Fails to set CPU frequency correctly on startup

[David Nemeskey]

Binary package hint: kde-guidance-powermanager

I own a Dell Inspiron 1420 (not N) notebook with a Core2 Duo at 1.8 GHz. In the Power Manager, I set the CPU policy to "Performance" when it is "Mains Powered", and to "Dynamic", when it is running on batteries.

Now whenever I cold boot the machine, Power Manager tells me it is running in Performance. However, when I check the settings on the applet, it reports that the cores are running at 800 MHz. And it is true, as the system is painstakingly slow.

If I pull out the power cord now, and plug it in again, the CPUs will be running at full speed, as they should. Also the problem doesn't appear after waking up from standby or hibernation (provided the behavior was correct before).

Also, the "Dynamic" setting doesn't seem to be working well. The CPUs stay at 800 MHz even when running Flash games; they are set to 1.8 GHz for seconds only. But maybe this should be another bug...

Version installed is 0.8.0svn20080103-0ubuntu16.1 from http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp hardy-updates/main.

[Jimp (jpeterson-annapmicro)]

I'd like to add a "me too" for a similar set-up:

  Dell Inspiron 1520 notebook with a Core2 Duo 2.00 GHz.
  version 0.8.0svn20080103-0ubuntu16.1 installed

Behavior seems as described above. I have verified that fiddling with the power management settings ("Dynamic", "Performance", or "Powersave") did not move the frequency reported in /proc/cpuinfo from 800 MHz. Unplugging the power and plugging it back in allowed the frequency to increase.

[David Nemeskey (nemeskeyd)]

This problem still exists in Jaunty, under KDE 4.2. Sometimes both cores are set to 800 MHz, sometimes only one of them, still with the Performance profile.

However, there is definitely an improvement, as setting the profile to something in the Battery Monitor and back to Performance sets the correct speed (1.8 GHz) for both cores; no need to unplug+plug the power.

[Søren Holm (sgh)]

Also present in Karmic.....

[dei (cephos)]

I have the opposite problem in karmic (upgraded from Jaunty). My HP Pavilion dv2000's CPU is stepped up to max. (1.7GHz) when booting or waking up from hibernate, this uses too much voltage if I'm on battery power.

[Jonathan Thomas (echidnaman)]

Guidance Power Manager has been removed from Kubuntu 10.04 and onwards since it is unmaintained. Unfortunately, this means that no new features or bugfixes will be made.