Power Management

Awker · 2016-10-06 13:42

Hi
I have recently installed Q4os Orion. I want to leave the computer on most of the time as I am using it as a file and media server, however, I can not work out how to make it sleep or hibernate after a period of inactivity. I've tried the Energy Star DPMS Power management settings under "Monitor & Display" but any changes I make seem to revert to previous which is not to hibernate. Could some one please point me in the right direction for sleep settings

Dai_trying · 2016-10-06 14:56

The easiest method I have found is to install tdepowersave-trinity and you can adjust everything from there. It will place an icon in your system tray from which you can right click and select Configure TDEPowersave...
HTH

Awker · 2016-10-09 13:17

Thanks Dai
I did already have this installed but didn't realise where it was. However I can only set it to "suspend to RAM" which means it won't function as a server, because I need to wake it up before it is available on my network, for example It is not suitable for my PLEX server

Dai_trying · 2016-10-09 21:08

OK, what do you want the "sleep" function to do exactly? Do you want to blank the screen, spin down hdd's, enter a low power state, or something else? On my home server I always disable sleep settings so it is always ready to serve but that's just because I don't like to wait.

Awker · 2016-10-10 05:27

Thanks for your assistance

Was hoping for most of the above as options, The main aim is for it to go into a low power state when not being accessed. I've now got it set to blank the screen, and I think lock the computer. but it still runs at full power. Ideally I would want it to power down but still have the shared folders available to the network and the Plex server running in the background. (With the Suspend to RAM option it will shut down everything even if someone is actually streaming via Plex at the time)

I may be asking too much, I thought this was how the previous incarnation was working on Ubuntu 14.04, with Samba shares, Team viewer and Plex server always available, but I've got a feeling that maybe I was kidding myself and it was running at full power all the time.

Dai_trying · 2016-10-10 11:06

I guess you would have set the correct options in Default Schemes

And allowed the display to shutdown

And set your cpu policy

And I would not allow suspend feature either to ram or disk as this would basically close your system until physical interaction. I'm not sure what else you could do to enable lower power state, but if anyone else knows maybe they could chip in too.

q4osteam · 2016-10-10 11:34

@Dai_trying
Excellent explanation, thanks.

Dai_trying wrote:

I'm not sure what else you could do to enable lower power state, but if anyone else knows maybe they could chip in too.

The other way for an experienced user could be to make some lower level systemd configuration, you could start here https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Power_management

olzeke51 · 2016-10-10 17:41

there used to be a hardware option to wake on lan (wol) activity in some of the bios options.
they were called S? states - - maybe too old fashion. [I didn't look at the archlinux link!}

Dai_trying · 2016-10-10 17:46

WOL would not wake a server unless the web user sends the correct command and had direct network access. That is my understanding at least.

Awker · 2016-10-12 05:14

Thanks heaps everyone for your input.
So I do now at least have my display closing down automatically (I was having to turn off the monitor before) I will explore WOL options at a later date (probably wont' be suitable as I would like my server to be accessible remotely on occasions)

I have set my configuration on the TDE Powersave as suggested by Dai_Trying in the below screenshots, just wondering what exactly does the "Powersave" option do? (I am running a desktop not a laptop if that makes any difference)

Dai_trying · 2016-10-12 09:04

Awker wrote:

just wondering what exactly does the "Powersave" option do? (I am running a desktop not a laptop if that makes any difference)

A little more in depth than my knowledge goes I'm afraid, but I think it utilizes any powersaving feature of the CPU, and if you are running a desktop I would guess the differences would be less than if you were running a laptop.
I have a small plug-in power monitor that I use when testing appliances to see how much power they are using, and it can tell me a few things like current usage in amps/watts peak usage and total used etc I bought it some years ago and use it to trace energy consuming appliances. It could be worth a few pounds/dollars to see how much power your system is using and then look at what it uses after applying powersave settings. I realise this is probably a bit more than most people would do, but I have a tendency to find an answer when I have a question (or dai-trying).

Awker · 2016-10-13 03:25

I do have something like that, its a cheapo version with a very non intuitive interface, that I never got around to using (I bought it to check out an old fridge that I was suspicious of) I might drag it out and hook it up. Would be interesting to see how much power my machine is using. Thanks again for all your help

Dai_trying · 2016-10-13 08:33

Mine was a cheapo version too but I managed to keep the instruction booklet and although it is a bit tatty from being pulled out nearly every time I want to use the meter, it has been invaluable.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2016-10-06 13:42

Power Management

#2 2016-10-06 14:56

Re: Power Management

#3 2016-10-09 13:17

Re: Power Management

#4 2016-10-09 21:08

Re: Power Management

#5 2016-10-10 05:27

Re: Power Management

#6 2016-10-10 11:06

Re: Power Management

#7 2016-10-10 11:34

Re: Power Management

#8 2016-10-10 17:41

Re: Power Management

#9 2016-10-10 17:46

Re: Power Management

#10 2016-10-12 05:14

Re: Power Management

#11 2016-10-12 09:04

Re: Power Management

#12 2016-10-13 03:25

Re: Power Management

#13 2016-10-13 08:33

Re: Power Management

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