Hey everyone! I'm using a ThinkPad T480 and recently switched to Linux Mint. I've noticed that the battery life on Linux is way worse compared to Windows. The default power profiles seem inefficient, and while I tried using auto-cpufreq, it made the laptop super slow. On Windows, I could set it to power-saving mode and still browse smoothly. I'm looking for better battery-saving solutions for my Linux setup. Should I just revert to the default settings or is there something else I can do?
3 Answers
You might want to try using the 'Tuned' package, which can help optimize your power settings. Also, check which version of Mint you’re on. If it's not the latest, updating the kernel could bring some improvements to battery life. Another option is to disable compositing to lessen the GPU load, which might help too.
I had a similar issue with my T480 a while back when I was running Mint. I couldn't find a solid fix for the battery drain, so I switched to EndeavorOS, which runs really efficiently right out of the box. I use a tool called 'throttled' to undervolt and get even more out of my battery. You might want to consider trying a different distro if you can!
Have you checked if your laptop is using the correct graphics drivers? Sometimes switching to the proprietary drivers can help; they often manage power better than open source options. Also, make sure to close apps that drain your battery in the background.
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