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1 | Notes on Power-Saving Mode | ||
2 | ========================== | ||
3 | |||
4 | AC97 and HD-audio drivers have the automatic power-saving mode. | ||
5 | This feature is enabled via Kconfig CONFIG_SND_AC97_POWER_SAVE | ||
6 | and CONFIG_SND_HDA_POWER_SAVE options, respectively. | ||
7 | |||
8 | With the automatic power-saving, the driver turns off the codec power | ||
9 | appropriately when no operation is required. When no applications use | ||
10 | the device and/or no analog loopback is set, the power disablement is | ||
11 | done fully or partially. It'll save a certain power consumption, thus | ||
12 | good for laptops (even for desktops). | ||
13 | |||
14 | The time-out for automatic power-off can be specified via power_save | ||
15 | module option of snd-ac97-codec and snd-hda-intel modules. Specify | ||
16 | the time-out value in seconds. 0 means to disable the automatic | ||
17 | power-saving. The default value of timeout is given via | ||
18 | CONFIG_SND_AC97_POWER_SAVE_DEFAULT and | ||
19 | CONFIG_SND_HDA_POWER_SAVE_DEFAULT Kconfig options. Setting this to 1 | ||
20 | (the minimum value) isn't recommended because many applications try to | ||
21 | reopen the device frequently. 10 would be a good choice for normal | ||
22 | operations. | ||
23 | |||
24 | The power_save option is exported as writable. This means you can | ||
25 | adjust the value via sysfs on the fly. For example, to turn on the | ||
26 | automatic power-save mode with 10 seconds, write to | ||
27 | /sys/modules/snd_ac97_codec/parameters/power_save (usually as root): | ||
28 | |||
29 | # echo 10 > /sys/modules/snd_ac97_codec/parameters/power_save | ||
30 | |||
31 | |||
32 | Note that you might hear click noise/pop when changing the power | ||
33 | state. Also, it often takes certain time to wake up from the | ||
34 | power-down to the active state. These are often hardly to fix, so | ||
35 | don't report extra bug reports unless you have a fix patch ;-) | ||
36 | |||
37 | For HD-audio interface, there is another module option, | ||
38 | power_save_controller. This enables/disables the power-save mode of | ||
39 | the controller side. Setting this on may reduce a bit more power | ||
40 | consumption, but might result in longer wake-up time and click noise. | ||
41 | Try to turn it off when you experience such a thing too often. | ||