How to reduce the fan noise and how to increase battery life?

Question

I have a brand new Sony Vaio S series laptop.(VPCSA2DGX) It came factory installed with Windows 7 professional Edition 64bit. Runs Intel core i5, 500 GB HDD , 4GB Ram. First I installed ubuntu 11.10 64 bit along side Windows to dual boot. Later,since the problem did not solve, I installed ubuntu 12.04 64bit along side Windows to dual boot. However the problem keeps annoying me.

Problem: When running ubuntu 11.10/12.04, the battery lasts only about 1.5 hours. The Fan runs loud and continuously. And there is a lot of heat generated. System monitor shows less than 5% CPU used. My laptop enjoys hybrid graphic and I tried turning off ADM graphic card and keep Intel graphic card on. However I can not get the Fan noise or heat to go away and consequently the battery drain continues. BTW, in windows, the laptop gives 4-5 hours of battery power, Fan is silent and there is no heat problem. Any ideas on how to reduce the fan noise and how to increase battery life in ubuntu 11.10/12.04?

Answer 1

This problem could be caused by a overheating bug in the kernel. Try updating your OS to the latest Linux kernel.

Also, download Jupiter which allows you to change Linux kernel parameters on the fly.

Jupiter Download site: http://www.jupiterapplet.org/downloads.html

Check that you have got the correct drivers for your AMD graphics card. Incorrect or out-of-date graphics cards can cause overheating.

Answer 2

Also you can use laptop-mode. Try it: sudo apt-get install laptop-mode

Here you can find any additional information about powersaving in ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PowerManagement/ReducedPower

Answer 3

You can reduce screen brightness with a key combination Fn + F5 (this key combination is for sony E-Series laptop). After reducing the screen brightness now now my battery last for more than 2.5 hrs (before it was 1.5hrs). This is because uses maximum brightness by default.