I’ve been digging into some of the cool features on my laptop lately, and I heard that enabling the hibernate feature on Ubuntu 20.04 is a game changer, especially for saving power when I’m not using it. I honestly didn’t even realize it wasn’t activated by default until a friend mentioned it to me. So, I thought I’d give it a go, but I’m not quite sure where to start!
I did some quick Google searching, but the instructions I found were a bit all over the place—like, do I need to create a swap file or partition? And then what about checking configurations? I’ve read somewhere that if the swap space isn’t large enough (like, at least as big as my RAM), it won’t work properly. Is that true? Because I’d rather not mess up my system trying to figure this out.
Also, it seems like there are a few different ways to enable hibernation, right? Some people recommend using the terminal, while others suggest changing settings in the GUI. I’m comfortable with the terminal to an extent, but I really don’t want to break anything in the system, you know? I’d love to hear from anyone who’s successfully set this up or if you’ve run into any hiccups along the way. Like, what command should I run in the terminal, and what files do I need to edit or create?
Oh, and I’m a bit concerned about how to finally activate the hibernate option in the power menu. I know it’s not there by default, but what’s the trick to getting it to show up? I read something about editing the logind.conf file, but I’m a bit hesitant to dive in without some guidance.
I’d really appreciate any step-by-step advice or personal experiences you guys can share about getting hibernation running smoothly on Ubuntu 20.04. It’d be a lifesaver for those long days when I forget to shut down my laptop! Thanks!
Enabling Hibernate on Ubuntu 20.04
So, you want to enable hibernate on your Ubuntu 20.04 laptop? That’s a solid idea! It can definitely save some power. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you through the process without breaking anything.
1. Checking Your Swap Space
First things first, you need to ensure that your swap space is sufficient. Ideally, it should be at least as large as your RAM. To check your current swap size, open a terminal (you can just search for “Terminal” in your applications) and run:
If you see a swap partition or file listed, you’re good! If it’s less than your RAM, you might want to create a new swap file or resize your existing one.
2. Creating a Swap File (if needed)
If you need to create a swap file, here’s how:
Replace
2G
with the size of your RAM (if it’s 8GB, for instance, use8G
). You can check your total RAM withfree -h
to be sure.3. Making the Swap File Permanent
To make the swap file permanent across reboots, you need to edit the
/etc/fstab
file:Add the following line if it’s not already there:
4. Enabling Hibernate
Now, let’s enable hibernation. Run the following command to check if hibernation is supported:
If your laptop goes to hibernation mode, you’re good to go! If it doesn’t, there might be some compatibility issues.
5. Adding Hibernate to Power Menu
To have the hibernate option in your power menu, you’ll need to edit the
logind.conf
file:Uncomment (remove the #) and change the line to:
Save the file and restart the system to see the changes.
6. Enjoy Hibernation!
After all this, you should be able to hibernate your laptop easily! Just remember, if anything seems off or if you have doubts, feel free to ask for help. It’s always better to ask than to break something! Happy hibernating!
To enable hibernation on Ubuntu 20.04, you will first need to ensure that you have adequate swap space, as it plays a crucial role in the hibernation process. Ideally, your swap partition or file should be at least as large as your RAM. You can check your current swap size by running the command
swapon --show
in the terminal. If you find that your swap space is insufficient, you can create a swap file using the following commands:sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
(replace ‘8G’ with your desired swap size), then set its permissions withsudo chmod 600 /swapfile
, and finally, enable it withsudo mkswap /swapfile
andsudo swapon /swapfile
. You can also add an entry to your/etc/fstab
file to ensure that it is activated on boot. After that, you will need to enter your actual swap partition or file UUID into the boot parameters. Check the UUID withsudo blkid
, then edit the/etc/default/grub
file by addingresume=UUID=your-swap-UUID
(make sure to replaceyour-swap-UUID
with the correct UUID). After editing, runsudo update-grub
to apply changes.The final steps include configuring the power settings to obtain the hibernate option in your power menu. You’ll need to edit the
/etc/systemd/logind.conf
file. Open it in a text editor with root permissions, for example, usingsudo nano /etc/systemd/logind.conf
, and uncomment or add the lineHandleLidSwitch=hibernate
andHandleSuspendKey=hibernate
. Save the file and restart the system or log out and back in. If you’re comfortable with the terminal, you can test the hibernation feature by runningsystemctl hibernate
. If everything works as expected, you should see the hibernate option appear in the power menu after following these steps. However, keep in mind that hardware configurations may lead to variances in performance. It’s advisable to ensure your system is backed up before making these changes, especially if you’re uncertain about the terminal commands.