HOWTO: powernowd tip

[fizgig]

I run Hoary on a laptop and it, per default, loads the powernowd daemon at startup. This was kind of annoying because I don't care about CPU frequency when my laptop is plugged in - especially when the cool screensavers were running. As such, I wanted mt laptop to not run powernowd when it's plugged in.

To accomplish this, I had to do two things:
1. Modify the /etc/init.d/powernow init script to check the ac power is disconnected before starting the daemon
2. Modify the /etc/acpi/power.sh script to start and stop the daemon appropriately.

Enjoy!

[bgrant75]

Hi, thanks for the tip. It works allright.

Seems from a lot of other forums people have the same problem and this tip certianly helps.

It would be good if a laptop section could be created and maintained with tips, howto's etc.

Anyway thanks - Brian

[PinGzor]

Thanks alot!

[Anubis]

How about :
apt-get remove powernowd

[DJ_Max]

How about :
apt-get remove powernowd
Umm, that removes it. You can't use something if you uninstall it. :-?

[Muchacho_Gasolino]

kind of off-topic, but what exactly is the purpose of powernowd?
I know it runs AMD Cool & Quiet, but is that even a good idea to run on a desktop?

[DJ_Max]

kind of off-topic, but what exactly is the purpose of powernowd?
I know it runs AMD Cool & Quiet, but is that even a good idea to run on a desktop?
http://freshmeat.net/projects/powernowd/

[darkaudit]

That answers the 'What is it?' part, but what about the rest? Is it necessary, or wise, to run powernowd on a desktop?

Granted, it does save a bit of wear on my overclocked 2500+ :)

[EcliptuX]

Nice tip !!!

But maybe it's possible to improve it ?
I had notice this :
- when I'm booting with AC, the CPU working at 100%. OK no problem.
- when I'm unplugging the AC during the laptop is power on, the CPU slow down to work at 50%. OK, perfectly :)
- if I re-plugged AC without rebooting the laptop, the CPU is still working at 50%. Is it possible to make it work at 100% again automaticaly, without rebooting ?

[boobytrapped]

Interesting approach. I solved this problem using a different technique. Instead of powernowd, I installed "cpufreqd". Its a daemon similar to powernowd, but their default policy is something I like much better. Its more customizable than powernowd, and keeps my laptop at 100% cpufreq when I am plugged into AC power.

HOWTO:


sudo apt-get install cpufreqd

[Kebabji]

ive got a speedstep on my 800/1.2ghz dell c610 laptop and when i install cpufreq it cant seem to recognize my cpu speedstep capabilities - powernowd, however, just keeps the processor at 66%

[floyd27]

Is it possible to use thsi powernowd on a desktop cpu?

[_bacon_]

Is it possible to use thsi powernowd on a desktop cpu?

Depends if your cpu supports frequency scaling, such as AMD Mobile (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Now%21) or Pentium M (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpeedStep) do. (Theses chips are found mostly in laptops)

[earthfall]

Current AMD64 CPU supports the Cool and Quiet (CnQ) technology, which enables CPU frequency stepping. As most recent motherboard can adjust their fan speed according to the system temperature, CnQ greatly help the temperature and the noise level of your system.

[RoyCowboy]

Does anyone know what I have to do to make the frequency selectable in the cpu frequency monitor applet? I remember I enabled this some time ago.. I think I had to chmod or chown some file in /proc..

Any one know?

Thanks

[23meg]

Does anyone know what I have to do to make the frequency selectable in the cpu frequency monitor applet? I remember I enabled this some time ago.. I think I had to chmod or chown some file in /proc..



sudo chmod +s /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector

[funkenstein]

what can I say.. YAY for cpufreqd! defaults are lovely, and /etc/cpufreqd.conf is exceedingly easy to use!!
:D

thanks for pointing it out!
:KS :KS

[Bruce M.]

How about :
apt-get remove powernowd

I'll keep this in mind when I see the answer.


kind of off-topic, but what exactly is the purpose of powernowd?
I know it runs AMD Cool & Quiet, but is that even a good idea to run on a desktop?


http://freshmeat.net/projects/powernowd/

The link talks about laptops ... hmmmmm


That answers the 'What is it?' part, but what about the rest? Is it necessary, or wise, to run powernowd on a desktop?


Is it possible to use thsi powernowd on a desktop cpu?


Depends if your cpu supports frequency scaling, such as AMD Mobile (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Now%21) or Pentium M (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpeedStep) do. (Theses chips are found mostly in laptops)

Since I'm running an OLD Desktop Intel P-III, I would assume that I really don't need this app and can get rid of it. (see Sig)

Am I correct is assuming I do not need this?

[zirtik]

sudo chmod +s /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector

Great tip, Thanks!

[silvagroup]

It's been awhile since there have been any posts but I have been having intermittent freezes, that last for sevral seconds to a minute, and according to this post it could be related to powenowd, interestingly however when I am using Firefox my intermittent freezing goes away. Go figure.

Anyway for my question, has anyone tried the new powernowd version 1.0? and does it work any better?

From what I can see the Hardy version is .97.

Thanks in advance.

[Stigmata13]

Sorry for the necro, but I find powernowd completely worthless on my laptop, as with its 1.6 ghz cpu, flash video becomes laggy and unbearable in fullscreen.

[@lpha]

I've had system freezes too on Ubuntu 10.4 supposedly due to powernowd as seen on this forum.
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/116504-Read-this-if-you-get-a-white-screen-freeze-after-installing-Ubuntu-Hardy

I get the exact same symptoms since I have the same specs. The thing is that the 'powernowd and powernowd$ row' weren't on the table when running: sudo sysv-rc-conf
What else can I do to disable it?

[@lpha]

Solved the issue. Info is in my thread. Link below.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1589135