TLP, a command-line Linux power management utility that optimizes laptop power consumption and battery life without constant manual adjustments, has just released version 1.11.
The biggest change concerns how TLP handles its three power profiles: performance, balanced, and power-saver. Configuration parameters now use the suffixes _PRF, _BAL, and _SAV, replacing the previous _AC and _BAT naming scheme for the first two profiles.
Existing configurations remain compatible because TLP automatically translates older parameter names at runtime. However, users are encouraged to update their settings. In light of this, running tlp-stat --cdiff identifies affected parameters to ease migration.
TLP 1.11 also improves how it interacts with laptop firmware. Platform profile settings can now specify multiple alternatives, which TLP tries in sequence until it finds one supported by the hardware.
For example, the performance profile now prefers balanced-performance over performance when available. Developers say this can reduce fan speeds on some gaming laptops. Similarly, the power-saver profile can fall back to cool or quiet when the standard low-power option is unavailable.
Wireless device management has also been expanded. Users can now independently configure which radio devices should be enabled or disabled under each of the three power profiles, rather than having different controls available depending on the selected profile.
On the USB side, TLP now excludes serial port devices, including those using PL2303 and CH34x chips, from automatic USB suspension by default. This prevents interruptions when working with USB-to-serial adapters used for hardware development, debugging, and device communication. Users who want these devices suspended can add them to USB_ALLOWLIST.
The release also includes improvements to tlp-pd, TLP’s power profiles daemon, including a SysVinit startup script and configuration file for systems that do not use systemd.
Finally, TLP 1.11 fixes a battery care issue affecting certain Lenovo laptops outside the ThinkPad lineup, including ThinkBooks. A kernel-related problem could make firmware charging status unreadable after suspend or hibernation. TLP now works around this by rewriting the relevant firmware setting when the system resumes.
For more information, see the changelog.
