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.

Laptop Power Saving: Enable Laptop Mode in Ubuntu

Last updated: January 28, 2014

Laptop mode is a kernel “mode” that allows you to extend the battery life of your laptop. It does this by making disk write activity “bursty”, so that only reads of uncached data result in a disk spinup. It causes a significant improvement in battery life (for usage patterns that allow it).

Laptop Mode Tools is the primary way to enable the Laptop Mode feature of the Linux kernel, which lets your hard drive spin down. In addition, it allows you to tweak a number of other power-related settings using a simple configuration file.

Laptop Mode Tools was a command line only tool until version 1.64, which introduces a GUI that lets you toggle individual power saving modules.

At the moment the version 1.64 is only available in the Ubuntu 14.04 repository. For Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 13.04 and Ubuntu 12.04, you can install it from the Webupd8 PPA.

Install Laptop Mode Tools:

NOTE: Laptop Mode Tools is in conflict with TLP. Don’t use them in the same time!

For Ubuntu 14.04, search for and install laptop-mode-tools from Ubuntu Software Center.

For Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.10 and Ubuntu 12.04, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/unstable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install laptop-mode-tools

If you don’t like the PPAs, you can manually download the deb from HERE.

Once installed, the Laptop Mode should be enabled by default. To launch the configuration tool, run the command below in terminal:

gksu lmt-config-gui

You can also find the configuration files in /etc/laptop-mode.