Overview

The following shows how you can optimize your computer using Powertop to generate runing recommendations and apply those optimizations at boot using an rc-local service.

Powertop

1. Install powertop

   sudo pacman -S powertop
   

2. Run powertop report (on battery power)

   sudo powertop -r
   

   After a few seconds, a file called powertop.html is created.

3. Open the powertop.html file in your browser and inspect the Tuning tab for tuning recommendations.

Configure rc-local service

1. Create rc.local file in /etc directory with the following content

   #!/bin/sh -e
   echo "Hello World"
   Insert powertop optimization scripts here.
   exit 0
   

2. Create rc-local.service file in /etc/systemd/system directory with the following content

   #  This file is part of systemd.
   #
   #  systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
   #  under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
   #  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
   #  (at your option) any later version.
   [Unit]
   Description=/etc/rc.local Compatibility
   ConditionPathExists=/etc/rc.local
   [Service]
   Type=oneshot
   ExecStart=/etc/rc.local
   TimeoutSec=0
   StandardOutput=tty
   RemainAfterExit=yes
   SysVStartPriority=99
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

3. Enable and start rc-local service

   sudo systemctl enable rc-local
   sudo systemctl start rc-local
   

4. Confirm that the service has successfully started

   sudo systemctl status rc-local
   

References

• Arch Wiki - Powertop