Re: fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[Chris Rouch]

On 2 August 2010 17:43, JB  wrote:
> Chris Rouch <chris.rouch <at> gmail.com> writes:
> > So I think this is a kde problem.
>
> Hi,
> have you looked into these in KDE:
> computer-system settings-general-notifications-system notifications-applications
> event source selection -> scroll to PowerDevil
> select item e.g. AC adaptor plugged in
> check off below e.g. Show a message in a popup
> etc
> Apply button to save
>
> The same is under:
> computer-system settings-advanced-power management- general settings-
> configure notifications

On my system, it was only in this place, but was already set.
> Now look into:
> computer-system settings-advanced-service manager-startup services
> check off PowerDevil
> Apply button to save

This was already set too.
> Finally:
> restart desktop to make sure that all services become available.
>
> Other:
> [jb@localhost ~]$ ps aux |grep -i power
> root      1439  0.0  0.3   6028  2364 ?        S    Aug01   0:04
> /usr/libexec/upowerd
> jb        6983  0.0  0.0   4312   736 pts/3    S+   17:29   0:00 grep -i power

Bingo! For whatever reason, upowerd is not running. If I start it by
hand everything works as expected. So now I need to find out why it's
either not being started or is failing silently. According to the man
page it should be started by dbus-daemon, which is running, "whenever
an application calls into the org.freedesktop.UPower service"

Thanks for your help so far.

Chris

fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[JB]

Chris Rouch <chris.rouch <at> gmail.com> writes:
> ...
> > [jb <at> localhost ~]$ ps aux |grep -i power
> > root      1439  0.0  0.3   6028  2364 ?        S    Aug01   0:04
> > /usr/libexec/upowerd
> > ...
>
> Bingo! For whatever reason, upowerd is not running. If I start it by
> hand everything works as expected. So now I need to find out why it's
> either not being started or is failing silently. According to the man
> page it should be started by dbus-daemon, which is running, "whenever
> an application calls into the org.freedesktop.UPower service"
> ...

Hi,
i would suggest that you make sure your system is up to date, so we can be
on the same page.
# yum check-update
# yum update

Next:
# yum list *upower*
Installed Packages
upower.i686                           0.9.5-1.fc13                      @updates
...
# yum reinstall upower
...

Now log out and back your KDE so services are restarted.

Some testing:
# ps aux |grep -i power

Regardless of its presence above, try (it may start upowerd on demand):
- pull power cord (give it 10 secs time)
- plug in again
Any changes in battery/power icon or popup msgs ?
See again:
# ps aux |grep -i power

At this point we have to do some more research:
- look into package files for anything related (config, rules, your machine)
  # rpm -ql upower
  # less /lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower*
  # ...
- are you checking your system status mail (logwatch configured) ?
  Root mail or user mail if root forwarded to.
- /var/log/*       # messages, pm-*, ...
  There could be errors, status hints reported.
- Google search (this is a package that was formerly DeviceKit-power, got
  rewritten, and causes upowerd problems in various contexts in some distros).
- search Bugzilla for reported problems/solutions/hints
- contact developer(s)
- become religious :-)
JB

fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[JB]

JB <jb.123abc <at> yahoo.com> writes:
> ...
> # yum reinstall upower
> ...

Hi, I forgot it.
After reinstall (please do it even if it appears unnecessary ...; I recently
fixed my bluetooth by reinstalling multiple related packages):

note: locate db is not up to date yet
# find /etc -iname "*.rpm*"

to see any *.rpmnew or *.rpmsave files, and act accordingly.
JB

fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[Chris Rouch]

On 3 August 2010 13:38, JB  wrote:
> JB <jb.123abc <at> yahoo.com> writes:
> > ...
> > # yum reinstall upower
> > ...
>
> Hi, I forgot it.
> After reinstall (please do it even if it appears unnecessary ...; I recently
> fixed my bluetooth by reinstalling multiple related packages):

Doing that now....
> note: locate db is not up to date yet
> # find /etc -iname "*.rpm*"
>
> to see any *.rpmnew or *.rpmsave files, and act accordingly.
> JB

Good advice, but sadly nothing important to report.

Regards,

Chris

fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[JB]

JB <jb.123abc <at> yahoo.com> writes:
> ... 
> Hi, I forgot it.
> ...

I would do this as well.
You may lose some custom settings, but it appears it is effective (I removed
battery widget from my panel unintentionally and could not add it back via
panel's add widgets; I nuked .kde and battery was back again.).

log out kde.
# rm -rf .kde /root/.kde
log in kde.

Btw,
I searched around (Google, bugzilla, etc) and could not find any clear ref.
I would suggest going irc freenode, find kde or kde-specific-topic channel.
Also kde mailing list is a possible venue to ask about.

JB

fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[Chris Rouch]

On 4 August 2010 06:00, JB  wrote:
> JB <jb.123abc <at> yahoo.com> writes:
> > ...
> > Hi, I forgot it.
> > ...
>
> I would do this as well.
> You may lose some custom settings, but it appears it is effective (I removed
> battery widget from my panel unintentionally and could not add it back via
> panel's add widgets; I nuked .kde and battery was back again.).
>
> log out kde.
> # rm -rf .kde /root/.kde
> log in kde.
>
> Btw,
> I searched around (Google, bugzilla, etc) and could not find any clear ref.
> I would suggest going irc freenode, find kde or kde-specific-topic channel.
> Also kde mailing list is a possible venue to ask about.

Finally I've found the source of the problem, and a workaround.
Because I've had problems with the nouveau driver (random system hangs
even in 2D mode), I switched back to nvidia, and because this always
hangs on logout/shutdown/reboot, i installed again the latest F12
kernel. Lo and behold, power management works again. This is without
/usr/libexec/upowerd running, so maybe the 2.6.33 kernel handles this
in a different way and kde has yet to catch up.

Hopefully by the time the F12 kernel is obsolete this will be fixed.

Regards,

Chris

fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[Chris Rouch]

On 3 August 2010 12:21, JB  wrote:
> Chris Rouch <chris.rouch <at> gmail.com> writes:
> > ...
> > > [jb <at> localhost ~]$ ps aux |grep -i power
> > > root      1439  0.0  0.3   6028  2364 ?        S    Aug01   0:04
> > > /usr/libexec/upowerd
> > > ...
> >
> > Bingo! For whatever reason, upowerd is not running. If I start it by
> > hand everything works as expected. So now I need to find out why it's
> > either not being started or is failing silently. According to the man
> > page it should be started by dbus-daemon, which is running, "whenever
> > an application calls into the org.freedesktop.UPower service"
> > ...
>
> Hi,
> i would suggest that you make sure your system is up to date, so we can be
> on the same page.
> # yum check-update
> # yum update

The system was updated yesterday, but I did this anyway and updated
everything suggested including a new kernel.
> Next:
> # yum list *upower*
> Installed Packages
> upower.i686                           0.9.5-1.fc13                      @updates
> ...
> # yum reinstall upower
> ...

Did this too.
> Now log out and back your KDE so services are restarted.

I rebooted.
> Some testing:
> # ps aux |grep -i power
>
> Regardless of its presence above, try (it may start upowerd on demand):
> pull power cord (give it 10 secs time)
> plug in again
>
> Any changes in battery/power icon or popup msgs ?
> See again:
> # ps aux |grep -i power

Still nothing.
> At this point we have to do some more research:
> look into package files for anything related (config, rules, your machine)
>
> # rpm -ql upower
>  # less /lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower*
>  # ...
> are you checking your system status mail (logwatch configured) ?
>
> Root mail or user mail if root forwarded to.
> /var/log/*       # messages, pm-*, ...
>
> There could be errors, status hints reported.

There isn't :-(

I've no idea where the kde services log to - they don't appear to be
processes as such, and I can't work out how to start powerdevil
manually. I thought that there might be something in .xsession-errors,
but there are no power references therein.
> Google search (this is a package that was formerly DeviceKit-power, got
>
> rewritten, and causes upowerd problems in various contexts in some distros).
> search Bugzilla for reported problems/solutions/hints
> contact developer(s)
> become religious :-)

That's beginning to look like the best bet :-)

But in the meantime I'm going to try a yum reinstall of kde*, and then
if it is still failing I might try a complete re-install - if only to
see if it did once work and an update broke it.

Regards,

Chris

fedora power management not working in f13/kde

[JB]

Chris Rouch <chris.rouch <at> gmail.com> writes:
> ...
> I've no idea where the kde services log to - they don't appear to be
> processes as such
> ...

KDE 4: KSystemLog Reveals Your Log Files
http://pclosmag.com/html/Issues/201004/page12.html

# yum info kdeadmin
> ...I can't work out how to start powerdevil
> manually. I thought that there might be something in .xsession-errors,
> but there are no power references therein.
> ...

PowerDevil is part of kdebase from 4.2 on. This means it's included in kde core
releases and you no longer need to compile it as an external application.

PowerDevil is an utility for KDE4 for Laptop Powermanagement. It consists of a
Daemon (a KDED module), a KCModule to configure it, and will feature a Plasmoid
soon.

Instead of being a separate tool, PowerDevil is an integral part of KDE. You
don't have to run a specific application to have access to its functionality. It
is configurable within System Settings (under the Advanced tab), and can be
controlled with a Plasma widget on the panel or desktop if you want.

So, there appears to be no separate daemon you can detect in 'ps' processes.
KDE Power Management 101
http://maketecheasier.com/kde-power-management-101/2010/06/09

# rpm -ql kdebase |grep -i kded
...
JB