auto-cpufreq: should start on boot if enabled

[pnelson]

Describe the bug
I believe the auto-cpufreq daemon should start on boot if enabled.

To Reproduce

1. Enable auto-cpufreq daemon: services.auto-cpufreq.enable = true;.
2. Reboot the system.
3. Run systemctl status auto-cpufreq.
4. Observe auto-cpufreq as dead/inactive.

Expected behavior
auto-cpufreq service should be started on boot.

Additional context
I was using the unstable service in 20.09 and it worked as expected. In 21.05 stable, the service starts dead/inactive and my system is very slow. I manually start the service and I'm back to the NixOS I know and love.

I was able to fix this by adding the following to my configuration:

  systemd.services.auto-cpufreq.wantedBy = [ "default.target" ];

Notify maintainers
@Technical27

Metadata
Please run nix-shell -p nix-info --run "nix-info -m" and paste the result.

• system: "x86_64-linux"
• host os: Linux 5.10.40, NixOS, 21.05.804.5de44c15758 (Okapi)
• multi-user?: yes
• sandbox: yes
• version: nix-env (Nix) 2.3.12
• channels(pnelson): ""
• channels(root): "nixos-21.05.804.5de44c15758, nixos-unstable-21.11pre294109.fbfb79400a0, nixos-hardware"
• nixpkgs: /nix/var/nix/profiles/per-user/root/channels/nixos

Maintainer information:

# a list of nixpkgs attributes affected by the problem
attribute:
# a list of nixos modules affected by the problem
module:

[Artturin]

#81138

[Technical27]

Sorry for being late, #126897 should fix this.

[ASHGOLDOFFICIAL]

I have the exact same issue now, on 23.11.

[becknik]

Same here, also facing this problem on 23.11...

[becknik]

@nicoo

Thought this might be caused due to some false overwrites in the module config, so I decided to try out rewriting the systemd service. Doesn't work either...

  systemd.services.auto-cpufreq =
    let
      cfg = config.services.auto-cpufreq;
      cfgFilename = "auto-cpufreq.conf";
      cfgFile = format.generate cfgFilename cfg.settings;

      format = pkgs.formats.ini { };
    in
    {
      description = "auto-cpufreq - Automatic CPU speed & power optimizer for Linux";
      wants = [ "multi-user.target" ];
      after = [ "multi-user.target" ];

      serviceConfig = {
        Type = "simple";
        User = "root";
        Restart = "on-failure";
        ExecStart = lib.mkForce [ "${lib.getExe pkgs.auto-cpufreq} --daemon --config ${cfgFile}" ];
      };
    };

  auto-cpufreq = with prev; auto-cpufreq.overrideAttrs (oldAttrs: {
    # https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/auto-cpufreq/issues/661
    patches = oldAttrs.patches ++ [ ./modifications/auto-cpufreq_pipe-log-spam.patch ];

    # manually creating the systemd service due to this one with overwrites not working...
    # (see /nixos/lnix/default.nix)
    postInstall = ''
      # copy script manually
      cp ${oldAttrs.src}/scripts/cpufreqctl.sh $out/bin/cpufreqctl.auto-cpufreq

      # systemd service
      mkdir -p $out/lib/systemd/system
      #cp ${oldAttrs.src}/scripts/auto-cpufreq.service $out/lib/systemd/system
    '';
  });

$ sc-status auto-cpufreq.service
○ auto-cpufreq.service - auto-cpufreq - Automatic CPU speed & power optimizer for Linux
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/auto-cpufreq.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: inactive (dead)

$ cat /etc/systemd/system/auto-cpufreq.service
[Unit]
After=multi-user.target
Description=auto-cpufreq - Automatic CPU speed & power optimizer for Linux
Wants=multi-user.target

[Service]
Environment="LOCALE_ARCHIVE=/nix/store/ar5wxfgqbzc84zy1yimj1s0yf7a63qba-glibc-locales-2.38-44/lib/locale/locale-archive"
Environment="PATH=/nix/store/r9h133c9m8f6jnlsqzwf89zg9w0w78s8-bash-5.2-p15/bin:/nix/store/rk067yylvhyb7a360n8k1ps4lb4xsbl3-coreutils-9.3/bin:/nix/store/rk067yylvhyb7a360n8k1ps4lb4xsbl3-coreutils-9.3/bin:/nix/store/q7x6rjg6ya1gsg068fxj1sgf1k2n144n-findutils-4.9.0/bin:/nix/store/r1lp9kxlrc6h7vrba90gm6i94s31xvvx-gnugrep-3.11/bin:/nix/store/29w8hg0fis0pl3j4d3v0p02aicyw10lv-gnused-4.9/bin:/nix/store/dzp7d4k1d94s1x49p9171mvcsfyxr7bj-systemd-254.6/bin:/nix/store/r9h133c9m8f6jnlsqzwf89zg9w0w78s8-bash-5.2-p15/sbin:/nix/store/rk067yylvhyb7a360n8k1ps4lb4xsbl3-coreutils-9.3/sbin:/nix/store/rk067yylvhyb7a360n8k1ps4lb4xsbl3-coreutils-9.3/sbin:/nix/store/q7x6rjg6ya1gsg068fxj1sgf1k2n144n-findutils-4.9.0/sbin:/nix/store/r1lp9kxlrc6h7vrba90gm6i94s31xvvx-gnugrep-3.11/sbin:/nix/store/29w8hg0fis0pl3j4d3v0p02aicyw10lv-gnused-4.9/sbin:/nix/store/dzp7d4k1d94s1x49p9171mvcsfyxr7bj-systemd-254.6/sbin"
Environment="TZDIR=/nix/store/i6nk8llh46f2xjzc5h8j83kwwr1w3kx0-tzdata-2024a/share/zoneinfo"
ExecStart=/nix/store/yfmy07a1fsjvkly4f7s46rcq4293radg-python3.11-auto-cpufreq-1.9.9/bin/auto-cpufreq --daemon --config /nix/store/ssbbdkqwf1xj5ywysfnch7i2ginqc1cp-auto-cpufreq.conf
Restart=on-failure
Type=simple
User=root
WorkingDirectory=

[stusmall]

For others who might still be hitting this, I thought I was too. When checking the logs I saw that power-profiles-daemon was starting up, causing auto-cpufreq to shut down. I fixed this by adding: services.power-profiles-daemon.enable = false;

From looking at this code, and be kind with me here since I'm a nix beginner, while this is off by default it is enabled when using gnome.

I think the best action would be to add an assertion to give users a prompt like with tlp. If this looks correct I can open a PR for it