly
when PowerPlay and PowerManagement configured to maximum powersave. This
might be because the videocard enters a very low-power state, so less
heating.

Surprisingly, in GNU/ Linux I found the same fan-on times with or without
powernowd in some circunstances. The diference was that with powernowd
the fan runs over 39 degrees, and without starts about 44, but te time
that the fan is on does not seems to depend on the CPU heating (under
low usage). It seems to be clearly related with the videocard, at least
in my case, with an ATI Radeon 7500 (tp R51).

O 2/11/2004, "obi" <graziano@cs.ucsb.edu> escribiu:

>Powerplay gives me an extra 15-25 minutes on the normal 6 cell battery (I
>have a T41). And my machine stays cooler (less fan activity).
>
>graziano
>
>On Mon, Nov 01, 2004 at 06:34:03PM -0500, Justin Lintz wrote:
>> Well I can tell you in windows when I have all the power saving settings a=
t
>> the max I can get close to 7 hours of battery life on my t40p with a 9 cel=
l
>> battery.  In linux I can get close to 5.  I doubt that powerplay provides =
an
>> extra 2 hours of battery life.  I wonder what else I could tweak to get
>> battery life closer to that of windows.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: linux-thinkpad-admin@linux-thinkpad.org
>> [mailto:linux-thinkpad-admin@linux-thinkpad.org] On Behalf Of Thomas
>> Breitner
>> Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 4:28 PM
>> To: linux-thinkpad
>> Subject: RE: [ltp] "powerplay" under gnu/linux
>>
>>
>> > Does this provide a lot better battery life?
>>
>> don't know, never used it under windows. and: can't imagine that i can
>> compare my thinkpad-on-battery-life under win and under debian.
>>
>> but it seems very useless to have a 300mhz-gpu-clockrate for doing
>> text-processing.
>>
>> but: really hope it get's even more out of my battery than it get's at the
>> moment.
>>
>> please let me know if you try it under win with and without powerplay
>> enabled, thomas
>>
>>
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: linux-thinkpad-admin@linux-thinkpad.org
>> > [mailto:linux-thinkpad-admin@linux-thinkpad.org] On Behalf Of Alex
>> > Deucher
>> > Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 3:34 PM
>> > To: linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
>> > Subject: Re: [ltp] "powerplay" under gnu/linux
>> >
>> >
>> > On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 21:17:59 +0100, Thomas Breitner <mail@tombreit.de>
>> > wrote:
>> > > Hello,
>> > >
>> > > on my thinkpad (with ati m10) i get some powermanagement features
>> > > under windows xp: named "powerplay", which supports gpu clock
>> > > throttling.
>> > >
>> > > so:
>> > > does anybody knows if this nice feature - i hardly use
>> > > 3d-acceleration
>> > > - is supported under gnu/linux?
>> >
>> > The xorg radeon driver (in xorg 6.8.0 and above) supports dynamic
>> > clock scaling with feature called "DynamicClocks"
>> >
>> > >
>> > > at the moment I use the prop fglrx-driver, but I would love to
>> > > switch
>> > > to a driver which:
>> > >         a) is debianized
>> > >         b) offers 3d-acceleration
>> >
>> > no open source 3d for r300 chips yet.  Some people are working on it,
>> > but there is no working 3d driver yet: http://r300.sf.net
>> >
>> > >         c) offers gpu clock-throttling
>> >
>> > DynamicClocks option.  see above.
>> >
>> >
>> > Alex
>> >
>> > >
>> > > thanks in advance,
>> > > thomas
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > _____________________________________________
>> > > Thomas Breitner
>> > >
>> > > mail@tombreit.de   |   http://www.tombreit.de
>> > >
>> > --
>> > The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
>> > http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
>> >
>> >
>> --
>> _____________________________________________
>> Thomas Breitner
>>
>> mail@tombreit.de   |   http://www.tombreit.de
>>
>> --
>> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
>> http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
>>
>>
>> --
>> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
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>>
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