README.md

Power Monitor

Another stupidly simple KDE Plasma 5 widget to monitor the power consumption of your CPU (only) in real time.

This is a fork of Power Monitor. The original measures the battery power consumption while this extension measures only Intel CPU's power.

Preview

Widget as shown on desktop

Widget as shown on taskbar

Installation

To install this, right click on the desktop, click on Add Widgets, select Get New Widgets, select Download New Plasma Widgets and search for CPU Power Monitor. Install it by pressing the install button.

Customization

1. Update Interval: Changes the rate at which the widget updates
2. Bold Text: Changes display text to Bold
3. Add "Fix Permission" to CronJobs: Adds a cron job to root's cron list to fix sensor permission when the system reboots. When clicked,
   • If it asked for the sudo password twice, this fix is successfully installed.
   • If it asked for the sudo password only once, the fix is already installed.

Note

1. The widget displays power consumption in Watts.

2. This widget makes use of the /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl:0/energy_uj file to query the energy consumption. If the widget displays "PERM", then you either

   • don't have this file in your OS, or
   • don't have the permission to read the said file.

3. If later is the case, try:

   • click on Add Fix Permission to CronJobs in the settings menu and enter the password when asked(either once or twice) (Permanent).
   • select Fix Sensor Permission in the right click menu as seen below and enter your Super User password. (Temporary, resets on reboot)

   

   • running sudo chmod 444 /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl:0/energy_uj in konsole and see if the issue is fixed. (Temporary, resets on reboot)

4. The power usage rises continously when the laptop is plugged in to A/C power. It is normal if you see high readings.

5. This will only work for Intel CPUs.