Power Management of Overall System

The system idle time defines the length of time for which the CPU and the devices connected to your system must be idle before they power down. Although you can use the GUI to assign only one idle time for all devices and the CPU, the idle time of each device is measured separately. If a system has two external hard drives, for example, and you are only using one of them, the other drive switches to power-saving mode after 30 minutes of idleness. The first drive switches to the power-saving mode separately, after an idle time of 30 minutes.

For information on configuring a different idle time for each device, refer to the power.conf(4) man page.

To Change System Power Management

1. Start Dtpower.

   This launches the Dtpower basic window:

   Figure 23–4 The Dtpower Basic Window

   
   

2. In the Dtpower basic window, select More.

   The Quick Edit tab is displayed.

   Figure 23–5 Quick Edit Tab

   
   

3. From the pull-down list for Default System Idle Time, choose the amount of time you want all the devices to be idle before powering down.

   You can also type in the system idle time.