[SOLVED] No intel_pstate driver since kernel 5.8.1

kermorvan · 2020-10-31 19:22:33

Ever since upgrading to kernel 5.8.1, the system boots up using the intel_cpufreq driver instead of intel_pstate for cpu frequency scaling. When using intel_cpufreq, my system defaults to using the "userspace" governor, which locks the frequency to 1700MHz on boot. My other options are "ondemand", which adjusts slowly and "performance", which increases thermals and noise.
I had hoped this was bug and that subsequent kernel versions would correct this, but so far I have had the same result with every version up to 5.9.2.

How can I make the newer kernels default to intel_pstate again?

Here are the outputs for

$sudo cpupower -c all frequency-info

With kernel 5.8.1

analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: intel_cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency: 20.0 us
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: userspace performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "userspace" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 1.70 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: intel_cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 1
  maximum transition latency: 20.0 us
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: userspace performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "userspace" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 1.70 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no
analyzing CPU 2:
  driver: intel_cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 2
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 2
  maximum transition latency: 20.0 us
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: userspace performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "userspace" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 1.70 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no
analyzing CPU 3:
  driver: intel_cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 3
  maximum transition latency: 20.0 us
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: userspace performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "userspace" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 1.70 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no

With kernel 5.7.12

analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 2.97 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 1
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 2.63 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no
analyzing CPU 2:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 2
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 2
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 2.32 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no
analyzing CPU 3:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 3
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 2.72 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no

Last edited by kermorvan (2020-11-01 15:08:16)

merlock · 2020-10-31 20:54:21

What is your cpu?

For mine (i7-8700K):

sudo cpupower frequency-info
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: intel_pstate
...

inxi
CPU: 6-Core Intel Core i7-8700K (-MT MCP-) speed/min/max: 4299/800/4700 MHz 
Kernel: 5.9.2-arch1-1 x86_64 Up: 1d 8h 24m Mem: 3366.6/32047.5 MiB (10.5%) 
Storage: 2.96 TiB (4.9% used) Procs: 286 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.1.08

kermorvan · 2020-11-01 08:29:16

The CPU is an i3-4330 Haswell, the motherboard is an Asus Z87I-DELUXE. As I understand it, intel_pstate is used for Sandy Bridge and newer.

Been running this setup since February 2014 and the scaling has always worked perfectly. At idle the cpu scales down to just 800MHz.

CPU: Dual Core Intel Core i3-4330 (-MT MCP-) speed/min/max: 3500/800/3500 MHz Kernel: 5.7.12-arch1-1 x86_64 Up: 1h 27m 
Mem: 4840.7/15693.9 MiB (30.8%) Storage: 4.78 TiB (4.2% used) Procs: 190 Shell: Zsh inxi: 3.1.06

kermorvan · 2020-11-01 15:08:03

I fixed it by appending "intel_pstate=active" to the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="" in /etc/default/grub.

I am now running the latest kernel 5.9.2 with scaling working and cpupower frequency-info showing:

analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.50 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.50 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 3.40 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no

Arch Linux

#1 2020-10-31 19:22:33

[SOLVED] No intel_pstate driver since kernel 5.8.1

#2 2020-10-31 20:54:21

Re: [SOLVED] No intel_pstate driver since kernel 5.8.1

#3 2020-11-01 08:29:16

Re: [SOLVED] No intel_pstate driver since kernel 5.8.1

#4 2020-11-01 15:08:03

Re: [SOLVED] No intel_pstate driver since kernel 5.8.1

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