If you’re a laptop user, a survey of your system with PowerTOP will help you track down programs and system settings that are needlessly draining your battery’s power
Laptop computers are great devices — small and portable, yet almost as powerful as a typical desktop system, laptops enable you to work where you want to work. You can take a laptop to the coffee shop to browse the Web while sipping a latte or bring it to the park to edit files in the company of ducks. Once you get to the park, though, you may discover that you aren’t able to do much work, because laptops have a problem: Short battery life. This problem is exacerbated by Linux, which was designed with server and desktop uses in mind. Linux treats its hardware, and runs its software, in ways that aren’t very power-conscious.
Fortunately, this problem is being addressed in various ways. This month I provide a few pointers on reducing your laptop’s power consumption, with particular emphasis on the PowerTOP utility, which will help you track down programs and subsystems that are wasting your power. The PowerTOP Web site includes a “Success Stories” section with claims of 75% increases in battery life. Even if you can’t boost your battery life by that much, an increase of an hour or so would probably be welcome.
Power Consumption Principles
Some power consumption principles are fairly obvious, and Linux has long provided tools to deal with these matters. For instance, you can configure your system to spin down an ATA hard disk when it’s not in use by using the hdparam utility, or set up a screen saver…
Please log in to view this content.
Not Yet a Member?
Register with LinuxMagazine.com and get free access to the entire archive, including:
