Wrong frequency settings with a Core 2 Duo

[Mathias Kende]

Binary package hint: powernowd

There seems to be a problem with the way powernowd controls the CPU speed :

I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 with AMD64 edgy.

When I launch a CPU intensive task (for example an infinite loop) with normal priority on only one CPU (that is to say, on on core), the CPU usage applet shows an use of 50% of the processor, which is quite true as one core is at 0% while the other is at 100%.

The problem is that powernowd seems to use the 50% value to scale the CPU speed as both the cores stay to low speed (that is 1.6GHz instead of 2.4). And every time a little CPU time is required (the infinite loop still running) both the CPU speed is then increased (the overall usage of the processor increased over 50%).

I suppose that it's not the correct way powernowd is supposed to work as each CPU should be treated separatly.

[Mathias Kende (mathias-kende)]

I now longer have this bug : the frequency of one of the core is increased as soon as it is needed even if there is only one task running.

So this bug may be closed.

[Matthijs De Smedt (matthijs--)]

I'm on Gutsy Gibbon and I still have this problem on two machines (Core Duo and Core 2 Duo). Is this really fixed?

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

Matthijs:
Is it fixed in Hardy for you? If not, is it fixed in Intrepid?

[LumpyCustard (orangelumpycustard)]

I also have this problem (Intrepid - all kernels):

Mostly when running an infinite loop, but also happens a lot when scrolling using the scroller on my mouse whee (usually in Firefox).

This is from my lshw, I'll report more later (or what would someone like me to do next?

*-cpu:0
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5750 @ 2.00GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 4
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: 6.15.13
          serial: 0000-06FD-0000-0000-0000-0000
          slot: U2E1
          size: 1GHz
          capacity: 4096MHz
          width: 64 bits
          capabilities: boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts pni monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm cpufreq
          configuration: id=1

[LumpyCustard (orangelumpycustard)]

Is this a duplicate of #288307?

[xteejx (xteejx)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue for you. Can you try with the latest Ubuntu release? Thanks in advance.

[LumpyCustard (orangelumpycustard)]

Yes, assuming the description above is correct, I experience this several times a day, on both my laptops. I have also seen this on other Ubuntu machines. It's a very annoying issue which locks up the system. I can't believe that such few other users have not found this bug, as I think it's a general issue that probably happens to all systems with a similar processor setup.

[xteejx (xteejx)]

Thank you for updating this. Please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:

apport-collect -p linux 71540

This will help us to find and resolve the problem. Bear in mind that you may need to install the python-launchpadlib package from the universe repository. Additionally, when prompted to give apport-collect permissions for Launchpad you will need to give it at least the ability to "Change Non-Private" data as it will be adding information to your bug report. Thanks in advance!

[LumpyCustard (orangelumpycustard)]

AplayDevices:
 **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC861-VD Analog [ALC861-VD Analog]
   Subdevices: 0/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Architecture: i386
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC861-VD Analog [ALC861-VD Analog]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: damien 2566 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p: damien 2566 F...m pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfc300000 irq 22'
   Mixer name : 'Realtek ALC861-VD'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0862,17aa3867,00100001 HDA:11c11040,11c10001,00100200'
   Controls : 19
   Simple ctrls : 12
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=6b58ddd5-7bfb-4f37-b0b5-7aedbb74412e
MachineType: LENOVO 0769EUG
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcCmdLine: root=UUID=31b5e19e-3d5c-4013-8e1f-0815b26be557 ro splash vga=769
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-17.54-generic-pae
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-17-generic-pae N/A
 linux-firmware 1.25
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: yes
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-17-generic-pae i686
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
WpaSupplicantLog:

dmi.bios.date: 04/16/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 68ET35WW
dmi.board.name: IEL10
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: REFERENCE
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: No Enclosure
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr68ET35WW:bd04/16/2008:svnLENOVO:pn0769EUG:pvr3000N200:rvnLENOVO:rnIEL10:rvrREFERENCE:cvnNoEnclosure:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: 0769EUG
dmi.product.version: 3000 N200
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

[xteejx (xteejx)]

Thank you again. One last thing before we can mark this Triaged for a developer. Can you install a Mainline Kernel build please. This is part of the Kernel Team's policy now, and we need to check if it is a problem in all kernels, as it may not be specifically related to powernowd. Full instructions for this are at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/MainlineBuilds . Let us know if you have any problems, or ask in #ubuntu on irc.freenode.net. Thank you.

[xteejx (xteejx)]

This bug report is being closed as the required information has not been obtained. If you can provide it as requested in the previous comment, please reopen this bug report with the information. Thank you.