ACPI or TLP

MGuilherme · 2015-10-16 14:54:46

Hello,

I want to install arch linux in my laptop Lenovo T430.

I want to refine, as best as I can, the instalation.

I have a dought concerning the battery and power management.

At the wiki I can see two diferent tools to to this function:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ACPI_modules
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/TLP

At the power management page (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Power_management) they refer that it is convenient to install only one tool:
"Using these tools can replace setting a lot of settings by hand. Only run one of these tools to avoid possible conflicts as they all work more or less similar. Have a look at the power management category to get an overview on what power management options exist in Archlinux."

I want to ask you what is the best tool to install in my laptop?

Trilby · 2015-10-16 16:23:02

MGuilherme wrote:

I want to ask you what is the best tool to install in my laptop?

Best tool for what? What do you want the tool to do?

I'd never heard of TLP until this thread. But I'm not impressed by it's description: one tool that does everything for you without requiring you to think. Not my style. I'd rather not have my tools do my thinking for me, nor try to do everything. I get a tool when there is a task to be done and I pick the tool that will do it well.

What task are you hoping to get done? "Power management" is not a task, it is a vague category.

Mod note: This is not a kernel & hardware issue so I've moved it to our Newbie Corner. I'm hoping the actual needs will be clarified, otherwise this might end up in the Topics Going Nowhere section.

MGuilherme · 2015-10-16 17:33:33

Hello,

Go easy on me, I'm not new to Linux, but i'm new to Linux custom installations!

As I refered int the link https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Power_management, they mention the following "Only run one of these tools to avoid possible conflicts as they all work more or less similar"

So they are refering that ACPI and TLP perform similar functions!

I've been searching the web and I found out that there are some issues with battery draining with Linux installations on Lenovo T430:
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/inst … kpad-t430/
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions … 175532667/

All of them mention that they installed TLP, but they dont mention ACPI.

I want to ask the community if you can help get a better definition of the diferences between both, because I can not find that information anywere...

Trilby · 2015-10-16 17:39:16

MGuilherme wrote:

Go easy on me

Sorry. I didn't mean to sound unwelcoming - I just wanted to seek clarification of just what kind of responses you wanted or specifically what information you were seeking.

For what it's worth, I've never bothered with any fancy power management, and never felt the need to. I do have acpi installed (edit: but not acpid - see below), but not as a means of improving power management - just as a tool to see my current battery levels.

I'm also a long-time Lenovo user - I haven't used a T430, but I do have a couple of now-decommissioned S10 netbooks, 2 X200s and a T450s. I've never had any power management issue on any of them (at least none that were software related ... batteries do age) nor have I felt the need for any such tools.

progandy · 2015-10-16 18:03:22

Please take note that ACPI is not the same as acpid.
ACPI is an interface that provides information and you "always" (most consumer computers) use it to make the operating system (here the linux kernel) aware of the hardware state and allow some control.
acpid is a daemon that reacts to events that come from ACPI so you can define what happens when e.g. the battery charge changes, the power adapter is (un)plugged, ...
Since acpid comes with a barebones configuration and you can remove even that, you could run it along with tlp. Only make sure you do not duplicate the power settings.

linrunner · 2015-10-18 16:32:57

Hi,

ACPI_modules and TLP do not have the same purpose.

The kernel modules mentioned in the ACPI_modules (btw quite outdated article) are just plain hardware drivers. thinkpad_acpi is loaded by default on every ThinkPad and provides access to temperature sensors, fan control, some special keys and the stuff below /proc/acpi/ibm (or /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/). It is not about power management or power saving.

TLP in turn is a power saving tool intented to optimize your battery life. In fact – despite Trilby's summary – TLP's documentation does not suggest to stop thinking. In contrary: power saving tools are about knowledge. TLP's default configuration provides such inherent knowledge about power saving settings that will suit many users without modification and therefore helps to get started with the complex subject without too much hassle. It is not intended to discourage later changes to the configuration (see the documentation).

If you want to compare TLP to other power saving tools, the one important contender is laptop-mode-tools. Plus there exist a lot of power saving scripts of the more or less "home grown" variety, that lack the completeness, sophistication and userfriendlyness of TLP and LMT.

For ThinkPads TLP has the unique feature to provide a unified interface to the extended battery functions, i.e. charge thresholds and recalibration. The T430 will need the package acpi_call to access them.

MGuilherme · 2015-10-21 21:20:28

Thank you very much for all the support and information.

I now understand the differences.

Alad · 2015-10-21 21:28:19

For ThinkPads TLP has the unique feature to provide a unified interface to the extended battery functions, i.e. charge thresholds and recalibration. The T430 will need the package acpi_call to access them.

Eh: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Tp_smapi# … l_features

/proc/acpi/call is more ugly, admittedly.

Anyway, these power-management tools are in the same vein of AUR helpers - they might be (more or less) useful if you first understand the basic mechanisms.

Last edited by Alad (2015-10-21 21:38:18)

linrunner · 2015-10-22 21:35:30

Alad wrote:

Eh: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Tp_smapi# … l_features
/proc/acpi/call is more ugly, admittedly.

Ugly or not: tp-smapi simply doesn't support the T430, so you have no choice but acpi-call if you want to use charge thresholds etc.

Alad wrote:

they might be (more or less) useful if you first understand the basic mechanisms.

Most TLP users don't care and use it anyway. Successful though .

Last edited by linrunner (2015-10-22 21:36:34)

Arch Linux

#1 2015-10-16 14:54:46

ACPI or TLP

#2 2015-10-16 16:23:02

Re: ACPI or TLP

#3 2015-10-16 17:33:33

Re: ACPI or TLP

#4 2015-10-16 17:39:16

Re: ACPI or TLP

#5 2015-10-16 18:03:22

Re: ACPI or TLP

#6 2015-10-18 16:32:57

Re: ACPI or TLP

#7 2015-10-21 21:20:28

Re: ACPI or TLP

#8 2015-10-21 21:28:19

Re: ACPI or TLP

#9 2015-10-22 21:35:30

Re: ACPI or TLP

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