TLP – Linux Advanced Power Management.

Introduction.
All basic TLP parameters are stored in a configuration file located /etc/default/tlp. Since the default configuration is already optimized for battery saving, in many cases there is no particular need to change it.
To make changes, you can run the following command () in the terminal or through the Alt+F2 command:

$ gksudo gedit /etc/default/tlp

After making changes you need to restart TLP
When updating TLP, the installer will definitely ask whether to replace the existing version of the configuration.

Options
Some notes

• The parameter ending in _AC has an effect when operating from the network
• Parameter ending in _BAT has an effect when running on battery
• Parameters containing multiple values ​​must be enclosed in double quotes ("")
• To activate parameters that are not enabled by default, you must remove the “#” at the beginning of the line.

Basic
Set to 0 if you want to disable TLP (reboot required)
File system

DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_AC=0
DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_BAT=2

Must be > 0 to enable kernel laptop mode. Do not change these settings.

MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_AC=15
MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_BAT=60

Timeout (in seconds) for writing data from the system buffer to disk.

Processor and frequency change

CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_AC=ondemand
CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_BAT=ondemand

One of the options for your processor is installed, the available options are ondemand (default), powersave, performance and conservative.

Important: to use this setting you must disable your distribution"s governor settings or conflicts will occur. See the TLP FAQ.

CPU_SCALING_MIN_FREQ_ON_AC=0
CPU_SCALING_MAX_FREQ_ON_AC=0
CPU_SCALING_MIN_FREQ_ON_BAT=0
CPU_SCALING_MAX_FREQ_ON_BAT=0

Sets the min/max parameter for changing the processor frequency. To get the values ​​available to you, use # tlp-stat -p. A value of 0 uses the default value.

Clue: A reboot is required to apply the new settings.

Important: lowering the processor frequency does not affect power consumption when powered by battery; greater results can be achieved using various standard processor operating modes (ondemand, powersave, performance and conservative).

CPU_MIN_PERF_ON_AC=0
CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_AC=100
CPU_MIN_PERF_ON_BAT=0
CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_BAT=30

Setting min/max P-state for Intel Core processors. Values ​​are given as a percentage (0.. 100%) of the total available processor performance.

Clue :

• The setting is intended to limit the power dissipation of the CPU.
• It requires the intel_pstate scaling driver, see above.

CPU_BOOST_ON_AC=1
CPU_BOOST_ON_BAT=0

Disabling "turbo boost" mode (Intel) and " turbo core" (AMD) (0 = disabled / 1 = enabled).

Clue :

• Requires Linux kernel 3.7 or higher
• Value 1 does not activate the mode, but only allows its use
• This may conflict with your distribution"s governor settings

SCHED_POWERSAVE_ON_AC=0
SCHED_POWERSAVE_ON_BAT=1

Minimize the number of CPU cores/hyper-threads that are used for light loads (1 = enabled, 0 = disabled). Depends on the processor model.

ENERGY_PERF_POLICY_ON_AC=performance
ENERGY_PERF_POLICY_ON_BAT=powersave

Determines the overall performance compared to the power saving policy for the processor. Possible values- performance, normal and powersave.

Warning: This option requires the msr kernel module and the x86_energy_perf_policy tool.

Core

Activate kernel NMI watchdog timer (0 = disabled/save power, 1=enabled). A value of 1 is relevant for kernel debugging only.

Undervolting

Clue: Advanced Linux skills are required to use these features.

PHC_CONTROLS="F:V F:V F:V F:V"

Frequency/voltage ID pairs for the undervolting of Intel processors. Assumes that a kernel with PHC patches is installed. For more information see the PHC wiki.

Disks and Controller

Comment: The default settings work fine with SSDs, there is no particular need to change them.

Device Assignment

Defines disk devices for which following parameters effective. If you have multiple devices, separate them with spaces.

When using the 2nd disk in a CD/DVD drive, the device names assigned by the kernel (sda/sdb) may be difficult to change. In this case, it is advisable to assign names to devices using ID:

DISK_DEVICES="ata-INTEL_SSDSA2M160G2GC_XZY123456890 ata-HITACHI_HTS541612J9SA00_XZY123456890"

Team #tlpdiskid shows IDs of all connected disks.

Advanced Power Management

DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_AC="254 254"
DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_BAT="128 128"

Possible parameters:

• 1 – maximum energy conservation / minimum performance – Comment: using this parameter can lead to frequent parking of the disk heads and, as a result, to its failure (can be recognized by characteristic clicks)
• 128 – compromise between energy savings and disk wear (TLP is a standard parameter when operating on battery power)
• 192 – prevents frequent head parking of some HDDs
• 254 – minimum energy saving / maximum performance (TLP standard parameter when operating from the network)
• 255 – disable APM (not supported by some drives)

Slow down the rotation speed

DISK_SPINDOWN_TIMEOUT_ON_AC="0 0"
DISK_SPINDOWN_TIMEOUT_ON_BAT="0 0"

Timeout value for disk rotation, stops when the disk is inactive.

• 0 – disabled
• 1..240 – timeout from 5 seconds to 20 minutes (in increments of 5 seconds)
• 241..251 – timeout from 30 minutes to 5.5 hours (in increments of 30 minutes)
• keep – special value, allows you to disable this parameter (synonym: _)

When using multiple disks, each may have its own parameters; they must be separated by spaces.

SSDs do not have moving parts, so this option may not be used for them.

Clue: stop system disk It's unlikely to work for long periods of time because applications and system daemons frequently wake up the drive. However, for a CD/DVD that does not need constant access, this option can be quite useful.

Disk I/O Scheduler

Sets the I/O scheduler per disk. Valid parameters settings:

• cfq – Linux default, works with most standard HDDs and SSDs
• deadline – Linux default (newer kernels), works with most standard HDDs and SSDs
• keep – special value, allows you to disable this parameter (synonym: _)

When using multiple disks, each may have its own parameters; they must be separated by spaces.

SATA aggressive power management

SATA_LINKPWR_ON_AC=max_performance
SATA_LINKPWR_ON_BAT=min_power

Sets the power management mode for SATA links connecting disk drives and optical drives.
Valid settings:

• min_power – max. energy saving / minimum performance
• medium_power – trade-off between energy savings and performance
• max_performance – minimum energy savings / max. performance

Clue: To disable this option completely, simply comment out the lines by inserting a "#" at the beginning of the line.

PCI Express Bus

Active State Power Management

PCIE_ASPM_ON_AC=performance
PCIE_ASPM_ON_BAT=powersave

Sets PCIe ASPM power saving mode. Available with kernel 2.6.35 and higher. Valid settings:

• default
• performance
• powersave

Graphic Cards

Radeon (old)

RADEON_POWER_PROFILE_ON_AC=high
RADEON_POWER_PROFILE_ON_BAT=low

Frequency adjustment. Available with kernel 2.6.35 and higher. Only supported by radeon driver, not fglrx. Valid settings:

• auto – mid from battery, high from mains
• default – default settings are used, the ability to adjust the frequency is disabled.

Clue: This setting causes the display to flicker once when the power source changes.

Radeon DPM (new)

As of kernel 3.11, new Dynamic Power Management (DPM) for radeon is now available. Only supported by radeon driver, not fglrx.

Clue: Requires radeon.dpm=1 option when booting the kernel.

RADEON_DPM_STATE_ON_AC=performance
RADEON_DPM_STATE_ON_BAT=battery

Controls the power management method. Possible values:

• battery – when operating on battery power
• performance – when running on power

RADEON_DPM_PERF_LEVEL_ON_AC=auto
RADEON_DPM_PERF_LEVEL_ON_BAT=auto

Controls the level of performance. Possible values:

• auto – recommended!

Networking

Wifi Power Management

WIFI_PWR_ON_AC=1
WIFI_PWR_ON_BAT=5

Power saving mode for Wi-Fi modules. Adapter support depends on the kernel and driver. Possible values:

• 1 – disabled
• 5 – included

Clue: Maintaining power may cause unstable work Wi-Fi connections.

Wake On LAN

• Y – Wake on LAN disabled
• N – Wake on LAN enabled

Clue: Once enabled, a reboot is required for the new settings to take effect.

Audio

SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_AC=0
SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_BAT=1

Timeout (in seconds) for audio power saving mode (supports HDA Intel, AC97). A value of 0 disables power save mode.

Clue: This option may cause a slight clicking sound when playing audio.

SOUND_POWER_SAVE_CONTROLLER=Y

• Y – turns off the controller along with the sound chip
• N – controller is constantly active

Drive Slot/Ultrabay/CD/DVD drive

• 1 – CD/DVD drive power is turned off when running on battery power
• 0 – CD/DVD drive power is on

(default on Linux systems: /dev/sr0).

Clue:

• To reactivate, open/close the drive or press the button responsible for this function
• This setting does not affect other drives

Runtime Power Management

RUNTIME_PM_ON_AC=on
RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=auto

Runtime power management controls for PCI(e) devices. Available with kernel 2.6.35 and higher. Possible values:

• auto – enabled (turns off inactive devices)
• on – disabled (devices are always on)

Clue: to disable this setting completely, insert a "#" in the first column.
Controls which PCI(e) devices are considered for runtime power management::

• 0 – only selected devices
• 1 – all devices (default)

RUNTIME_PM_BLACKLIST="00:12.3 00:45.6"

List of PCI(e) exceptions that will work on battery power. To get data use the command #lspci, the device identifier will be at the beginning of the line.

RUNTIME_PM_DRIVER_BLACKLIST="radeon nouveau"

Exclude PCI(e) devices assigned to listed drivers from runtime power management. Use # tlp-stat -e to lookup the drivers (in parentheses at end of line). Separate multiple drivers with spaces.

The default is "radeon nouveau" to prevent accidental power on of hybrid graphics" discrete part. Use an empty list ("") to disable the feature completely (not recommended).

USB

Auto-suspend mode for all USB devices when switching to battery power. Input devices like mice and keyboards are enabled by default (see USB_DRIVER_BLACKLIST below). Possible values:

• 1 – enabled
• 0 – disabled

Note: TLP activates USB autosuspend regardless of what power source the computer is running on.

USB_BLACKLIST="1111:2222 3333:4444"

List of USB device ID exceptions from auto suspend mode. Useful for devices that have difficulty waking up. Use # tlp-stat -u to determine the device ID. If there is more than one device in the list, separate them with spaces.

USB_DRIVER_BLACKLIST="usbhid"

If the previous parameter was formed by device ID, then this one is formed by the driver name. If there is more than one device in the list, separate them with spaces.

Attention: Don't remove "usbhid" from the list! Most input devices do not work properly in auto-suspend mode. Instead use USB_WHITELIST below for your specific device ID

Excludes built-in WWAN devices from auto-suspend mode:

• 0 – do not exclude
• 1 – exclude

Comment: this feature is implemented by an internal driver blacklist. It currently contains the drivers cdc_*, hso, qcserial and sierra – matching cards from Qualcomm, Ericsson and Sierra. To determine your card"s driver, use #tlp-stat -u. For additional drivers use USB_DRIVER_BLACKLIST above.

USB_WHITELIST="5555:6666 7777:8888"

Re-enables auto-suspend mode for USB device IDs already excluded by any of the lists above (whitelist, always wins). Use # tlp-stat -u to determine the ID. Multiple IDs are separated by spaces.

USB_AUTOSUSPEND_DISABLE_ON_SHUTDOWN=1

Disables USB auto-suspend mode after system shutdown. This is intended as a workaround if suspended USB devices are disrupting the shutdown process.

Radio Device Switching

On System Start and Shutdown

RESTORE_DEVICE_STATE_ON_STARTUP=0

Restoring power for devices disabled by software in the last session when the system starts (bluetooth, wifi, wwan):

• 0 – disabled
• 1 – enabled

Clue: The DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_STARTUP/SHUTDOWN parameter will be ignored if "1" is specified here.

DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_STARTUP="bluetooth wifi wwan"

Disables built-in radio devices in the system at startup according to the list of parameters:

• bluetooth
• wifi – Wireless LAN

Don't forget to separate devices with spaces.

DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_STARTUP="bluetooth wifi wwan"

Linux includes all built-in radios by default. In case of an exception, you can use this option to enable the missing device at system startup. See above for possible values.

DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_SHUTDOWN="bluetooth wifi wwan"

Disables built-in radio devices before shutting down the system. Can be used as a workaround when an enabled radio module is blocking the shutdown process. See above for possible values.

DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_SHUTDOWN="bluetooth wifi wwan"

Enables built-in radio modules before shutting down the system. Can be used as a workaround, allowing other operating systems to see this device. See above for possible values.

Upon Change of Power Source

DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_AC="bluetooth wifi wwan"

List of radio modules active when operating from the network. See above for possible values.

DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_BAT="bluetooth wifi wwan"

Disables built-in radios when running on battery power, regardless of their connection state. See above for possible values.

DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_BAT_NOT_IN_USE="bluetooth wifi wwan"

Disables built-in radios when running on battery power when they break an active connection. See above for possible values.

ThinkPad Battery Charge Thresholds- without translation.

Radio Device Wizard

Radio Device Wizard provides the ability to enable or disable built-in radio modules triggered by certain events. On Ubuntu and Debian this is implemented in the (optional) package tlp-rdw.

Clue: Radio Device Wizard requires Network Manager as a management tool.

Disable on Network Connect

DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_LAN_CONNECT="wifi wwan"
DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_WIFI_CONNECT="wwan"
DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_WWAN_CONNECT="wifi"

Upon a lan, wifi or wwan connect the stated radio devices are disabled:

• bluetooth
• wifi – Wireless LAN
• wwan – Wireless Wide Area Network (UMTS)

Don't forget to separate devices with spaces.

Enable on Network Disconnect

DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_LAN_DISCONNECT="wifi wwan"
DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_WIFI_DISCONNECT=""
DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_WWAN_DISCONNECT=""

Upon a lan, wifi or wwan disconnect the stated radio devices are enabled.

Enable/Disable on Dock

DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_DOCK=""
DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_DOCK=""

Turning devices on and off when installed in a docking station.

Enable/Disable on Undock

DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_UNDOCK="wifi"
DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_UNDOCK=""

Turns devices on or off when disconnected from the docking station.

Trace Mode

In order to support TLP (and possible error messages), it is possible to enable trace mode. To enable it add the following line to the configuration file:

TLP_DEBUG="bat disk lock nm path pm rf run sysfs udev usb"

Default Configuration

For reference see /etc/default/tlp as contained in the installation package.

There are many different tweaks that increase battery life, but many of them depend on the hardware, Linux distribution. Often tweaks are already outdated or too complex for the average user to use.

TLP is an advanced, console-based power management utility that automatically applies necessary settings for specific hardware and knows about different Linux distributions and their capabilities.

TLP applies the following settings depending on the power source (battery or mains):

• laptop mode and dirty buffer timeouts.
• CPU frequency, including "turbo boost" / "turbo core".
• low power scheduler for multi-core or hyper-threading processors.
• advanced power management hard drives and the duration of spindle rotation.
• aggressive control SATA power supply(ALPM).
• PCI Express Power Management (PCIe ASPM).
• real-time power management of PCI(e) devices.
• Radeon KMS power management, but not fglrx.
• Wi-Fi power saving modes.
• Turning off the power to optical drives.

Additional TLP features:

• I/O schedulers for each disk separately.
• automatic suspension USB operation(autosuspend) with support for device blacklists.
• power saving modes for audio devices - hda_intel, ac97.
• enabling and disabling integrated wifi, bluetooth or wwan devices when starting or shutting down the system.
• Restoring radio devices at system startup.
• wizard for radio devices and switching the state of the device from network events or in the dock or not in the dock.
• disable wake from Wake networks On LAN.
• WWAN recovery after suspend, hibernate.
• Battery charging thresholds for IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads.
• Battery calibration for ThinkPads.

TLP applies the settings automatically at startup and whenever the power source is changed. Roughly speaking, you just need to install TLP and a lot will work like a charm. However, there are settings that need to be manually specified for use, such as enabling or disabling WiFi, Bluetooth or Wwan (3G or UMTS) devices.

Installing TLP.

Before installation, know the following:

• If you used any tweaks and registered their call in /etc/rc.local, then you need to remove them.
• you need to remove laptop-mode-tools(sudo apt-get remove laptop-mode-tools).

Installing TLP on Ubuntu.

Sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw

TLP will start on its own, but it won’t hurt to start it for the first time if you reboot.
sudo /etc/init.d/tlp restart

The following packages are optional:

• smartmontools - to view S.M.A.R.T.
• ethtool - to disable Wake On LAN.

Install them with sudo apt-get install smartmontools ethtool if desired.

For ThinkPad laptops you may need:

• tp-smapi-dkms - ThinkPad battery charging thresholds.
• acpi-call-tools - battery charging thresholds on the Sandy Bridge platform or later (X220/T420, X230/T430, etc.).

If you have a ThinkPad or Intel Sandy Bridge platform, then install the necessary sudo apt-get install tp-smapi-dkms acpi-call-tools

TLP FAQ.

The settings are in the file /etc/default/tlp

1. If in Kubuntu (KDE) there are obvious problems in power management when changing the source, then in System Settings -> Power Management -> Edit Profile.

Profile "Powersave" (for battery): check.
"Performance" profile (online): uncheck the box.

2. On 3.x kernels the system seems slow.
Workaround - SATA_LINKPWR_ON_BAT=medium_power

3. There are problems when changing the processor frequency.
Try removing ondemand sudo update-rc.d -f ondemand remove

4. If the laptop cannot sleep on 3.x cores.
Try BAY_POWEROFF_ON_BAT=0

5. If the hard drive slams its heads too often when parked, then calm it down DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_BAT=128

6. I have a solid-state Crucial M4 SSD and the battery is killing me.
For Crucial, disable APM
DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_AC="255 255"
DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_BAT="255 255"

7. For any sound problems when changing the power source, try SOUND_POWER_SAVE=0

More details in . Description of settings in .

If you use a laptop and want it to work longer, then the TLP tool will help you with this.

TLP is an advanced tool for power management in Linux. This is a tool command line with automated background tasks. It comes with a default setup (/etc/default/tlp) already optimized for battery life, so you can just set it and forget about it. However, TLP can be customized to meet your specific requirements.

How to Install TLP 1.0 on Ubuntu

The app store has this tool, but it's very old version, so it's best to install latest version TLP from the official repository, which is available for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04 and Ubuntu 17.10 and their derivatives

Open a terminal using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+T and enter the commands

Sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install tlp

How to remove

To remove tlp, open a terminal and enter the command

Sudo apt-get remove --autoremove tlp

Have a nice day everyone.

It is well known that operating time laptop/netbook battery life is significantly less when working in one of the systems Linux than in Windows installed on the same machine.
There are various tricks that can be applied to your laptop/netbook to save battery power, but many of them depend on the hardware, distribution, and some are outdated or too difficult to install for ordinary users etc.

TLP(TLP - Linux Advanced Power Management) is a more advanced battery management utility for Linux, which applies different settings automatically when you log in and whenever you change your power source, depending on your distribution and hardware.

Recently released TLP 0.8, having received some improvements for ThinkPad, support for predictable names network interfaces, as well as other changes and various bug fixes.

Changes in new version TLP 0.8:

1. General: TLP_DEFAULT_MODE: Changes the default operating mode to AC when no power source is detected (embedded hardware and some desktops only)
2. Radio Devices: Restore Bluetooth Status
3. Radio Device Wizard (tlp-rdw): ThinkPad OneLink Dock Basic/Pro support for connect and disconnect events; defining systemd "predicted network interface names" for WWAN
4. ThinkPad batteries: tpacpi-bat: new upstream version 2.2: get ASL path from /sys/class/power_supply/*/device/path; avoiding unnecessary kernel messages "AE_NOT_FOUND"; tlp-stat: various improvements
5. USB: removed USB_DRIVER_BLACKLIST
6. tlp-stat: displays warnings for atta errors by default
7. Various bug fixes, for example, determining the kernel configuration in tlp-stat via PM_RUNTIME=N; TLP calibration fixes; ignoring missing files in /proc/sys/fs/xfs

According to the changelog, the "USB_DRIVER_BLACKLIST" feature was removed because it was causing problems with AC/BAT switching and hot switching. USB connection(required for udevd v221 and higher).

Installation TLP V Ubuntu/Linux Mint

Before you begin installation TLP, there are several conditions that it is advisable to fulfill:

First . If you added any energy-saving settings/scripts, etc., remove them or TLP may not work correctly;
Second . Remove laptop-mode-tools("sudo apt-get remove laptop-mode-tools").

Now open a terminal, copy and run the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw

TLP does not have a graphical interface, so after installation the energy saving of your laptop/netbook will begin after the next and all subsequent logins. But to avoid rebooting it now, run the following command:

sudo tlp start

There are also some packages with additional features, which can be installed from Application Center or run the following command:

sudo apt-get install smartmontools ethtool

And some additional packages only for laptops ThinkPad:

sudo apt-get install tp-smapi-dkms acpi-call-tools

Home page TLP.

For computers or servers, the power consumption of the operating system is not particularly important, but when it comes to laptops and other portable devices, things change dramatically. We want our device to run as long as possible on battery power and consume as little battery power as possible.

This is greatly influenced operating system how much the processor will be loaded, hard drive whether bluetooth and wifi adapters will be enabled. All of this consumes energy and everything can be configured. In this article, we'll look at how to set up Ubuntu power saving and keep your laptop running as long as possible.

You don't always need maximum power and performance. This is necessary in games or when using heavy programs, but it is unnecessary when watching movies or surfing the Internet, and even more so when you are not near the computer. There are several power management options in Ubuntu settings that can help you improve your power saving.

Open system settings, then Nutrition:

Here you can set after how much idle time you need to put the computer into sleep mode, what to do if the battery charge has dropped to a critical level, or when you close the laptop lid.

2. Turn off Bluetooth

The Bluetooth module consumes a lot of energy, I hope you remember how quickly your phone batteries drained when you forgot to turn off bluetooth. But here it is constantly on and constantly consumes energy even if it is not needed at the moment.

Disable Bluetooth can be disabled using the icon on the panel, just switch the slider to Off or click Turn off Bluetooth in older versions.

To completely disable Bluetooth, remove its service from the system startup, and also add the command to startup:

sudo rfkill block bluetooth

Also, if you plan to completely disable bluetooth, it is advisable to add its drivers to the blacklist:

sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/no-bluetooth.conf

blacklist btusb
blacklist bluetooth

3. Turn off Wifi and use Ethernet

If you use wireless technology Wifi, then you should know that it also consumes a lot of energy, so it is better to replace it with a more energy-efficient one wired internet. Even in background, when you are not connected to any network, your wifi card will scan the airwaves to search for available networks.

Disabling wifi is also very easy. To do this, just click on the network management indicator and select disable Wifi:

To automatically turn off wifi when the system starts, add the following command to startup:

sudo rfkill block wifi

4. Screen brightness

Obviously, the brighter the screen is, the more energy it consumes. The most reliable and most effective way To reduce Ubuntu's power consumption is to lower the brightness.

We don't always need maximum brightness, just make it as comfortable as possible. To change the brightness, you can use hot keys on the keyboard or system settings.

In system settings, open Brightness & Lock. Then adjust the brightness setting slider, you can also check the dim screen to save power option.

Also, developers from the Ubuntu kernel development team noticed that LCD screens consume less energy with light wallpapers. Drawing dark colors takes 1-2% more current.

If the brightness does not change, try adding the following line to the kernel parameters in Grub - acpi_backlight=vendor. After updating the configuration and rebooting everything should work.

You can also change the brightness directly through the terminal; to do this, use the xbacklight utility:

sudo apt-get install xbacklight
$ xbacklight -set 15

5. Disconnect external USB devices

You can connect various USB devices to your laptop, such as flash drives, webcams, phones, etc. But they all consume energy. Disconnect devices that are not needed now, also safely remove flash drives, MTP cameras and external drives.

6. Disable other unnecessary devices

Webcams, GSM modems and other devices also consume energy and it is better to turn them off. For example, to disable a webcam you need to add its driver to the blacklist:

sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/no-webcam.conf

blacklist uvcvideo

You can see all active devices with this command:

Turn off all unused devices, just be careful not to turn off anything you don't need.

7. Disable discrete graphics card

If your laptop has the ability to switch video cards from those integrated into the processor to a more powerful discrete one, then it is advisable to turn off the second one. This will greatly reduce Ubuntu's power consumption.

Typically you can use the vgaswitcheroo module for this. To disable the second GPU, run:

sudo -i
$ echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

8. Close unnecessary apps

How more programs you use, the more power the processor consumes, and the more activity RAM, and also hard drive. We always have many programs open, for example, VLC, Chrome, Terminal, Rhythmbox and so on. But we don't use all of them.

See what apps are open in the sidebar and close the ones you don't need. To close a program, just right-click on its icon and click close.

9. Don't use Flash Player

Program for streaming video and other flash content - Flash Player consumes a lot of energy. Therefore, refusing to use it will further prolong the time ubuntu works on your battery.

Use a browser that allows you to enable flash on demand. For example, in Firefox you can configure Flash to turn on only when you really need it, and for Chrome there is a PowerSaver plugin that allows you to do the same.

To watch movies and videos use hardware acceleration. This offloads video processing to the GPU, thereby reducing CPU load and power consumption. This technology is supported by VLC and MPV. You also need to enable hardware acceleration in browsers.

10. Use a lightweight desktop environment

Desktop environments like KDE, Cinnamon, Unity, Gnome consume much more power than lightweight environments because there are many background services and applications that are launched and running by default. Therefore, it is better to choose a lighter environment, such as LXDE, LXQt or XFCE.

11. Use TLP

TLP is a very popular tool that improves Ubuntu's power saving by tuning various kernel parameters and power consumption for various devices computer.

You can configure the following settings:

• Power down the laptop and time out before dumping data onto the hard drive;
• Changing the processor frequency;
• Power distribution for cores in multi-core systems;
• Ubuntu hard drive power management;
• Power management of PCI devices;
• Power saving mode for Wifi;
• Disabling the drive;
• Ubuntu power saving mode for sound card;

The default utility contains settings that will greatly increase the laptop's autonomy and are suitable for most users. To install the utility, use the command:

sudo apt-get install tlp

Then add it to startup:

sudo systemctl enable tlp

Energy tracking

You need to not only be able to improve the energy saving of ubuntu, but also monitor energy consumption in order to understand in time what exactly is consuming the battery. For these purposes, you can use the powertop utility. Install it using the command:

sudo apt install powertop

Then create a report for the time you need, for example 60 seconds:

sudo powertop --time=60 --html=power_report.html

Conclusions

We've covered enough ways in which you can improve the energy efficiency of Ubuntu 16.04 and extend your laptop's offline time. If you know other methods, be sure to share them in the comments!

Choice