Xfce Wiki

Sub domains
 

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Next revision		Previous revision
xfce:xfce4-power-manager:preferences [2012/03/05 10:25] – created nickxfce:xfce4-power-manager:preferences [2025/01/04 00:17] (current) – kevinbowen
Line 1: Line 1:
-====== Preferences ======+~~NOTOC~~ 
 +{{ :xfce:xfce.powermanager.png?nolink|}} 
 +====== xfce4-power-manager - Preferences ======
  
-In this section we will explain in details the possible configuration of the power manager running on laptop computer. Please note that the configurations are different when the power manager is running on a desktop computer, for example you will not have LCD brightness etc.+  * **[[#General|General]]** 
 +  * **[[#System|System]]** 
 +  * **[[#Display|Display]]** 
 +  * **[[#Security|Security]]** 
 +  * **[[#Devices|Devices]]**
  
-===== Dialog =====+----
  
 +===== Introduction =====
  
-==== General ====+This section explains in detail the possible configurations of the power manager running on a laptop computer. Please note that the configurations are different when the power manager is running on a desktop computer, for example you will not have LCD brightness, etc.\\  
 +You can open the //xfce4-power-manager// settings dialog either by running the command ''xfce4-power-manager -c'' from your terminal emulator or clicking its {gui>Icon} in the system tray and choosing the **"Power manager settings..."** option.
  
-? Notification area +The //Xfce Power Manager// dialog has four tabs.  The first three; **General**, **System** and **Display**, allow you to set various power-related options. The fourth tab, **Devices**, displays status and information.
-! The notification area settings allow you to control the behaviour of the icon placed in your notification area. You can set it to be always visible. For battery devices, you can select the icon to be visible only when your are running on battery for example. +
-? Keyboard special keys +
-! Enable you to specify which key will trigger which action. These keys are not found on all the systems. For example, in the screen shot the hibernate key is missing since the screen shot was taken on a computer which doesn't have this key. The default action of all these keys is set to do nothing.  +
-? Monitor power management control +
-! Enable/Disable the Display Power Management Signaling (DPMS). +
-? Power manager Notification +
-! If the notification of a battery status change are annoying you, you can always disable them by unselecting the checkbox. Please note this doesn't apply on the notification that the power manager sends notifying the user of errors or that the system is running out of power. +
  
-==== On AC ====+----
  
-The on AC power tab contains self explanatory options such as lid close, system idle and monitor sleep configurations. +===== General =====
  
-==== On Battery ====+<figure "Power Manager Preferences - General Tab"> 
 +{{:xfce:xfce4-power-manager:xfce4-power-manager-general-tab.png?600|Power Manager Preferences General Tab}} 
 +</figure>
  
-The on battery tab is only shown on systems that have battery devices. It contains the same options as the AC power tabs plus two other important options: +==== Buttons ==== 
 +Here you can specify different results for pressing the specified laptop buttons. Note that not all laptops have dedicated buttons or function key combinations for sleep, suspend or hibernate. 
 +<note important>Whether or not your screen is locked when resuming from suspend depends on the [[#security|Security]] setting under the **System** tab of //Power Manager//.</note>
  
-? Power is critical +=== Brightness buttons === 
-! With this option you can specify the action taken by the power manager in case the system is running on low power. If this option is disabled and the computer is running on low battery power, the power manager will display a warning message.  +If you want to control screen brightness with the laptop function keys, enable the **Handle display brightness keys** option. When this options is unchecked, the brightness keys are not handled by the Power Manager but directly by the kernel (if supported).
-? Prefer power savings over performance +
-! This is the power profile when running on battery. With this option your battery will last more when running on battery power. Enabling this option is always a good idea. +
  
-==== Extended ====+=== Hidden setting: Minimum brightness value === 
 +Depending on your hardware and setup you may want to specify a minimum brightness level. On some hardware the brightness handling allows the display to be turned off completely, which can be problematic if the user does not know how to turn up the brightness again. To enable this setting run this command ("5" being an example minimum value).
  
-? Inactivity sleep mode +<file bash> 
-! You can select the inactivity sleep action to be taken by the power manger when the system is idle for a interval of time set by you either on ac power or on battery power. Of course if you disable idle timeout those settings will have no effects. +xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -p /xfce4-power-manager/brightness-slider-min-level -s 5 
-? Monitor sleep mode +</file>
-! DPMS sleep modes before switching off the monitor are either standby or suspend. They are technically different and provided for convenience.  +
-? Computer on low power level +
-! Ideally when the battery giving the main power to the computer reaches 10 percent of charge, the computer can be considered on low power. However, for some broken or old batteries the interval of time between 10 percent and a power cut is a matter of minutes if not seconds. You can adjust the level at which your computer will be considered on low power. -- Note: This option might disappear in future releases. +
-? CPU Frequency control +
-! Unselecting this checkbox, the power manager don't attempt to play with the CPU frequency.  +
-? Lock screen when going for suspend/hibernate +
-! Just tell your power manager if it should lock the screen before suspending or hibernating the computer. It is enabled by default.+
  
-===== Hidden Options =====+Alternatively you can also create the property via [[:xfce:xfce4-settings:editor|xfce4-settings-editor]].
  
-Hidden options are the options that in normal situations one should not be changed, but these options are provided in case of misbehaviour of the backend that the power manager is relying on.+Note: the minimum value should be a value relevant to your backlight interface as shown (on Linux) in the /sys/class/backlight/INTERFACE/* files. For example, a "max_brightness" value of 10,000 means that to set the minimum value at 10%, you would use 1,000 as the brightness-slider-min-level value. 
 +==== Laptop Lid ==== 
 +You can choose separate options to favor power saving (suspend), security (lock screen) or quick recovery (blank screen), depending on whether you are running on battery or plugged in.
  
-Since xfce4-power-manager relies on xfconf to store and retreive configurations, you can change any settings by using xfconf-query or by using your Xfce settings editor.+==== Appearance ==== 
 +By checking **Show notifications**, you enable informational popups for events like plugging and unplugging or low battery charge.
  
-? LCD Brightness +----
-! The xfce4-power-manager detects brightness key events and interacts with the backend to update the brightness level. This might be problematic on some systems therefore the key "/xfce4-power-manager/change-brightness-on-key-events" is provided. Just set this key to false if you have any such problem. Please refer to the xfconf-query manual, but as an example you can disable this property by running the following command. +
-! <code>xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -n -p "/xfce4-power-manager/change-brightness-on-key-events" -t bool -s false</code> +
-? Disabling Brightness popup +
-! If you want for some reason to disable the brightness popup indicator (the one which popup to display the brightness level), just run the following command in your terminal. +
-! <code>xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -n -p "/xfce4-power-manager/show-brightness-popup" -t bool -s false</code>+
  
 +===== System =====
 +On this page you can set power saving and warning options which pertain to the laptop itself.
 +
 +<figure "Power Manager Preferences - System Tab">
 +{{:xfce:xfce4-power-manager:xfce4-power-manager-system-tab.png?600|Power Manager Preferences System Tab}}
 +</figure>
 +
 +==== System Power Saving ====
 +  * **System sleep mode:** --- Specifies the type of power saving mode to enter after a period of inactivity. On some distributions the only option available is **Suspend**.
 +  * **Put system to sleep when inactive for** --- Sets the duration of inactivity before the specified sleep mode is entered. The minimum duration you can set with the slider is 15 minutes.
 +
 +==== Critical power ====
 +  * **Critical battery power level:** --- All batteries behave differently when it comes to discharge behavior. For some, it may take hours to go from 100% to 10% but then just minutes to discharge completely from 10%. This setting allows you to configure a higher or lower threshold before taking some kind of action for a low battery level. The range is from 1% to 20%.
 +  * **On critical battery power:** --- Determines the action to take when the battery reaches the user-configured critical charge threshold.
 +
 +==== Security ====
 +  * **Lock screen when system is going to sleep**
 +
 +----
 +
 +===== Display =====
 +On this page you can set power saving options which pertain to the laptop's display. As with the System power page, the Display options page allows you to set options independently for "on battery" and "plugged in" conditions.
 +
 +<figure "Power Manager Preferences - Display Tab">
 +{{:xfce:xfce4-power-manager:xfce4-power-manager-display-tab.png?600|Power Manager Preferences Display Tab}}
 +</figure>
 +
 +==== Display power management settings ====
 +Check **Handle display power management** to allow Power Manager to manage the laptop's display.
 +
 +The three options --- **Blank after**, **Put to sleep after** and **Switch off after** --- are theoretically in ascending order of power saving potential. However, not all laptop hardware is capable of making a distinction among these three modes and there is no direct indication on a laptop if the display is actually being turned off, suspended or just blanked. You may have to experiment to see which, if any, of these options yields the most power savings.
 +
 +Power Manager does assume that each of these options will work at the hardware level and so it attempts to prevent an illogical configuration; e.g., a **Blank after** period greater than a **Put to sleep after** one. In a setup like the one shown in the screenshot above, if you drag the //On battery// **Put to sleep after** slider down to, say, 5 minutes, the **Blank after** slider will automatically move to one minute less. Likewise, if you try to reduce the **Switch off after** period to less than the other two, it will move the other two sliders to one minute and two minutes less, respectively.
 +
 +? Brightness reduction
 +! These settings allow you to be more or less aggressive with screen brightness reduction depending on whether the laptop is running on battery or plugged in.
 +
 +----
 +
 +===== Devices =====
 +This page displays real-time status in the left pane for the laptop's line power state and battery condition and more detailed device information in the right pane.
 +
 +<figure "Power Manager Preferences - Devices Tab">
 +{{:xfce:xfce4-power-manager:xfce4-power-manager-devices-tab.png?600|Power Manager Preferences Devices Tab}}
 +</figure>
 +
 +[[|Back to Top]]
 +----
 +[[:xfce:xfce4-power-manager:start:|Return to xfce4-power-manager Main Documentation Page]]