[SOLVED]Battery Estimating

hanekesenkel · 2015-09-19 16:27:23

Hello ArchLinux forum users,

i need your help. I am newbie with Arch Linux, but i used to several different linux distros based on Arch before.

Here is my problem;
I installed Arch Linux on my laptop. That's my single OS in lap, i hope it will last forever like that.
After installation, i noticed my battery isn't charging, even it's not dead. Gnome 3.16, battery indicator shows only - Battery Estimating.
And when i wrote;

acpi Battery 0: Unknown, 0%

I did some research on internet, it was my third day on research, and i didn't find any usable solution for that.

I think my system doesn't recognize my battery, what should i do?

P.S.: One week ago, before Arch Linux, my battery was charging and it was fine.

Last edited by hanekesenkel (2015-09-20 20:17:16)

ewaller · 2015-09-19 16:36:36

Welcome to Arch Linux.

What are the make and model of the laptop? Intel or AMD processor?
What kernel are you running? (what is the output of uname -a
What is the output of ls -l /sys/class/power_supply ?

hanekesenkel · 2015-09-19 17:12:11

Thank you ewaller, and thank you too for your fast answer.

My Laptop is Dell Inspiron 1525, Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.10 Ghz. Kernel Version : 4.1.6

 ls -l /sys/class/power_supply
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Sep 19 18:04 AC -> ../../devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXSYBUS:00/ACPI0003:00/power_supply/AC
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Sep 19 18:04 BAT0 -> ../../devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXSYBUS:00/PNP0C0A:00/power_supply/BAT0

Trilby · 2015-09-19 17:20:41

I was going to ask if this was an older machine (and/or battery) given the specs I suspect so. I will definitely defer to ewaller as having the training more relevant to battery / power source question, but I do have a bit of experience with old laptop hardware as that's what I generally use. And old batteries often seem to show these symptoms which some people claim is due to their circuitry getting out of calibration.

Reseting this callibration* can be acheived by doing a full power cycle. Run on battery until the system dies - note that any unsaved data will be gone, so don't work on anything important. Fire up netflix or youtube and grab some popcorn and wait for it to die. Then plug it in and leave it plugged for several hours to get a full charge. After that - with any luck - you'll be back on track.

A huge caveat here is that some people claim this approach can damage the battery and or leave it in worse shape than it was before. But in my years of using old laptops, I've ran into these symptoms half a dozen times, and the above described cycle gets them back up and running every time.

*edit, I don't know if the calibration explanation actually holds water - but the process works nonetheless.

hanekesenkel · 2015-09-19 17:36:17

Trilby, thank you for your reply.

When i unplug AC Adapter, the computer just go down immediately. Battery shows as %0 Percentage and not charging anymore.
I am using my laptop plugged in AC, and removed the battery once and used it without it. Didn't change anything.

Trilby · 2015-09-19 17:47:49

hanekesenkel wrote:

i noticed my battery isn't charging, even it's not dead.

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought the 'it's not dead' meant that you could run on the battery without A/C. If not, there is a much simpler but less encouraging explanation: the battery is probably just shot.

Does it work with any other distro/OS?

hanekesenkel · 2015-09-19 17:52:29

No problem. I was using Manjaro and then Antergos, there was no problem with these distros and they are Arch-based or fork.
What i missed when i installed my Arch, that is question, because i tried so much for Power Management applications, they don't fix.
Maybe i missed something, is that possible?

ewaller · 2015-09-19 18:01:27

hanekesenkel wrote:

Trilby, thank you for your reply.
When i unplug AC Adapter, the computer just go down immediately. Battery shows as %0 Percentage and not charging anymore.

Ouch.

Under the directory /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0 there are several "files" What are the contents of the following?

ewaller@turing /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0 1008 %cat charge_full_design
3104000
ewaller@turing /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0 1009 %cat charge_full       
3104000
ewaller@turing /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0 1010 %cat present           
1
ewaller@turing /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0 1011 %cat status            
Full
ewaller@turing /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0 1012 %

Trilby · 2015-09-19 18:01:57

To make sure I understand this correctly: you've left the laptop charging for a while, then while running with the battery connected you unplug the AC, and it cuts off immediately, is that correct? Or does it shutdown/suspend?

If it cuts off immediately, then it is definitely *some sort* of hardware issue and has nothing to do with your arch configuration. It is possible that the timing was a coincidence: can you try another live media from another distro? If it works in the other distro, then I am wrong - but if it doesn't, we'll know it's a hardware issue.

If it is a hardware issue, again it's just most likely that the battery is done. It's possible that it is not fully seated, or there is a bad connection, but these are much less likely.

hanekesenkel · 2015-09-19 18:18:07

I will check it again with another distro as live media. But, for now i can't say if it'll work for me. I don't have any flash memory card to boot with it.
Thanks for your help.

 /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0 1011 %cat status            
Unknown

hanekesenkel · 2015-09-20 11:48:33

Hello again,
i tried Kali Linux Live Media and the problem is same. Thank you for all and your helpful answers.
I am enjoying my Arch survey, and i think i'll stay with.
Should i edit the post as (SOLVED)?

Arch Linux

#1 2015-09-19 16:27:23

[SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#2 2015-09-19 16:36:36

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#3 2015-09-19 17:12:11

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#4 2015-09-19 17:20:41

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#5 2015-09-19 17:36:17

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#6 2015-09-19 17:47:49

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#7 2015-09-19 17:52:29

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#8 2015-09-19 18:01:27

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#9 2015-09-19 18:01:57

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#10 2015-09-19 18:18:07

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

#11 2015-09-20 11:48:33

Re: [SOLVED]Battery Estimating

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