Arch Linux

toni

Member

Registered: 2011-10-15

Posts: 437

Why arch linux drains battery so fast?

I have a TOSHIBA P50-B-10V laptop. It is an hibrid with intel/AMD R9 m265x. Currently I am using catalyst proprietary drivers.I have installed arch linux in an external usb hdd.
Also I Have installed some software package to improve battery life, such as powertop, TLP, acpid. In case of powertop I have tunned the software suggested to save battery.
Anyway, battery drains in 2 hours (with only firefox opened and surfing on the web) compared with WIndows 8.1 that is about 3 hours 30 minutes.
I have the screen's brightness set to a low value.

I do not know if the main cause is the external usb hdd as when using win8.1 the external usb is not connected.

Last edited by toni (2014-12-22 22:28:23)

ANOKNUSA

Member

Registered: 2010-10-22

Posts: 2,141

Re: Why arch linux drains battery so fast?

Linux currently doesn't handle hybrid graphics. Both GPUs are running at the same time. Either disable one in the firmware setup menu or look into using Bumblebee.

Last edited by ANOKNUSA (2014-12-21 14:49:56)

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toni

Member

Registered: 2011-10-15

Posts: 437

Re: Why arch linux drains battery so fast?

Linux currently doesn't handle hybrid graphics. Both GPUs are running at the same time. Either disable one in the firmware setup menu or look into using Bumblebee.

I also have installed xf86-video-intel so I understand I can uninstall it and only keep that proprietary driver for AMD ATI, that is, Catalyst. Or the another solution would be using Bumblebee as you have stated but as far as I know this is only for NVIDIA GPUs.... not AMD ATI right?

clfarron4

Member

From: London, UK

Registered: 2013-06-28

Posts: 2,163

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Re: Why arch linux drains battery so fast?

If you're using AMD Catalyst, you can either use PowerXpress (provided by AMD) or the bumblebee-amd packages in the AUR, if I'm not mistaken.

I don't think that uninstalling the intel driver will help with power saving because both cards will still be powered up...

Last edited by clfarron4 (2014-12-21 15:18:08)

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ANOKNUSA

Member

Registered: 2010-10-22

Posts: 2,141

Re: Why arch linux drains battery so fast?

Or the another solution would be using Bumblebee as you have stated but as far as I know this is only for NVIDIA GPUs.... not AMD ATI right?

I think you might be right. I didn't think about that, sorry. It looks like there might be an AMD solution, according to clfarron4. But the firmware menu should also give you the option of either choosing which GPU to use, or turning off the discrete GPU. If you don't plan on playing 3D games or using heavy 3D rendering, I'd say just turn the AMD discrete GPU off.

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toni

Member

Registered: 2011-10-15

Posts: 437

Re: Why arch linux drains battery so fast?

Using AMD ATI Control Center (amdcccle), I have set GPU to intel (I can select AMD ATI or Intel) and now battery life seems to have improved 30 minutes more.