Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-5072 - ArchWiki

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## Hardware Specification

Note: This may differ depending on your part number.

Part Number: NX.GTCSI.002

Firmware: Insyde BIOS v1.20

Display: 15.6" TN Matte 1920x1080 @ 60Hz (BOE NT156FHM-N41)

Processor: Intel Core i5 8250U @ 1.60GHz (4C/8T 15W)

Integrated Graphics: Intel UHD 620 Graphics

Dedicated Graphics: Nvidia GeForce MX150 2GB (1D10 25W)

Audio: Intel HD Audio, Speakers, Microphone

Memory Slot #1: 04CB 4GB DDR4 2400MHz (On-board)

Memory Slot #2: SK Hynix 4GB DDR4 2400MHz (Removable)

2.5" Slot: WD Blue 1TB 5400 RPM HDD

M.2 Slot: Empty (22mm x 80mm)

Wi-Fi: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377

Bluetooth: Lite-On Technology Corp

Ethernet + Card Reader: Realtek RTL8411B(N)

Keyboard: Generic 101 key US, Backlit

Webcam: Quanta Computer Inc, 720p

Touchpad: Elantech ELAN0501, Multi-Gesture Support

Ports: 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB Type-C, 3.5mm Jack, SD Card Reader

Battery: Li-Ion 48Whr 4-cell

Power Supply: 65W AC Adapter

## Known Issues

- Bootable USB detection by the BIOS can be slow or flaky at times, need to restart the laptop again.
- Out of the box battery life is lower compared to Windows, need to tweak the defaults using TLP & Powertop.
- PCIe spams error messages in the journal, to fix this add `pci=noaer` as kernel parameters.
- PCI Express Active State Power Management does not work. Use BIOS recommended defaults.
- AHCI Power Management does not reliably work for some SSD brands, especially Samsung. Use BIOS recommended defaults.
- Wi-Fi speeds can get throttled when using on battery power, in that case disable power management for the Wi-Fi chipset.
- Using TLP and `powertop --auto-tune` (run as the root user) will cause conflicting power settings and disabling of Turbo boost when plugged in.

## BIOS Firmware Settings

Note: You need to update BIOS to V1.20

Set supervisor password first, only then you are able to change Secure Boot option

- Secure Boot: Off
- Touchpad: Advanced

## Kernel Boot Parameters

Note: Back up your GRUB before making below changes.

- `pci=noaer` to disable advanced error reporting for PCI devices.

## Custom TLP Settings

Note: Back up your `tlp.conf` before making below changes. Do not use TLP and `powertop --auto-tune` (run as the root user) together, it will conflict the power settings.

- You will need to install TLP & Powertop.
- These settings are aimed at moderate-high power savings when on battery power and high performance when connected to a power source.
- Add below lines at the end of your `/etc/tlp.conf`, You will need to modify them further to suit your usage pattern.

    /etc/tlp.conf

    TLP_DEFAULT_MODE=BAT
    TLP_PERSISTENT_DEFAULT=0

    # DISK
    DISK_DEVICES="sda"
    DISK_IOSCHED="keep"
    DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_AC=0
    DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_BAT=5

    # FILE SYSTEM
    MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_AC=15
    MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_BAT=45

    # CPU
    CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_AC=performance
    CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_BAT=powersave
    CPU_ENERGY_PERF_POLICY_ON_AC=performance
    CPU_MIN_PERF_ON_AC=0
    CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_AC=100
    CPU_MIN_PERF_ON_BAT=0
    CPU_MAX_PERF_ON_BAT=25
    CPU_BOOST_ON_AC=1
    CPU_BOOST_ON_BAT=0
    SCHED_POWERSAVE_ON_AC=0
    SCHED_POWERSAVE_ON_BAT=1

    # GPU
    INTEL_GPU_BOOST_FREQ_ON_AC=1100
    INTEL_GPU_BOOST_FREQ_ON_BAT=1000
    INTEL_GPU_MAX_FREQ_ON_AC=1100
    INTEL_GPU_MAX_FREQ_ON_BAT=1000
    INTEL_GPU_MIN_FREQ_ON_AC=300
    INTEL_GPU_MIN_FREQ_ON_BAT=300

    # KERNEL
    NMI_WATCHDOG=0

    # SATA
    SATA_LINKPWR_BLACKLIST=""
    SATA_LINKPWR_ON_AC="max_performance"
    SATA_LINKPWR_ON_BAT="min_power"

    # AHCI
    AHCI_RUNTIME_PM_ON_AC=on
    AHCI_RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=on
    AHCI_RUNTIME_PM_TIMEOUT=15

    # PCIE
    PCIE_ASPM_ON_AC=default
    PCIE_ASPM_ON_BAT=powersave
    RUNTIME_PM_ON_AC=on
    RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=auto
    RUNTIME_PM_DRIVER_BLACKLIST=""

    # WIFI
    WIFI_PWR_ON_AC=off
    WIFI_PWR_ON_BAT=on

    # WAKE ON LAN
    WOL_DISABLE=Y

    # AUDIO
    SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_AC=0
    SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_BAT=1
    SOUND_POWER_SAVE_CONTROLLER=Y

    # USB
    USB_AUTOSUSPEND=1

- Type `tlp start` (as the root user) in the terminal to start TLP using custom settings.
- Type `tlp-stat -c | sort` (as the root user) in the terminal to view your custom settings which should present in the end of the output.
- Type `powertop` (as the root user) in the terminal, go to Device stats and Tunables tabs to view your current power consumption and parameters which need to be tweaked further.

## Custom Powertop Settings

Note: Do not use TLP and `powertop --auto-tune` (run as the root user) together, it will conflict the power settings.

- You will need to install Powertop.
- These settings are aimed at balanced power savings when on battery power and when connected to a power source.
- You will need to modify these settings further to suit your usage pattern.

    /usr/bin/pwrtp

    # auto = enable power saving
    # on = disable power saving

    # Auto-tune all settings
    sudo powertop --auto-tune

    # Force Runtime PM for PCI Device NVIDIA Corporation GP108M [GeForce MX150]
    sudo bash -c 'echo "auto" > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:01:00.0/power/control'

    # Disable Autosuspend for USB device Gaming Mouse G402 [Logitech]
    sudo bash -c 'echo "on" > /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-3/power/control'
    sudo bash -c 'echo "on" > /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-4/power/control'

    # Disable Runtime PM for PCI Device Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
    sudo bash -c 'echo "on" > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:03:00.0/power/control'

- Add these lines, save this file (as the root user) in `/usr/bin/`, make it executable `chmod +x /usr/bin/pwrtp`
- You can create a systemd service `powertop.service` which executes this file at startup.

    /etc/systemd/system/powertop.service

    [Unit]
    Description=Powertop custom startup script

    [Service]
    Type=idle
    Environment="TERM=dumb"
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/pwrtp

    [Install]
    WantedBy=multi-user.target

- Save this file (as the root user) in `/etc/systemd/system/`
- Start `powertop.service`
- Enable `powertop.service`
- Reboot your machine, and check status (as the root user) `systemctl status powertop.service`, `powertop` > Tunables Tab.

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- Acer

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