Pangolin (8.04) Battery/AC problem

[Thinkintuit]

When my battery is fully charged, my Pangolin is immediately switching to draining the battery (rather than continuing on in AC mode). To get the computer to go back to AC power I need to physically disconnect the AC plug and plug it back in. Sometimes I have to keep doing this frequently.

I have been searching the forums but can't find anything that directly relates to this problem.

I've had the computer for over 2 years, so could it be somehow related to the battery getting old? Before this battery problem, I was having issues with the AC adapter that seemed to be a loose connection in the adapter itself; I would have to jiggle the cord to get it working again. Then finally the AC adapter died completely and I ordered a new one. [System76 replaced it very quickly! Much appreciated.]

Now with the new adapter I have this other problem happening. Does know what might be going on here, or how I can solve it?

Thanks for any help,
Arthur

[thomasaaron]

That does sound like a battery problem. The battery charging circuitry is inside the battery itself, so if it is going bad...

[Thinkintuit]

Thanks for your reply, thomasaaron.

So, you mean it's the battery itself that figures out whether the computer should be on AC or battery power?

Since I posted my original question I discovered that if I have the computer in "lock screen" mode before the battery has fully charged, it won't switch to discharge mode -- even if it's left on for hours -- but as soon as I unlock the screen, within moments it will start discharging. I thought that might mean it's a software problem, but based on your reply it sounds like maybe when I unlock the screen the computer checks in with the battery circuitry, which decides that it should be discharging.

Does that sound right?

If so I will order a new battery as soon as possible.

[thomasaaron]

So, you mean it's the battery itself that figures out whether the computer should be on AC or battery power?

Typically, yes.


Since I posted my original question I discovered that if I have the computer in "lock screen" mode before the battery has fully charged, it won't switch to discharge mode -- even if it's left on for hours -- but as soon as I unlock the screen, within moments it will start discharging. I thought that might mean it's a software problem, but based on your reply it sounds like maybe when I unlock the screen the computer checks in with the battery circuitry, which decides that it should be discharging.

Nope, that info pretty much changes everything. Definitely sounds like a bug of some sort... on I've never seen before, though. You might want to try doing a fresh install of Karmic in about a week and see if you still have that one. 8.04 is getting a little... dated.

[Thinkintuit]

Nope, that info pretty much changes everything. Definitely sounds like a bug of some sort... on I've never seen before, though. You might want to try doing a fresh install of Karmic in about a week and see if you still have that one. 8.04 is getting a little... dated.Thanks, uh...so now the problem is that my CD/DVD drive hasn't been working for a long time, and I'm not sure why.

But that would be a subject for another thread.

Thanks so much for your help, Thomas! :D

Arthur

[thomasaaron]

Or you could just shoot me an email telling me what it's doing, and I'll give it a think. ;)

support...at...system76...dot...com

[Thinkintuit]

Or you could just shoot me an email telling me what it's doing, and I'll give it a think. ;)

support...at...system76...dot...com

Thanks! I'll do that.