Reference

Launching the Dtpower Application
Dtpower Basic Screen

Power Saving Scheme
Quick Edit Tab
Autoshutdown Dialog Box

Launching the Dtpower Application

You can invoke Dtpower by:

From the command line by typing dtpower
From the Control Panel by clicking on the dtpower application icon
From the Tools subpanel of the Workspace Menu, by clicking on the dtpower application icon
From the System_Admin folder of the Application Manager, by clicking on the dtpower application icon.

Dtpower Basic Screen

The Basic screen is the fundamental screen from which you can manage power to your system.

Power Saving Scheme

When you select a scheme from the combo box, it becomes the Current Power Saving Scheme. The default or Standard power saving scheme is selected when you first visit the dtpower GUI. You can change this by choosing from the schemes that appear in the combo box. If you do not have permission to select one or more power management schemes, those schemes will not appear as possible selections.

The schemes available in the combo box include the fixed (system-provided) schemes shown above, (you cannot override any of the fixed schemes) and a customized scheme if you choose to create and save one. You cannot create multiple customized schemes.

To create a customized scheme, you modify a fixed scheme and save it as a new one. To modify an existing scheme, press the More button to see the dtpower Expanded Screen version of the GUI with all of its editing capabilities. From the expanded version of the GUI, you can save the modified scheme as "customized". ("*Customized*" only appears in the combo box when the current scheme differs from the system shipped schemes. The "*Customized*" scheme is temporary, and only remains the current scheme until you select a different scheme and press the OK button. Once you press the OK button, "*Customized*" is deleted and removed from the list of schemes in the GUI.

You can select one of the following options as the power saving scheme:

Disabled: No power saving.
Minimal: Save power on displays only.
Standard: Save power on all devices.

A warning message may appear under the Current Power Saving Scheme pane if you have enabled Autoshutdown. This message reminds you of the time interval for which you have set the machine to completely shut down. You can only enable Autoshutdown in the dtpower Expanded Screen. If you have not enabled autoshutdown, no warning message appears.

To modify the settings of the current power saving scheme, click on More to see the dtpower Expanded Screen. You may customize the settings using the componets of this screen. If you lack permission to modify a particular setting, its component will be grayed out.

Quick Edit Tab

Click on More to expand the GUI. The tab shown by default is the Quick Edit tab which is used for:

Setting the overall system idle time
Power managing the most common devices

Displays
Disks

The Quick Edit tab shows the settings for each scheme provided with the system. If you modify any of the settings, either by choosing a different value from the combo boxes or by entering your own, a new scheme is created with your settings and is named "*Customized*".

Device Idle Time Before Power Saving Starts

This is the amount of idle time after which all power-manageable devices on the system, which have not been overridden with special-case settings, begin to save power. When you select a value in this combo box, you are choosing the amount of idle time after which all power-manageable devices on the system transition to the lowest power settings. This is true except for those with special-case settings.

You can also enter your own values in this editable combo box. The accepted format for new values is: [magnitude][space][units], where units must be abbreviated as Sec, Min, or Hr. If you enter a new value, it is added to the list of values in the combo box.

Override Device Idle Time For

The Quick Edit tab easily power manages groups of displays and disk drives. The Quick Edit tab allows you to specify a single time to transition from the highest power to the lowest power for each type of device. For example, if the system has 8 power-manageable disk drives, you can set a single amount of idle time after which all of the disk drives sleep. These special-case settings can override the default system idle time. If your system has no power-manageable devices in a particular class, the controls for that class will be grayed out.

After you check the box, the corresponding combo box becomes active and you can either select the idle time, or enter a time increment, after which all displays or all disk drives on the system will begin to save power. You also have the option of setting the devices to be Always On. These settings override values set in the Default System Idle Time combo box.

If you enter a value into the combo box, follow the format for new values: [magnitude][whitespace][units], where units must be abbreviated as Sec, Min, or Hr. If you type a new value into the combo box it is added to the list of values in the combo box list.

Autoshutdown

In addition to setting power-saving modes for system devices, you can completely shut down the computer and set a time for it to automatically restart.

You can set the time interval during which, if idle, the computer shuts down. You can choose a value from the combo box or enter a value. If you enter your own value, follow the format for new values: [magnitude][whitespace][units], where units must be abbreviated as Sec, Min, or Hr. If you type a new value into the combo box it is added to the list of values in the combo box list. Likewise, if you manually edit power.conf to set a value not already in the combo box, that value is added to the list and is visible in the combo box. You can check a box to indicate that the computer should be restarted automatically at the end of that interval. Selecting a value from the Shut Down During This Interval If Idle For: combo box sets the amount of idle time after which the computer shuts down once within the specified interval.

Selecting a value from the Shut Down During This Interval If Idle For: combo box sets the amount of idle time after which the computer will shutdown once within the specified interval. If you enter your own value into the combo box, you must follow the numeric value by "Sec", "Min", "Hr".

If you enter a new value into the combo box it will be added to the list of values in the combo box. Likewise, if you manually edit power.conf to set a value not already in the combo box, that value will be added to the list and will be visible in the combo box. A value such as "1.5 Hr" is accepted and will be parsed by the GUI and understood to equal 90 minutes.

Clicking the OK button in the Autoshutdown dialog closes the window and means that the changes are pending until the OK button is pressed from the main dtpower screen. Clicking the Cancel button discards the changes, closes the window, and returns you to the dtpower screen.