Cannot configure processor speed in KDE 4.6

[Dotan Cohen]

On Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 01:02, Duncan <1i5t5.duncan at cox.net> wrote:
> Dotan Cohen posted on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:36:49 +0200 as excerpted:
>
>> So is there any way to leave it at wide open throttle, i.e. 2.7 GHz?
>> Because locking it at 1000 MHz is ridiculous, I can barely use this
>> machine.
>
> Makes sense.  See below.
>
>> Great, but until they actually work and don't leave me crippled at 1000
>> MHz at least let me manually override it. On which KDE component should
>> I file a bug? Or should I file at my distro (Kubuntu)?
>
> Kubuntu... let's just say doesn't exactly have the reputation of having
> the smoothest or best working distro-packaged kde out there.  I understand
> there's resource and political issues that make it so, so don't hold it
> against the folks putting out the product, but pretty much everyone I've
> read seems to agree that kubuntu isn't the best choice for those wanting a
> good kde4 experience.  One alternative allowing you to keep kubuntu
> untouched but testing something else would be to try a LiveCD/DVD version
> from a different distro.  If it has the same problem, it's probably an
> upstream bug.  If not, it's possibly a distro bug.
>
> Filing a bug:   At least with Gentoo, the general policy is file with the
> distro first, just in case it's a distro patch or policy that's the
> problem.  The gentoo package maintainer will generally recommend filing it
> upstream if it's appropriate.  However, gentoo's a rolling release on
> which several versions of a particular package (or metapackage, desktop
> environment in this case) are available, from bleeding edge, either in
> ~arch/testing or in an overlay, to at least one and often several older
> stable versions.
>
> With a semi-annual bin-based distro like kubuntu, which tends to sync and
> test everything shipped with a release and mainly support the release-
> shipped version, I'd expect it to be more likely for bugs to remain
> unaddressed until they basically expire -- newer versions potentially
> fixing the problem are available in the newer release.  Particularly for
> kubuntu, given the factors above.
>
> But that's simply my general opinion.  You're the one with kubuntu
> experience.  Anyway, see below...
>
>>> What may have happened, however, is that kde 4.6 is actually out in
>>> front of the other changes, particularly if you're not running equally
>>> new kernels and lower-level user-space, so the choice is removed, but
>>> the capacity hasn't yet been, so some upgrade installs are getting
>>> locked at the last set cpu frequencies, until either the rest of the
>>> system catches up, or until the last set config is removed.
>>>
>>>
>> It's a fairly recent kernel:
>> u✈ganymede:~$ uname -a
>> Linux ganymede 2.6.35-25-generic-pae #44-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 21 19:01:46
>> UTC 2011 i686 GNU/Linux
>> ✈ganymede:~$
>
> <smile>  You must understand that you're talking to someone who isn't yet
> running 2.6.38 git-kernels mainly due to lack of time this cycle.  I'm
> still on 2.6.37, and feel rather behind at that.
>
> 2.6.35 is indeed reasonably upto date for a distro kernel, I'll agree.
> However, my point was that kde4 does seem to work best when the entire
> system is kept reasonably synced, and 2.6.35 was released... google says
> early Aug, 2010.  That would put it more in line with kde 4.5 than 4.6.
> 2.6.37 was released shortly before kde 4.6, and kde does seem to be
> forward looking, so I'd suggest an equally new kernel 2.6.37 to go with
> the new kde 4.6.
>
> The 4.6 switch to udev/udisks/upower/etc probably means they should be
> reasonably upto date as well.  For reference, here's the versions I'm
> running: upower-0.9.8 udisks-1.0.2 udev-164-r1 (the -r1 being the gentoo
> revision, it's 164 upstream).
>
> Not saying that the newest will fix everything, and of course they may
> bring their own problems if updated while the rest of the install remains
> at the release, just sayin' that waiting for a 4.6 that presumably ships
> as part of a kubuntu release (I'm presuming 4.6 was an upgrade of an
> existing install on the same distro release) may well get you a better
> tested-to-work-together platform.
>
>> And I've removed all the config files, still the problem exists.
>
> This is what all those "see below" comments were about...
>
> You tried with a clean user (clean $HOME, so new user or backed up and
> deleted $HOME)?  Or just the obvious config files?
>
> If the former, than it looks to be a problem at the system level.  That's
> a whole different beast.  Next thing I'd try in that case is whether
> booting to a CLI, without starting X (no xdm/kdm/etc) at all, still CPU-
> freq limits you.  If so, it can hardly be KDE or X.  If not, I'd strongly
> suspect an issue with the system-wide kde config.  That's normally found
> in $KDEPREFIX/share, so probably either /usr/share, /usr/local/share, or
> /opt/share, depending on where your distro or your own build put it.  (A
> kde session gets its config from built-in, system-level, and user-level,
> with each level normally superseding the former, if both exist.  If you've
> tried with a clean user, that means the system-level config is the next
> suspect.)
>
> If you haven't, recently, you might also think about taking apart your
> hardware and checking to see if it needs cleaned.  Perhaps the CPU heatsink
> is clogged with dust, the CPU is throttling to prevent overheating, and
> the timing just happened to line up with your kde 4.6 install.  That's
> certainly not unheard of.  (Tech sites occasionally run features where
> they post horror story photos of systems readers, generally admins or tech
> support brought the system to fix because it was running slow or wouldn't
> boot, have had to clean out...  Let's just say you don't want to be eating
> while you're reading such articles...)
>

Thanks. A brand new user profile still suffers the issue, and the
hardware is clean enough to operate off of. No heat problems.

Of all the complaints about *buntu, I'm rather happy. But I suppose
that the time has come to check out Suse and Fedora again. Thanks.

-- 
Dotan Cohen

http://gibberish.co.il
http://what-is-what.com
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