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I just noticed my laptop stared working considerably slower. I am using an updated 13.04, though the issue did not start right after the upgrade. After tracking down the issue I noticed that both processors operate at 800 MHz instead of the maximum 1800 MHz. Irrespective of the load, the frequency remains 800. Here are some stats:

$ cpufreq-info 
cpufrequtils 008: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to [email protected], please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0 1
  maximum transition latency: 109 us.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 1.80 GHz
  available frequency steps: 1.80 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 800 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, userspace, powersave, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 800 MHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 800 MHz.
  cpufreq stats: 1.80 GHz:0.00%, 1.60 GHz:0.00%, 800 MHz:100.00%
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0 1
  maximum transition latency: 109 us.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 1.80 GHz
  available frequency steps: 1.80 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 800 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, userspace, powersave, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 800 MHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 800 MHz.
  cpufreq stats: 1.80 GHz:0.00%, 1.60 GHz:0.00%, 800 MHz:100.00%

Note the "current policy" says the frequency is between 800 and 800 irrespective of the hardware limits. The original governor was "ondemand", so I changed it to "performance" in order to see if that makes a difference which it didn't. No amount of invoking cpufreq-set or cpufreq-selector changes the frequency.

Looking around, I noticed several people reported similar issues in the past though no favorable answer exists. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  • Are you using a power management tool. I started using Granola a while ago. It can boost the maximum CPU frequency.
    – don.joey
    Apr 29, 2013 at 6:19
  • I am using the standard power management tools & settings that come with (L)Ubuntu.
    – thenasko
    Apr 29, 2013 at 6:42
  • Try granola on highest performance and see whether your cpufreq-info is the same.
    – don.joey
    Apr 29, 2013 at 9:59
  • It turns out this may be a issue occurring when running on battery. I started a bug on launchpad -- bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1174169.
    – thenasko
    May 9, 2013 at 17:09

1 Answer 1

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First make sure that you are connecting to a quality AC source. I had my machine plugged into a long extension cord, and that was part of the problem.

Next, assuming the Bios is getting in the way, try this:

Edit /etc/default/grub

Add processor.ignore_ppc=1 to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT line.

run sudo update-grub

reboot the computer.

This is from http://www.woolie.co.uk/article/dell-laptop-stuck-800mhz-linux-fix/

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