HowTo: Ubuntu Linux on HP Pavilion series laptops
13. Energy Saving
Check my post concerning Linux Laptop Power Saving Tweaks for HP Pavilion laptops
From Ubuntu Linux Hardy 8.04 onwards (including Ubuntu Linux Karmic 9.10 and Lucid 10.04) several new power saving features have been implemented, so that power consumption can be furtherly reduced (in my case till 13 watts / ~3hours while typing and browsing (no flash content) and minimum of 8.5 watts idle).
Update: Firmware F.2A has been reported to fix cpu-freq related problems on INTEL dv2000 series (incl. dv2765tx) download here
From Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 upwards you do not have to worry for your hard disk Load_Cycles any more.
If you have read websites warning for hard disk wear out due to linux, please simply regard them as deceiving FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt, an unfair marketing strategy). Even before Ubuntu 8.10 this was not true for default install of the OS, only unwise user tweaks may trigger too often hard disk shock protection features and eventually wear it out.
Since Lucid 10.04 laptop-mode-tools is deprecated and conflicts with standard packages.
To manually activate laptop-mode type:
sudo laptop_mode start
however this will only last until next reboot.
Laptop mode is disabled by default in Ubuntu. To enable it open terminal shell and type:
sudo gedit /etc/default/acpi-support
At the bottom of the file, there is ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE variable, set this to true. A restart is required to enable this setting.
Read through this file to see some of the other options.
Ensure you have laptop-mode-tools installed:
sudo apt-get install laptop-mode-tools laptop-detect
Linux can use different power management profiles called “governors.” By default, Ubuntu does not allow you to change which governor it uses, however you can enable the option with one command:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets
After that, make sure you have the “CPU Frequency Monitor” applet running in your Gnome panel. Right click on the applet and go to the Preferences. Under “Frequency Selector” section, make sure the “Show menu” is selected on “Frequencies and Governors.”
Then you can left click on the applet and from here, choose which governors or frequencies to use.
You can change this via the command line without having to enable anything. Just go to /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ (if you have multiple processors/cores/hyperthreading change cpu0 to cpu1, cpu2, etc. for each cpu you have listed) and edit the file (use sudo) “scaling_governor”, just change the governor that is listed to whatever governor you want to use. Available governors are listed in “scaling_avail_governors”
man laptop-mode.conf
and edit /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf
Consider installing also powertop which could easily help you reducing energy consumption by analyzing actual energy wasts and give you useful tips on how to save.
sudo apt-get install powertop
14. Suspend/Hibernate
On Ubuntu Linux Lucid 10.04 and Karmic 9.10 suspension and hibernation are fully supported with nvidia 3D driver version 180 and nv 2D driver.
With recent HP Pavilion DV4 DV5 and DV7 models resuming from suspend / standby generally fails (among others dv4-1050). This is a BIOS bug which is (at least partially) fixed in latest BIOS version F34A released on 2009 05 05. You can download it from here.
Please check if your model is supported before installing this update! You could find your BIOS update on HP support website.
Bug reference: http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=12276
Notice, however, with Ubuntu Jaunty you can face your computer failing to both suspend and hibernate if you have applied a pre-Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 fix for excessive hard disk load cycles (this is not necessary any more starting from Intrepid 8.10).
If you experience this misbehaviour have a look at log file /var/log/pm-suspend.log for a line stating
“/etc/pm/config.d/disk: No such file or directory”.
If you find it you have to delete the script in folder /etc/pm/sleep.d referring to the file in /etc/pm/config.d/disk.
On DV9500 it also has been advised to try using use the package “uswsusp” instead of the default pm-utils. And also to list some WiFi modules to unload before suspending or hibernating. This can be done in /etc/pm/config.d/config and /etc/default/acpi-support
On Ubuntu Linux Intrepid 8.10 suspension and hibernation are fully supported with nvidia driver version 180. However the latest nvidia version 177 3D drivers cause graphical and sound issues during the suspend/shutdown phase. With the 2D nv drivers the system cannot resume from suspend.
On Ubuntu Linux Hardy 8.04 suspension and hibernation are fully supported and both work as expected.
If you have issues please refer to Ubuntu kernel team wiki page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/SuspendResumeTesting
if resume from standby still gives you a black empty screen with only the cursor then edit the following file:
sudo gedit /etc/default/acpi-support
go to POST_VIDEO=
and set it POST_VIDEO=false
in the same file nVidia suggests to disable use of VBE to restore power states for improved stability on resume:
- Some distributions use a tool called vbetool to save and restore VGA adapter state. This tool is incompatible with NVIDIA GPUs’ Video BIOSes and is likely to lead to problems restoring the GPU and its state. Disabling calls to this tool in your distribution’s init scripts may improve power management reliability. http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/169.07/README/chapter-18.html
In order to accomplish with these suggestions make sure this line shows as follows:
# Should we save and restore state using the VESA BIOS Extensions?
SAVE_VBE_STATE=false
By the way I myself have found no problems in keeping SAVE_VBE_STATE true and actually it seems to be also a workaround for some resume problems.
15. Lightscribe
On Ubuntu Linux Lucid 10.04 and Karmic 9.10 lightscribe feature is fully supported via clsed source drivers available at Lightscribe website.
Although Lightscribe packages are provided directly from the Lightscribe website www.lightscribe.com also LaCie www.lacie.com provides a fairly good lightscribe printing program compatible with K3B.
Despite being developed only for x86 32bit versions of Ubuntu user rac managed to install these also on 64bit Ubuntu via 32bit compatibility libraries. Here is how:
Install fakeroot alongwith 32bit compatibility libraries:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs fakeroot alien
then convert the RPMs you have downloaded from LaCie into debs
fakeroot alien lightscribe-X.X.X.X.tgz fakeroot alien 4L-X.X.tgz
then install this software
sudo dpkg -i lightscribe_X.X.X.X-2_all.deb sudo dpkg -i 4l_X.X-2_all.deb
finally you can load this program for testing via
4L-cli enumerate
the graphical user interface via
4l-gui
For what concerns labels you can find hundreds of amazing lablels on lightscribe.com website, however if you want to customize them or create your own label user reiki has created a template for use with inkscape program. http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=3923862&postcount=203
You can also read the original post by rac in German language here.
Related posts:
- Linux Power Saving Tweaks for HP Pavilion laptops
- Call for enabling HP Pavilion internal softmodem
- Ottimizzazioni per il Risparmio Energetico per portatili HP Pavilion su Ubuntu Linux
- [EN] Configure HP Pavilion QuickPlay multimedia buttons in Ubuntu Linux
- Guida per Ottimizzare Ubuntu Linux sui portatili HP Pavilion
- How to update ALSA to latest version easily
- Ad Hoc Wireless Networking in Linux
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Thank you very much, Aldeby, for this great collection of tips! I found it after solving almost all problems in 9.04 and wished that I had found your site much earlier.
One hint for the suspend/hibernate chapter: I run a dv9500 with the most recent BIOS, but after a clean install of 9.10, the machine hung while trying to hibernate. There are two more solutions to this topic, one is to use the package “uswsusp” instead of the default pm-utils. The other is to list modules (mostly wifi) to unload before suspending or hibernating. Google “SUSPEND_MODULES” or have a look here:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/fix-for-suspend-and-hibernation-problem-for-laptops.html
Best regards,
Uwe
i runed the script setup_alsa and it gets to a point where it says “Choose the mode which best fits you” but when i type my prefered number and i hit enter doesnt do anything.am i doing something wrong?
Makis, why don’t you use an utility like meld to compare the original and your customized script to highlight all the differences (and eventually the mistakes)?
In the audio section, sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic should be sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic.
This site saved my 9.04 + 9.10 ubuntu installations on my HP dv 7 (3165dx) notebook. Thank you! I just did a clean install of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and everything works perfectly: sound, front audio jacks, wireless card, web cam, etc. I hope this helps If your considering upgrading.
I confirm my flawless upgrade to 10.04 from 9.10 – on the 6th of May 2010 – kra20kra!
Thanks for this wonderful website that helped in the first place, when I doubted about buying this machine for Linux.
So I guess HP should be thankful as well…
Charlot
I’m happy to read your feedback CharlesdArvay!
By the way I haven’t heard a word from HP yet.
They seem way too busy making profit to even bother understanding what the opensource approach is!
Thanks for your detailed site. I look forward to delving in to it. My initial task however is to install 10.04 Server on a Pavillion notebook using an external monitor as the LCD screen is not working. The external monitor initially shows the cdś loading progress and then the screen is completely black. When the off button is pressed the external monitor again details the shutting down process. Is there some way of seeing what is occurring through the whole process? Thanks for any help that can be offered.
Hi Darren!
As far as I recall the external monitor would switch off when the video driver takes control of the video card. As long as is the BIOS controlling both internal and external screens are enabled. You should then be able to enable the external screen from within the driver settings.
But I guess your laptop has a broken screen…
Basically I would suggest you to install the operative system in text only mode (so that you would benefit from the BIOS controller and be able to use the external monitor) and not forget to install SSH support so that you could access via network cable your install. Now it would be fairly easy to enable the external monitor by configuring your laptop driver ( /etc/X11/xorg.conf for instance).
Linux newbit who installed the newest version of Linux Ubuntu 10.04 on my HP Pavilion dv6000 Laptop. Both my wired and wireless connections do not work. Thank you for your help.
Below is the output of sudo lshw -C network
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: MCP67 Ethernet
vendor: nVidia Corporation
physical id: a
bus info: pci@0000:00:0a.0
logical name: eth0
version: a2
serial: 00:1b:24:8c:7b:fa
size: 100MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pm msi ht bus_master cap_list ethernet physical mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=forcedeth driverversion=0.64 duplex=full latency=0 link=yes maxlatency=20 mingnt=1 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100MB/s
resources: irq:27 memory:f6488000-f6488fff ioport:30f8(size=8) memory:f6489c00-f6489cff memory:f6489800-f648980f
*-network
description: Network controller
product: BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
version: 02
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=0
resources: irq:19 memory:f6000000-f6003fff
*-network DISABLED
description: Wireless interface
physical id: 1
logical name: wlan0
serial: 00:1a:73:84:5e:66
capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
It seems your hardware is supported. Have you had a look at System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers to see whether your computer needs restricted drivers?
By the way I find it suspicious to read: *-network DISABLED
If you have installed the default packages and had not modified any file inside /etc by hand you should at least be able to connect via ethernet. Check right clicking on the Network Manager applet if you can tick Enable Networking.
[...] [...]
Broadcom also offers closed STA drivers for those chipsets that aren’t yet covered by the b43 driver. Their compiling instructions are pretty distro-inspesific, I found it easier to connect the laptop to a wired connection and install the same closed driver offered by Ubuntu.
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php
Thank you for sharing your suggestion Neva!
I’ve added it to the tutorial. Have a nice day!
Hi Aldeby, it’s me again.
This time with an addition to 7. (Touchpad):
Under 9.10 as well as 10.04 I had problems with the touchpad after disabling it with the touchpad’s “on/off”-button. Re-enabling did not work, although the button’s light changed from off to on. Restarting X or rebooting did not work, either.
Cause: The gnome-settings-daemon interferes with the Synaptics touchpad driver and saves the “off” state forever.
Remedy: Run “gconf-editor”, navigate to “apps”-”gnome-settings-daemon”-”keybindings” and change the value of “touchpad” to “” (empty string).
Source: Ubuntu Bug #549727, https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-input-synaptics/+bug/549727/comments/103
Best regards,
Uwe