Operation
How do I stop or disable TLP completely?
The right way:
Change configuration: TLP_ENABLE=0
Optional: reboot to restore kernel defaults
Note
Uninstalling the packages will also disable TLP completely.
Wrong ways:
systemctl stop tlp.service – This will not prevent TLP from applying power saving settings when the power source AC/battery changes. Depending on your configuration, it may also immediately power off your Wi-Fi and/or bluetooth/WWAN, which might be undesirable.
systemctl disable/mask tlp.service – This will only prevent TLP from applying charge thresholds and switching radios on system startup/shutdown. Power saving settings are applied nevertheless (see above).
See also
Background: the service is intended for system startup and shutdown only. How it works (user perspective) and Architecture (technical) explain TLP’s event-driven actions.
How do I start/restart TLP – and apply power saving?
The right way:
tlp start
Note
Following the installation, TLP will start automatically on boot. To avoid having to restart the system, the first time you can start it manually as explained above.
Make sure, as a prerequisite, that:
TLP_ENABLE=1 is configured
systemd service units are enabled, see below. The output of tlp-stat -s will tell you when this is not the case.
Wrong way:
systemctl start/restart tlp.service – The service is intended for system startup and shutdown only. Depending on your configuration, it may immediately power off your Wi-Fi and/or bluetooth/WWAN and drive bay, which might be undesirable. tlp start applies only power saving.
How to temporarily use battery settings on AC (and vice versa)?
Invoke manual mode with the following commands:
tlp bat
tlp ac
Manual mode will remain until the next reboot or until terminated with the command
tlp start
See also
TLP_PERSISTENT_DEFAULT for a permanent change
tlp command
AC or BAT is not detected
This also concerns changes from AC to BAT and vice versa.
Possible causes: BIOS bug (DSDT may need fixing) or kernel ACPI bug.
Workaround: to ignore the problematic power source, try to configure
PS_IGNORE=AC
or
PS_IGNORE=BAT
AC is not detected when plugged in
Affected hardware: Dell XPS 15 9550/9560 (happens after booting on battery only)
Symptoms: tlp-stat -s shows
Power source = battery
tlp-stat --psup shows only the battery
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/type:Battery
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/present:1
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/device/path:_SB_.BAT0
Charger is present when booted on AC only:
/sys/class/power_supply/AC/type:Mains
/sys/class/power_supply/AC/online:1
/sys/class/power_supply/AC/device/path:_SB_.AC__
Cause: BIOS bug, DSDT needs fixing (see last comment in kernel bug #156171).
References: Issues #223, #343, #362.
Solutions:
Update to the newest version – highly recommended
Reboot with AC connected
Ask the laptop vendor for a corrected BIOS
Fix the DSDT yourself
System freezes on wakeup from suspend on battery
Symptom: on battery power, trying to wake up, the laptop freezes (either showing a black screen or a static lock screen) and becomes unresponsive to input.
Solutions:
Update to version 1.6
Workaround for older versions: change your configuration to disable disk runtime power management on battery power:
AHCI_RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=on
Shutdown freezes before poweroff
Solution: add the mei_me module to RUNTIME_PM_DRIVER_DENYLIST.
Shutdown reboots instead of poweroff
Affected hardware: HP laptops (based on user feedback)
Solution: deactivate Wake-on-LAN in the BIOS.
Spontaneous shutdown (on battery)
Symptoms: laptop shuts down spontaneously when:
Changing to battery power
Headphone jack is plugged in
Affected hardware: Acer Aspire V5-591G (kernel 4.4), Acer Extensa 2520G (Ubuntu 22.04)
Solution: disable Audio power saving.
Ethernet not working after resume
Affected hardware: a Dell XPS user with Kernel 4.4 reported this issue.
Solution: enable Wake-on-LAN
WOL_DISABLE=N