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#1 2019-08-24 12:17:33

Squared_
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Registered: 2018-02-07
Posts: 3
Website

Abnormal (>20W) power usage by iwlwifi

I'm getting unusual power usage reports in Powertop for the wireless network interface, which is driven by the iwlwifi module.

21.1 W      1,1 pkts/s                Device         Network interface: wavy (iwlwifi)

I have the powersave option enabled on the card, see my iwlwifi.conf in the section below.
I'm using NetworkManager, and KDE Plasma, as GUI tools for my network.

When stopping all my network-related systemd services (see list below) and bringing the interface down with "ip link set wavy down", I still get the following in Powertop:

4.1 W      0,0 pkts/s                Device         Network interface: wavy (iwlwifi)

However, using "rfkill block wlan" succesfully drops the power usage of iwlwifi to 0 (disappears from Powertop output).
"modprobe -r iwlwifi" reports that the module is in use, even with all services stopped, the interface down, and rfkill blocking.

I know Powertop isn't such a reliable tool with power estimates, but other tools seem to confirm its readings (KDE power consumption tool gives an average 9 to 10W with 45W spikes - while CPU is idling - which I believe are linked to the network module. I might be mistaken, of course.)

I believe either:

  • Something that I'm not aware of is using my network card and should be disabled.

  • The card is transmitting with too much power, or is constantly scanning for networks.

  • (Easy answer) Everything works at it should, and I'm worrying about inaccurate readings.

Could anyone offer some advice, or point me in the right direction?



Some context, and logs:

Hardware: Dell XPS 15 7590
   - Network adapter: Killer(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX1650x

Enabled systemd services:

~❯ systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled
UNIT FILE                                  STATE  
autovt@.service                            enabled
bluetooth.service                          enabled
bumblebeed.service                         enabled
chronyd.service                            enabled
dbus-org.bluez.service                     enabled
dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service enabled
dbus-org.freedesktop.thermald.service      enabled
dhcpcd.service                             enabled
display-manager.service                    enabled
dnscrypt-proxy.service                     enabled
getty@.service                             enabled
lm_sensors.service                         enabled
NetworkManager-dispatcher.service          enabled
NetworkManager-wait-online.service         enabled
NetworkManager.service                     enabled
powertop.service                           enabled
sddm-plymouth.service                      enabled
thermald.service                           enabled
tlp-sleep.service                          enabled
tlp.service                                enabled
vmware-networks.service                    enabled
vmware-usbarbitrator.service               enabled
org.cups.cupsd.socket                      enabled
remote-fs.target                           enabled

24 unit files listed.

/etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf :

options iwlwifi power_save=1 d0i3_disable=0 uapsd_disable=0
options iwldvm force_cam=0

Relevant dmesg logs:

[    2.579218] Loading modules backported from iwlwifi
[    2.579219] iwlwifi-stack-public:master:8038:00703ff2
[    3.202558] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    3.211699] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwl-dbg-cfg.ini failed with error -2
[    3.211715] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-cc-a0-51.ucode failed with error -2
[    3.211721] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-cc-a0-50.ucode failed with error -2
[    3.211726] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-cc-a0-49.ucode failed with error -2
[    3.213489] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: TLV_FW_FSEQ_VERSION: FSEQ Version: 43.2.23.17
[    3.213491] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Found debug destination: EXTERNAL_DRAM
[    3.213492] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Found debug configuration: 0
[    3.213658] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: loaded firmware version 48.954cff6d.0 op_mode iwlmvm
[    3.561763] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Detected Killer(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX1650x 160MHz Wireless Network Adapter (200NGW), REV=0x340
[    3.575525] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Applying debug destination EXTERNAL_DRAM
[    3.575695] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Allocated 0x00400000 bytes for firmware monitor.
[    3.742905] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: base HW address: dc:fb:48:e9:34:9b
[    3.788901] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0 wavy: renamed from wlan0
[    5.869206] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Applying debug destination EXTERNAL_DRAM
[    6.036501] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: FW already configured (0) - re-configuring
[    6.265859] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: Applying debug destination EXTERNAL_DRAM
[    6.434254] iwlwifi 0000:3b:00.0: FW already configured (0) - re-configuring

Last edited by Squared_ (2019-08-24 17:58:53)


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#2 2019-09-27 19:20:18

TiZ
Member
Registered: 2009-02-27
Posts: 58

Re: Abnormal (>20W) power usage by iwlwifi

I'm experiencing this as well on my Sager NP8957, and it's absolutely murdering whatever power savings I was getting from NVidia's 435-series driver. Did you ever end up figuring this out?

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#3 2019-09-28 10:53:00

Squared_
Member
Registered: 2018-02-07
Posts: 3
Website

Re: Abnormal (>20W) power usage by iwlwifi

@TiZ I was still getting 10+ hours of battery life so It turns out it was just an inaccurate reading in my case.


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#4 2019-09-28 21:23:45

V1del
Forum Moderator
Registered: 2012-10-16
Posts: 21,409

Re: Abnormal (>20W) power usage by iwlwifi

You have multiple networking services enabled, that can easily lead to weird issues with any network adapter, decide for networkmanager or dhcpcd, disable and stop the other.

Edit: Whoops didn't realize this was half a necro, either way, you'd still want to fix that.

Last edited by V1del (2019-09-28 21:25:57)

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#5 2019-09-29 09:34:05

Squared_
Member
Registered: 2018-02-07
Posts: 3
Website

Re: Abnormal (>20W) power usage by iwlwifi

@V1del Good catch, thank you.


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