Laptop battery life

I am new to Zorin but have a couple of years experience with Pinguy, Mint and Ubuntu. I am setting up a laptop for my son and want to maximize, to the extent possible, its battery life.

On the other Distros I have used on laptops, I installed Jupiter. I tried this on Zorin core 6 but no icon showed up in the system tray. I uninstalled Jupiter after reading on this forum that there might be an issue. Be that as it may, what can be done to improve battery life, which, to note, is not a strong point in Linux?

Is there a way to get Jupiter to work? Would Granola be helpful? Or, is there something else that can be done?

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

Note: The computer in question is a Sony E Series laptop, with an I7 processor and AMD graphics card. Zorin core 6 is being dual booted with Windows 7.

You could try this:
http://ubuntuxtreme.com/howto/how-to-in ... p-netbook/

Thanks for your suggestions. They are appreciated.

I am, if possible, looking for a way to be able to set rules, better than in the page you linked to, that distinguish between use when running on battery and use when running plugged in. That is what Jupiter offers. Moreover, Jupiter can be set manually, as preferred. I have not used Granola but it too reacts, if I recall, to specific circumstances.

Thanks, swarfendor437.

By the way, does anyone know why Jupiter does not work? I have installed it in Pinguy 11.04, Linux Mint 10, 11, 12 and 13 - 12 and 13 with Cinnamon -, Ubuntu (with Unity) and with Gnome Shell. Is there some way to install it?

Hi,

run the following commands one after the other in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/jupiter
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install jupiter

It should be there after that!!.

Regards Wolfman

Thanks, Wolfman.

That is how I tried to install it the first time, only it did not show up in the panel so I could not control it. I shall try again, when my son gets home.

Is there something additional that needs to be done so that the program can be controlled from the panel?

Hi,

it just dawned on me that Jupiter is a G3 app and I don't know if it will work in Zorin, maybe if you are using Unity but not with W7 or G2 look!!!!!!!.

Regards Wolfman

Wolfman,

Why is Jupiter an issue for Zorin, with its standard W7 or G2 look? I have installed Jupiter in Gnome 2, Gnome 3, Cinnamon and Unity interfaces. Is the problem merely getting the applet to appear in the system tray? Or, is there something else involved?

Hi,

the Gnome 2 look is just that, only a look, it is not full fledged G3, I honestly don't know how to install it in Zorin, like I said, it might work in Unity but I cannot be certain, you might have to search the web for an answer because I don't have one for you sorry!!.

Try installing it the normal way and see what happens, I cannot tell you whether or not it will mess up the panel!!.

You may have to install "gnome shell" if it isn't already installed (I can't remember) to get it to work!!.

Regards Wolfman

Hi,

try installing the package "mono-complete" as it seems to be moaning about a "mono" package, "mono-complete" should install all dependencies!!!!.

In a terminal:

sudo apt-get install mono-complete

I am still not certain as to whether it will work in Zorin, you might have to install "gnome shell" also but I don't know!!!!!.

As an alternative, have you thought about "Powertop":

https://01.org/powertop/

It is in the repo!!.

Regards Wolfman

Another thought, you would also need to install "gnome-tweak-tool" (Advanced settings) to activate the extensions!!.

Regards Wolfman