Automatic CPU speed & power optimizer for, Linux based on active monitoring of a laptop's battery state, CPU usage, CPU temperature and system load. Ultimately allowing you to improve battery life without making any compromises.
auto-cpufreq is looking for [co-maintainers & open source developers to help shape future of the project!](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/discussions/312)
One of the problems with Linux today on laptops is that the CPU will run in an unoptimized manner which will negatively reflect on battery life. For example, the CPU will run using "performance" governor with turbo boost enabled regardless if it's plugged in to power or not.
These issues can be mitigated by using tools like [indicator-cpufreq](https://itsfoss.com/cpufreq-ubuntu/) or [cpufreq](https://github.com/konkor/cpufreq), but these still require manual action from your side which can be daunting and cumbersome.
Using tools like [TLP](https://github.com/linrunner/TLP) can help in this situation with extending battery life (which is something I used to do for numerous years), but it also might come with its own set of problems, like losing turbo boost.
With that said, I needed a simple tool which would automatically make "cpufreq" related changes, save battery like TLP, but let Linux kernel do most of the heavy lifting. That's how auto-cpufreq was born.
Please note: auto-cpufreq aims to replace TLP in terms of functionality and after you install auto-cpufreq _it's recommended to remove TLP_. If both are used for same functionality, i.e: to set CPU frequencies it'll lead to unwanted results like overheating. Hence, only use [both tools in tandem](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/discussions/176) if you know what you're doing.
The Tool/daemon that does not conflict with auto-cpufreq in any way, and is even recommended to have running alongside, is [thermald](https://wiki.debian.org/thermald).
Supported devices must have an Intel, AMD or ARM CPUs. This tool was developed to improve performance and battery life on laptops, but running it on desktop/servers (to lower power consumption) should also be possible.
*Please note: due to [Snap package confinement limitations](https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/pkexec-not-found-python-gtk-gnome-app/36579) please consider installing auto-cpufreq using [auto-cpufreq-installer](#auto-cpufreq-installer)*
* Make sure [snapd](https://snapcraft.io/docs/installing-snapd) is installed and `snap version` version is >= 2.44 for `auto-cpufreq` to fully work due to [recent snapd changes](https://github.com/snapcore/snapd/pull/8127).
* Fedora users will [encounter following error](https://twitter.com/killyourfm/status/1291697985236144130) due to `cgroups v2` [being in development](https://github.com/snapcore/snapd/pull/7825). This problem can be resolved by either running `sudo snap run auto-cpufreq` after the snap installation or by using the [auto-cpufreq-installer](#auto-cpufreq-installer) which doesn't have this issue.
*AUR is currently unmaintained & has issues*! Until someone starts maintaining it, use the [auto-cpufreq-installer](#auto-cpufreq-installer) if you intend to have the latest changes as otherwise you'll run into errors, i.e: [#471](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/issues/471). However, if you still wish to use AUR then follow the [Troubleshooting](#aur) section for solved known issues.
This repo contains a flake that exposes a NixOS Module that manages and offers options for auto-cpufreq. To use it, add the flake as an input to your `flake.nix` file, and enable the module
Then you can enable the program in your `configuration.nix` file
```nix
# configuration.nix
{inputs, pkgs, ...}: {
# ---Snip---
programs.auto-cpufreq.enable = true;
# optionally, you can configure your auto-cpufreq settings, if you have any
programs.auto-cpufreq.settings = {
charger = {
governor = "performance";
turbo = "auto";
};
battery = {
governor = "powersave";
turbo = "auto";
};
};
# ---Snip---
}
```
</details>
<details>
<summary>Nixpkgs</summary>
<br>
There is a nixpkg available but it is more prone to being outdated whereas the flake pulls from the latest commit. You can install it in your `configuration.nix` and enable the system service
After installation `auto-cpufreq` will be available as a binary and you can refer to [auto-cpufreq modes and options](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq#auto-cpufreq-modes-and-options) for more information on how to run and configure `auto-cpufreq`.
auto-cpufreq makes all decisions automatically based on various factors like cpu usage, temperature or system load. However, it's possible to perform additional configurations:
When installing auto-cpufreq using [auto-cpufreq-installer](#auto-cpufreq-installer) if it detects [GNOME Power profiles service](https://twitter.com/fooctrl/status/1467469508373884933) is running it will automatically disable it. Otherwise this daemon will cause conflicts and various other performance issues.
However, when auto-cpufreq is installed as Snap package it's running as part of a container with limited permissions to your host machine, hence it's *highly recommended* you disable GNOME Power Profiles Daemon using `power_helper.py` script.
The [`power_helper.py`](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/blob/master/auto_cpufreq/power_helper.py) script is located at `auto_cpufreq/power_helper.py`. In order to have access to it, you need to first clone
However, you can override this behaviour by switching to `performance` or `powersave` mode manually. Performance will result in higher frequencies by default, but also results in higher energy use (battery consumption) and should be used if max performance is necessary. Otherwise `powersave` will do the opposite and extend the battery life to its maximum.
You can configure separate profiles for the battery and power supply. These profiles will let you pick which governor to use, and how and when turbo boost is enabled. The possible values for turbo boost behavior are `always`, `auto` and `never`. The default behavior is `auto`, which only kicks in during high load.
By default, auto-cpufreq does not use the config file! If you wish to use it, the location where config needs to be placed for it to be read automatically is: `/etc/auto-cpufreq.conf`
Running `auto-cpufreq --help` will print the same list of options as above. Read [auto-cpufreq modes and options](#auto-cpufreq-modes-and-options) for more details.
Necessary changes are temporarily made to the system which are lost with system reboot. This mode is made to evaluate what the system would behave with auto-cpufreq permanently running on the system.
Necessary changes are made to the system for auto-cpufreq CPU optimization to persist across reboots. The daemon is deployed and then started as a systemd service. Changes are made automatically and live stats are generated for monitoring purposes.
After the daemon is installed, `auto-cpufreq` is available as a binary and is running in the background. Its stats can be viewed by running: `auto-cpufreq --stats`
*Please note:* after auto-cpufreq daemon was installed using CLI, if app was installed on a desktop environment, it will be possible to view auto-cpufreq in both CLI or GUI. See "Install the daemon using GUI" section for more details.
**Install the daemon using GUI**
Starting with >= v2.0 [after installing auto-cpufreq](#installing-auto-cpufreq), auto-cpufreq desktop entry (icon) will be available, i.e:
<imgsrc="https://foolcontrol.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/auto-cpufreq-desktop-entry-icon.png"width="640"alt="Example of auto-cpufreq desktop entry (icon)"/>
After which it'll be possible to install auto-cpufreq daemon by clicking on GUI install button.
<imgsrc="http://foolcontrol.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/auto-cpufreq-daemon-install-gui.png"width="480"alt="Example of auto-cpufreq desktop entry (icon)"/>
After which auto-cpufreq GUI will be available
<imgsrc="http://foolcontrol.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/auto-cpufreq-v2-gui.png"width="640"alt="Example of auto-cpufreq desktop entry (icon)"/>
*Please note:* after auto-cpufreq daemon was installed using GUI installer as mentioned above, it will be possible to view auto-cpufreq in both CLI or GUI.
**auto-cpufreq daemon service**
Installing auto-cpufreq daemon will enable the auto-cpufreq service (equivalent to `systemctl enable auto-cpufreq`) to start on boot, and start it (equivalent to `systemctl start auto-cpufreq`).
Update functionality works by cloning auto-cpufreq repo, installing it using [auto-cpufreq-installer](#auto-cpufreq-installer) and performing [auto-cpufreq daemon install](#install---auto-cpufreq-daemon) with [latest version](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/releases) changes.
Update auto-cpufreq by running: `sudo auto-cpufreq --update`. Latest revision is cloned to default location `/opt/auto-cpufreq/source`, thus maintaining existing dir structure.
Update and clone to custom directory by running: `sudo auto-cpufreq --update=/path/to/directory`.
Once you have made the necessary changes to the GRUB configuration file, you can update it by running `sudo update-grub` or `sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg` on Arch Linux. On the other hand, for Fedora, you can update the configuration file by running one of the following commands:
* The command ```sudo auto-cpufreq --install``` produces error [#471](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/issues/471) please don't use it.
* This script is supposed to automate the process of enabling auto-cpufreq.service so you need to manually open terminal and type
~~~
sudo systemctl enable --now auto-cpufreq.service
~~~
for the service to work.
* Power Profiles Daemon is [automatically disabled by auto-cpufreq-installer](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq#1-power_helperpy-script-snap-package-install-only) due to it's conflict with auto-cpufreq.service. However this doesn't happen with AUR package and will lead to problems (i.e: [#463](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/issues/463)) if not masked manually.
* So open your terminal and type
~~~
sudo systemctl mask power-profiles-daemon.service
~~~
Following this command ```enable``` the auto-cpufreq.service if you haven't already.
Other ways of supporting the project consists of making a code or documentation contribution. If you have an idea for a new features or want to implement some of the existing feature requests or fix some of the [bugs & issues](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/issues) please make your changes and submit a [pull request](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/pulls) which I'll be glad to review. If your changes are accepted you'll be credited as part of [releases page](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/releases).
**Please note: auto-cpufreq is looking for co-maintainers & open source developers to [help shape future of the project!](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/discussions/312)**
