Go green: go Ubuntu.

[reddragdiva]

My work laptop (HP Compaq 6710b, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB memory) already gets three hours in Ubuntu Hardy versus two hours in Windows XP doing the same things (mostly Firefox 3). Mostly from ticklessness, I think. Others have noticed that Hardy (kernel 2.6.24) uses notably less power than even Gutsy (2.6.22).

(There's a "Windows Vista Basic" label on the laptop. I shudder to think how hot that would run. When it's on XP the ventilation port blows like a hairdryer.)

Powertop helps you use even less. It shows precisely what's sending your CPU into a high-power state, and makes helpful suggestions for simple stuff to use less power. ("Press B to switch off Bluetooth.") I should be able to manage 3½ hours easily.

I believe Powertop is in the default installation of Hardy. If not, enter sudo apt-get install powertop from the terminal. Then run it with sudo powertop and glance at it every now and then while you're on battery.

Even if you can't do anything useful with the results (it's really a programmer's tool), it's good for bragging matches with Winders devotees. GO GREEN — GO UBUNTU. Windows' carbon footprint is UNSUSTAINABLE.

Comments

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Do you know what power saving options there are on a normal ubuntu desktop or server? I have a few machines which I would like to powerdown disks and reduce speed of the CPu if possible.

PS Most of these machines dont have a desktop I can access - just command line.

[reddragdiva]

Not that spring to mind. But (a) Powertop is command-line anyway (b) Ubuntu Server is basically Debian Sid stabilised. So whatever there is in Debian for the relevant kernel, I suppose.

[reddragdiva]

And mostly I'm glad that browsing in Minefield and playing MP3s takes approximately bugger-all power, which means I can't tell it from idle. (And I remember when MP3 decoding took appreciable CPU power.) YMMV.

[loosechanj.livejournal.com]

And I remember when MP3 decoding took appreciable CPU power.

When was that? I don't remember it even needing diddly in windows, but then I didn't really hop on that bandwagon until oh, 233mhz'ish.

[reddragdiva]

Around 133MHz, it was still pretty noticeable.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

There's certainly a /proc option that optimises for power or speed. I'll find it tomorrow.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

This is useful:
http://www.lesswatts.org/

e.g.
http://www.lesswatts.org/tips/cpu.php#smpsched
tells you about the sekret kernel tunable that saves power if you have multicore cpu(s).

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Strangely the title says "saving power on intel platforms". I use AMD for most of my machines. So I am a bit worried that the processor settings will be useless for me.

However I will try "powerTOP" and look through their FAQs.

Thanks!

[reddragdiva]

Powertop is an Intel product and lesswatts.org is an Intel page. YMMV on AMD, though Powertop should still be very helpful in spotting stuff.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

I notice that one of the things I want to do is to "power down" my four SATA drives when they arent being used. That must be the same on Intel and AMD.

[reddragdiva]

It suggests low-hanging fruit. Bluetooth is a restrospectively obvious hog to switch off, for instance. The next biggest hog on mine is the wifi, though obviously that has to stay on to keep browsing.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

funnily enough I dont have bluetooth or wifi on my desktop or servers :-)

[mjg59.livejournal.com]

We still suck compared to Windows on most of the hardware. Where we currently win is in CPU power saving, so depending on the ratio of that to everything else on your laptop it's possible to do better than Windows. Mine still loses, but there's about a watt's worth of low-hanging fruit that should be fixed up in the next couple of months.

[reddragdiva]

I suppose it depends on individual workload and individual machine. But really, three hours versus two is remarkable, and getting an extra half hour almost free just by doing whatever half-arsed things Powertop suggests is worth shouting about. And Firefox plus music is a PRETTY STANDARD laptop load. And it's nice to know it'll just get better with time, whereas Windows seems to know only how to get worse.

[reddragdiva]

Oh BTW, what is your laptop? And is there a public list anywhere of how given machines perform on Leengux versus Windows?

[mjg59.livejournal.com]

HP 2510p. I don't think there's been any real effort to document the power consumption levels yet, mostly because we'd lose most of the time...

[reddragdiva]

BTW - when you say "We still suck compared to Windows" for power, do you mean XP or Vista? I'd be amazed if Linux didn't do better than Vista easily. Even Wine is a better and faster Windows than Vista.

[mjg59.livejournal.com]

Vista's actually surprisingly good in terms of power consumption, as long as you're not doing anything.

[reddragdiva]

Hah. I am unsurprised. Wonder how it does on browsing-with-music. Not that I ever plan to set up Vista on any laptop of mine.

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem to be in my upgraded hardy laptop.

Easy to install though, and interesting.

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

Do you know if there's an easy way to make the recommendations permanent?

[reddragdiva]

Add 'em to /etc/rc.local, apparently. Which doesn't count as "easy" in the slightest.

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

It is, indeed, a bit pants, if not terrible hassle.

[deathboy.livejournal.com]

nlite your windows and don't run all the unnecessary sheet, man. it's quite easy.

[reddragdiva]

Our support standard is "you break it, you fix it or we reimage." That's a PITA. Though yeah, there's any number of gratuitous services that can be disabled.

(I'm annoyed Google Desktop - another major power hog - seems to interact badly with the antivirus, to the point where the AV sits there using an entire CPU, machine turns to slug and the hot air out the vent port is actually painful.)

Default out the box (well, with antivirus added on Windows) is an extra hour free. Out the box performance is important.

As Matthew Garrett points out, I may have struck it lucky with my laptop model. But I'm really quite surprised by how much better it is.

[xandraius.livejournal.com]

8.04 baby
With you all the way

[reddragdiva]

I still STRONGLY recommend people test thoroughly with the LiveCD first. Because when the hardware's properly supported it's Macintosh-level Just Works, and when it isn't it's a COMPLETE ARSE and not even as fixable as Windows.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

OK, I'll press that scary "8.04" button.

Tomorrow. When I've got a bit of time.

[reddragdiva]

Back up yer stuff first JUST IN CASE something goes south.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Oh, you like living dangerously :-)

I think the box I sit in front of is still 7.04...

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

Hardy + powertop gives me (so far) more system stability (admittedly, not hard - this Advent laptop has been less stable under Gutsy than she was under XP) and more battery life. Using powertop knocks the consumption down from 23W to 14-17W.

However, I now have no functioning speakers. At all.

[reddragdiva]

Your laptop traumas honestly sound a lot like slowly dying hardware ... done simple things, like unplugging and replugging the memory? Unplugging and replugging anything else you can? Etc.

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

I've never had this one open - I hate messing with hardware, and laptop hardware even more so. I'm not at all convinced I won't break something (worse).

[reddragdiva]

There is that ;-) Memory is generally designed to be replaceable, so that should be fiddlable without heartache. Next time you bring it over, Arkady and I will glare at it until it behaves.

Another useful thing to run: ktemperature.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

agh.

Less Watts? No, fool, Fewer Wattage!