Default CPU speed to 800Mhz on 2G Surf

[komputes]

The Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor 800MHz in the Asus eeePC 701 2G Surf is still running at 571Mhz and is not doing cpu scaling.

This has been tested in Gutsy, Hardy, Intrepid, Jaunty, Karmic, Lucid and now in Maverick Alpha 3. The kernels in these releases all run the CPU as 571Mhz.

---

AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.21.
AplayDevices:
 **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Architecture: i386
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ubuntu 1360 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xf7eb8000 irq 16'
   Mixer name : 'Realtek ALC662 rev1'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0662,104382a1,00100101'
   Controls : 13
   Simple ctrls : 8
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=7d6afaf0-206c-4986-9b7a-c8e567e9b317
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Beta i386 (20100318)
MachineType: ASUSTeK Computer INC. 700
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic root=UUID=bd5a916f-a0fa-4a4d-ac70-a36713567a13 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-22.36-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Regression: No
RelatedPackageVersions: linux-firmware 1.34
Reproducible: Yes
Tags: lucid kconfig needs-upstream-testing
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-22-generic i686
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
WifiSyslog:

dmi.bios.date: 03/05/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0401
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: 700
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: x.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 0x00000000
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTek Computer INC.
dmi.chassis.version: x.x
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0401:bd03/05/2008:svnASUSTeKComputerINC.:pn700:pvr0129:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rn700:rvrx.xx:cvnASUSTekComputerINC.:ct10:cvrx.x:
dmi.product.name: 700
dmi.product.version: 0129
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

What you are talking about isn't really a bug but rather a wishlist feature. You are saying "please overclock my machine by default". While it could well be that this is safe in your experience, defaulting to the faster speed was never supported by the manufacturer (hence the reason why this is overclocking) so it it would be unwise for Ubuntu to override this (at least by default).

Another downside is that patches to support overclocking are not likely to ever make it into a stock kernel (overclocking is renown for causing frustrating, intermittent and difficult to debug issues - http://people.redhat.com/davej/hardware-problems.txt) so you I'd guess your best hope is for Ubuntu devs to patch in overclocking support for the 70x series from now on. If this feature does go in, whoever does it should ensure that it is only for the 70x series of EeePCs as other models default to higher clock speeds out of the box or have entirely different CPUs.

I hope this helps.

Punting from Ubuntu -> linux (as this is a kernel wishlist issue).

[komputes (komputes)]

The Manufacturer of the device (Asus) puts their device on the market running at 800Mhz on Xandros. I have no issue with the CPU being in safer mode by default, but there is no way to increase its speed on the 2G. This is a bug and not a wishlist, so please do patch in overclocking support for the eeePc 70x series. There are many people with these devices who have gotten it as a gift or promotional item and would love to install ubuntu and remove the UI limitations of the xandros netbook interface.

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

komputes:
Can you confirm that cat /proc/cpuinfo on a stock Xandros install on a 70x reports 900 Mhz after the model name of a stock Xandros install? If so I was most definitely mistaken in my comment above but it seems unusual to me that they wouldn't simply default it to the faster speed in the BIOS...

As for a cpu scaling interface, there was talk about adding one for the 90x series and there were patches on the LKML list too http://groups.google.com/group/fa.linux.kernel/browse_frm/thread/ef73483027f10c3b/137adbac167c1202?#137adbac167c1202 . Now I reread the thread there is speculation that it might work on 701s with later BIOSes but nothing conclusive. Just for the record, which BIOS version are you using?

Having a slower clock speed won't completely stop people installing Ubuntu on slower eees though, so I don't think that is a fair argument. Your other points appear to be bang on though.

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

(Setting to Incomplete pending reply from komputes)

[komputes (komputes)]

Sitsofe, I am attempting to confirm that cpuinfo on a Xandros eeepc 701 install on a reports 800 Mhz

I have also added outputs of `dpkg -l` and `lsmod` if these can be of any help. It is not a problem to post anything else you may need from the machine.

I am using the first BIOS version 0129 produced for this machine at its release. Xandros update software proposes BIOS upgrades but fails to install them. Asus support does not recommend the upgrade and are not assisting with the issue.

Having a slower clock speed will discourage people from installing Ubuntu when another distro allows the speed it was designed for. If we both believe and can agree that user experience and hardware support are extemely important factors, we can therefore agree that this is a fair argument. I agree with you on the fact that they are able to install and run Ubuntu, but nobody should sacrifice such a performance hit for making that choice.

If 800mhz is a safe speed, it should be standard. If we run it at 571mhz, there there needs to be an easy way for users to scale up. I personally prefer the former.

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

komputes:
Don't confirm your own bugs - that's bad form. Punting back to New.

You don't need to try and convince me of this bug's merit by the way - I'm just another random commenter as far as actually fixing the bug is concerned. All I'm expressing are (mostly) opinions and interpretations. I'm going to disagree with you with respect to the speed preventing installs but really that makes no odds as to whether this issue needs to be addressed.

re BIOS: Again I didn't know. Sounds like you are wisely following the safest course of action (no point forcing an upgrade that causes more trouble).

[madbiologist (me-again)]

komputes - The release notes for the Linux 2.6.33-rc5 kernel contain a comment which may be relevant to your issue:

Alan Jenkins (1):
      eeepc-laptop: disable cpu speed control on EeePC 701

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi komputes,

Please be sure to confirm this issue exists with the latest development release of Ubuntu. ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/lucid . If the issue remains, please run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 320027

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Incomplete and has not had any updated comments for quite some time. As a result this bug is being closed. Please reopen if this is still an issue in the current Ubuntu release http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . Also, please be sure to provide any requested information that may have been missing. To reopen the bug, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[komputes (komputes)]

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[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

komputes,
   Are you able to get the temperature of the CPU? In some cases we have seen where power management and thermal settings cause the CPU to run at lower clock speeds at higher temperature.

Thanks!

~JFo

[AceLan Kao (acelankao)]

komputes,

Could you also do the following commands and report the result? Thanks.

   cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq
   cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies
   cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_governors

[komputes (komputes)]

Tested Lucid and Maverick Alpha 3 and this is still an issue.

@JFo - The CPU is not capable of doing CPU scaling. The CPU scaling gnome applet always reports this. The temperature of the CPU after 1 hour of use is 54 C

@AceLan Kao - there is no such cpufreq directory - /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq. There is however /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq but this does not contain any files.

[AceLan Kao (acelankao)]

komputes,

From here [1] and checking the code in Lucid kernel[2], there is a new interface that can activate the cpufv function that is not supported officially.

   echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/eeepc/cpufv_disabled

And then switch to performance mode

   echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/eeepc/cpufv

But be aware of this may freeze your system and I think this is not a bug any more, since the function is not supported officially.
I would like to close this bug if you don't have any other issue.
Thanks for the bug reporting.

[1]. http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=559578
[2]. 2d96d3e004380fb5ed20dc7567ca7eb7a8a7ff3c

[komputes (komputes)]

AceLan Kao,

Thank you for the attention you pay to this bug. It is very much appreciated.

I have tried the commands you have given me. The second one does not work:

root@sd16:~# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/eeepc/cpufv_disabled
root@sd16:~# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/eeepc/cpufv
bash: echo: write error: No such device

# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 13
model name : Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor 800MHz
stepping : 8
cpu MHz : 570.079
cache size : 64
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 2
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm pbe nx up bts
bogomips : 1140.15
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:

[penalvch (penalvch)]

komputes, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Please do not test the daily folder, but the one all the way at the bottom. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested. For example:
kernel-fixed-upstream-v3.11

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description. As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Closing this bug with Won't fix as this kernel is no longer supported.
Please feel free to open a new bug report if you're still experiencing this on a newer release (Bionic 18.04.3 / Disco 19.04)
Thanks!