QA:Testcase Power Management video powersave idle

Description

This test case measures energy consumed by you system while in active idle with aggressive power management settings on your video card.

Limited audience
This test targets laptop users or users with wattmeter and those with Intel, Nvidia or ATI / AMD (Radeon) video cards.

Long test
This test will take approx. 15 minutes.

Optional test case
If you do not have laptop (or PC with wattmeter) or if you do not have enough time feel free to skip this test. In this case please leave the corresponding column in the results table blank.

Complementary test case
If you complete this test, please also complete the Tuned powersave idle test case .

Setup

Plese select and follow the paragraph bellow regarding your video card HW:

Intel

1. If you have secondary video card, please disable it in BIOS or by following instructions on [1]
2. Boot with the following kernel arguments (add them to grub, you can use the Tab key to edit the parameters in the boot prompt if using the Live medium):

   i915.i915_enable_rc6=4 i915.i915_enable_fbc=1 i915.semaphores=1 i915.lvds_downclock=1

3. Check that you have pm-test-day package installed:

   $ rpm -q pm-test-day

For better results disable screensaver, screen dimming/turning off, transition to sleep mode and cron service:

1. Disable screensaver (if applicable).
2. Disable automatic suspend and screen blanking, in Gnome 3:

   $ gnome-control-center power

   • In "Suspend & Power Off" check that the "Automatic Suspend" is set to "Off".
   • In "Power Saving" set "Blank Screen" to "Never".
3. For all measurements set LCD brigthness to max. value (if applicable) or at least to the same value for all measurements (if possible indicate your brightness level in the results table).
4. Disable cron:

   # systemctl stop crond.service

Nvidia

1. If you have secondary video card, please disable it by following instructions on [2]
2. Boot with the following kernel arguments (add them to grub, you can use the Tab key to edit the parameters in the boot prompt if using the Live medium):

   nouveau.perflvl_wr=7777

3. Check that you have pm-test-day package installed:

   $ rpm -q pm-test-day

For better results disable screensaver, screen dimming/turning off, transition to sleep mode and cron service:

1. Disable screensaver (if applicable).
2. Disable automatic suspend and screen blanking, in Gnome 3:

   $ gnome-control-center power

   • In "Suspend & Power Off" check that the "Automatic Suspend" is set to "Off".
   • In "Power Saving" set "Blank Screen" to "Never".
3. For all measurements set LCD brigthness to max. value (if applicable) or at least to the same value for all measurements (if possible indicate your brightness level in the results table).
4. Disable cron:

   # systemctl stop crond.service

5. Check what performance levels are available by:

   dmesg | grep -A4 "available performance level"

6. Select the lowest available performance level by:

   echo 0 > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/performance_level

   If you have enough time you can re-test with various performance levels.

ATI / AMD (Radeon)

1. Check that you have pm-test-day package installed:

   $ rpm -q pm-test-day

For better results disable screensaver, screen dimming/turning off, transition to sleep mode and cron service:

1. Disable screensaver (if applicable).
2. Disable automatic suspend and screen blanking, in Gnome 3:

   $ gnome-control-center power

   • In "Suspend & Power Off" check that the "Automatic Suspend" is set to "Off".
   • In "Power Saving" set "Blank Screen" to "Never".
3. For all measurements set LCD brigthness to max. value (if applicable) or at least to the same value for all measurements (if possible indicate your brightness level in the results table).
4. Disable cron:

   # systemctl stop crond.service

5. If you have secondary video card, please disable it by following instructions on [3]
6. Select dynpm (for details see [4]) by:

    # echo dynpm > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method

   If you have enough time you can re-test with other profiles.

How to test

Run from battery
This test needs to be run on battery (laptops) or with connected external wattmeter. In case you have laptop and also use external wattmeter please disconnect battery.

Battery charge level
If you are running on battery, please recharge your battery to full capacity before running this test. If you don't have enough time, you can skip the recharging.

Measurement problems
If it complains that the test cannot be run on your computer, use external wattmeter or skip this test.

Screen blanking
If the screen blanks during the measurement, unblank it by e.g. mouse movement.

1. Disable tuned by:

   # systemctl stop tuned.service

2. If you have laptop running on battery, run the following command:

   # pmtd-measure

   Otherwise connect your external wattmeter and measure energy consumed in 15 minute interval.

3. Do not touch your computer until the test completes (15 minutes).
4. Write the output to the results table.

Expected Results

1. Energy consumed during the test.