clock spped always running at max, not so in 42.1?

English Hardware
1

Hello Folks,

I am running 42.2 Gnome with a Lenovo T440p. This laptop has an Intel core i5-4300M with Intel graphics. In 42.2 my clock speed is running at 3000 MHz or more all the time.
Under 42.1 it will drop to 800 MHz and seem to scale up as needed.

Does anyone have any explaintion of this or even possible fix? Is this a Kernel thing or a setting I can adjust?

I don’t particuarly like my trusty Lenovo running at maximum all the time.

Thanks in advance!
Dave

2

Hi
So what is the output from;


cpupower frequency-info

If it’s set to performance then that is probably the issue, if set to ondemand, then there must be something else amiss so run top in a terminal window and see what process are using cpu cycles.

3

Hi Malcolm.

analyzing CPU 0:
driver: intel_pstate
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
maximum transition latency: Cannot determine or is not supported.
hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.30 GHz
available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.30 GHz.
The governor “powersave” may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
current CPU frequency: 3.25 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
boost state support:
Supported: yes
Active: yes

I’m not really sure what this is telling me. if it is telling me that it is set to performance, where can I change the settings?

Thanks,
Dave

4

Here is the cpupower frequency-info from my 42.1 install.

analyzing CPU 0:
driver: intel_pstate
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
maximum transition latency: 0.97 ms.
hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.30 GHz
available cpufreq governors: performance, powersave
current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.30 GHz.
The governor “powersave” may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 854 MHz.
boost state support:
Supported: yes
Active: yes

Looks a bit different doesn’t it? Could this be a Kernel issue? Or am I missing some software? A bug?

5

This appears to be in the right direction, although I’m not sure if I understand it yet.

http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/121410/setting-cpu-governor-to-on-demand-or-conservative

6

I followed the directions in the link and added “intel_pstate=default” to my grub, saved it and all is well. It is no longer using the intel_pstate driver, but it appears to be working on demand and not full speed.

Curious. The max clock speed is no longer the same with the acpi-cpufreq driver. I’m still wondering why the intel driver works in 42.1.
Does anyone know the answer?

Anyway…

Thanks Malcolm for pointing me in the right direction.

In 42.2:

analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: acpi-cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency: 10.0 us
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 2.60 GHz
  available frequency steps:  2.60 GHz, 2.60 GHz, 2.50 GHz, 2.30 GHz, 2.20 GHz, 2.10 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.80 GHz, 1.70 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 1.40 GHz, 1.30 GHz, 1.20 GHz, 1.10 GHz, 900 MHz, 800 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: ondemand performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 2.60 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 900 MHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: yes
7

On Mon 21 Nov 2016 01:36:01 PM CST, Cuttlefish wrote:

I followed the directions in the link and added “intel_pstate=default”
to my grub, saved it and all is well. It is no longer using the
intel_pstate driver, but it appears to be working on demand and not full
speed.

Curious. The max clock speed is no longer the same with the
acpi-cpufreq driver. I’m still wondering why the intel driver works in
42.1.
Does anyone know the answer?
<snip>

Hi
Not sure, but would think the higher frequency is the boost state, as
root user check the frequency-info and it will provide further info on
this part;


boost state support:
Supported: yes
Active: yes

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
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8

What meant to write was “intel_pstate=disable” and not default.

Sorry folks.