Cpufrequtils not working anymore

.:B:. · 2007-04-23 23:27:47

Last night I noticed during heavy load my CPU didn't scale up anymore (it runs on 800 Mhz by default and clocks to 1.8 Ghz when needed). It was a tar compression (piped to bzip2) of a few hundred MB, so i had a while to verify whether this was really happening . Conky just showed the CPU keeping on 800 Mhz, not clocking up. Not even after sustained 100% usage.

So... Since it ran perfect before, I wonder what caused this. I run current, I checked /etc/conf.d/cpufreq, it still contains what I set (the CPU is a Turion, which clocks from 800 Mhz to 1.8 Ghz with an intermediate 'stop' at 1.6 Ghz):

[stijn@hephaistos ~]$ cat /etc/conf.d/cpufreq 
#configuration for cpufreq control

# valid governors:
#  ondemand, performance, powersave,
#  conservative, userspace
governor="ondemand"

# valid suffixes: Hz, kHz (default), MHz, GHz, THz
min_freq="800MHz"
max_freq="1800MHz"

As you can see my max & min frequencies are set. Now this is what I get when i query cpufreq:

[stijn@hephaistos ~]$ cpufreq-info 
cpufrequtils 002: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to linux@brodo.de, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 1.80 GHz
  available frequency steps: 1.80 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 800 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 1.44 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 800 MHz.

Before (I rebooted to make sure this problem persisted) the frequency range showed 800 Mhz and 800 Mhz (instead of the 1.44 Ghz it's showing now - I don't even get where the hell it gets that last frequency from). Nevertheless, those values are utterly incorrect - and despite of the governor being the 'ondemand' one, my CPU doesn't clock higher under significant load.

Did someone experience similar problems? I am running the 2.6.20.7 ck kernel.

Any help is appreciated

Last edited by B (2007-04-23 23:29:42)

.:B:. · 2007-04-24 11:22:50

Well... Nevermind! Today is a good day: it seems to work again.

The_Nerd · 2007-04-24 14:32:35

I'm getting the same problem!

I have modprobed everything correctly and I've checked around for every tutorial on setting this up, and nothing has worked. Oddly enough, I copied my config files etc directly from my old install of Arch ( I recently had to reformat ) but I cannot get things working.

I've set this up on numerous computers, so I don't feel like I've forgotten anything, and googling seems to turn up the possibility of a bug in the 2.6.20 kernel?

Anyone else experience anything similar?

PS. I have a 1.6ghz turion and it's stuck at 800mhz aside from a few brief seconds at startup.

patroclo7 · 2007-04-24 14:38:08

Did you update to the latest kernel26 and initscripts (and reboot after the update)? Acpi support were modularized, now processor is again in the kernel and the acpi modules are anyway loaded automatically by the latest initscripts. Acpi support is required by most cpufreq implementations, e.g. the speedstep system for intel centrino.
If you do not want to update and reboot, simply load the modules.

Last edited by patroclo7 (2007-04-24 14:38:33)

The_Nerd · 2007-04-24 18:21:23

I believe I have everything properly loaded, even with the recent changes.

Even without cpufreq running, my processor seems to lock itself down to 800MHz rather than the 1.6GHz it should be at. When I have turned cpufreq on, I notice no difference. It seems that my processor physical limits are seen as fine, but it doesnt seem that the scaling sees the proper selections ie: it says my processor scales form 800mhz to 1.6ghz but only says that my valid range is between 800mhz and 800mhz. Here's some possibly useful information"

[will@Ghost32 ~]$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
powernow_k8            13204  0 
ipv6                  252864  10 
eth1394                16772  0 
joydev                  8384  0 
sdhci                  15884  0 
mmc_core               21380  1 sdhci
tifm_7xx1               6144  0 
tifm_core               6784  1 tifm_7xx1
rtc                    10416  0 
usbhid                 34592  0 
hid                    25088  1 usbhid
ff_memless              5256  1 usbhid
pcmcia                 31404  0 
serio_raw               5636  0 
psmouse                35336  0 
ohci1394               31920  0 
sg                     26652  0 
yenta_socket           23564  1 
rsrc_nonstatic         11264  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            33176  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
i2c_piix4               7692  0 
ieee1394               84056  2 eth1394,ohci1394
snd_atiixp_modem       12296  0 
i2c_core               17792  1 i2c_piix4
pcspkr                  2816  0 
k8temp                  4608  0 
ati_agp                 7180  0 
tsdev                   6336  0 
evdev                   8192  5 
fan                     3716  0 
button                  6032  0 
battery                 8324  0 
ac                      3972  0 
kqemu                 121892  0 
gspca                 641744  0 
videodev               25216  1 gspca
v4l2_common            22656  1 videodev
v4l1_compat            13956  1 videodev
snd_seq_oss            29184  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      6528  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                46928  4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          6796  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss            39072  0 
snd_mixer_oss          14464  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_atiixp             15884  1 
snd_ac97_codec         95396  2 snd_atiixp_modem,snd_atiixp
ac97_bus                2432  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm                68740  4 snd_atiixp_modem,snd_pcm_oss,snd_atiixp,snd_ac97_codec
snd_timer              19204  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd                    43876  12 snd_atiixp_modem,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_atiixp,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore               6496  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          7944  3 snd_atiixp_modem,snd_atiixp,snd_pcm
ndiswrapper           181332  0 
fglrx                 647484  15 
agpgart                26200  2 ati_agp,fglrx
capability              3592  0 
commoncap               5632  1 capability
tun                     8448  0 
fuse                   39188  0 
freq_table              4240  1 powernow_k8
cpufreq_userspace       3664  0 
bcm43xx               118420  0 
ieee80211softmac       26496  1 bcm43xx
ieee80211              30536  2 bcm43xx,ieee80211softmac
ieee80211_crypt         4992  1 ieee80211
r8169                  25224  0 
ext3                  119176  1 
jbd                    55336  1 ext3
mbcache                 7044  1 ext3
sr_mod                 14372  0 
cdrom                  34464  1 sr_mod
sd_mod                 16768  3 
ehci_hcd               29964  0 
ohci_hcd               18948  0 
usbcore               112392  6 usbhid,gspca,ndiswrapper,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd
ata_generic             5380  0 
pata_atiixp             5888  2 
libata                 94228  2 ata_generic,pata_atiixp

on first bootup

[will@Ghost32 ~]$ cpufreq-info 
cpufrequtils 002: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to linux@brodo.de, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 1.60 GHz
  available frequency steps: 1.60 GHz, 800 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: userspace, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 1.60 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1.60 GHz.

after about 20 seconds

[will@Ghost32 ~]$ cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 002: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to linux@brodo.de, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 1.60 GHz
  available frequency steps: 1.60 GHz, 800 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: userspace, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 800 MHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 800 MHz.
[will@Ghost32 ~]$

in rc.conf

MODULES=(r8169 bcm43xx acer_acpi powernow-k8 cpufreq-ondemand cpufreq-powersave cpufreq_userspace freq_table fuse tun capability fglrx ndiswrapper snd_atiixp gspca kqemu)

I'm not quite sure as why it limits my current policy to only 800Mhz. I've tried to tell the policy what the scaling_max_freq is, but it won't let me change it.

[root@Ghost32 will]# echo -n 1600000 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq

[will@Ghost32 cpufreq]$ cat scaling_max_freq
960000

it shows 960000 the first time I try to change it, which is odd. Then what used to happen is that minutes later it goes back to 800mhz and wont let me change it from that. More recently it has let me increase the maximum back up to 960000 but no higher.

Let me know if i'm leaving anything out or if there is any more information I can provide. I had this working on a previous install of arch, so I know acer_acpi and all this DOES work, I'm just confused as to why it will not work now.

Thanks.

Edit: I would guess that the problems I'm having are with the powernow-k8 module. Without it loaded I run at the full 1600MHz and with it loaded it stays at 1.6Ghz for a few seconds, then brings be right down to 800MHz. Has anyone else had similar problems or would they care to give any suggestions?

Last edited by The_Nerd (2007-04-26 19:08:39)

The_Nerd · 2007-04-28 02:26:03

For no reason whatsoever, everything started working today. I have made no changes to my configuration, but I have been updating regularly. Apparently something fixed it along the way. If someone is to encounter the problem in the future, I guess all I can say for advice is wait it out.

.:B:. · 2007-04-28 02:32:11

I happened to notice the same strange behaviour _again_ yesterday. If anyone knows any good alternatives to cpufrequtils, I'd be happy to try them.

lloeki · 2007-04-28 08:47:31

run top while tarring your stuff, is the used cpu consumed in user+sys or in wait?

QuimaxW · 2007-05-03 02:02:19

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/SpeedStep

There are a couple different methods of doing this. Perhaps a different method will work better for you.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-04-23 23:27:47

Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#2 2007-04-24 11:22:50

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#3 2007-04-24 14:32:35

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#4 2007-04-24 14:38:08

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#5 2007-04-24 18:21:23

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#6 2007-04-28 02:26:03

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#7 2007-04-28 02:32:11

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#8 2007-04-28 08:47:31

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

#9 2007-05-03 02:02:19

Re: Cpufrequtils not working anymore

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