[mythtv-users] Cool'n'Quiet setup help

[Allen Edwards]

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 12:44 AM, John Finlay <finlay at moeraki.com> wrote:

> Allen Edwards wrote:
>
>
>>
>> On Sun, Feb 8, 2009 at 5:03 PM, John Finlay <finlay at moeraki.com <mailto:
>> finlay at moeraki.com>> wrote:
>>
>>    Allen Edwards wrote:
>>
>>        I have an AMD 5400+ running Mythbuntu 8.10.  I would like to
>>        run cool'n'quiet to cut the cpu temp and power.  I enabled it
>>        in the BIOS and the results were unsatisfactory.  The program
>>        would stutter.  I could see that the cpu was running at 1GHz
>>        during program mode and that wasn't enough.
>>
>>        What I want to do is have the CPU at a low clock frequency but
>>        when there is basically any activity at all, have it go to
>>        100% clock.  For example, right now the CPU is at .6%.  It
>>        would be nice if the clock was at a minimum.  But if the cpu
>>        goes above, say 2%?, I want the CPU to go to max clock so it
>>        wont stutter.
>>
>>        I see instructions on the net how to do this but they are 3
>>        years old and experience has thought me that following
>>        instructions like this causes a half day work getting the
>>        system working again because the instructions were for an
>>        older system.
>>
>>        So, can anyone with a system like mine who has enabled
>>        cool'n'quiet and understands what I am saying help me out?
>>
>>        Allen
>>
>>    This uses the cpufreq module which uses the threshold (% cpu) in:
>>
>>    /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ondemand/up_threshold
>>
>>    As root you can change this e.g.:
>>
>>    echo -n 10 >
>>    /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ondemand/up_threshold
>>
>>    Other params in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq can be
>>    changed as well:
>>
>>    scaling_max_freq
>>    scaling_min_freq
>>    ondemand/ignore_nice_load
>>
>>    If using Ubuntu you can set params on boot in the
>>    /etc/init.d/powernowd file. Add in the use_ondemand() function
>>    something like:
>>
>>              if [ -f $x"cpufreq/ondemand/up_threshold" ]; then
>>                  echo -n 20 > $x"cpufreq/ondemand/up_threshold"
>>              fi
>>
>>
>>    If using Fedora the /etc/sysconfig/cpuspeed file allows you to
>>    tweak things.
>>
>>    John
>>
>>
>> I apologize if this is a stupid question but I don't have a file called
>> up_threshold on my system.  I do have powernowd but not cpufreq.  I can find
>> online docs for powernowd  but again they are many years old and I have to
>> assume out of date.
>>
>> Allen
>>
>>
>>  Sounds like you are not loading the kernel module that provides cpufreq.
>
> Install the powernowd package if it isn't already there (I think it's there
> by default). On my systems the powernowd rc links load the required modules
> but don't start the powernowd daemon. Check to see that both the powernod
> and powernod.early rc links are setup.
>
> Here's the way to do it without the powernowd package:
>
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=248867)
>
> A quick test is to:
>
> lsmod | grep powernow-k8
> lsmod|grep cpufreq
>
> to check if the modules are loaded. If not you can :
>
> modprobe powernow-k8
> modprobe cpufreq_ondemand
>
> to load them. Then the /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq directory
> should exist.
>
> John
>


Here is what I got (although cool'n'quiet is not presently enabled in the
bios if that makes a difference):

dad at myth_desktop:~$ lsmod | grep powernow-k8
dad at myth_desktop:~$ lsmod|grep cpufreq
cpufreq_ondemand        9740  0
cpufreq_conservative     8712  0
cpufreq_stats           7104  0
freq_table              5536  2 cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_powersave       2688  0
cpufreq_userspace       5284  0
dad at myth_desktop:~$

As far as what is loaded, it is stock Mythbuntu so whatever gets loaded with
that is what I have.

cool'n'quiet works when I enable it in the bios.  I just don't like the set
points and it doesn't seem to be ondemand in that there are 3 levels of
frequency selected vs cpu load.  Does that fact give a clue as to what my
correct setup should be?

Allen
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