[How-to] Fix gnomes cpufreq-applet

Note: To do this requires you set the suid bit of a file. This means that the process is executable as the owner of the file, and since the owner of the file is root, it may open up a security hole. Follow at your own risk.

Problem:You would like to be able to set the cpu frequency on your laptop so that you can extend battery life when unplugged, or maximize performance when plugged in.
However, the cpufreq-applet will not allow you to select a speed.
Solution:You need to set the suid of /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector.

Implementation:1. Open up a terminal.
2. run:

su -

to login as root.
3. run:

chmod -v 4755 /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector
  1. logout of the root session.

Result:When you left click on the cpufreq-applet, you should be presented with a list of various governors and frequencies for your processor.

In Ubuntu 10.4 with Gnome 2.30 you can change the governors (ondemand, conservative, … ) and frequencies just with two clicks if you are a administrator (means circa member of SUDOERS?) or know a administrators password.

Is there a better solution with openSUSE (and sudo or policy kit / polkit?), too?

The possibility to change the the policy of the processor use via the GNOME program “CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor” seems to have been changed by purpose:
See in the openSUSE wiki,
article: Powersaving, section: Why is there no GUI for changing the CPU Policy (CPU governors)?
Greetings
pistazienfresser