Arch Linux

brtzsnr

Member

Registered: 2011-05-12

Posts: 5

cpufreq problem

Hello,

I'm trying to configure cpufreq-info with ondemand governor.  Despite the fact that cpufreq-info detects correct frequency steps I cannot set my frequency higher than minimum 1.20GHz. What is the problem and how can I fix it?

# cpufreq-info 
cpufrequtils 008: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to cpufreq@vger.kernel.org, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1 2 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency: 10.0 us.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 2.67 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.67 GHz, 2.67 GHz, 2.53 GHz, 2.40 GHz, 2.27 GHz, 2.13 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.87 GHz, 1.73 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.47 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1.20 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 1.20 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1.20 GHz (asserted by call to hardware).
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1 2 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 1
  maximum transition latency: 10.0 us.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 2.67 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.67 GHz, 2.67 GHz, 2.53 GHz, 2.40 GHz, 2.27 GHz, 2.13 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.87 GHz, 1.73 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.47 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1.20 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 1.20 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1.20 GHz (asserted by call to hardware).
analyzing CPU 2:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1 2 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 2
  maximum transition latency: 10.0 us.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 2.67 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.67 GHz, 2.67 GHz, 2.53 GHz, 2.40 GHz, 2.27 GHz, 2.13 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.87 GHz, 1.73 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.47 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1.20 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 1.20 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1.20 GHz (asserted by call to hardware).
analyzing CPU 3:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1 2 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 3
  maximum transition latency: 10.0 us.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 2.67 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.67 GHz, 2.67 GHz, 2.53 GHz, 2.40 GHz, 2.27 GHz, 2.13 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.87 GHz, 1.73 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.47 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1.20 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 1.20 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1.20 GHz (asserted by call to hardware).

# cpufreq-set -c0 --min 1200Mhz --max 2.67GHz
Error setting new values. Common errors:
- Do you have proper administration rights? (super-user?)
- Is the governor you requested available and modprobed?
- Trying to set an invalid policy?
- Trying to set a specific frequency, but userspace governor is not available,
   for example because of hardware which cannot be set to a specific frequency
   or because the userspace governor isn't loaded?

# lsmod | grep cpufreq
cpufreq_ondemand        8443  4 
acpi_cpufreq            5697  1 
freq_table              2379  2 cpufreq_ondemand,acpi_cpufreq
processor              23608  1 acpi_cpufreq
mperf                   1267  1 acpi_cpufreq

Edit:

# cat /etc/conf.d/cpufreq 
#configuration for cpufreq control

# valid governors:
#  ondemand, performance, powersave,
#  conservative, userspace
governor="ondemand"

# limit frequency range (optional)
# valid suffixes: Hz, kHz (default), MHz, GHz, THz
#min_freq="1.20GHz"
#max_freq="2.67GHz"

# use freq to set up the exact cpu frequency using it with userspace governor
#freq=

Last edited by brtzsnr (2011-05-12 15:04:44)

cybertorture

Member

Registered: 2010-05-05

Posts: 339

Re: cpufreq problem

post your /etc/conf.d/cpufreq , try diferent governor like conservative and see if it changes cpu speed range at least

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O' rly ? Ya rly Oo

brtzsnr

Member

Registered: 2011-05-12

Posts: 5

Re: cpufreq problem

@cybertorture: Same thing with performance and conservative. Updated my post with my cpufreq.conf.

Last edited by brtzsnr (2011-05-12 15:07:52)

cybertorture

Member

Registered: 2010-05-05

Posts: 339

Re: cpufreq problem

Look here i hope it ll help you.
If not than maybe its someting with powermanager you use like laptop-utils gnome-power-manager etc..

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O' rly ? Ya rly Oo

brtzsnr

Member

Registered: 2011-05-12

Posts: 5

Re: cpufreq problem

It's a fresh install. I don't use laptop-utils or google-power-manager. The links says it might be a kernel problem, but it's too old to be relevant (kernel 2.6.32). I didn't have this problem before reinstalling my os.

cybertorture

Member

Registered: 2010-05-05

Posts: 339

Re: cpufreq problem

actually as far as i understand they talk about "cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/bios_limit " thing , also 2.6.32 is LTS so its not old or am i wrong. Anyway check /sys/devices/system/cpu folder for any usefull information, also check bios settings.

edit: fixed some typos O.o

Last edited by cybertorture (2011-05-12 17:59:17)

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O' rly ? Ya rly Oo

brtzsnr

Member

Registered: 2011-05-12

Posts: 5

Re: cpufreq problem

$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/bios_limit 
1199000

Hmm the bios limit seems wrong. I checked the bios and put on maximum performance without luck. But I tell you: this morning cpu scaling was working properly under ubuntu natty (I defected temporally to try unity). I reinstalled Arch and it doesn't work anymore. It's not a bios thingy. It is a bug. And I think it is a recent bug as I didn't noticed it before (ie. three weeks ago, before installing Ubuntu).

brtzsnr

Member

Registered: 2011-05-12

Posts: 5

Re: cpufreq problem

Ok. I figured out something very very very strange:

If I plugin my battery the maximum frequency is set to the expected value 2.67GHz regardless of whether my laptop is connected to AC or not. This is definitely a bug.

Here is a wiki page about this: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w … cy_scaling

Last edited by brtzsnr (2011-05-12 19:16:26)