I just bought a HP nx7400 laptop and naturally I wanted a good OS to go with it.

It has the following configuration:
* INTEL Core Duo Processor T2250 (1.73-GHz, 533-MHz FSB, 2-MB L2 cache)
* SoDimm 1024 Mb DDR2
* Notebook 2,5" 80-GB 5400 rpm SMART SATA
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with up to 224-MB shared system memory
* ADI1981HD High Definition CODEC, Chipset 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro,
* NetXtreme (10/100 NIC) PCI Express Ethernet Controller
* Intel® Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
* etc.

I chose Fedora Core 6.

The installation went flawlessly (with the fan always on and acpi off).
First of all I solved the "bad state" issue by recompiling the kernel with psmouse as a module and removing the module before system shutdown/reboot.
Everything works fine, except that the CPU frequency scaling. CPU SpeedStepping just wouldn't work. I enabled speedsteping in the kernel, the intel enhanced speedstepping cpufreq driver, the governors etc.
It just wouldn't work (for example, the applet showing the cpu freq says "CPU freq. scaling unsupported").
Also there is no /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/ dir
I edited the /etc/cpuspeed.conf file choosing the "speedstep_centrino" driver and rebooted but nothing seems to work.
My laptop is warmer than in Win and the battery life is poor. Please help!
Thanks!

You probably have the wrong kernel installed. See this bug (which has the workaround). It is the root cause of this bug, which is the problem you're seeing.

hey..i have this problem on my dell inspiron 6400 as well. it's equipped with core 2 duo (merom) and i have installed fc6 on it as well. How can i enable speedstep in the kernel? i havent configure the kernel yet. But, obviously, the processors temperature is a lot higher than in win xp.

Did you read the bugs in post #2? Does the problem described apply to you?

The 686 kernel doesn't solve the problem. Everything is exactly the same. No /sys/.../cpuX/cpufreq/ entry present. No support for cpu scaling whatsoever. When I try to modprobe speedstep_centrino, the result is device busy or no hardware support for speedstep.

In that case, I would suggest contacting your vendor for a BIOS update. Other manufacturers Core Duo's are operating correctly. It looks like from my reading that the ondemand scheduler is used, since the frequency of the cores is tied together. That's caused some confusion since the frequency can't be independently controlled, but it is working on other machines.

hi there. sorry for late. been busy with work lately. yeah, i applied the .i686 kernel to my fedora box and the error is gone. the cpuseed seems working well too but when i check the status with service cpuspeed status, it showed that the service is stopped.

the output of cpuinfo says that im at 1ghz while on battery. however, when i plugged in the AC, it still shows 1ghz. i need to restart the cpuspeed service to get back to full speed which is 1.67ghz.

The purpose of the cpuspeed utility is to keep the processor running at its lowest required rate, to conserve power. To test if the throttling is working, open a terminal and run:

while true; do true; done

This is a CPU loop. Your system will go to 100%, and the panel CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor should show the CPU frequency increase. When you ctrl-c the above command line to stop the loop, you should see the CPU frequency return to its lowest possible state.

If you don't have the CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor on your panel, right click anywhere on an empty portion of the panel and select "Add to Panel" from the pop-up menu.

When cpuspeed determines that the ondemand scheduler is to be used, it sets it and exits (it doesn't need to be running).

PROBLEM SOLVED
Just go to the product driver/software page on the HP website and download the F08 BIOS image.
CPU Scaling now works.

hi there.sorry for late reply. so, i tested the method suggested by you and managed to install CPU Freq Scaling Monitor on my Gnome. By default, the frequency is locked at 59% of my Merom's 1.67ghz processor. But when i did the cpu loop, it still run at the same freq. So, i single clicked on the icon and it allowed me to choose 3 options which are 1 Ghz, 1.33Ghz and 1.67Ghz. However, the Automatic button is invisible and unclickable. ???

btw, if i set to full speed, will the processors get overburned??

The processors can run at full speed all the time - it just uses more power.

Have you checked to see if Dell has a BIOS upgrade for the Inspiron 6400? Dell's latest BIOS for the machine is version A09, dated 10/13/2006. Dells usually display the BIOS version when the machine is powered on.

You should also check that the scheduler has been set by your distribution:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_driver

hi there. i checked the Dell's new BIOS and it seems like im using the old BIOS. i doubt that this BIOS update will actually heals the problem. Anyway, im going to give it a try.

by the way, the output of cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_driver gives me "Centrino"

Thanks!

The BIOS controls how the Linux kernel interacts with the system via the ACPI interface. An error in the BIOS ACPI configuration frequently causes the operating system components to do the wrong thing.

"Centrino" is incorrect for your CPU; it should be "ondemand". After your BIOS upgrade, check again. If it is still a problem, upgrade your cpuspeed package.

upgraded the BIOS and it still the same. So, im looking for new cpuspeed but the latest release was dated back to 2005...no luck it seems...

hi..just wanted to let u guys know that the dynamic switching works now. i can see from cpu freq scaling monitor that it switches between 1ghz and 1.67ghz. Thanks a lot for helping out anyway!!