Help with CPU Frequency

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rodyaj
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Help with CPU Frequency

Post#1 by rodyaj » 07 Jul 2012, 00:19

Hi. I've installed Porteus-v1.2-i486 32-bit to an SD card on an EEEPC 701. I like what I'm seeing, apart from one thing: I can't modprobe the p4-clockmod module as root to activate the full speed of my Celeron-M ULV 353 900mhz processor. p4-clockmod is what I usually use because other modules such as acpi-cpufreq do not support my device. I am not actually trying to enable CPU scaling (my device doesn't support it), but the p4-clockmod also unlocks the higher frequencies my CPU is capable of. With it enabled there is an instant speed increase (e.g., Flash no longer choppy). And I can overclock from 667mhz to 900mhz using FN-F6 on the keyboard. Without it everything runs rather slow. I'm certain it is not a placebo, and it is the first thing I enable in any distro I install on the 701.

Power Saver tool in Porteus displays: "Couldn't activate power-save mode on this CPU. The required ACPI kernel driver may be missing." This is as expected for a CPU that doesn't have advanced power saving features. But I still need p4-clockmod working somehow.

Will I have to download vanilla kernel sources and build p4-clockmod in myself? Or is there an alternative? Also, does Porteus have its own kernel sources? I can't seem to find them.

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brokenman
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Re: Help with CPU Frequency

Post#2 by brokenman » 07 Jul 2012, 02:47

Here are the current modules that 'power-saver' attempts to probe.
acpi-cpufreq acpi_cpufreq powernow-k6 powernow-k7 powernow-k8 speedstep-smi speedstep-ich eee900freq gx-suspmod longrun longhaul

Unfortunately CONFIG_X86_P4_CLOCKMOD is not set in the current kernel. You will need to recompile her.

If you need help on that you can find info on the website. I'd need to know which architecture you are using to help further, but we can supply the required kernel patches, config file and instructions for you to compile.
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rodyaj
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Re: Help with CPU Frequency

Post#3 by rodyaj » 07 Jul 2012, 03:27

Should I follow this guide and patch a vanilla kernel with aufs? I want to avoid breaking compatibility with other programs. My EeePC 701 is x86 Celeron-M. I'm using the i486 32-bit current KDE/LXDE ISO.

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brokenman
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Re: Help with CPU Frequency

Post#4 by brokenman » 07 Jul 2012, 04:43

Yes follow that guide. Keep in mind it was written for x86_64. The devel module in 32bit is called 007-devel.

You will want the 3.4.4 kernel with aufs patch. You can grab the current config file from porteus using:

Code: Select all

modprobe configs && zcat /proc/config.gz > .config
Fanthom built this kernel while i was bus with apps so please hang on and wait for him to advise of any other patches. I recall him mentioning something about other patches.
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fanthom
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Re: Help with CPU Frequency

Post#5 by fanthom » 07 Jul 2012, 08:15

hello rodyaj,

the main reason for disabling 'p4_clockmod' was a kernel doc saying:
"This driver should be only used in exceptional circumstances when very low power is needed because it causes severe slowdowns and noticeable latencies. Normally Speedstep should be used instead."

Speedstep is also disabled as:
"This is deprecated and this functionality is now merged into acpi_cpufreq (X86_ACPI_CPUFREQ). Use that driver instead of speedstep_centrino."

so in fact acpi_cpufreq is used for majority of the Intel CPU's in Porteus.

to the point:
all kernel patches and config for 32bit arch are included in crippled_sources module for Porteus-1.2 :
link
you will find them in /usr/src/linux/Porteus-patches folder.

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rodyaj
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Re: Help with CPU Frequency

Post#6 by rodyaj » 07 Jul 2012, 14:37

Thanks for the info. Yes those modules probably are crippled for people trying to enable speedstep. The owners of certain EeePC 4G models, however, don't have much choice; they use it because it is the only module capable of activating the factory speed of 900mhz on all modern kernels. Even so, I realise you can't always cater for everyone.

In my searches I found this version of eeepc-linux module, which is patched to work on later kernels and could offer an alternative to p4-clockmod.

And those lucky enough to have 701 as the model number on the sticker at the bottom of the EeePC can update the firmware to enable the full speed.

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brokenman
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Re: Help with CPU Frequency

Post#7 by brokenman » 07 Jul 2012, 15:02

/usr/src/linux/Porteus-patches
Thanks fanthom .... good idea.
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