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Tempel

Member

Registered: 2010-01-19

Posts: 10

tp_smapi: loaded once, won't anymore

I recently got a ThinkPad X120e, and installed tp_smapi in order to control battery charging.  I applied a patch for the X120e, loaded the module, then set start_charge_thresh to 40, and stop_charge_thresh to 80.  In retrospect, I'm not sure that start_charge_thresh was actually supported; this caused the battery to charge to 80%, then stay there.  Close enough to what I wanted.

Now, in anticipation of travelling, I'm trying to reset stop_charge_thresh to 100 so I can have full battery life.  But now tp_smapi will not load for anything.  I've rebuilt it many times, with multiple minor variations on the linked patch, including leaving it out altogether, but the best I get is a failure with modprobe leaving these two lines in dmesg:

thinkpad_ec: thinkpad_ec_read_row: failed requesting row: (0x01:0x00)->0xfffffff0
thinkpad_ec: initial ec test failed

I have no idea what to do now.  I don't mind if I'm never able to use tp_smapi again, but I do mind if my battery is forever maxed at 80%.  Could anyone please help me either get tp_smapi working again, or let me know how to reset the charge threshold without it?  Thanks very much.

demian

Member

From: Frankfurt, Germany

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 709

Re: tp_smapi: loaded once, won't anymore

Is thinkpad_acpi being loaded? Maybe load it with options experimental or force_load. Same with thinkpad_ec (force_io).
Is your BIOS up-to-date?
Did you try a BIOS and/or hardware reset? -> A hardware reset should reset the battery electronics often fixing weird problems. You do it by shutting down your ThinkPad, removing the AC and the battery. Then press the hardware button for at least 30 seconds.

Other than that a simple system reboot while unplugging the AC should reset the charge thresholds, too.

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Tempel

Member

Registered: 2010-01-19

Posts: 10

Re: tp_smapi: loaded once, won't anymore

Thanks demian!  The hardware reset did the trick, so I'm content now.

thinkpad_acpi is being loaded just fine.  The "experimental" option didn't work; "force_load" did, but seemed to have no effect on thinkpad_ec, even when that was given "force_io".  Oh well, maybe something will change in the kernel or tp_smapi to make it work in the future.