[ltp] Re: [gmane.linux.hardware.thinkpad] Re: FYI, posted to list

[Andrew Barr]

(The list is apparently having issues with mail delivery. Of all times
for something like /that/ to happen...)

On Thu, 2006-08-17 at 15:11 -0400, David Abrahams wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> The list isn't responding very well, but I'm very eager to get SLED
> off my T60p, so if you wouldn't mind answering me directly...
>
> > Please tell me exactly what steps to take, and tell me what to do when
> > something goes wrong.  Even if you're asking me to follow Andrew's
> > directions, please repeat them, because his notes are spread across a
> > couple messages and I want to have everything in one place.

Basically we need to know if the hdaps (or tp_smapi, if you have it)
module will load with Lenovo's binary-only batinfo module already
loaded. So, load the hdaps module:

modprobe hdaps

And it should register in /proc/ioports and output success messages to
dmesg. Then try to load the Lenovo batinfo module:

modprobe batinfo

(as before) What we want to know if it succeeds or not with hdaps
loaded. If it does, use your computer for a bit and watch for embedded
controller hangs. You won't miss it, your inbuilt keyboard and mouse
will quit working, and any battery monitor applets you have will stop
working. The power button does not work if the EC is hung, so pull out
the AC adapter and (if present) battery. As long as you are there to
shut off the machine when the controller hangs, there is no risk of
damage.

You could try the other way around too (load batinfo first) but really
we need to know if the batinfo module will refuse to load in the case of
a resource conflict with already-existing drivers (hdaps, tp_smapi).

> > Note: Doing the test with no battery in the machine is one option.

Yes, this might be a good idea. As was noted earlier, it is possible
that the embedded controller is responsible for regulating the charge to
the battery. So at the very least make sure your battery is not charging
when you do this. You can use tp_smapi to do this (if you don't have it,
don't mess with it now. If you don't know, you don't) or simply wait for
the battery to finish charging. A quick note about Thinkpad charge LEDs,
though--once the battery goes into trickle charge mode (about 75
percent) the LED goes green and blinks off once every few seconds. This
is easily mistaken for an idle charge state. Idle charge is only when
the LED is solid green and _not_ blinking off every few seconds.

(Semi-related: If you would like to prolong the life of your battery
once you get back to Ubuntu, you should take a look at the battery life
pages on ThinkWiki. There is a open-source driver you can install to
limit charging of your battery when it is almost full, which is very
hard on LiON batteries. I would certainly understand if you've had
enough Linux experimenting for now, though. Hopefully the insight
gained from your experiments will lead Lenovo to fix their driver,
which could cause serious problems as is)

Andrew