Netbook Tweaks Part2: /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/

Tweaking your hardware’s behavior to save more power.

If you look under /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/, you can find here more configuration files for laptop-mode-tools in addition to the main config file /etc/laptop_mode/laptop_mode.conf.

Here you will find more hardware behavior tweaks that will help you save power on your machines, like USB auto-suspend, auto-hibernate, bluetooth powersavings, cpu frequency powersavings, sata power management, backlight settings, terminal blanking etc…

Each config file inside /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/ tweaks a certain feature, for example the file lcd-brightness allows you to set a certain brightness level for your screen when you are on AC or on Battery. I configured my machine to have a brightness of 3 on battery and 12 on AC.

Try playing with the config files here and see what suits you or what settings saves the most power.

My First Zen Wallpaper

A Zen wallpaper I made. Hope someone likes it like I do!

 

Netbook Tweaks Part1: /etc/laptop_mode/laptop_mode.conf

Why enable laptop-mode-tools?

I’m not satisfied with the 4.5 to 5.2 hours battery life of my Asus 1000HG running on Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 beta.

How to install laptop-mode-tools?

Luckily laptop-mode-tools is installed by default on my system but normally, you can install it via synaptic given that you have reloaded your packages. Or you can download the .deb package from here.

What is laptop-mode-tools for?

Laptop-mode-tools is used for tweaking your lappies or netbooks to spin down your harddrive, set backlight brightness, cpu scheduling, configure cpu frequency and throttling, usb auto-suspend, and other power related settings to get the most out of your battery.

How did I configure laptop-mode-tools on my machine?

Given that I already have laptop-mode-tools installed, first I went to my /etc/default/acpi-support file and edited the line from:


ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=false


TO

ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=true


NOTE: This setting allows to switch to laptop-mode on battery power. This setting might cause your system to hang-up. If it does don’t set this to true.

Next we go to /etc/laptop_mode/laptop_mode.conf, here you can do some basic tweaks to optimize battery. almost all entries here are self explanatory so you shouldn’t have any problems if you read the comments for each entry. For reference here are the contents of my /etc/laptop_mode/laptop_mode.conf:


VERBOSE_OUTPUT=1
ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_BATTERY=1
ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_AC=1
ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_WHEN_LID_CLOSED=0
MINIMUM_BATTERY_CHARGE_PERCENT=3
DISABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_CRITICAL_BATTERY_LEVEL=1
HD="/dev/sda /dev/sdb"
PARTITIONS="auto /dev/mapper/*"
ASSUME_SCSI_IS_SATA=1
LM_BATT_MAX_LOST_WORK_SECONDS=600
LM_AC_MAX_LOST_WORK_SECONDS=360
CONTROL_READAHEAD=1
LM_READAHEAD=3072
NOLM_READAHEAD=128
CONTROL_NOATIME=0
USE_RELATIME=1
CONTROL_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT=1
LM_AC_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=60
LM_BATT_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=60
NOLM_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=7200
CONTROL_HD_POWERMGMT=0
BATT_HD_POWERMGMT=1
LM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=254
NOLM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=254
CONTROL_HD_WRITECACHE=1
NOLM_AC_HD_WRITECACHE=1
NOLM_BATT_HD_WRITECACHE=0
LM_HD_WRITECACHE=0


Here is my current working laptop-mode-tools configuration.
You can freely edit your settings and see what works for you.
Or if you are confused with one of the parameters here, you can contact me here or read this.

Now, Try out your settings by issuing sudo laptop_mode auto.
Since I configured my settings to VERBOSE_OUTPUT=1 a few lines will display on my terminal. To verify if laptop_mode worked issue a cat /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode, if it returns a value of anything greater than 0 then it means that you have succesfully enabled laptop-mode-tools!

NOTE: if you have a better laptop_mode.conf you are free to post it here. And do not believe your power applet! It is not accurate! The only way you can really measure battery life is by manually timing it from the time you unplugged it from the mains up till your battery life reaches 3%.

This ends Netbook Tweaks Part1.

Making Movies PSP compatible using Avidemux

a friend of mine came to me asking, “hey, can you convert some videos for me for my girlfriend’s PSP? It seems the converters we downloaded are either bogus or trial versions.”, with that I tried googling for psp movie converters available for UNR Karmic.

(@jspalding: yeah I know I told before that i’m using Eeebuntu, I removed it from my system. Battery life was decent but somehow I craved for UNR Karmic’s sexy and accesible interface. )

Back to topic, well, I found this quality/free software available at Ubuntu Software Center (popularly known as add/remove programs),  It is called Avidemux. Avidemux can be used for simple cutting, filtering and encoding of videos.

Here is a nice tutorial I followed to get me started with Avidemux. Took me 1hour to convert an unsupported HD .mp4 movie to a PSP supported HD .mp4 movie, FULL SCREEN!

Avidemux is also available for Windows under the GNU GPL license.

Round 1: Typhoon Ondoy, Round 2: Typhoon Pepeng

Saturday, last week, Typhoon Ondoy struck the Philippines (my country). Rivers were flooded, bridges ruined, houses buried under landslides, properties gone, crops ruined and some places are still flooded up to now. I was not able to come home that night since I was stranded on another place. The thought of not being with my family during these times of crisis really made me worried. Being stranded, my only means of communication was Facebook! (Thank you facebook!)

NOTE: I did not make this video.

I was only able to get back home this Tuesday. My house was flooded up to the waist, luckily while I was stranded, some neighbors and friends of mine was able to help my mom and sister move stuff, furniture and electronics around the house as to avoid being ruined by the flood. (Thanks to those who helped my family!).

NOTE: I did not make this video.

Lot’s of people here have not yet recovered from the devastation Ondoy brought upon us. Now, not a week has passed and another typhoon (Typhoon Pepeng) is knocking on our doors. Me and my family, like everyone else have already readied ourselves; rations, clothes, candles and others have been prepared ahead of time. Let’s all just hope that typhoon Pepeng is nothing like Ondoy and will just pass us like nothing happened.

Round 2! Begin!

a bash script for making bash scripts

I use this script to help me build bash scripts then opens the newly created bash script in Vi.

#!/bin/bash
#Filename: shellscript

if [ !$1 ]
#tests for absence of command line arguments
then
#if none was provided prompt for filename
echo “please enter name of new bash script:”
read scriptname

else
scriptname=$1
fi

echo “Please enter a short description of what this script does: “
read desc

#create the new file in the users $HOME/Desktop directory
touch ~/Desktop/$scriptname
#sets permission on the file
chmod 755 ~/Desktop/$scriptname
echo “#!/bin/bash” > ~/Desktop/$scriptname
echo “#File: $scriptname” >> ~/Desktop/$scriptname
echo “#Author: $LOGNAME” >> ~/Desktop/$scriptname
echo “#Description: $desc” >> ~/Desktop/$scriptname

#opens file for editing
vi ~/Desktop/$scriptname

ubuntu desktop screenshots

I was browsing around my files a few hours ago and i stumbled upon some ancient screenshots i took during the ubuntu gutsy gibbon days, lemme share them with you

For those of you who are wondering if these are edited pics or whatever, my answer is no… This is ubuntu OS with compiz-fusion enabled. Compiz-fusion is like Aero, just better and only for linux. Now, let’s let these screenshots speak for themselves

As you can see, enabling compiz-fusion fires up all the awesome eyecandy effects on your ubuntu box. you get Desktop Cube, Watter Rippling effects, Fire effects and many many more.

Had enough? Or you want to try it out?

moblin 2: possibly the best OS that you will ever put on your netbook

here is moblin v.2.0 (mobile linux), possibly the best OS that you will ever put on your netbook. the speed from the bootloader to the OS itself is super fast, fresh and very intuitive user interface, and moblin has been optimized to make the most out of your little netbook, from proccessing power to battery life. i can’t wait to install this on my Asus 1000HG!

take note! moblin v.2.0 is still in beta testing so there are still bugs/quirks and most probably hardware support is at a low. if  you are in need of a stable system then don’t bother installing it, but if you wan’t to try it out or test it then go ahead.

check out the user experience video below. you’ll just love how it fits perfectly on your netbook’s tiny screen!

NOTE: I was not the one who made this video.

end of day one

Im done tweaking my new blog for today. Let’s see if i can keep this up.
Well, it’s waaaaaay past bed time here, I feel really sleepy right now~
Oooh! I’m really looking forward for tomorrow.

hello world!

This is my first post. HAHA! That felt really weird. ;0

This blog will mostly contain rants, ramblings, and personal opinions regarding my everyday life, when I say “my everyday life”, it means the following:

• Stuffs that catch my attention.
• Stuffs I do during my idle time .
• Food.
• Work (Windows environment. AD Stuff, Troubleshooting, Scripting, etc.).
• Linux (Troubleshooting, Experiences, Tips, etc.).