---
name: "laptop_mode"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "laptop-mode-tools"
version: "1.74-1.4"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/laptop_mode"
---

# laptop\_mode(8)

apply laptop mode settings

## NAME

*/usr/sbin/laptop\_mode* - apply laptop mode settings

## SYNOPSIS

**/usr/sbin/laptop\_mode \[** *cmd* **\] \[ force \]**

## DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents briefly the  */usr/sbin/laptop\_mode* command. laptop\_mode is a program that applies the settings given in the */etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf* configuration file. The primary use is to control the laptop mode feature included in Linux kernels with versions 2.6.6 and higher, and 2.4.23 and higher. This feature increases battery life by letting your  hard drive spin down. This is achieved by grouping disk write  activity into "chunks" that are spaced at larger intervals than  they normally would be. In addition to supporting the Linux kernel's laptop mode feature, */usr/sbin/laptop\_mode* also supports various power saving modules which are configured through configuration files in the */etc/laptop-mode/conf.d* directory.

It is not recommended to call */usr/sbin/laptop\_mode* directly to start or stop laptop mode, except in hardware event handlers. To apply new configuration settings from *laptop-mode.conf*, call the laptop-mode service init script with the reload parameter.

## COMMANDS

Specify **force** as the second parameter to force laptop\_mode to re-apply a state even if the computer is already in that state. These are the values that are allowed for *cmd* :

- **auto**

  Enable or disable laptop mode based on the current power state. Note that this will not do anything if the laptop-mode service has not been started!

- **status**

  Display a status report about everything that laptop\_mode affects.

## SEE ALSO

[laptop-mode.conf(8)](/laptop-mode.conf/8.md).

## AUTHOR

This manual page was written by Bart Samwel (bart@samwel.tk) for  the  **Debian** system (but may be used by others).  Permission is  granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under  the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 any   later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public  License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.