Device needs more Power with Pfsense than with Linux

[Beelze]

Hi
I currently run Pfsense on a Notebook (NEC LaVie C LC600JDR34 Japanese Version).
When I start this Device with a Linux LiveCD and let it idle, it needs about 11,5Watt
The same device with pfsense (no traffic, no usage) needs 20Watt.
ACPI is enabled in both cases.

I verified this with another NOT ACPI cappable Notebook (Compaq Armada 1750). This Notebook has only APM (ACPI broken, so switched off in the Bios) support working.
I tested it with 3 different LiveCD's with 2.4 and 2.6 Kernels (pretty old ones and newer ones).
Power drain with Linux was about 14Watt and power drain with Pfsense about 22Watt.

So why does FreeBSD need more power? Can't see any reason for this.
Is there a way to tune ACPI or other parts of the system so I can reach the same power level like I do with Linux?

The reason for this is I'm trying to lower my energy costs here. A box running 24/7 costs quite a lot and every watt I save will easy my pain.

Thanks

[sullrich]

If you disable ACPI then you basically disabled all forms of advanced power control from what I understand.  I don't know anything about tuning anything and would suggest that you post on the freebsd-mobile list as ACPI is quite complicated.

[Beelze]

Maybe I did not make it clear.
The machine I want to run pfsense on has ACPI enabled.

I just crosstested it on a machine without ACPI to see if the difference in power drain depends on ACPI or APM usage.
But in both cases Linux performed about 8 Watts better than FreeBSD.

The machine gets quite hot too when running FreeBSD and stays cool when running Linux
I'll follow your advice and try the freebsd-mobile list.

Thx

[ab0tj]

My guess would be Linux uses the HLT instruction to idle the CPU when it's not needed, and pfSense does not. Maybe you should try IPCop. It's based on Linux.