Tlp and audio

[Aleks]

So, today I had to scan something and my Canoscan Lide for some reason stopped working. Long story short, it turned out that it had to do with power saving optimizations on my laptop, since the scanner is usb powered. I disabled tlp and set the cpu governor to 'performance'. So I figure, this surely has some implications on usb sound cards, right? I am far from being a computer savvy, so can you, the more knowledgeable folks here advice me, and the people like me, how to set tlp so that I don't have to disable it in the 'default' file, then reboot my laptop, then enable it, then reboot again... I would like to be able to plug in a sound card (or my scanner) when on DC power without tlp causing me problems, and still to have the max powersave when on battery. Here is the default file.

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# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# tlp - Parameters for power save
# See full explanation: http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-configuration.html

# Hint: some features are disabled by default, remove the leading # to enable
# them.

# Set to 0 to disable, 1 to enable TLP.
TLP_ENABLE=1

# Operation mode when no power supply can be detected: AC, BAT
# Concerns some desktop and embedded hardware only.
TLP_DEFAULT_MODE=AC

# Seconds laptop mode has to wait after the disk goes idle before doing a sync.
# Non-zero value enables, zero disables laptop mode.
DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_AC=0
DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_BAT=2

# Dirty page values (timeouts in secs).
MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_AC=15
MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_BAT=60

# Hint: CPU parameters below are disabled by default, remove the leading #
# to enable them, otherwise kernel default values are used.

# Select a CPU frequency scaling governor:
#   ondemand, powersave, performance, conservative
# Intel Core i processor with intel_pstate driver:
#   powersave, performance
# Important:
#   You *must* disable your distribution's governor settings or conflicts will
#   occur. ondemand is sufficient for *almost all* workloads, you should know
#   what you're doing!
#CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_AC=ondemand
#CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_BAT=ondemand

# Set the min/max frequency available for the scaling governor.
# Possible values strongly depend on your CPU. For available frequencies see
# tlp-stat output, Section "+++ Processor".
#CPU_SCALING_MIN_FREQ_ON_AC=0
#CPU_SCALING_MAX_FREQ_ON_AC=0
#CPU_SCALING_MIN_FREQ_ON_BAT=0
#CPU_SCALING_MAX_FREQ_ON_BAT=0

# Set Intel P-state performance: 0..100 (%)
# Limit the max/min P-state to control the power dissipation of the CPU.
# Values are stated as a percentage of the available performance.
# Requires an Intel Core i processor with intel_pstate driver.
#CPU_MIN_PERF_ON_AC=0
#CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_AC=100
#CPU_MIN_PERF_ON_BAT=0
#CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_BAT=30

# Set the CPU "turbo boost" feature: 0=disable, 1=allow
# Requires an Intel Core i processor.
# Important:
# - This may conflict with your distribution's governor settings
# - A value of 1 does *not* activate boosting, it just allows it
#CPU_BOOST_ON_AC=1
#CPU_BOOST_ON_BAT=0

# Minimize number of used CPU cores/hyper-threads under light load conditions
SCHED_POWERSAVE_ON_AC=0
SCHED_POWERSAVE_ON_BAT=1

# Kernel NMI Watchdog:
#   0=disable (default, saves power), 1=enable (for kernel debugging only)
NMI_WATCHDOG=0

# Change CPU voltages aka "undervolting" - Kernel with PHC patch required
# Frequency voltage pairs are written to:
#   /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/phc_controls
# CAUTION: only use this, if you thoroughly understand what you are doing!
#PHC_CONTROLS="F:V F:V F:V F:V"

# Set CPU performance versus energy savings policy:
#   performance, normal, powersave
# Requires kernel module msr and x86_energy_perf_policy from linux-tools
ENERGY_PERF_POLICY_ON_AC=performance
ENERGY_PERF_POLICY_ON_BAT=powersave

# Hard disk devices; separate multiple devices with spaces (default: sda).
# Devices can be specified by disk ID also (lookup with: tlp diskid).
DISK_DEVICES="sda sdb"

# Hard disk advanced power management level: 1..254, 255 (max saving, min, off)
# Levels 1..127 may spin down the disk; 255 allowable on most drives.
# Separate values for multiple devices with spaces.
DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_AC="254 254"
DISK_APM_LEVEL_ON_BAT="128 128"

# Hard disk spin down timeout:
#   0:        spin down disabled
#   1..240:   timeouts from 5s to 20min (in units of 5s)
#   241..251: timeouts from 30min to 5.5 hours (in units of 30min)
# See 'man hdparm' for details.
#DISK_SPINDOWN_TIMEOUT_ON_AC="0 0"
#DISK_SPINDOWN_TIMEOUT_ON_BAT="0 0"

# Select IO scheduler for the disk devices: noop, deadline, cfq (Default: cfq);
# Separate values for multiple devices with spaces.
#DISK_IOSCHED="cfq cfq"

# SATA aggressive link power management (ALPM):
#   min_power, medium_power, max_performance
SATA_LINKPWR_ON_AC=max_performance
SATA_LINKPWR_ON_BAT=min_power

# PCI Express Active State Power Management (PCIe ASPM):
#   default, performance, powersave
PCIE_ASPM_ON_AC=performance
PCIE_ASPM_ON_BAT=powersave

# Radeon graphics clock speed (profile method): low, mid, high, auto, default;
# auto = mid on BAT, high on AC; default = use hardware defaults.
# (Kernel >= 2.6.35 only, open-source radeon driver explicitly)
RADEON_POWER_PROFILE_ON_AC=high
RADEON_POWER_PROFILE_ON_BAT=low

# Radeon dynamic power management method (DPM): battery, performance
# (Kernel >= 3.11 only, requires boot option radeon.dpm=1)
RADEON_DPM_STATE_ON_AC=performance
RADEON_DPM_STATE_ON_BAT=battery

# Radeon DPM performance level: auto, low, high; auto is recommended.
RADEON_DPM_PERF_LEVEL_ON_AC=auto
RADEON_DPM_PERF_LEVEL_ON_BAT=auto

# WiFi power saving mode: 1=disable, 5=enable; not supported by all adapters.
WIFI_PWR_ON_AC=1
WIFI_PWR_ON_BAT=5

# Disable wake on LAN: Y/N
WOL_DISABLE=Y

# Enable audio power saving for Intel HDA, AC97 devices (timeout in secs).
# A value of 0 disables, >=1 enables power save.
SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_AC=0
SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_BAT=1

# Disable controller too (HDA only): Y/N
SOUND_POWER_SAVE_CONTROLLER=Y

# Set to 1 to power off optical drive in UltraBay/MediaBay when running on
# battery. A value of 0 disables this feature (Default).
# Drive can be powered on again by releasing (and reinserting) the eject lever
# or by pressing the disc eject button on newer models.
# Note: an UltraBay/MediaBay hard disk is never powered off.
BAY_POWEROFF_ON_BAT=0
# Optical drive device to power off (default sr0).
BAY_DEVICE="sr0"

# Runtime Power Management for PCI(e) bus devices: on=disable, auto=enable
RUNTIME_PM_ON_AC=on
RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=auto

# Runtime PM for *all* PCI(e) bus devices, except blacklisted ones:
#   0=disable, 1=enable
RUNTIME_PM_ALL=1

# Exclude PCI(e) device adresses the following list from Runtime PM
# (separate with spaces). Use lspci to get the adresses (1st column).
#RUNTIME_PM_BLACKLIST="bb:dd.f 11:22.3 44:55.6"

# Exclude PCI(e) devices assigned to the listed drivers from Runtime PM
# (should prevent accidential power on of hybrid graphics' discrete part).
# Default is "radeon nouveau"; use "" to disable the feature completely.
# Separate multiple drivers with spaces.
RUNTIME_PM_DRIVER_BLACKLIST="radeon nouveau"

# Set to 0 to disable, 1 to enable USB autosuspend feature.
USB_AUTOSUSPEND=1

# Exclude listed devices from USB autosuspend (separate with spaces).
# Use lsusb to get the ids.
# Note: input devices (usbhid) are excluded automatically (see below)
#USB_BLACKLIST="1111:2222 3333:4444"

# WWAN devices are excluded from USB autosuspend:
# 0=do not exclude / 1=exclude
USB_BLACKLIST_WWAN=1

# Include listed devices into USB autosuspend even if already excluded
# by the driver or WWAN blacklists above (separate with spaces).
# Use lsusb to get the ids.
#USB_WHITELIST="1111:2222 3333:4444"

# Set to 1 to disable autosuspend before shutdown, 0 to do nothing
# (workaround for USB devices that cause shutdown problems).
#USB_AUTOSUSPEND_DISABLE_ON_SHUTDOWN=1

# Restore radio device state (Bluetooth, WiFi, WWAN) from previous shutdown
# on system startup: 0=disable, 1=enable.
# Hint: the parameters DEVICES_TO_DISABLE/ENABLE_ON_STARTUP/SHUTDOWN below
#   are ignored when this is enabled!
RESTORE_DEVICE_STATE_ON_STARTUP=0

# Radio devices to disable on startup: bluetooth, wifi, wwan.
# Separate multiple devices with spaces.
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_STARTUP="bluetooth wifi wwan"

# Radio devices to enable on startup: bluetooth, wifi, wwan.
# Separate multiple devices with spaces.
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_STARTUP="wifi"

# Radio devices to disable on shutdown: bluetooth, wifi, wwan
# (workaround for devices that are blocking shutdown).
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_SHUTDOWN="bluetooth wifi wwan"

# Radio devices to enable on shutdown: bluetooth, wifi, wwan
# (to prevent other operating systems from missing radios).
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_SHUTDOWN="wwan"

# Radio devices to enable on AC: bluetooth, wifi, wwan
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_AC="bluetooth wifi wwan"

# Radio devices to disable on battery: bluetooth, wifi, wwan
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_BAT="bluetooth wifi wwan"

# Radio devices to disable on battery when not in use (not connected):
# bluetooth, wifi, wwan
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_BAT_NOT_IN_USE="bluetooth wifi wwan"

# Battery charge thresholds (ThinkPad only, tp-smapi or acpi-call kernel module
# required). Charging starts when the remaining capacity falls below the
# START_CHARGE_TRESH value and stops when exceeding the STOP_CHARGE_TRESH value.
# Main / Internal battery (values in %)
#START_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=75
#STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=80
# Ultrabay / Slice / Replaceable battery (values in %)
#START_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT1=75
#STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT1=80

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# tlp-rdw - Parameters for the radio device wizard
# Possible devices: bluetooth, wifi, wwan

# Hints:
# - Parameters are disabled by default, remove the leading # to enable them.
# - Separate multiple radio devices with spaces.

# Radio devices to disable on connect.
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_LAN_CONNECT="wifi wwan"
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_WIFI_CONNECT="wwan"
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_WWAN_CONNECT="wifi"

# Radio devices to enable on disconnect.
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_LAN_DISCONNECT="wifi wwan"
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_WIFI_DISCONNECT=""
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_WWAN_DISCONNECT=""

# Radio devices to enable/disable when docked.
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_DOCK=""
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_DOCK=""

# Radio devices to enable/disable when undocked.
#DEVICES_TO_ENABLE_ON_UNDOCK="wifi"
#DEVICES_TO_DISABLE_ON_UNDOCK=""

[CrocoDuck]

Hi there!

TLP works just fine without configuration on my laptop. I had a look at your config, and I think these are the parts we should perhaps concentrate on:

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# Set to 0 to disable, 1 to enable USB autosuspend feature.
USB_AUTOSUSPEND=1

# Exclude listed devices from USB autosuspend (separate with spaces).
# Use lsusb to get the ids.
# Note: input devices (usbhid) are excluded automatically (see below)
#USB_BLACKLIST="1111:2222 3333:4444"

# WWAN devices are excluded from USB autosuspend:
# 0=do not exclude / 1=exclude
USB_BLACKLIST_WWAN=1

# Include listed devices into USB autosuspend even if already excluded
# by the driver or WWAN blacklists above (separate with spaces).
# Use lsusb to get the ids.
#USB_WHITELIST="1111:2222 3333:4444"

# Set to 1 to disable autosuspend before shutdown, 0 to do nothing
# (workaround for USB devices that cause shutdown problems).
#USB_AUTOSUSPEND_DISABLE_ON_SHUTDOWN=1

Especially, USB_AUTOSUSPEND seems correlated to some troubles like those you are observing: https://github.com/linrunner/TLP/issues/311 (this contains lots of interesting information, and seems that the problem is more in the device drivers handling your devices than TLP. Perhaps, this is why it works fine for my devices). I would try to set it to zero:

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# Set to 0 to disable, 1 to enable USB autosuspend feature.
USB_AUTOSUSPEND=0

[Aleks]

Hello! Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I thought so that that would be the main culprit in my case. So I was thinking about this part:

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# Exclude listed devices from USB autosuspend (separate with spaces).
# Use lsusb to get the ids.
# Note: input devices (usbhid) are excluded automatically (see below)
#USB_BLACKLIST="1111:2222 3333:4444"

Is it possible to exclude one of the usb ports just when on AC power and if so, how?

[CrocoDuck]

Is it possible to exclude one of the usb ports just when on AC power and if so, how?

It might or might not work depending on how USB controllers and hubs are set up on your motherboard. On laptops it is fairly common to have many ports on the same hub. I would start by looking at lsusb output. Repost the output of this:

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lsusb -t

and

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lsusb

[CrocoDuck]

Hey, I managed to have a look at my laptop:

lsusb

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Bus 003 Device 002: ID 8087:8001 Intel Corp. 
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 058f:3822 Alcor Micro Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 8087:07dc Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 25a7:fa61  
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 1397:0507 BEHRINGER International GmbH 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

lsusb -t

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/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/8p, 480M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 5000M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/11p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 8, If 3, Class=Application Specific Interface, Driver=, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 8, If 1, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 8, If 2, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 8, If 0, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 480M
    |__ Port 2: Dev 9, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
    |__ Port 2: Dev 9, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
    |__ Port 4: Dev 4, If 1, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
    |__ Port 4: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
    |__ Port 5: Dev 5, If 0, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
    |__ Port 5: Dev 5, If 1, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M

So, I guess that if I wanted my Behringher soundcard to never be suspended I would have to add 1397:0507 to that array:

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# Exclude listed devices from USB autosuspend (separate with spaces).
# Use lsusb to get the ids.
# Note: input devices (usbhid) are excluded automatically (see below)
#USB_BLACKLIST="1397:0507"

I did a few experiments and the device ID seems to always be the same regardless of port, also after a reboot. So my guess is that the conf above will prevent the soundcard itself from being suspended. You could do the same with the scanner. Perhaps, to blacklist the entire port, you will have to blacklist the hub on the bus that serves it (on my laptop, this will actually blacklist two ports). The ports in question are on bus 1 (I know this because when I connect the soundcard on those ports it goes under bus 1 in lsusb). The hub on bus 1 is:

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Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

So this should blacklist the hub:

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# Exclude listed devices from USB autosuspend (separate with spaces).
# Use lsusb to get the ids.
# Note: input devices (usbhid) are excluded automatically (see below)
#USB_BLACKLIST="1d6b:0002"

I am not entirely sure about this though: I am not really expert about hardware stuff. Maybe someone else might have a better understanding. Otherwise, just make a few experiment and let us know

[Aleks]

Yep, I also played a bit with this yesterday. It didn't do much with the soundcard. I guess I have to spill the money for a better one, and that's it. Anyway, thank you helping!