Port indicator-cpufreq to libcpupower

double checked and worked OK with k 3.9.0

I assume, "k" means the kernel? This looks like a problem with the kernel configuration then, not a bug in indicator-cpufreq. Check that your kernel supports CPU freqency scaling. The options to look for in the kernel config would be:

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_TABLE=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_COMMON=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_STAT=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_STAT_DETAILS=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_PERFORMANCE=y
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_POWERSAVE is not set
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_USERSPACE is not set
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_ONDEMAND is not set
# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_CONSERVATIVE is not set
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_PERFORMANCE=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_POWERSAVE=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_USERSPACE=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_ONDEMAND=y
CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_CONSERVATIVE=y

I have the same symptoms after upgrading to saucy (3.10.0) - before the upgrade the applet worked perfectly, now I only have a choice between "performance" and "powersave" (but it seems like they have no effect).

Yep, it looks like cpufreq scaling is broken/incompatible in 3.9.0 and above. Can you provide the output of cpufreq-info for your system?

Same problem here. Just upgraded from kernel 3.8 to kernel 3.10.1 and this bug has come up :(

cpufreq-info says:

vistausss@bodhimbp:~$ cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 008: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to <email address hidden>, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency: 0.97 ms.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 3.10 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance, powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 3.10 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 1
  maximum transition latency: 0.97 ms.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 3.10 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance, powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 3.10 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
analyzing CPU 2:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 2
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 2
  maximum transition latency: 0.97 ms.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 3.10 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance, powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 3.10 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
analyzing CPU 3:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 3
  maximum transition latency: 0.97 ms.
  hardware limits: 1.20 GHz - 3.10 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance, powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 1.20 GHz and 3.10 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
vistausss@bodhimbp:~$

So, it appears that cpufrequtils no longer works with recent kernels. Hmm, actually it looks like cpufrequtils is obsolete and replaced by cpupowerutils (not yet packaged in Ubuntu?).

Recent kernel upload, https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/3.11.0-3.6 includes libcpupower (the replacement lib for libcpufreq), renaming the bug accordingly.