CPU frequency scaling problem - laptop users, please check this

[A. Kromic]

On 05/25/2011 04:19 AM, Rashkae wrote:
> On 05/24/2011 02:17 PM, A. Kromic wrote:
>>
>> What I meant is this: my system's CPU scaling has worked and still works
>> perfectly with all old kernels up to 2.6.32-24, with any kernel newer
>> than that it doesn't work at all. I can reproduce it anytime, either
>> chosing a kernel from GRUB, or by booting a live CD. Another fact
>> perhaps worth noting is that it doesn't matter if it is a 32- or 64-bit
>> Ubuntu - I've checked with both, and again the problem depends just on
>> the kernel version.
>>
>> I don't quite get what the problem is, it seems it's quite rare. However
>> so far, I couldn't find anything else but the kernel to blame, per the
>> above mentioned fact. No amount of tinkering with other software (like
>> acpi, cpu frequency managers etc.) not hardware (battery, BIOS options)
>> showed any difference at all...
>>
>> And thanks again to everybody who tested!
>
> Keep in mind that this problem is obviously not very widespread, and
> the people who can actually work on this kind of low level bug
> probably don't read Ubuntu list.  (heck, Ubuntu devs can't even figure
> out how floppy works.)
>
> Since no one has stepped up here with suggestions to your particular
> situation, I wold suggest the following (if within your comfort zone
> of technical skills.)
>
> Download and build the latest vanilla kernel from source, see if you
> can replicate the problem with that.
>
> If it's already fixed with the new kernel, then just use that until
> Ubuntu catches up with that kernel version.
>
> If the bug persists, report it, as well as any details of your
> hardware to the lkml.
>
> I trust that once a bug of this nature is detailed on lkml, it will be
> worked on and patched very quickly, at which point, you can update the
> Ubuntu bug report with the patch that fixes the issue.
>
>
>
>

I guess you are right and I've already feared this might be my only
solution :(

The comfort zone... Considering the technical skills, yes, I've already
built numerous customized and patched kernels, but there is another
comfort zone issue that currently bothers me - not having much time
myself lately, and also the fact  that this laptop is my main production
machine and I don't like to play with its OS more than necessary... I've
already accepted to stay at a LTS version and I guess I don't mind very
much staying with an older kernel too.

The main reason why I care about this problem is that I'd love to
reinstall this "production" machine's OS because it's not very
productive anymore. One reason is that I've constantly upgraded its OS
since I've first installed 8.04 on it, and that together with other
factors, made this machine quite slow. The other issue I'm having is
that I've installed a 64-bit OS (for "geek factor" - because it has a
64-bit CPU :P ), but I'm not satisfied with how it works. 64-bit appears
to eat too much RAM and in general after years of use, I think it needs
4G of RAM to use comfortably, and some compatibility issues made me
think that it's not a perfect choice for a laptop/desktop especially in
this class (I must admit everything works much better in 64-bit than it
did when I first installed Ubuntu on this machine).

So, my wish was to clean install a 32-bit Ubuntu (Maverick, then Natty)
to work more comfortably, but neither of them sets my CPU to the full
frequency! A source of much grief, I must admit :(

So I guess I don't have much choice. Either will I continue using (or
make a clean install of) Lucid with an older kernel, or I'll try to deal
with this bug upstream... I think I'll have to make time for the latter...

Thanks to everybody who helped!

-- 
A.Kromic
-
No trees were harmed in the sending of this message;
however, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.


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