Power saving functions

[thenktor]

Hi,
I'm looking for functions to save power for my new notebook. I want to add them to rc.local. I know that powertop suggest many such stuff, but often it doesn't show the exact command for them.
I guess I'll start with disabling webcam, bluetooth, ...

[antmon]

Has I started to love notebooks I guess it would be great to have a topic about everything related with notebooks. What do you think!?

[thenktor]

One topic is not enough for everything notebook related

[pwatk]

This isn't exactly a power saving tip but disabling power saving on your hard disk is a very good idea. Just google "linux hard disk load cycle" to see what I mean.

You basically have a choice, thrash your disk with load cycles and save power or turn off power saving and lose shock protection. My laptop stays on my desk so I opt for the latter.

I put this in my rc.local:

Code: Select all

# Disable hard disk load cycling:
hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda

...you'll probably need to change the power management setting to 255, my Samsung drive only responds to 254 for some reason.

One thing to note, the "Prefer power savings to performance" option the the Xfce Power Manager overrides the above setting.

Edit: I also disable power saving for my wireless card because it causes the connection to drop all the time:

Code: Select all

# Disable wifi power management (for ath9k cards):
if [ "`lsmod | grep ath9k`" ]; then
    iwconfig wlan0 power off
fi

In this case it's probably better to use your gigabit LAN [/i]

[thenktor]

I guess I should by a SSD for the notebook anyway