[ltp] Further In My R31 Battery Issues

Thu, 6 Jan 2011 22:46:32 +0000

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Ted

So is this a prob with the laptop or the battery. From what I can make out
it is the battery not reporting to the ThinkPad correctly.

Simon

On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 10:36 PM, Ted Frater <ted.frater@virgin.net> wrote:

> Simon Royal wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> Brief history: Bought R31 which came with dead battery about two weeks
>> ago. Bought a second hand battery from ebay, reputable seller of laptop
>> parts. Guy said battery lasts about 90 mins.
>>
>> Today: The replacement battery arrived today and it has been struggling to
>> charge all day.
>>
>> When I first put it in it did not register. It took about 5 mins before
>> the machine recognised a battery was there.
>>
>> Earlier today I could only get the battery to charge to 27% and it took
>> about 20 mins to do so. Then it sat there for a while then suddenly charged
>> to 33%. It sat there for a few hours and went up to 35%. I then ran the
>> battery out completely and started charging it again. It charged to 37% and
>> stopped.
>>
>> If I pull out the adapter in Ubuntu, it will hang the machine - flashing
>> the caps lock and scroll lock lights. The same happens if the battery runs
>> too low - this I have been told is a kernel panic.
>>
>> This doesnt happen in XP. You can remove the power adapter and put it in
>> and it accepts the AC adapter.
>>
>> I have noticed something very odd. It charged to 37% according to the
>> Battery Maximiser Gauge. However, I have been running it for about 30 mins
>> and the percentage hasnt dropped. The little battery icon in the task bar of
>> XP warned me it was low about 20 mins ago and is sitting with a crossed out
>> battery stating 0% remaining.
>>
>> So Battery Maximiser Gauge still says 37%, but task bar says 0%.
>>
>> While it is great that I actually have my ThinkPad running without an AC
>> adapter and running for quite a while, I have no idea how long this battery
>> is going to last and no way of finding out.
>>
>> What is going on? I cannot trust either meter. Do I need to recalibrate or
>> something. I am not bothered how long the battery lasts but it would be good
>> to know how long it is going to last. I would also like to get this working
>> in Ubuntu.
>>
>> Can anyone help.
>>
>> Simon
>>
>> --
>> --- Twitter: http://twitter.com/SimonRoyal - LowEndMac:
>> http://tinyurl.com/macspectrum - Skype: Simon-Royal.
>>
>> --- IBM ThinkPad R31 running Ubuntu 10.10 & Windows XP Home. Apple
>> PowerBook G3 'Pismo' running OSX 10.4. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro
>> running 2.1
>>
>>
>>  we had an after market battery in a thinkpad that worked fine till we
> decided to upgrade the bios. Then the lthinkpad wouldnt charge the battery.
> so we then downgraded the bios to the previous version and the battery
> worked fine again.
> so check what version bios you have, The previous owner may have upgraded
> it from the original.
> However downgrading the bios needs a good battery see IBM's notes on bios
> changes,
>
> --
> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
>

-- 

--- Twitter: http://twitter.com/SimonRoyal - LowEndMac:
http://tinyurl.com/macspectrum - Skype: Simon-Royal.
--- IBM ThinkPad R31 running Ubuntu 10.10 & Windows XP Home. Apple
PowerBook G3 'Pismo' running OSX 10.4. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini
Pro running 2.1

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Ted So is this a prob with the laptop or the battery. From what I ca=
n make out it is the battery not reporting to the ThinkPad correctly. <b=
r>Simon <div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 10:36 PM, =
Ted Frater &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:ted.frater@virgin.net">t=
ed.frater@virgin.net</a>&gt; wrote: 
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde=
r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">Simon Royal wrote=
: 
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde=
r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Hi 
 
Brief history: Bought R31 which came with dead battery about two weeks ago.=
 Bought a second hand battery from ebay, reputable seller of laptop parts. =
Guy said battery lasts about 90 mins. 
 
Today: The replacement battery arrived today and it has been struggling to =
charge all day. 
 
When I first put it in it did not register. It took about 5 mins before the=
 machine recognised a battery was there. 
 
Earlier today I could only get the battery to charge to 27% and it took abo=
ut 20 mins to do so. Then it sat there for a while then suddenly charged to=
 33%. It sat there for a few hours and went up to 35%. I then ran the batte=
ry out completely and started charging it again. It charged to 37% and stop=
ped.

If I pull out the adapter in Ubuntu, it will hang the machine - flashing th=
e caps lock and scroll lock lights. The same happens if the battery runs to=
o low - this I have been told is a kernel panic. 
 
This doesnt happen in XP. You can remove the power adapter and put it in an=
d it accepts the AC adapter. 
 
I have noticed something very odd. It charged to 37% according to the Batte=
ry Maximiser Gauge. However, I have been running it for about 30 mins and t=
he percentage hasnt dropped. The little battery icon in the task bar of XP =
warned me it was low about 20 mins ago and is sitting with a crossed out ba=
ttery stating 0% remaining.

So Battery Maximiser Gauge still says 37%, but task bar says 0%. 
 
While it is great that I actually have my ThinkPad running without an AC ad=
apter and running for quite a while, I have no idea how long this battery i=
s going to last and no way of finding out. 
 
What is going on? I cannot trust either meter. Do I need to recalibrate or =
something. I am not bothered how long the battery lasts but it would be goo=
d to know how long it is going to last. I would also like to get this worki=
ng in Ubuntu.

<br>
Can anyone help.<br>
<br>
Simon<br>
<br>
-- <br>
--- Twitter: <a href=3D"http://twitter.com/SimonRoyal" target=3D"_blank">ht=
tp://twitter.com/SimonRoyal</a> - LowEndMac: <a href=3D"http://tinyurl.com/=
macspectrum" target=3D"_blank">http://tinyurl.com/macspectrum</a> - Skype: =
Simon-Royal.<br>

<br>
--- IBM ThinkPad R31 running Ubuntu 10.10 &amp; Windows XP Home. Apple Powe=
rBook G3 &#39;Pismo&#39; running OSX 10.4. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pr=
o running 2.1<br>
 =A0<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
we had an after market battery in a thinkpad that worked fine till we decid=
ed to upgrade the bios. Then the lthinkpad wouldnt charge the battery.<br>
so we then downgraded the bios to the previous version and the battery work=
ed fine again.<br>
so check what version bios you have, The previous owner may have upgraded i=
t from the original.<br>
However downgrading the bios needs a good battery see IBM&#39;s notes on bi=
os changes,<br><font color=3D"#888888">
<br>
-- <br>
The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:<br>
<a href=3D"http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpa=
d" target=3D"_blank">http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/lin=
ux-thinkpad</a><br>
</font></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br><span style=3D"b=
order-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: &#39;Times New =
Roman&#39;; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; =
letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transfo=
rm: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"><span=
 style=3D"border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-si=
ze: 13px;"><span style=3D"font-family: Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; fon=
t-size: 13px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><pre style=3D"white-space: normal; l=
ine-height: 17px;">
--- Twitter:=A0<a href=3D"http://twitter.com/SimonRoyal" style=3D"color: rg=
b(162, 97, 12); line-height: 17px; font-weight: inherit; text-decoration: n=
one;" target=3D"_blank">http://twitter.com/SimonRoyal</a>=A0- LowEndMac:=A0=
<a href=3D"http://tinyurl.com/macspectrum" style=3D"color: rgb(162, 97, 12)=
; line-height: 17px; font-weight: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target=
=3D"_blank">http://tinyurl.com/macspectrum</a>=A0- Skype: Simon-Royal.<br s=
tyle=3D"line-height: 17px;">
--- IBM ThinkPad R31 running Ubuntu 10.10 &amp; Windows XP Home. Apple Powe=
rBook G3 &#39;Pismo&#39; running OSX 10.4. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pr=
o running 2.1<br></pre></span></span></span><br><br>

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