Struggling with battery life

[jasondgls]

Hey everybody,

I’m new to the world of Linux. I bid goodbye to windows and installed Linux mint 18.3 and I’m enjoying my new found freedom very much. However here's my one area of concern. Mint seems to be draining my battery life fairly soon almost 60% faster than that of windows. I have installed all the required drivers and still struggle with this a bit. I have also installed TLP but it's too soon for me to notice the difference TLP made.

I was wondering if there's anything I could do to gain a bit more from my batteries.

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$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: Jays-PC Kernel: 4.13.0-26-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: FUJITSU product: LIFEBOOK A555
           Mobo: FUJITSU model: FJNBB3E
           Bios: FUJITSU // Insyde v: 1.21 date: 05/31/2016
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3-5005U (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 7981
           clock speeds: max: 1900 MHz 1: 1995 MHz 2: 1995 MHz 3: 1995 MHz
           4: 1995 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Broadwell-U Integrated Graphics bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@59.97hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 5500 (Broadwell GT2)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.4 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 Intel Broadwell-U Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.13.0-26-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel Wireless 7265 driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 3000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1000.2GB (8.2% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MQ01ABD1 size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 28G used: 6.5G (25%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: /boot size: 472M used: 185M (42%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-3: /home size: 885G used: 66G (8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4
           ID-4: swap-1 size: 5.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 204 Uptime: 1:37 Memory: 1463.8/3874.3MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

PS. The laptop and batteries are brand new.

Regards,

Jason.

[MrEen]

I don't know how much difference it'll make but if you stopped overclocking it will probably help some.

[jasondgls]

I don't know how much difference it'll make but if you stopped overclocking it will probably help some.

Hi MrEen,

I haven't overclocked anything. I am running the system on settings that it came with (except removing the default windows OS that it came with and installed Mint).

[MrEen]

That's weird (to me) as your inxi report showed:

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           clock speeds: max: 1900 MHz 1: 1995 MHz 2: 1995 MHz 3: 1995 MHz
           4: 1995 MHz

I realize it's not overclocked by much, but seems strange. Hopefully someone with more experience will be along shortly.

[catweazel]

Mint seems to be draining my battery life fairly soon almost 60% faster than that of windows.

See this article.

You can also try powertop:

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sudo apt install powertop
sudo powertop

It will assist you in finding power-hungry processes.

You might also try the tlp tools:

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

About tlp.

[thx-1138]

.........
Mint seems to be draining my battery life fairly soon almost 60% faster than that of windows.
...........

1) Disable bluetooth & only enable it when needed. Further make sure you also disable it from auto-starting (Start-up Applications). That is by far the most important one.
2) Lower your monitor's brightness. Yes, it's fairly obvious, but still...

Those two above are not only the easiest ones, but coincidentally, the ones draining the most of out the battery. I see you're on Cinnamon - you could try disabling some of it's hardware accel effects & the likes (don't expect miracles though from doing that...you'll probably gain way more in terms of faster response / performance than battery life):https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... n-Cinnamon

[Pierre]

Do remember that the Windows Operating System is often an Very Customized Environment,
& whereas Most Linux Systems are Plain Vanilla.

so there will be a performance hit, when you move away from Windows & over to an Linux System.

now, some of that can indeed be overcome, with a little tweaking here & there,
but, do Remember the Rule:- "Linux Is Not Windows".

There are, naturally, some differences.

[jasondgls]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the tips, I’ve done all of them and looks like it increased my system up time (on battery) by one more hour.
I read the articles on battery life on Linux and looks like its one of the areas where Linux takes a hit. Hopefully they will come up with something for this in the future versions. But so far, I gotta say that getting rid of windows was probably one of the best decisions I've made in a very long time.

Thanks for all your support.

Cheers.

[RobertService]

Perhaps I missed it (them), but I don't remember seeing any figures--hard data--on the types of numbers you're experiencing. If you could give us some numbers--both before and after your switch to MINT, this might help to understand where a problem might be, and help in suggesting a possible solution.

Warmest regards...

[There is a gentleman who very thoroughly tests a lot of Linux distros, and one of his points he continually makes is the comparison between the battery life of the Linux distros he tests, and that of the same machine (he uses the same machine all the time, for control purposes) running Windows. It is not at all uncommon for him to see a battery-life figure (this is strictly an example) of four hours for a particular Linux distribution, as opposed to a figure of 4.5 hours for Windows, under the same set of conditions (as long as I've been following his efforts, I never remember seeing as large a differential as you're experiencing). This--4 vs. 4.5--is a fairly typical example of the Linux/Windows battery-life dichotomy, and one of the reasons I'd like to hear the numbers you've experienced; maybe there's an easy solution. Then again, maybe not.]

[jasondgls]

Well sadly, I didn't record the exact battery drain data while I was on windows. However here are some rough figures:
My battery model is: PAC CP700280-01 and my laptop model is Fujitsu lifebook A555. On manual and papers it boasts a battery life of 11 hours but we all know how the theoretical figures stand out when tested under real world scenarios.

Under Windows 10 The battery life averaged at around 8 ~ 8.5 Hrs.
On Linux mint 18.3 after fresh install the battery lasted 4 hours max (all settings default).

Then I tweaked the stuffs here and there like installing TLP and changed the setting on the TLP file which disables the BT/ wifi and Wwan on startup and lowered the screen brightness to a minimum value. removed certain applications from startup such as "docky" (I installed it just for fun, guess I didnt needed it.. lol.) then I installed powertop and then auto optimized the areas marked as BAD.
and now my battery life is somewhere around 5 ~ 5.5 Hours after the tweaks.

and well there's one other thing that I've noticed (I'm on a regular HDD here BTW) while I was in windows I remember that It's rotation slowed down fairly on idle condition but in Mint it feels like its constantly spinning even in idle condition (a wild guess from laptop body vibration).

Sorry for the lack of actual figures. I'm still learning. I guess I'm a complete noob when it comes to linux

[RobertService]

Great start! No experience with Linux, and then immediately going from four to 5.5 hours of battery life? Wow!

Even though you may not think so, the information you've provided might...might be what's needed; what is at the heart of your problem. Based on something I read a long time ago, I think the HDD spinning down under Windows, and Linux keeping it running continually, is the answer. YOU, I think, have solved most of the problem. I'll see if I can find what I read on this subject, and hopefully others will weigh in on this. See what you can find on DuckDuckGo/Google while I snoop around in my archives.

Warmest regards...

[catweazel]

and well there's one other thing that I've noticed (I'm on a regular HDD here BTW) while I was in windows I remember that It's rotation slowed down fairly on idle condition but in Mint it feels like its constantly spinning even in idle condition (a wild guess from laptop body vibration).

Depending on the size of your HDD, you might benefit greatly from an SSD and, if you need the space, an external HDD with its own power supply.

BTW, your efforts as you described them above, to get more time out of your battery are brilliant for a complete linux novice. Pretty soon you'll be answering support questions yourself.

Cheers.

[thx-1138]

and well there's one other thing that I've noticed (I'm on a regular HDD here BTW) while I was in windows I remember that It's rotation slowed down fairly on idle condition but in Mint it feels like its constantly spinning even in idle condition (a wild guess from laptop body vibration).

...have a look here (and the linked pages in the bottom...note that i'd start with tuning hdparm and/or tlp however instead of messing around with udisks personally)...

[Petermint]

Based on fan noise, visiting linuxmint.com and most other sites does not use much power. There are some sites that spin up the fan, indicating heat from a busy processor. It is mostly Web sites that do the processing in javascript in the Web browser instead of in their server. Most of the processing appears to be animated adverts, not the plain text content. I improved battery life by installing NoScript to block the junkware.

[RobertService]

Search on "spin down linux disks" (no quote marks) in the 'searchbar' of your favorite search machine(s)...

Search on "minimize linux hdd activity"...

Read this: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=839998
...it's a "HOWTO: Decrease disk activity"

Warmest regards...

[edit:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easily-in ... tlp-linux/

"7 Simple Tips to Improve Your Linux Laptop's Battery Life" ]

[RobertService]

Good article on Tecmint about 'powertop':

PowerTop – Monitors Total Power Usage and Improve Linux Laptop Battery Life

https://www.tecmint.com/powertop-monito ... ery-usage/

Forget the info about the latest version; you'll get v. 2.5 (close enough; it's what I use) when you type (in the terminal)

'sudo apt-get install powertop' ('sudo' is needed for root privilege for this one instance).
<then you will be prompted to type in your password here; you will NOT get any feedback>
Then you will be informed that powertop has been installed.

To run, at the prompt, type 'sudo powertop'. (Again, you need to be 'super-user', or 'root').
Use <TAB> key to select different menu options at top of screen. One of the more interesting ones is the last one: "Tunables". You can use the <ENTER> key to turn a reported 'bad' situation into a 'good' one.
To quit, type <ESC>, or <CTRL>-c.

To get an overview, at the prompt, type 'info powertop';
in the 'options' list, when it states "--xx", you have to use a space, like so: 'powertop --xx'. 'powertop--xx' won't work.

To exit the terminal cleanly, type 'exit'.

If you want a clean screen when it gets filled up, type 'clear' (I'll let you find out how to use the Linux/ UNIX 'alias' command to change 'clear' to the nicer DOS command, 'cls'--'clear screen').
The terminal is a wonderful resource. Have fun learning.


Warmest regards...

[wptophat]

Honestly, this is one of the main things that keeps me from using mint on all of my machines. (I use it on one of my desktops). I specifically avoid using it on my laptops because, by default, Mint severely shortens battery life. When I use Manjaro, my laptop battery will run around 8 hours. If I put Mint on that same machine, that is shortened to under 5 hours.

Yes, I have the knowledge and experience to make that better and can get my battery life fairly close to Manjaros default. BUT with everything else that goes into setting up a new system, why would I want to do the extra work? Mint is a great OS, but this is something the Mint team really should work on resolving.

[BG405]

I specifically avoid using it on my laptops because, by default, Mint severely shortens battery life. When I use Manjaro, my laptop battery will run around 8 hours. If I put Mint on that same machine, that is shortened to under 5 hours.

This is an old thread but you make an interesting point.

I haven't really noticed the difference in battery life using Manjaro KDE vs. LM17.3 KDE on my Acer D255E; it does appear to offer longer battery run-time on Manjaro than what I typically saw with Mint, though.

I'll have to do a test, by putting the Mint HDD back in & comparing run-time down to, say, 50% (don't want to erode the battery life more than I can help it; it's old!). I can use a clone of my browsing session for this but be aware some other programs will be much more recent versions on Manjaro, which may impact performance & therefore power consumption.

[rickNS]

One major battery saving tip not mentioned in any of those links is to keep your laptop clean. By that I mean to keep the dust out of the cooling bits. A dirty, hot, and always fan on laptop is wasting lots of power.

[BG405]

One major battery saving tip not mentioned in any of those links is to keep your laptop clean.

An excellent point & indeed one which many forget about.

Mine are cleaned out quite regularly but some laptops do tend to run hot regardless, like my Toshiba NB305, on which I'll need to experiment with tlp or the likes. That one likes to run at around 70°C whereas the Acer D255E stays around 51°C - 52°C.

Both are running Manjaro KDE at the moment (installed from the same ISO), however there's no noticeable average core temperature difference compared to Mint on either, nor have I observed any significant difference in reported battery life.

ETA:
Looks like TLP isn't in the repos for Mint 17.x (Ubuntu 14.04) but is present in the 16.04 repos (for Mint 18.x).