Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

boarim · 2026-10-06 18:46:04

I bought a new battery for my ThinkPad T400s. I want to recalibrate it because the power reported by the system is not accurate. I’m using tlp to manage the power settings. I installed tp_smapi-dkms from the AUR to have access to the recalibration feature. However, once installed and the laptop rebooted, tlp does not recognize tp_smapi:

# tlp-stat -b

--- TLP 1.10.2 --------------------------------------------

+++ Battery Care
Plugin: thinkpad
Supported features: charge thresholds
Driver usage:
* natacpi (thinkpad_acpi) = active (charge thresholds)
Parameter value ranges:
* START_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0/1:  0(off)..96(default)..99
* STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0/1:   1..100(default)

+++ ThinkPad Battery Status: BAT0 (Main / Internal)
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/manufacturer                   = SANYO 
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/model_name                     = 42T4688
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/cycle_count                    =      0 (or not supported)
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/energy_full_design             =  39960 [mWh]
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/energy_full                    =  38890 [mWh]
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/energy_now                     =  18720 [mWh]
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/power_now                      =  34197 [mW]
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/status                         = Charging

/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_control_start_threshold =     85 [%]
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_control_end_threshold   =     90 [%]

Charge                                                      =   48.1 [%]
Capacity                                                    =   97.3 [%]

The battery threshold feature is provided by natacpi natively (I already had it without tp_smapi installed). But no battery recalibration feature is reported. Which is confirmed by the following error:

# tlp recalibrate
Error: battery recalibrate is not supported.

What am I missing? Do I need another package?

seth · 2026-10-06 19:56:06

dkms status
lsmod | grep -i smapi

boarim · Yesterday 05:55:31

Both commands print nothing. So I guess the module smapi is not loaded.

I use the default linux kernel by the way.

Last edited by boarim (Yesterday 05:55:53)

seth · Yesterday 06:42:49

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dynami … le_Support
https://archlinux.org/packages/core/x86 … x-headers/

Pay attention to errors during the build process

boarim · Yesterday 13:14:42

Ok I installed linux-headers. There wasn’t any errorsfrom pacman during installation. Then I rebooted but still no change within tlp. Here’s the output of the previous commands:

# dkms status
tp_smapi-dkms/0.45, 7.2.9-arch1-1, x86_64: installed (Original modules exist)

and

$ lsmod | grep -i smapi

Nothing is printed so the module is not loaded.

Last edited by boarim (Yesterday 13:15:01)

seth · Yesterday 13:28:32

Did you read https://github.com/linux-thinkpad/tp_smapi ?
There's apparently a conflict w/ hdaps - make sure the latter isn't loaded or is loaded in its patched form.
It could exist in the initramfs (did you regenerate that after installing the module)?

Then try to

modprobe -v tp_smapi

boarim · Yesterday 15:07:27

I checked whether hdaps is loaded or not with:

$ lsmod | grep -i hdaps

Nothing is printed so it’s not loaded.
I did a system upgrade while installing linux-headers and there was a new version of the kernel, so mkinitcpio was automatically triggered.

Here’s what I get in the end:

# modprobe -v tp_smapi
insmod /lib/modules/7.2.9-arch1-1/updates/dkms/tp_smapi.ko.zst 
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'tp_smapi': No such device or address

seth · Yesterday 15:09:06

Does thinkpad_ec load/work?

boarim · Yesterday 17:50:24

When I checked with lsmod, it’s loaded. I think it works since I can apply different battery thresholds with tlp that persist through reboots.

seth · Yesterday 19:30:09

So… your device isn't supported by tp_smapi but thinkpad_ec - does it generate a /sys/devices/platform/smapi interface?

boarim · Today 05:14:40

I guess not:

$ ls /sys/devices/platform/smapi/
ls: cannot access '/sys/devices/platform/smapi/': No such file or directory

EDIT: After some research on my side, it seems that coreboot doesn’t support tp_smapi (my laptop is librebooted) https://ticket.coreboot.org/issues/38. The threshold control is implemented in the kernel module natacpi (that talks directly to the EC?). That’s why I can set threshold. And the recalibrate function is not available in my case. I can still recalibrate manually by discharging the battery and charging to 100% I guess.

Last edited by boarim (Today 07:10:09)

Arch Linux

#1 2026-10-06 18:46:04

Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#2 2026-10-06 19:56:06

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#3 Yesterday 05:55:31

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#4 Yesterday 06:42:49

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#5 Yesterday 13:14:42

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#6 Yesterday 13:28:32

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#7 Yesterday 15:07:27

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#8 Yesterday 15:09:06

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#9 Yesterday 17:50:24

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#10 Yesterday 19:30:09

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

#11 Today 05:14:40

Re: Cannot recalibrate new battery with tp_smapi and tlp

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