Arch Linux

mpnordland

Member

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 46

Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

I have been having this issue for a while, it happened first to me on ubuntu, but I thought it was the AMD proprietary driver. Now, on arch linux, I'm experiencing it too, with the radeon driver. If I start up without a battery, then it will run off the cord, otherwise, no. I have a Dell Studio 1747.

/dev/zero

Member

From: Melbourne, Australia

Registered: 2011-10-20

Posts: 1,247

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

I have been having this issue for a while, it happened first to me on ubuntu, but I thought it was the AMD proprietary driver. Now, on arch linux, I'm experiencing it too, with the radeon driver. If I start up without a battery, then it will run off the cord, otherwise, no.

What is this `it' to which you refer? Please describe your problem step by step.

I have a Dell Studio 1747.

I'm not looking up what sort of laptop you have to find out which hardware Dell decided to use for that model. When asking about hardware issues, please provide (maybe in a paste bin):

lspci -nnmvk

lsmod

mpnordland

Member

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 46

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

I'm not looking up what sort of laptop you have to find out which hardware Dell decided to use for that model. When asking about hardware issues, please provide (maybe in a paste bin):

I don't blame you, it's almost impossible to find.

micah@micah-dell|~|$:lspci -nnmvk
Device:    00:00.0
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor DMI [d132]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    11

Device:    00:03.0
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor PCI Express Root Port 1 [d138]
Rev:    11
Driver:    pcieport

Device:    00:08.0
Class:    System peripheral [0880]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor System Management Registers [d155]
SVendor:    Unknown vendor [0028]
SDevice:    Device [00eb]
Rev:    11

Device:    00:08.1
Class:    System peripheral [0880]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Semaphore and Scratchpad Registers [d156]
SVendor:    Unknown vendor [0028]
SDevice:    Device [00eb]
Rev:    11

Device:    00:08.2
Class:    System peripheral [0880]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor System Control and Status Registers [d157]
SVendor:    Unknown vendor [0028]
SDevice:    Device [00eb]
Rev:    11

Device:    00:08.3
Class:    System peripheral [0880]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Miscellaneous Registers [d158]
SVendor:    Unknown vendor [0028]
SDevice:    Device [00eb]
Rev:    11

Device:    00:10.0
Class:    System peripheral [0880]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor QPI Link [d150]
SVendor:    Unknown vendor [0028]
SDevice:    Device [00eb]
Rev:    11

Device:    00:10.1
Class:    System peripheral [0880]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor QPI Routing and Protocol Registers [d151]
SVendor:    Unknown vendor [0028]
SDevice:    Device [00eb]
Rev:    11

Device:    00:1a.0
Class:    USB controller [0c03]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller [3b3c]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    05
ProgIf:    20
Driver:    ehci_hcd

Device:    00:1b.0
Class:    Audio device [0403]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio [3b56]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    05
Driver:    snd_hda_intel

Device:    00:1c.0
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 [3b42]
Rev:    05
Driver:    pcieport

Device:    00:1c.1
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 [3b44]
Rev:    05
Driver:    pcieport

Device:    00:1c.2
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 [3b46]
Rev:    05
Driver:    pcieport

Device:    00:1c.3
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 [3b48]
Rev:    05
Driver:    pcieport

Device:    00:1c.4
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 5 [3b4a]
Rev:    05
Driver:    pcieport

Device:    00:1c.5
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 6 [3b4c]
Rev:    05
Driver:    pcieport

Device:    00:1d.0
Class:    USB controller [0c03]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller [3b34]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    05
ProgIf:    20
Driver:    ehci_hcd

Device:    00:1e.0
Class:    PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [2448]
Rev:    a5
ProgIf:    01

Device:    00:1f.0
Class:    ISA bridge [0601]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller [3b03]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    05

Device:    00:1f.2
Class:    SATA controller [0106]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller [3b2f]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    05
ProgIf:    01
Driver:    ahci

Device:    00:1f.3
Class:    SMBus [0c05]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller [3b30]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    05
Driver:    i801_smbus

Device:    00:1f.6
Class:    Signal processing controller [1180]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem [3b32]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    05

Device:    02:00.0
Class:    VGA compatible controller [0300]
Vendor:    ATI Technologies Inc [1002]
Device:    M96 [Mobility Radeon HD 4650] [9480]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Driver:    radeon

Device:    02:00.1
Class:    Audio device [0403]
Vendor:    ATI Technologies Inc [1002]
Device:    RV710/730 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4000 series] [aa38]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Driver:    snd_hda_intel

Device:    08:00.0
Class:    Network controller [0280]
Vendor:    Broadcom Corporation [14e4]
Device:    BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n [4353]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Wireless 1520 Half-size Mini PCIe Card [000e]
Rev:    01
Driver:    brcmsmac

Device:    14:00.0
Class:    FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]
Vendor:    O2 Micro, Inc. [1217]
Device:    Device [10f7]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    01
ProgIf:    10
Driver:    firewire_ohci

Device:    14:00.1
Class:    SD Host controller [0805]
Vendor:    O2 Micro, Inc. [1217]
Device:    Device [8120]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    01
ProgIf:    01
Driver:    sdhci-pci

Device:    14:00.2
Class:    Mass storage controller [0180]
Vendor:    O2 Micro, Inc. [1217]
Device:    Device [8130]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    01

Device:    20:00.0
Class:    Ethernet controller [0200]
Vendor:    Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. [10ec]
Device:    RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [8168]
SVendor:    Dell [1028]
SDevice:    Device [02eb]
Rev:    03
Driver:    r8169

Device:    ff:00.0
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-Core Registers [2c52]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:00.1
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder [2c81]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:02.0
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor QPI Link 0 [2c90]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:02.1
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor QPI Physical 0 [2c91]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:03.0
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller [2c98]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:03.1
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder [2c99]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:03.4
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Test Registers [2c9c]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:04.0
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Control Registers [2ca0]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:04.1
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Address Registers [2ca1]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:04.2
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Rank Registers [2ca2]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:04.3
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Thermal Control Registers [2ca3]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:05.0
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Control Registers [2ca8]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:05.1
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Address Registers [2ca9]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:05.2
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Rank Registers [2caa]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

Device:    ff:05.3
Class:    Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:    Core Processor Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Thermal Control Registers [2cab]
SVendor:    Intel Corporation [8086]
SDevice:    Device [8086]
Rev:    04

micah@micah-dell|~|$:lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
nls_cp437               5921  1
vfat                   10119  1
fat                    49474  1 vfat
fuse                   66922  2
cpufreq_ondemand        6164  8
ipv6                  288511  0
ext2                   63387  1
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     24121  1
uvcvideo               64311  0
joydev                  9895  0
videodev               82101  1 uvcvideo
usbhid                 35352  0
hid                    83555  1 usbhid
snd_hda_codec_idt      56745  1
v4l2_compat_ioctl32     8316  1 videodev
media                  10597  2 videodev,uvcvideo
usb_storage            44519  1
uas                     8120  0
snd_hda_intel          23343  2
snd_hda_codec          89160  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
snd_hwdep               6389  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                74780  3 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
snd_page_alloc          7153  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer              19544  1 snd_pcm
snd                    59214  11 snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
soundcore               6210  1 snd
r8169                  49040  0
firewire_ohci          31669  0
radeon                754158  3
drm_kms_helper         26137  1 radeon
ttm                    54904  1 radeon
drm                   188362  5 ttm,drm_kms_helper,radeon
firewire_core          50872  1 firewire_ohci
psmouse                61311  0
serio_raw               4429  0
i7core_edac            17510  0
sdhci_pci              10884  0
sdhci                  23242  1 sdhci_pci
edac_core              37680  1 i7core_edac
evdev                   9530  10
i2c_i801                8187  0
iTCO_wdt               11885  0
i2c_algo_bit            5263  1 radeon
i2c_core               20492  6 i2c_algo_bit,i2c_i801,drm,drm_kms_helper,radeon,videodev
iTCO_vendor_support     1961  1 iTCO_wdt
mii                     4059  1 r8169
mmc_core               80910  2 sdhci,sdhci_pci
battery                 6453  0
dell_laptop             9216  0
button                  4470  0
dell_wmi                1517  0
ac                      2344  0
dcdbas                  5520  1 dell_laptop
sparse_keymap           3120  1 dell_wmi
video                  11164  0
arc4                    1410  2
crc_itu_t               1363  1 firewire_core
wmi                     8475  1 dell_wmi
intel_ips              11213  0
brcmsmac              533480  0
cordic                  1073  1 brcmsmac
crc8                    1186  1 brcmsmac
brcmutil                3617  1 brcmsmac
mac80211              228367  1 brcmsmac
cfg80211              172260  2 mac80211,brcmsmac
rfkill                 15498  3 cfg80211,dell_laptop
acpi_cpufreq            5877  1
mperf                   1275  1 acpi_cpufreq
processor              25582  1 acpi_cpufreq
freq_table              2515  2 acpi_cpufreq,cpufreq_ondemand
ext4                  417116  2
crc16                   1359  1 ext4
jbd2                   71243  1 ext4
mbcache                 5881  2 ext4,ext2
sr_mod                 14951  0
cdrom                  36681  1 sr_mod
sd_mod                 28307  6
ahci                   20037  3
libahci                19559  1 ahci
libata                166654  2 libahci,ahci
ehci_hcd               40698  0
scsi_mod              133443  5 libata,sd_mod,sr_mod,uas,usb_storage
usbcore               146241  6 ehci_hcd,uas,usb_storage,usbhid,uvcvideo
usb_common               954  1 usbcore

"it" is:

Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

/dev/zero

Member

From: Melbourne, Australia

Registered: 2011-10-20

Posts: 1,247

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

Okay, you may wish to acquaint yourself with code blocks :-) Just look up bbcode.

When I say step-by-step, I mean, what cases have you considered? Can the laptop go from not running off battery to running off battery when you hotplug an external monitor, or does the monitor need to be plugged in at boot? What happens if you unplug the monitor while running battery? Etc. Also, the note about being able to run off the cord if you start without the battery seems at odds with the thread title, and I hope you can clarify that.

Is it correct that if you don't have an external monitor plugged in, but you do have the battery plugged in, and you unplug the power cord, then the laptop will power down?

I don't see anything stand out weird in your hardware list or modules.

mpnordland

Member

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 46

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

When you said code blocks, at first I thought you meant the ide...

Here we go with the step by step, I hope I don't lose you, I'm not to good at these things.
1. Boot laptop, power, battery plugged in and working.
2. Laptop is booted ~4 sec external display is plugged in, and is detected.
3. Computer immediately quits running of external power. If you remove the battery, computer loses power.

/dev/zero

Member

From: Melbourne, Australia

Registered: 2011-10-20

Posts: 1,247

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

Ah, so I think what you mean is, the laptop will not run off external power when an external monitor is plugged in, unless the battery is unplugged at boot. I interpreted your title as meaning: if you want to run off battery, you need to plug in an external monitor, but you can run off external power any time.

Okay, starting with both the power cord and monitor unplugged, run this command to monitor for events that happen when your hardware changes:

udevadm monitor

While that command is running, do these steps:

1. Plug in the power cord

2. Plug in the monitor

3. Unplug the power cord

4. Unplug the monitor

mpnordland

Member

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 46

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

Ok, I had a chance to test, here are the results. I played around with doing things in different orders just to see what would happen. I should note, that not even after the monitor (projector rather) is unplugged, it still refuses to run off external power. Is there some command I can run to make it switch?

micah@micah-dell|~|$:udevadm monitor
monitor will print the received events for:
UDEV - the event which udev sends out after rule processing
KERNEL - the kernel uevent

KERNEL[1161.920259] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/ACPI0003:00/power_supply/ACAD (power_supply)
UDEV  [1162.100174] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/ACPI0003:00/power_supply/ACAD (power_supply)
KERNEL[1163.256896] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/PNP0C0A:00/power_supply/BAT1 (power_supply)
UDEV  [1163.257618] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/PNP0C0A:00/power_supply/BAT1 (power_supply)
KERNEL[1244.230280] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/ACPI0003:00/power_supply/ACAD (power_supply)
UDEV  [1244.410131] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/ACPI0003:00/power_supply/ACAD (power_supply)
KERNEL[1245.560646] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/PNP0C0A:00/power_supply/BAT1 (power_supply)
UDEV  [1245.561946] change   /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:0f/PNP0C0A:00/power_supply/BAT1 (power_supply)
KERNEL[1347.155565] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1347.156147] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1349.588872] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1349.589352] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1379.525547] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1379.526049] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1379.605415] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1379.605900] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1435.608902] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1435.609376] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1467.162307] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1467.162853] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1488.129142] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1488.129694] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1488.535642] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1488.536175] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1507.612149] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1507.612705] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
KERNEL[1519.548800] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)
UDEV  [1519.549385] change   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0/backlight/acpi_video0 (backlight)

/dev/zero

Member

From: Melbourne, Australia

Registered: 2011-10-20

Posts: 1,247

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

Sorry, it's a mystery to me!

mpnordland

Member

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 46

Re: Laptop only runs on battery when external display is connected

Same here.