What is Laptop Mode Tools?
Laptop Mode Tools is an open source power management software for Linux laptops. It extends battery life by making adjustments to various system settings when running on battery power.
Some of the key features include:
- Spinning down hard drives when not in use
- Disabling Bluetooth and WiFi when not needed
- Dimming screen brightness
- Suspending system activity when idle
- Tuning Linux kernel parameters for power savings
Laptop Mode Tools is implemented as a daemon and set of scripts that tweak sysfs and procfs power management interfaces in the Linux kernel. It aims to automate and optimize battery power saving operations without impacting performance when running on AC power.
The software is customizable through configuration files and offers tuning presets for many common laptop models. It works on most Linux distributions and is enabled by default on popular mobile-focused OSes like Ubuntu Mobile.
RMClock, PowerTOP, TLP – Linux Advanced Power Management, upower, Processor Hardware Control for Linux, Jupiter Applet, CPUMSR, Granola, Faronics Power Save, SmartPower, Verdiem, Boray POWer, cbatticon are some alternatives to Laptop Mode Tools.