Arch Linux Power Management

Arch Linux Power Management Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to power management on Arch Linux, including laptop battery optimization, CPU frequency scaling, power saving, and TLP configuration.

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Table of Contents

1. CPU Frequency Scaling
2. Laptop Power Management
3. TLP Configuration
4. Suspend and Hibernate
5. Power Monitoring
6. Troubleshooting

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CPU Frequency Scaling

Install cpupower

Install tools:

# Install cpupower
sudo pacman -S cpupower

# Check current governor
cpupower frequency-info

CPU Governors

Available governors:

• performance: Maximum performance
• powersave: Maximum power saving
• ondemand: Dynamic scaling
• conservative: Gradual scaling
• schedutil: Scheduler-based

Set Governor

Change governor:

# Set performance
sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance

# Set powersave
sudo cpupower frequency-set -g powersave

# Set ondemand
sudo cpupower frequency-set -g ondemand

Enable at Boot

Persist settings:

# Create service
sudo systemctl enable cpupower.service

# Or use systemd
sudo systemctl enable cpupower

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Laptop Power Management

Install TLP

Install TLP:

# Install TLP
sudo pacman -S tlp tlp-rdw

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable tlp
sudo systemctl start tlp

TLP Configuration

Configure TLP:

# Edit config
sudo vim /etc/tlp.conf

Common settings:

# CPU scaling
CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_AC=performance
CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_BAT=powersave

# CPU frequency
CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_AC=100
CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_BAT=50

# GPU
RUNTIME_PM_ON_AC=on
RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=auto

Apply TLP Settings

Apply changes:

# Apply settings
sudo tlp start

# Check status
sudo tlp-stat -s

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Battery Optimization

Battery Information

Check battery:

# Install tools
sudo pacman -S acpi

# Check battery
acpi -V

# Or
cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/capacity

Battery Thresholds

Set charging thresholds:

# For ThinkPads
echo 80 | sudo tee /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_control_end_threshold

# Check current
cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_control_end_threshold

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Suspend and Hibernate

Suspend

Suspend system:

# Suspend
systemctl suspend

# Or
sudo pm-suspend

Hibernate

Hibernate system:

# Hibernate
systemctl hibernate

# Or
sudo pm-hibernate

Configure Swap for Hibernate

Setup swap:

# Check swap
swapon --show

# Create swap file
sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

# Add to fstab
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

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Power Monitoring

Power Statistics

Monitor power:

# Install powertop
sudo pacman -S powertop

# Run powertop
sudo powertop

# Generate report
sudo powertop --html=report.html

Battery Monitoring

Monitor battery:

# Install battery tools
sudo pacman -S upower

# Check battery
upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT0

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Troubleshooting

High Power Consumption

Optimize:

# Check processes
powertop

# Disable unnecessary services
sudo systemctl disable service-name

# Check GPU
nvidia-smi  # NVIDIA
radeontop   # AMD

Suspend Issues

Fix suspend:

# Check logs
journalctl -b | grep suspend

# Test suspend
systemctl suspend

# If issues, try:
sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target

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Summary

This guide covered:

1. CPU scaling - Frequency governors
2. Laptop power - TLP configuration
3. Battery - Optimization
4. Suspend/hibernate - Power states
5. Monitoring - Power statistics
6. Troubleshooting - Common issues

Key Takeaways:

• Use TLP for laptops
• Set appropriate CPU governor
• Monitor power consumption
• Configure suspend/hibernate
• Optimize for battery life

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Next Steps

• Arch Linux System Configuration - System setup
• Arch Linux Performance Tuning - Performance
• ArchWiki Power Management: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_management

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This guide is based on the ArchWiki. For the most up-to-date information, always refer to the official ArchWiki.