Question about TPM and Intel MKL - do they help at all?

[James1138]

Question about the Trusted Protection Module (TPM) and Intel® Math Kernel Library (Intel® MKL): Do they help in any major way on Thinkpads running Linux??

I own a Thinkpad T500 and running Devuan (Debian 10 variant w/o systemd) and recall I on Windows there was a TPM option - I see the option available for Linux.
I also see in the repositories about the Intel MKL, which supposed to help with computations.

However: if the gain is so slight that it is not worth the installation - I kinda like to know.

I mostly use Libreoffice / Gimp / Browser... I am not sure the Intel MKL would be major help.

Thanks in advance.
James
Indiana / USA

[dave67]

I have never used the MKL. TLP does help with battery life. I had a T500 with Linux Mint and without TLP I got maybe an hour of battery life. After installation of TLP I get around 4 to 5 hours. I have a T520 currently with TLP installed. I never really timed the life of the battery till last night if I use the laptop I get around 2 to 4 hours maybe. TLP is best of you down load the latest version from their website. They have a PPA to add. The repositories are outdated most of of the time. The TPM I have turned off myself I have never needed it. New model laptops will have to have TPM 2.0 for windows 11. Unless MS changes the the version requirements in the next few years.

Here is the web link
https://linrunner.de/tlp/installation/index.html

With thinkpads there are extra packages to install I know that T500 only supports one of these. Read the for thinkpads only on the installation. once TLP is installed you also open a terminal and type
tlp-status and it will provide info on settings etc. Lower down this output you will see what one of these below is supported.

cpi-call-dkms (universe) – optional – External kernel module providing battery re-calibration

tp-smapi-dkms (PPA or universe) – optional – External kernel module providing battery charge thresholds, re-calibration and specific tlp-stat -b output for older ThinkPads