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Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:24 am
by spider_Leo
I have a new notebook and I directly install MX19.3 on it. But the battery has an autonomy lower than 2 hours :rolleyes: . That's not expected. I supposed I haven't configured well the OS to get the best out of my battery.
Can you please help me to improve on my battery consumption? I read the graphic card could be an issue. Please keep in mind too that I got a modest experience with Linux.
loading the battery take 1 hour 50 minutes, and it runs empty in 1 hour 37 minutes (approximately). To load the battery take more time, that cannot be usual :bawling:

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System:    Host: <filter> Kernel: 5.8.0-3-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.8.0-3-amd64 
           root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 tk: Gtk 3.24.5 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-19.3_ahs_x64 patito feo November 11  2020 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Nitro AN515-55 v: V1.00 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: CML model: Stonic_CMS v: V1.00 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.00 
           date: 03/19/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 39.7 Wh condition: 55.3/57.5 Wh (96%) volts: 15.4/15.4 
           model: LGC AP18E8M type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-10750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: N/A 
           family: 6 model-id: A5 (165) stepping: 2 microcode: C8 L2 cache: 12.0 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 62399 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/5000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 
           5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 9: 800 10: 799 11: 800 12: 800 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass 
           mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:9bc4 
           Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: N/A bus ID: 01:00.0 
           chip ID: 10de:1f15 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.1.8 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:06c8 
           Device-2: NVIDIA TU106 High Definition Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10f9 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.8.0-3-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Intel driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 5000 bus ID: 00:14.3 
           chip ID: 8086:06f0 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 
           bus ID: 07:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:2600 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 10.53 GiB (1.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: PC SN530 SDBPNPZ-1T00-1014 
           size: 953.87 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 
           serial: <filter> rev: 21103900 scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 951.59 GiB size: 935.65 GiB (98.33%) used: 10.53 GiB (1.1%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.00 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap swappiness: 15 (default 60) 
           cache pressure: 100 (default) dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ buster main non-free
           2: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ buster ahs
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teamviewer.list 
           1: deb https://linux.teamviewer.com/deb stable main
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:      Processes: 291 Uptime: 25m Memory: 31.20 GiB used: 1.73 GiB (5.5%) Init: SysVinit 
           v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Shell: quick-system-in 
           running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36 

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OS: MX x86_64 
Host: Nitro AN515-55 V1.00
Kernel: 5.8.0-3-amd64
Uptime: 46 mins
Packages: 2504 (dpkg)
Shell: bash 5.0.3
Resolution: 1920x1080 
DE: Xfce 
WM: Xfwm4
WM Theme: Greybird-dark-mx 
Theme: Greybird-dark-mx [GTK2], Arc-Darker [GTK3] 
Icons: Papirus-Dark [GTK2], Moka [GTK3]
Terminal: xfce4-terminal
`oMM   Terminal Font: Liberation Mono 11
CPU: Intel i7-10750H (12) @ 5.000GHz 
GPU: NVIDIA 01:00.0 NVIDIA Corporation Device 1f15 
GPU: Intel Device 9bc4 
Memory: 1952MiB / 31948MiB 

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 5:47 am
by Huckleberry Finn
You can install tlpui from MX Package Installer (look at the Test Repo tab, too) and follow it on gui .

Yes, double-cards may also cause that. You can also (if there's such an option in Bios) disable one of the cards and try, compare...

Your pc is new, even so, you can calibrate the battery: On Power Manager - System tab set critical level to lowest (%1 etc) , and others to "do nothing etc." , then without the power adapter, let it drain completely and shut down by itself. Then (when it's off) plug the adapter and leave it for a few hours (as much as you can) to get fully charged.

Also on Session and Startup => App. Autostart tab, uncheck some (printer, bluetooth, clipit etc) that you don't use every boot, so it will be lighter ...

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:46 am
by spider_Leo
Huckleberry Finn wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 5:47 am You can install tlpui from MX Package Installer (look at the Test Repo tab, too) and follow it on gui .

Yes, double-cards may also cause that. You can also (if there's such an option in Bios) disable one of the cards and try, compare...

Your pc is new, even so, you can calibrate the battery: On Power Manager - System tab set critical level to lowest (%1 etc) , and others to "do nothing etc." , then without the power adapter, let it drain completely and shut down by itself. Then (when it's off) plug the adapter and leave it for a few hours (as much as you can) to get fully charged.

Also on Session and Startup => App. Autostart tab, uncheck some (printer, bluetooth, clipit etc) that you don't use every boot, so it will be lighter ...
Thank for the answer.
  • I install tlpui (as you can see on the image below) but I don't know if any configurations are required. The configuration which is available as default seems (for a novice like me) to be optimal.
  • If I disable one graphic card, do I not loose graphical performance? :confused:
  • I reduced the brightness and edit the power manager. The most I get, currently is 2 hours and 1 miute :frown:
Bildschirmfoto_2020-11-19_12-34-19.png

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:57 am
by Huckleberry Finn
spider_Leo wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:46 am
  • If I disable one graphic card, do I not loose graphical performance? :confused:
Yes, but that's just till you test, observe .. Normally one (intel) is enough for daily things, the other is used when required (also causes some heat) especially when gaming etc.

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:12 am
by spider_Leo
I ran nvidia driver installer and I got an conflict because of nouveau driver.
blumblebee driver installation failed because nouveau already used the kernel.
Now when I reboot the laptop I get the following message:

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[     1.169829] integrity: Problem loading X.509 certificate -65
[     1.169849] integrity: Problem loading X.509 certificate -65
[ ok ] Starting virtual network daemon:.
[....] Starting SANE network scanner server: saned

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:43 am
by spider_Leo
Huckleberry Finn wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:57 am
spider_Leo wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:46 am
  • If I disable one graphic card, do I not loose graphical performance? :confused:
Yes, but that's just till you test, observe .. Normally one (intel) is enough for daily things, the other is used when required (also causes some heat) especially when gaming etc.
In BIOS mode, there is not option for Integrated Peripherals or rather than On-Board-Devices. I don't know how to get it.
BIOS_1.png
BIOS_2.png

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:52 am
by Huckleberry Finn
Ok. That's not on all Bioses / double-card machines... Just when available (changes according to make/model etc.)

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:58 am
by j2mcgreg
spider_Leo wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:43 am
Huckleberry Finn wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:57 am
spider_Leo wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:46 am
  • If I disable one graphic card, do I not loose graphical performance? :confused:
Yes, but that's just till you test, observe .. Normally one (intel) is enough for daily things, the other is used when required (also causes some heat) especially when gaming etc.
In BIOS mode, there is not option for Integrated Peripherals or rather than On-Board-Devices. I don't know how to get it.

BIOS_1.pngBIOS_2.png
On new Acer laptops like yours you have to set up an Administrator password for the Insyde H20 Set-Up Utility in order to access the advanced options.

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:09 am
by spider_Leo
j2mcgreg wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:58 am On new Acer laptops like yours you have to set up an Administrator password for the Insyde H20 Set-Up Utility in order to access the advanced options.
Boot Mode: UEFI
Secure Boot: Disabled
I set an admin password, but it doesn't matter. I don't get any new options in BIOS
I still get the integrity problems mentioned above

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:09 am
by j2mcgreg
There are five available bios updates for your laptop and can be found here:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/s ... t/8305?b=1

It looks like versions 1.03 and 1.04 deal with enhancing the feature set.

Unfortunately, you will need Win 10 installed in order to apply them

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:20 am
by spider_Leo
j2mcgreg wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:09 am There are five available bios updates for your laptop and can be found here:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/s ... t/8305?b=1

It looks like versions 1.03 and 1.04 deal with enhancing the feature set.

Unfortunately, you will need Win 10 installed in order to apply them
Thank you, I'll update the BIOS (installing Windows) and install MX again

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:40 am
by spider_Leo
j2mcgreg wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:09 am There are five available bios updates for your laptop and can be found here:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/s ... t/8305?b=1

It looks like versions 1.03 and 1.04 deal with enhancing the feature set.

Unfortunately, you will need Win 10 installed in order to apply them
I have updated the BIOS with the latest available version v1.7 on my laptop.
Nothing changed.

but with Windows, as OS, the battery has a better consumption rate

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:51 pm
by m_pav
A Gaming laptop with a 45W CPU and discreet Graphics that consumes anywhere between 35-55w will never have good battery life, no matter what OS is running. This has been the thorn in the side of all gaming laptops since the day they were created. I recall battery drain times of less than an hour on some with full desktop processors and they had a literal brick for their power adaptors. Tech might have moved on a bit, but high power use will always create more heat and heat is energy loss, so even at idle, your battery will be consumed faster than a regular laptop processor running at full speed.
Your best option aside from doing all you can at the OS level is to see if you cab find a high capacity battery for the machine.

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 2:40 pm
by Stevo
In your MX install, you currently have no control over the Nvidia card, so it's on at all times, wasting power and generating heat. If you can get Bumblebee working, then the Nvidia card will be off until invoked with optirun, making the battery life as least as good as in Windows (at least that how it works for me on a 2016 Acer Optimus laptop and 2018 MSI Optimus laptop).

What do you mean about an error in the Nvidia installer about a conflict with the nouveau driver? If the installation is a success, then seeing a warning about the nouveau driver conflict is a good sign and expected, and it just means you should reboot to get the new driver setup working, as the warning advises.

This is not to say that Bumblebee will not have some other issues, since new machines can be quirky, but the install should have been a success, and Bumblebee ready for testing after a reboot.

You're also supposed to be able to turn off the Nvidia card manually, without Bumblebee, by installing acpi-call-dkms and running

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sudo modprobe acpi_call && sudo /usr/share/doc/acpi-call-dkms/examples/turn_off_gpu.sh
If it works, one of the commands it outputs will report "worked!", and the rest will report "failed!" You can then test battery life and heat output.

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:36 am
by spider_Leo
m_pav wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:51 pm A Gaming laptop with a 45W CPU and discreet Graphics that consumes anywhere between 35-55w will never have good battery life, no matter what OS is running. This has been the thorn in the side of all gaming laptops since the day they were created. I recall battery drain times of less than an hour on some with full desktop processors and they had a literal brick for their power adaptors. Tech might have moved on a bit, but high power use will always create more heat and heat is energy loss, so even at idle, your battery will be consumed faster than a regular laptop processor running at full speed.
Your best option aside from doing all you can at the OS level is to see if you cab find a high capacity battery for the machine.
But the difference is comsiderable between Windows10 and MX19. That's why I'm sure I definitively configured MX wrong.

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:45 am
by spider_Leo
Stevo wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 2:40 pm In your MX install, you currently have no control over the Nvidia card, so it's on at all times, wasting power and generating heat. If you can get Bumblebee working, then the Nvidia card will be off until invoked with optirun, making the battery life as least as good as in Windows (at least that how it works for me on a 2016 Acer Optimus laptop and 2018 MSI Optimus laptop).

What do you mean about an error in the Nvidia installer about a conflict with the nouveau driver? If the installation is a success, then seeing a warning about the nouveau driver conflict is a good sign and expected, and it just means you should reboot to get the new driver setup working, as the warning advises.

This is not to say that Bumblebee will not have some other issues, since new machines can be quirky, but the install should have been a success, and Bumblebee ready for testing after a reboot.

You're also supposed to be able to turn off the Nvidia card manually, without Bumblebee, by installing acpi-call-dkms and running

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe acpi_call && sudo /usr/share/doc/acpi-call-dkms/examples/turn_off_gpu.sh
If it works, one of the commands it outputs will report "worked!", and the rest will report "failed!" You can then test battery life and heat output.
  • I do get a warning about the nouveau driver conflict, but when I reboot the notebook after this conflict message, I always get the message

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    [     1.169829] integrity: Problem loading X.509 certificate -65
    [     1.169849] integrity: Problem loading X.509 certificate -65
    [ ok ] Starting virtual network daemon:.
    [....] Starting SANE network scanner server: saned
    
    I don't know how to fix it. I just install MX once more.
  • I don't wish to always handle the graphic card manually. Is there another way?

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:04 am
by Huckleberry Finn
spider_Leo wrote: Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:45 amI don't wish to always handle the graphic card manually. Is there another way?
You can put it in Application Autostart tab, in Session and Startup from Menu, as a .sh file (but this time it will start without Nvidia always ..)

Or , again as a .sh file in Keyboard => Shortcuts tab .. if you assign just a single key say F9 , if not, something simple like Ctrl + F9 etc. then it will be so easy: Just hit a key and turn it off whenever you like :)

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:22 am
by spider_Leo
Huckleberry Finn wrote: Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:04 am
spider_Leo wrote: Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:45 amI don't wish to always handle the graphic card manually. Is there another way?
You can put it in Application Autostart tab, in Session and Startup from Menu, as a .sh file (but this time it will start without Nvidia always ..)

Or , again as a .sh file in Keyboard => Shortcuts tab .. if you assign just a single key say F9 , if not, something simple like Ctrl + F9 etc. then it will be so easy: Just hit a key and turn it off whenever you like :)
Thank you for the good proposal, but does it means there is no other way to let MX19 handle it automatically with my notebook or do I miss something?

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:32 am
by Huckleberry Finn
When the Nvidia driver (Bumblebee) is installed & working successfully, that will be automatic , if not, the first suggestion (autostart) will make that command automatic (but only to turn off Nvidia) at every boot.

Re: Battery Consumption on MX 19.3 too high, how can I fix it?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:28 am
by Stevo
To make it a bit clearer, the MX Nvidia installer should autodetect an Optimus laptop and install Bumblebee along with the Nvidia drivers.

You can help us by copypasting the contents of /var/log/ddm.log after the installer run into a message in this thread and then enclosing it in the code tags <> button. If the install has been successful, then you can try a benchmark with the Intel card and then the Nvidia.

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glxspheres64
optirun glxspheres64
Eventually, we're going to have to rework the installer to add PRIME support along with Bumblebee, once that's in Debian.