Last core running above max frequency when SMT is off

[vbaenal]

Expected Behaviour All cores should be running between the ranges of minimum frequency and max frequency.

Actual Behaviour Setting GPU clock frequency from Gamemode interface causes the 6th core to run at more frequency than the maximum specified when SMT is off after a full Steam Deck restart.

To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Set GPU clock frequency on gamemode interface
2. Set SMT off and max core frequency on Powertools
3. Fully restart Steam Deck
4. Last core runs above maximum frequency.

Screenshots, etc. Screenshot 1: GPU freq: 400 MHz, CPU freq: 1600MHz Screenshot 2: GPU freq: 600 MHz, CPU freq: 1500 MHz

[vbaenal]

This issue happens on v1.0.4. I will check if it's still happening on v1.0.5 once it is released on the plugin store.

[NGnius]

Can you send the config that you're using (should be one of the files in ~/.config/powertools, probably default_settings.json) and also the log file (/tmp/powertools-rs.log) from when you see the incorrect CPU limits?

Also, I doubt v1.0.5 will fix this

[vbaenal]

This is the config file for the first game (not default_settings.json)

{
  "version": 0,
  "name": "The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero",
  "persistent": true,
  "cpus": [
    {
      "online": true,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    },
    {
      "online": false,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    },
    {
      "online": true,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    },
    {
      "online": false,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    },
    {
      "online": true,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    },
    {
      "online": false,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    },
    {
      "online": true,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    },
    {
      "online": false,
      "clock_limits": {
        "max": 1500,
        "min": 1400
      },
      "governor": "userspace"
    }
  ],
  "gpu": {
    "fast_ppt": null,
    "slow_ppt": null,
    "clock_limits": null,
    "slow_memory": false
  },
  "battery": {
    "charge_rate": null
  }
}

And this is the log file

19:14:15 [INFO] Starting back-end (powertools-rs v1.0.4)
19:14:15 [INFO] resume_worker starting...
19:14:15 [INFO] save_worker starting...
19:14:16 [INFO] Server::run; addr=127.0.0.1:44443
19:14:16 [INFO] listening on http://127.0.0.1:44443

Updating the frequency in powertools fixes the problem until the next restart

[NGnius]

Thanks, that all looks ok to me.

I wonder if the Steam client sets those values during startup, and it's just PowerTools being slightly faster than Steam that's causing the last core to get overridden... anyway, I'll figure that out when I find some time to look into this properly

[Knurek-NC]

I have the same issue (last core if SMT off and last two cores if SMT on) don't follow the minum CPU frequency setting. Toggling the frequency once up and down (or vice versa) fixes this for me. Just letting you know if this helps any.

[NGnius]

I haven't been able to reproduce this in the latest version, so I think it's been fixed as a side-effect of the architectural changes.