tlp-battery-boost 1.0.0

A lightweight Tkinter GUI to toggle TLP between normal and full-charge battery modes.

Battery Boost

A lightweight Tkinter GUI to toggle TLP between normal battery optimization mode and temporary full-charge mode ( tlp fullcharge ).

Overview

Battery Boost provides an easy-to-use interface for switching between normal and full-charge battery profiles using TLP. It's designed for users who want to extend their battery lifespan by maintaining optimal charge levels during normal use, while having quick access to full charging when needed.

Features

• Toggle Between Profiles: Switch between default TLP settings and full-charge mode
• Automatic Authentication: Enter your password once - the app maintains sudo privileges while running
• Battery Status Display: View current charge levels and threshold settings
• Theme Support: Choose between light and dark themes
• Adjustable Font Sizes: Scale the interface to your preference
• Terminal Integration: When run from terminal, displays status information for debugging

Requirements

• Linux with TLP installed and configured
• Python 3.10+
• sudo privileges for TLP commands

Installation

• Ensure TLP is installed on your system:

  sudo apt install tlp tlp-rdw  # For Debian/Ubuntu
  # or
  sudo dnf install tlp tlp-rdw  # For Fedora
  

• Clone this repository or download the script:

  git clone https://github.com/SteveDaulton/tlp-battery-boost.git
  cd tlp-battery-boost
  

• Make the script executable (optional):

  chmod +x battery_boost.py
  

Usage

To launch the graphical interface:

./battery_boost.py
# or
python3 battery_boost.py

The app will:

• Prompt for your sudo password
• Initialize TLP to default settings
• Show the current battery status
• Provide a button to toggle between default and full-charge modes

Command Line Options

./battery_boost.py --help
    -f, --font-size [1-5]: Set font size (1=smallest, 5=largest, default=3)
    -t, --theme [light|dark]: Choose color theme (default: light)
    -v, --version: Show version information

Examples

Large font with dark theme

./battery_boost.py -f 5 -t dark

Small font for compact displays

./battery_boost.py --font-size 1

How It Works

• Default Mode: Uses TLP's standard battery preservation settings (typically 80% charge limit)
• Full Charge Mode: Temporarily disables charge limits to charge the battery to 100%
• Authentication: Caches sudo credentials for 10 minutes to avoid repeated password prompts
• Status Monitoring: Uses tlp-stat -b to display current battery thresholds and charge levels

For more information about TLP, see https://linrunner.de/tlp/.

Security Notes

• Your password is only used for initial sudo authentication and is immediately cleared from memory
• Your password is never written to disk.
• The sudo session is cleared and privileges are revoked on exit.
• No network connections are made - everything runs locally

Troubleshooting

TLP not found error:

• Ensure TLP is installed and in your PATH
• Verify TLP is properly configured for your system

Authentication issues:

• Make sure you have sudo privileges
• Check that your password is correct

Battery status not showing:

• Verify your system's battery is detected by TLP
• Check that sudo tlp-stat -b works from the command line

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for bugs and feature requests.

License

Licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

Note: This application requires TLP to be properly configured for your specific hardware. Some battery conservation features may not be available on all systems.