Arch Linux

geron_apache

Member

Registered: 2025-04-25

Posts: 4

CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

Upon searching on google, I think the solution might be disabling BD_prochot and enabling turbo option, as upon doing this in windows(ik ik), it works.
But even after following guides online, its not working in Arch

output of tlp-stat -s

--- TLP 1.8.0 --------------------------------------------

+++ System Info
System         = LENOVO Lenovo IP L340 81LK
BIOS           = BGCN36WW
EC Firmware    = 1.36
OS Release     = Arch Linux
Kernel         = 6.13.8-arch1-1 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun, 23 Mar 2025 17:17:30 +0000 x86_64
/proc/cmdline  = BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=2c236e66-801d-480a-9e96-990d43a71cea rw loglevel=3
Init system    = systemd 
Boot mode      = UEFI
Suspend mode   = s2idle [deep]

+++ TLP Status
State          = enabled
RDW state      = enabled
Last run       = 20:12:39, 119 sec(s) ago
Mode           = AC
Power source   = AC

Edit:
on trying to enable turbo i get:

 echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo
0
tee: /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo: Operation not permitted

Please ask any more info that is required.
Thanks

Last edited by geron_apache (2025-04-25 22:50:53)

altoid

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2019-09-19

Posts: 14

Re: CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

Can you install cpupower and run frequency-info?

sudo pacman -S cpupower

then

cpupower frequency-info

and post it?

Scheduler should be schedutil by default but your BIOS might still limit the frequency ("power saving mode" or whatever).

Output should look somewhat like this:

[user@Workstation ~]$ cpupower frequency-info
analyzing CPU 2:
  driver: intel_cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 2
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 2
  maximum transition latency: 20.0 us
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.80 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative ondemand userspace powersave performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.80 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: 1.10 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: yes
[user@Workstation ~]$

geron_apache

Member

Registered: 2025-04-25

Posts: 4

Re: CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

sudo cpupower frequency-info
[sudo] password for amrit: 
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 1
  energy performance preference: balance_performance
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 2.40 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 2.40 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: 2.40 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no

yes its showing "balance_performance". correct me if i am wrong but how can this be influenced by the bios, then it should be the same in windows too right ?

Last edited by geron_apache (2025-04-25 17:41:03)

altoid

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2019-09-19

Posts: 14

Re: CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

It can be influenced by how the Windows CPU frequency drivers work, meaning if they rely on BIOS settings (which they don't seem to) or not.

According to the output you only have two governors: performance (meaning highest frequency at all times) and powersave (meaning lowest frequency at all times).

Currently, powersave is active all the time.

If running the stock Arch kernel, I believe the error here is that the

intel_pstate

driver only offers these two governors in active mode but somehow does not actually scale using pstates.. can you try adding the following to your kernel command line:

intel_pstate=passive

This way, the driver is not restricting the use to these two governors, and frequency scaling should work like normal.

If this works, you can edit

/etc/default/cpupower

and enable the

cpupower

systemd service in order to further configure frequency scaling.

Unfortunately I don't know why the driver does not correctly work with your hardware..

Edit:

I just saw that it is stuck on the highest, not lowest frequency.. so some pstate magic is likely still happening behind the scenes, and the driver is trying to do something, however it should be much lower if your CPU is not under maximum load.

Again, activating the passive mode will probably fix this.

More information here.

Last edited by altoid (2025-04-25 19:07:54)

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 75,081

Re: CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

What happens when you unplug the charger?
Also is there any [edit: obviously "significant"] CPU load?

Last edited by seth (2025-04-25 20:40:58)

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

geron_apache

Member

Registered: 2025-04-25

Posts: 4

Re: CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

No there was no specific load at that time, just a browser and spotify.
I am now observing the freq fluctuates between 1.1 to 2.4. it was at that specific moment when i ran the command, the freq was at 2.4
Also no change at all on removing the charger, for a moment it drops to .8 but then goes back to normal fluctuation

Last edited by geron_apache (2025-04-25 22:58:50)

geron_apache

Member

Registered: 2025-04-25

Posts: 4

Re: CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

Again, activating the passive mode will probably fix this.

this certainly did something, upon bootup it has very very noticeable lag, until i go into cpu-power-gui and set the governor to schedutil. also if its worth mentioning, before like 1yr ago or something my cpu used to go above base clock speed on its own, without any configuration. I am guessing some update did this

cpupower frequency-info
analyzing CPU 5:
  driver: intel_cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 5
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 5
  energy performance preference: balance_performance
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 2.40 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative ondemand userspace powersave performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 2.40 GHz.
                  The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: 1.60 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: no
    Active: no

Last edited by geron_apache (2025-04-25 22:59:52)

altoid

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2019-09-19

Posts: 14

Re: CPU clock speed locked at base speed in Lenovo L340

You can automate switching the governor on boot by editing

etc/default/cpupower

and using

cpupower.service

You can also force-enable boost support using cpupower if I remember correctly (as long as the CPU supports it, and it is enabled in your BIOS).