Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-5072

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

<code>TLP_DEFAULT_MODE=BAT</code>
<code>TLP_PERSISTENT_DEFAULT=0</code>

<code># DISK</code>
<code>DISK_DEVICES="sda"</code>
<code>DISK_IOSCHED="keep"</code>
<code>DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_AC=0</code>
<code>DISK_IDLE_SECS_ON_BAT=5</code>

<code># FILE SYSTEM</code>
<code>MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_AC=15</code>
<code>MAX_LOST_WORK_SECS_ON_BAT=45</code>

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

<code># GPU</code>
<code>INTEL_GPU_BOOST_FREQ_ON_AC=1100</code>
<code>INTEL_GPU_BOOST_FREQ_ON_BAT=1000</code>
<code>INTEL_GPU_MAX_FREQ_ON_AC=1100</code>
<code>INTEL_GPU_MAX_FREQ_ON_BAT=1000</code>
<code>INTEL_GPU_MIN_FREQ_ON_AC=300</code>
<code>INTEL_GPU_MIN_FREQ_ON_BAT=300</code>

<code># KERNEL</code>
<code>NMI_WATCHDOG=0</code>

<code># SATA</code>
<code>SATA_LINKPWR_BLACKLIST=""</code>
<code>SATA_LINKPWR_ON_AC="max_performance"</code>
<code>SATA_LINKPWR_ON_BAT="min_power"</code>

<code># AHCI</code>
<code>AHCI_RUNTIME_PM_ON_AC=on</code>
<code>AHCI_RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=on</code>
<code>AHCI_RUNTIME_PM_TIMEOUT=15</code>

<code># PCIE</code>
<code>PCIE_ASPM_ON_AC=default</code>
<code>PCIE_ASPM_ON_BAT=powersave</code>
<code>RUNTIME_PM_ON_AC=on</code>
<code>RUNTIME_PM_ON_BAT=auto</code>
<code>RUNTIME_PM_DRIVER_BLACKLIST=""</code>

<code># WIFI</code>
<code>WIFI_PWR_ON_AC=off</code>
<code>WIFI_PWR_ON_BAT=on</code>

<code># WAKE ON LAN</code>
<code>WOL_DISABLE=Y</code>

<code># AUDIO</code>
<code>SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_AC=0</code>
<code>SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_BAT=1</code>
<code>SOUND_POWER_SAVE_CONTROLLER=Y</code>

<code># USB</code>
<code>USB_AUTOSUSPEND=1</code>

• Type (as the root user) in the terminal to start TLP using custom settings.
• Type (as the root user) in the terminal to view your custom settings which should present in the end of the output.
• Type (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

• 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

<code># auto = enable power saving</code>
<code># on = disable power saving</code>

<code># Auto-tune all settings</code>
<code>sudo powertop --auto-tune</code>

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

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

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

• Add these lines, save this file (as the root user) in , make it executable
• You can create a systemd service which executes this file at startup.

/etc/systemd/system/powertop.service

<code>[Unit]</code>
<code>Description=Powertop custom startup script</code>

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

<code>[Install]</code>
<code>WantedBy=multi-user.target</code>

• Save this file (as the root user) in
• Start
• Enable
• Reboot your machine, and check status (as the root user) , > Tunables Tab.