Advanced Power Management Tool `TLP` 0.6 Released, Install It In Ubuntu

TLP was updated to version 0.6 recently, receiving some fixes for Linux Kernel 3.15 and 3.16 along with systemd improvements and other changes.

Also, with this release, TLP is no longer disabled when laptop-mode-tools is detected and instead, a warning is displayed about possible conflicts.

For those not familiar with TLP, this is an advanced power management tool that applies various settings and tweaks to help your laptop save battery power. The app tries to do everything automatically, depending on your Linux distribution and hardware however, you can manually change its settings by editing the TLP configuration file: /etc/default/tlp

Changes in TLP 0.6:

• set systemd service type to simple, allows tlp service to start asynchronously in the background;
• remove DISABLE_TPACPIBAT from configuration;
• remove DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_RADIOSW from configuration because it's deprecated: works with Ubuntu 12.04/Kernel 3.2 only;
• enable RUNTIME_PM_ALL by default (controls runtime power management for PCI(e) bus devices);
• do not touch kernel settings if param is empty or commented: DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON, MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON, SCHED_POWERSAVE_ON, NMI_WATCHDOG, SATA_LINKPWR_ON, PCIE_ASPM_ON, RADEON_DPM_STATE_ON, RADEON_POWER_PROFILE_ON, WIFI_PWR_ON, SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON, RUNTIME_PM_ON;
• tlp-stat:
• consider changed sysfs paths for i915 enable_rc6/fbc as of kernel 3.15;
• consider changed sysfs paths for hwmon coretemp/sensors as of kernel 3.15/3.16;
• report speed of all fans, not just the first one;
• show warning for kernel sata errors (possibly) caused by SATA_LINKPWR_ON_BAT/AC=min/medium power;
• retrieve trace output from systemd journal if present;
• do not disable TLP when laptop-mode-tools is detected, just output a warning about possible conflicts;
• fix: Makefile - remove tlp-nop in uninstall-tlp target;
• fix: tlp-stat - don't suggest tp-smapi on non-ThinkPad hardware with thinkpad_acpi loaded;
• fix: tlp-stat - don't show /proc/acpi/ibm/fan on Lenovo non-ThinkPad models.

Install TLP in Ubuntu / Linux Mint

The latest TLP 0.6 is no longer disabled when laptop-mode-tools is detected and a warning is displayed instead however, it's best to remove laptop-mode-tools if installed, to avoid any possible conflicts. In Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint, remove laptop-mode-tools using the following command:

sudo apt-get purge laptop-mode-tools

Ubuntu / Linux Mint users can install TLP by using its official PPA. Add the PPA and install the latest TLP by using the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tlp

TLP will start automatically on startup but to avoid having to restart the system, the first time you can start it manually, by using the following command:

sudo tlp start

There are also some optional packages you can install - for more on that as well as more information about TLP, see: Improve Power Usage / Battery Life In Linux With TLP.

For how to install TLP in Fedora, Debian, Arch Linux or Gentoo, see the TLP installation page.

To check out the source code, report bugs, etc., see the TLP GitHub page.

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