Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

LB06 · 2004-10-07 21:48:09

I recently bought an Acer TravelMate 4501LCi and I am really happy with it, except that it seems not to be able to determine the current battery strength. I have acpi and acpid installed. I also have acpi listed in the modules array and acpid in my daemons array. Does anyone know how to get it working?

Another question: How do I enable Centrino's Speedstepping in Linux? /proc/cpuinfo alsways reports 1500MHz so I guess it's not working correctly. Maybe this also has something to do with acpi?

kill · 2004-10-08 16:09:26

This thread should help you http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=7209

LB06 · 2004-10-08 16:29:41

I'm working on it right now. It doesn't explain anything about battery status, however. Btw. when I try to modprobe speedstep-centrino, I get a device busy.

phrakture · 2004-10-08 17:28:21

first off, /proc/cpuinfo isn't the best way to check cpu performance in 2.6... try looking at the /sys filesystem for that (it's in there somewhere, can't recall offhand)

for battery, grab the acpi package (you may want acpid running at start) and just run "acpi" with no options for battery info

torsmo also monitors the battery very well (you can get the package from my repo)

LB06 · 2004-10-08 17:39:52

I'm using cpudyn in combination with cpufreq_userspace and cpufreq_powersave (and acpi and freq_table, the latter is implicitly loaded) When I watch scaling_cur_freq in /sys/.../ Most of the time it returns 1600000 and sometimes 600000. (Basically it just runs @ 1600000)

My problem: I don't have a 1,6GHz proc, but a 1,5. So why does it say 1600000? Also, why doesn't it use the freqs between 1600MHz and 600MHz?

When I disable cpudyn and set the governor manually by echoing it, it runs @ constant speed. 1600000 if set to performance and 600000 if set to powersave.

jerem · 2005-03-07 08:13:29

I have a centrino laptop(Inspiron 8600) perfectly running Arch, cpudyn and acpid.

You must enable the correct cpufreq modules in the kernel(take the latest kernel).

Cpudyn just slows down the CPU even when on AC, and speeds it up when it works. It also manages you hd spindown.

I would say your probem is a matter of correctly configuring you kernel.
Also try to upgrade your BIOS if available.

iphitus · 2005-03-07 08:29:29

heh, i found cpufreq couterproductive, it used so much cpu checking for cpu, that my battery life was in the end only increased by a few minute.

LB06 · 2005-03-07 08:58:35

jerem wrote:

I have a centrino laptop(Inspiron 8600) perfectly running Arch, cpudyn and acpid.

You must enable the correct cpufreq modules in the kernel(take the latest kernel).
Cpudyn just slows down the CPU even when on AC, and speeds it up when it works. It also manages you hd spindown.
I would say your probem is a matter of correctly configuring you kernel.
Also try to upgrade your BIOS if available.

I am certain that I have the proper stuff built into my kernel. (Yes, I have enabled development code and selected config_centrino_acpi). I didn't really like cpudyn either.

Right now I'm running the ondemand governor, which works fine, but I still cannot modprobe speedstep_centrino. Official docs @ intel.com say you have to load it before acpi, but then I get a no device found :S. If I load it after modprobing acpi, I get a device or resource busy. I guess something's just buggy. (either the driver or my BIOS). I will try to upgrade it when I get home.

Btw. I heard smartbattery support won't be in the kernel until 2.6.12, probably even later .

Arch Linux

#1 2004-10-07 21:48:09

Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

#2 2004-10-08 16:09:26

Re: Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

#3 2004-10-08 16:29:41

Re: Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

#4 2004-10-08 17:28:21

Re: Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

#5 2004-10-08 17:39:52

Re: Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

#6 2005-03-07 08:13:29

Re: Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

#7 2005-03-07 08:29:29

Re: Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

#8 2005-03-07 08:58:35

Re: Battery status + Speedstep Centrino

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