Archives For November 30, 1999

Install Laptop Mode Tools 1.68.1 in Ubuntu 15.10

Last updated: September 29, 2015

Laptop Mode Tools

Laptop Mode Tools, power saving tool for Linux laptop, got a new release two days ago. Here’s how to install/upgrade it in Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 15.04, and Ubuntu 14.04.

This is a point release of Laptop Mode Tools 1.68 that updates details about runtime-pm in manpage, reverts “Drop out reload” feature, offers a more descriptive log error, repairs issues with stdout descriptor, and brings a couple of bug-fixes.

Install Laptop Mode Tools 1.68.1:

NOTE: Laptop Mode Tools conflicts with TLP (they are doing the same thing). You have to remove TLP if installed before installing this software!

Besides building it from the source tarball, you may install the binary package from my personal PPA. Just open terminal from the Dash, Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T key. When it opens, run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install python-qt4 laptop-mode-tools

Or download the .deb installer (98K) directly from THIS PAGE.

Once installed, run below command in terminal to launch the configuration UI (see above pic.):

gksu lmt-config-gui

Install gksu from Software Center if need. That’s it.

Laptop Mode Tools, a Linux power-saving package, gets an update recently with many important bug-fixes. All users are recommended to upgrade to the new release.

Laptop Mode Tools controls the “laptop mode” feature of the Linux kernel. It saves power by spinning down hard drives, and in addition, it can be configured to tweak all sorts of other power-related things.

Version 1.67 was released 10 months after the last 1.66 release, which brings more reliably check for Device Mapper based devices, which is common these days with Crypt and LVM. See changes:

  • Relax minimum window size to accomodate low res screens
  • Fix variable name to comply with our “constants” assuptions
  • Get more aggressive in power saving for Intel HD Audio
  • Account Device Mapper devices
  • Add swsusp freeze support
  • Switch battery-level-polling default to True
  • Detect ethernet carrier, early and relibaly
  • changes the boolean setting *_ACTIVATE_SATA_POWER to a customizable *_SATA_POLICY, with backward-compatible defaults and documentation

How to Install Laptop Mode Tools 1.67:

NOTE: Laptop Mode Tools conflicts with TLP (they are doing the same thing). You have to remove TLP if installed before installing this software!

Open terminal from the Dash, Launcher, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run below commands one by one to install it in Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Mint 17, or Freya from PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install laptop-mode-tools

For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb installer from this page.

After installation, start the graphical configuration interface via command:

gksu lmt-config-gui

You’ll see the window in above picture after typing your password.

For the source tarball, go to this page.