[LAPTOP] Battery draining fast

[Vexie]

Hello,

After last kde update my battery ( that lasted about 4 hours ) now last 45 min. top (updated on Monday 12. October).
I'm using Lenovo Think Book 13s. When I'm on windows battery is ok and last almost 5 hours.
Anyone have any idea?

Thanks,

[phil1349]

I have had this problem on odd occasions in the past, it is usually caused when an application goes rogue for whatever reason. The easiest way to diagnose it is to run KSysGuard (Start>Applications>System>KSysGuard).

This gives either a graphical representation via the "System Load " tab ot text from the "Process Table" tab of what is using the system resources. Normally processor core(s) utilisation is less than 5% but if the application misbehaves then core utilisation may be 100%. This will run down the battery fairly quickly and won't do the processor much good either. Sometimes shutting down and restarting an application will cure the problem or in extreme cases it may have to be re-installed. Or it could be a bug and needs reporting to the developer.

Hope this helps - have fun !

[mbohets]

I just bought a new laptop, which has a big battery, and after installing KDE Neon, battery autonomy was only 2.5h, where the laptop manufacterer advertises 8-10h
Also a number of things did not work (wake up from sleep, change display brightness, connect a 2nd screen)

It looks like Ubuntu/Neon did a very bad job on HW driver support, because when I tried Fedora, everything worked out of the box, and my battery now lasts 9h.

Fedora uses more recent kernels, and that makes all the difference.
When trying to install this newer kernel on Neon, it did not improve, so Canonnical has some work to do to make this right.
So after years of using Kubuntu and KDE Neon, I'll have to start using another distro on my new laptop.

[claydoh]

Linux often has poor battery life in laptops as the manufacturers don't always make it easy to get at the power management systems they have. That is why super-fresh kernels are sometimes required esp for the very latest models, AMD in particular, them being on a bit of a tear here lately in catching up with Intel and constantly updating their hardware.

One thing that works for me on my Lenovo Flex 15, my previous Lenovo Ideapad, and most other laptops is to install the program tlp. It runs in the background, and without any configuration it added a decent amount of battery life for me. It seems to work well, particularly on Thinkpad/lenovos, which it was originally created for.

I don't get the advertised 9 hours life on my flex, but heck I never saw that on Windows during my testing. Maybe 7.

I know I don't pay lots of attention to battery time, as I close the lid (to suspend) when not using it, or it goes to sleep after 10 mins, the default may be 15. I seldom charge morw than once a day right now, but of course my usage will not be the same as other people.

Even with a more fresh kernel, tlp is still a good thing to use. So will checking for bios updates, particularly if it is an AMD system.


Interestingly your model advertises an 11 hour battery life, so even your Windows life seems short. Another reason to check for bios updates.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I was going to post a similar thread--and then I saw this!

My new System76 Gazelle laptop's battery only lasts about 2-1/2 hours--at most. Offhand, I don't recall what they advertised, but I'm sure it was more than that! I haven't contacted System76 because I know exactly what they'll say: "you're using Kubuntu? We don't support that! We can't guarantee any performance if you're not using what we installed." [For those who don't know, System76 only sells Linux computers, but they're shipped with your choice of Ubuntu or their PopOS; Kubuntu is not an option.]

[claydoh]

Battery life would not be terribly effected by which desktop, per se.
I also believe that at least one Kubuntu type person works in their tech support, or at least did.

DoYou, did you add system76's driver PPA? They have their own firmware and drivers for the laptops, as well as their own version of Nvidia drivers (if applicable)

http://support.system76.com/articles/system76-driver/

And don't miss
https://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=341
and
https://pop-planet.info/forums/

You will probably have better support on non-KDE and hardware stuff

[DoYouKubuntu]

Battery life would not be terribly effected by which desktop, per se.
I also believe that at least one Kubuntu type person works in their tech support, or at least did.

You're probably right about that.

DoYou, did you add system76's driver PPA? They have their own firmware and drivers for the laptops, as well as their own version of Nvidia drivers (if applicable)

http://support.system76.com/articles/system76-driver/

And don't miss
https://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=341
and
https://pop-planet.info/forums/

You will probably have better support on non-KDE and hardware stuff

No, I did not do any of that... Actually, I forgot all about it. Someone [you?] mentioned that in a different thread. I meant to do it, but I guess it got lost in the shuffle. The borked system, the delayed thumb drive, senility...

[Teunis]

Hi claydoh,

Not that I need it on this Thinkpad but where did you find this program tip, I don see it in the 20.04 repo's.

[jglen490]

I think it was tlp and not tip. I do see tlp in Synaptic

[Teunis]

Ah, thanks for the correction that my glasses missed!

[jlittle]

Sans-serif fonts strike again.

[jglen490]

. Dupe .

[jglen490]

Ah, thanks for the correction that my glasses missed!

I feel that pain! I keep my readers well polished.