General Power Management on a 12" Powerbook

cj10111 · n00b Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 15

Hi all. I'm running the latest and greatest from Gentoo on my 12" Powerbook but I'm having difficult getting the battery life to last above two hours. Normally, I get around three or four in OS X. I've compiled in CPU Frequency Scaling, and I'm running pbbuttonsd to take care of the display when it's idle.

For some reason, however, the fan is going at low speed non-stop and the laptop is constantly warm as if it were under load, even though it's not. Is there something that I have to do in conjunction with the CPU Frequency Scaling? What information should I provide to help someone diagnose this problem?

Thanks in advance.

JoseJX · Retired Dev Joined: 28 Apr 2002 Posts: 2774

You'll also need a userspace application to actually control the speed of the CPU. cpudynd is one such option, but there are some known issues with the 2.6.11/2.6.12_pre kernels and cpu speed control. There is a patch for this on the linux ppc-dev mailing list, but it might be best to just wait for 2.6.12.

Good luck!

cj10111 · n00b Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 15

I'm currently using the Vanilla 2.6.10 kernel. The reason is that was the one most compatible with the suspend to disk patch (No sleep for Nvidia users). Do you know if there are any issues with that kernel and cpudynd?

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

cj10111 · n00b Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 15

I got cpudyn running. That is a great little program and it works quite well. I also got it to turn off the hard disk when idle. My battery life is now comparable to OS X. Thanks.

henryko · n00b Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5

Hi, I am planning to buy a Powerbook. I just wonder, after you install Gentoo on your PB, do all the stuff still works under Gentoo? things like keyboard backlite, special keys, bluetooth, and stuff like that. And are you making it dual boot?

cj10111 · n00b Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 15

Hi, I am planning to buy a Powerbook. I just wonder, after you install Gentoo on your PB, do all the stuff still works under Gentoo? things like keyboard backlite, special keys, bluetooth, and stuff like that. And are you making it dual boot?

Hi. I'm using the 12" Powerbook with the Nvidia graphics card so it's not as good as it could. It would be better if I had the ATI graphics chip so I could have sleep mode and 3D acceleration. The 12" doesn't have the backlit keyboard. Everything else however works great. The special keys work with pbbuttonsd. The bluetooth I know works but I haven't tested it myself yet. Yes, I did make it dual boot. As you sound new to linux on PPC you will find this interesting http://www.maconlinux.org/.

In short it should all work perfectly if you steer away from the Nvidia graphics chip.

Good luck.

henryko · n00b Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5

Thx for the info, man! I've decided to get the 15' model, so like you suggested, I am steering away from Nvidia. Yeah, I am new to Mac OS, however, I have experience in Linux, so I guess that makes my transition to this new OS for me a little bit easier. Hope everything will work out fine for me. As right now, I just cant wait to put my hands on the PB!!

cj10111 · n00b Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 15

Something else you should know is there isn't currently a Linux driver for the Airport Extreme. I did however find a D-Link DWL-122 USB Wireless card for $20 on Ebay brand new and it works flawlessly. Since you're getting the 15" you also have the option of a PCMCIA card.

If you run into trouble, start a new topic about your progress, I'd be happy to give my input.

Good luck.

henryko · n00b Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5

Thx man! I really appreciate all these inputs! I'll let you know how things work out once I get my hand on my new toy!

fcgreg · Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:50 am Post subject: Perhaps use ondemand?