[SOLVED] How to speed up automated suspend in linuxmint 18.1 ?

[carum carvi]

Kyphi and Mute Ant there has been alot of misunderstanding about my use of DConf. I installed DConf correctly but I just COULD NOT get it to work: meaning that all the options of DConf were grey and COULD NOT be selected under linuxmint 18.1 and 18.2
I dont understand why but maybe thats of no importance anymore, because I have switched to linuxmint 18.3 cinnamon now for the first time.

I have switched to linuxmint 18.3 cinnamon and now I CAN for the first time select all the options under DConf.(Before I couldnt).

Please help me one last time. Can you guys find the setting in DConf in linuxmint 18.3 Cinnamon that I can change so I can speed up the automated suspend?

[kyphi]

Step 1: sudo apt-get install dconf-editor

Step 2: Open "dconf Editor" (it is under the "Administration" heading in your main menu)

Step 3: Scroll down to "org" and click on the triangle to see the sub-menu

Step 4: Then scroll down to "gnome" and click on the triangle to expand the sub-menu

Step 5: Then scroll down to "settings-daemon" and click on the triangle to expand the sub-menu

Step 6: Then scroll down to "plugins" and click on the triangle to expand the sub-menu

Step 7: Then scroll down to "power" and click on that entry. This will open the configuration screen you have been looking for.

Step 8: Then scroll down to "sleep-inactive-ac-timeout", click to the immediate right of the stated value and you will be able to change that value by either typing in a new value or using the "+" or "-" buttons on the right.

Step 8: Click on "Set to default" to save your changed setting

Step 9: Close the dconf Editor

These values are in seconds so you may have to experiment setting a suspend time to suit you.

[carum carvi]

Superb Kyphi. Thanks alot for the advice. It works ! So great.

The only thing I have done a little different is step 4. Because I have 18.3 CINNAMON edition I chose cinnamon instead of gnome.
When I first chose gnome nothing happened.

In step 4 in submenu cinnamon there is also a setting for the SCREEN suspend time called SLEEP DISPLAY AC, an option which I didnt see in submenu gnome.

In step 8 you mentioned to click on "set to default", but I didnt see that button. So I just closed the window of Dconf-editor and that worked well also.

You cant imagine how glad I am that I can now tweak the powersettings. Even better than in windows.
This will really save my electricity bill in the long run because my pc consumes a lot of power.

It goes to show that it is worth updating linuxmint, because in linuxmint 18.1 and 18.2 I couldnt acces Dconf-editor.
In linuxmint 18.3 I can access Dconf-editor.
Unless I made some silly mistakes before by installing the wrong Dconf under linuxmint 18.1 and 18.2.
Because it is rather confusing that there are two sorts of Dconf. One called "Dconf-editor". And one called "Dconf editor". The only difference is a hyphen. Maybe I choose the wrong Dconf editor the previous times?


Note of importance: it pays off to experiment with different times for suspend for screen and suspend for the pc. Because with some suspend times my screen froze. Not too short times and a reasonably big interval between screen suspend and pc suspend works best.

[martyfender]

He is correct. On my Linux Mint Mate 18.3 and the lowest time option I can choose in the power managemente control panel is 10 minutes.

[carum carvi]

Martyfender, you have noticed also that the PC SUSPEND time you can choose from in Linuxmint 18.3 has gone from 5 to 10 minutes. Thats worse than before. The DISPLAY SUSPEND time is still 5 minutes in linuxmint 18.3, but NOT the PC SUSPEND time. Only 10 minutes as a choice. Global warming anyone ?

A simple calculation goes to show that daily minutes of pc's NOT IN USE become hours in a weeks time, and become days of idle use of linux pc's in a years time. If you multiply that idle time in energy consumption by millions of linux pc's then we are burning this earth down with greenhouse gasses when we DONT EVEN USE these linux pc's. Windows is better at automated energy saving than Linux. Windows has more options which are easily accessible in the powermanagement menu.

Fortunately with Linux you can choose to install "Dconf-editor" (mind the hyphen). You can now alter the desired suspend time yourselves with Dconf-editor. See the detailed description above by Kyphi.

Using automated suspend is good for our little contribution as millions of linux users to limit the energy our pc's are using. It lowers our electricity bills too. Win win for everyone...

[Mute Ant]

I plugged my Optiplex 760 machine into a watt-meter. Just the processor box, not the monitor...

Running: 63W

Suspended: 3W

Hibernated: 1.3W

QI-style comparison with an average active adult human...

2000Kcal/day == 96.85W

[carum carvi]

Your wonderful low energy computer is either a notebook or a very energy friendly desktop. I applaud you for that. Really good!
I am switching to a linuxmint mini box pretty soon. That LinuxMint Mini Pro Box uses only 5 Watt ! My desktop uses 250 Watt now. 50 times as much as that energy friendly LinuxMint Mini Box.

Notebooks and tablets are perfect LOW ENERGY consumers. Notebooks generally use around 40 Watts on average. Tablets around 10 Watt. Superb!
But desktops ARE NOT energy friendly in general: 250 watt and up. Days of energy consumption can be SAVED throughout a year by a strict automated suspend scheme. This really makes a difference in your electricity bill. With the money I save in electricity in 5 years time with that 5Watt Linux Mini Box I can earn back the full purchase price of 400 euros ! Earning 400 euros by just switching to a low power pc like the LinuxMint Mini Box.


How insignificant my own energy saving might look, WHEN you multiply that individual saving by a million Linux users then it DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE on a global scale. To hold off global warming we all have to do what we can. Many small steps, make a big difference.


Good news: the installment and use of "Dconf-editor" makes it possible for every Linux user to speed up automated suspend to their own likings.
Kyphi has described it perfectly step by step in how to use Dconf-editor. See above. Only change the sort of desktop you have in STEP 4: choose either gnome, mate or cinnamon etc, whatever is your system of choice in STEP 4. That's what I did wrong the first time.
Since I am a newbie I made another really stupid mistake when I tried to use Dconf-editor for the first time. I clicked on the words and I didnt click on the triangle symbol. So I didnt see the submenu appear. Through the detailed explanation (see Kyphi tutorial above) I noticed my beginners mistake.

[kyphi]

Thank you for your acknowledgement, newbie serena - I am pleased that I was able to help.

Like you and many others, I am very much concerned about using generated energy sparingly. In Australia we enjoy a very sunny climate and the power that my solar panels generate is available for my use without cost. Even so, electrical appliances are switched off when not in use and all surplus solar-generated power is fed back to the grid as a credit.

The solar-panel installation paid for itself within a few years with the generated power being sold to the energy company.

When I built my present computer I paid special attention to using a power-efficient processor and components such as SSDs so one could say that my computer runs on the proverbial "smell of an oily rag".
It is well known that more power means using more energy and greater heat to be dispersed which in turn requires using up even more energy.

I mention all this merely to point out the benefits of thinking outside the square.