Lower the consumption of beagleboard

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1

Hello all,
is it possible to even lower the consuption of beagleboard?
For example, in case I don't want to use any video outputs, am I able
to switch those parts off?

Cheers

2

Yes. You can look at the System Reference Manual and see that you can power down the TFP410, the DVID framer chip. In addition you can do all sorts of things, like change the processor frequency and lower or turn off many of the voltages to lower the power.

http://beagleboard.org/hardware/design

Gerald

3

Hi, can you please point me to the correct page in the manual?
By the way, is it possible to change those parameters on-the-fly (I am
using Ubuntu 9.10)?

Thanks a lot

4

The kernel does support some power management, but you will need to go through that to see exactly what is supported.

As to a page number, there are dozens of sections that discuss this both in the OMAP3530 and the TPS65950. Power management from the voltage aspect, is handled by the TPS65950. I suggest you download the documentation for that device and read through it. The OMAP3530 supports the frequency scaling and the shutting down of various components inside the OMAP3530 to reduce the power.

From the Beagle perspective, you can look at the schematic and see the control pin for the USB and DVI-D power that can be controlled to turn off the power. GPIO170 turn off the DVI-D framer. the LEDA signal turns off the USB power to the USB connector.

Gerald