Something I have been wanting recently in Ubuntu for laptops and specifically my Eee PC is the ability to control the CPU frequency easily. With Asus’s unwillingness to provide their “Super Hybrid Machine” for Ubuntu and the several times I can run applications that push the frequency to its limit, my Eee PC can get a little toasty in the lap. Many thanks go to The Ubuntu Labrador for the instructions.

The first step to be able to adjust the CPU frequency in Ubuntu is to add the “CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor” to a panel in Gnome. Do this by right-clicking in an open area on a panel and choosing “Add to panel.” Next, choose the monitor from the list. This will show the frequency your CPU is running at during that exact moment. If on an Eee PC with an Intel Atom processor, it will show 800MHz when idle and jump to 1.6GHz when running applications.

In order to enable manual control of the CPU frequency, a command must be executed to configure the applet. Start by opening a Terminal window and enter the following command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets

This will show a text-based GUI informing that a component can be added to the CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor with the SUID bit set. Select “OK” and it will prompt you to confirm that you want to install the component. Select “Yes” and you should be returned to the terminal. Close the terminal and yoou should now have control by left-clicking on the monitor in the panel. You automatically receive varying frequencies and pre-defined modes of frequency management!

Menus!

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