No Battery Detected!

English Hardware
1

Hello everyone!

My laptop: Toshiba Satellite L645-s4056
OS: Linux 3.4.11-2.16-desktop x86_64
System: openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64)
KDE: 4.8.5 (4.8.5) “release 2”
Processor (CPU): AMD Turion™ II P540 Dual-Core Processor w/4GB RAM
Ok so this is the issue…

-The battery isn’t detected in my laptop, there is no power applet, so I never know when my battery is full charge or running out of power, the settings for power management do not work, so I really don’t know what to do here.

I used to have windows 7 installed in this system (not anymore), and I know the previous battery wasn’t good, the laptop would turn off by it self every once in a while and it started doing it more and more often progressively, so I’d had to have it connected to AC at all times, and of course there was like an x mark over the power/battery icon that’s placed over the system tray on windows 7, so it was kind of obvious. Then I installed openSUSE and the problem were still there “No Battery Applet Icon” and as I stated before, the power management setting don’t seem to be working. So now it was even more obvious that there was an issue with the battery.

So I bought a new one and still there is “no battery detected”. I was hoping that after replacing the old one it would work, but there seems to be more to it that just replacing the battery. I know the battery (the new one) works, because I leave the laptop unplug for long periods of time and it doesn’t turn off, but still you know, it would be nice if I can see the percentage of charge in it, and be able to manage the power consumption in it.

-When I turn my laptop on, right after the first grub screen I get the following message:

[0.213992]fail in evaluating the _REG object of EC device. Broken bios is suspected

Some images
Image 1 Image 2

So I was googling and I have no luck, but I found some commands and some sort of fix in ubuntu forums.

dmesg | grep DSDT
    0.000000] ACPI: DSDT 00000000dfee2000 0FA11 (v01 TOSQCI TOSQCI00 F0000000 MSFT 01000013)
    0.003010] TOSHIBA Satellite detected - force copy of DSDT to local memory
    0.003156] ACPI: Forced DSDT copy: length 0x0FA11 copied locally, original unmapped
    0.161012] ACPI: EC: Look up EC in DSDT

so they said that…

To get around this you have to decompile the dsdt, fix the dsdt, recompile the dsdt and finally build a custom kernel that includes the dsdt.

but I do not have the full knowledge of how to overcome this issue, that’s why I request your help.

Note: I remember once having upgraded the firmware of the BIOS through a Toshiba program on windows 7, don’t know if that’s useful though.

2

On 02/09/2013 01:06 PM, 5m4rt1 wrote:
> but I do not have the full knowledge of how to overcome this issue,
> that’s why request your help.

i don’t have the full knowledge either, but since you had problems with
a different operating system AND a different battery AND you apparently
have some BIOS problems…so, with all of that i think if were my
laptop i think the first thing i would do is take it to a repair shop
and see if they can’t find a hardware fault that is causing all of
this…maybe a cracked circuit board, or a faulty battery charging
circuit or or or or or

or, maybe if you go to the makers we site you will find that they have a
new BIOS upgrade you could roll in, and maybe that is all you need [if
the BIOS can’t “see” the battery, then nothing made by Microsoft or
Linux can see it either!!]

on the other hand if it is a several years old machine (that maybe has
had some rough treatment in a back pack, book bag, car trunk etc etc etc
(ever drop it, even just one foot, on a corner or flat)) it might be
cheaper to just buy something newer.

is the machine in warranty?

–
dd
http://tinyurl.com/DD-Caveat

3

@dd

I do not have warranty in this laptop.

Do you think it’s a hardware malfunction?.. Because it recharges the batteries but this process it’s not shown within Linux OS’s, in windows it used to show the charging icon, but it said something about the battery being not good. But I have a new battery now.
So should I install windows again to check if this new battery is detected, and also if is not, should I just dump this laptop and return the battery?

Thanks again.

4

> I do not have warranty in this laptop.

how old is it.

> Do you think it’s a hardware malfunction?..

it might be.
it might also be a bios problem, or an openSUSE problem…or just a set
up problem.

> Because it recharges the
> batteries but this process it’s not shown within Linux OS’s, in windows
> it used to show the charging icon, but it said something about the
> battery being not good. But I have a new battery now.
> So should I install windows again to check if this new battery is
> detected,

i would do that before i spent money at a repair shop…

and, i would also download and boot from some Live CDs from some other
Linux distros…as well as a hardware problem it could also be an
openSUSE problem–i can say this, there are many many many “TOSHIBA
Satellite” problems in these forums…

for sure i would try a Knoppix live CD…as far as i know he has
probably the very best hardware detection and setup routines in the
universe…so, if with it the battery is detected you KNOW the
problem is in openSUSE…but, if not detected you have learned nothing
(but it might be hardware, it might be bios, it might be cracked MB, etc
etc etc)

i assummed you did YOUR work and researched this question before asking,
you did right? it you didn’t research YOUR problem, do it now:

https://www.google.com/search?q=TOSHIBA+battery+site:forums.opensuse.org

> and also if is not, should I just dump this laptop and return

i don’t know your economic situation! if you earn $100 an hour and you
futz with this computer for 30 hours and it is still broken you could
have saved money by throwing it away!

anyway, there may be an answer in the forum already–i don’t have a
Toshiba so i leave that work to you. and, if nothing in the forum you
might try in the wider internet:

https://www.google.com/search?q=TOSHIBA+battery+SUSE

–
dd
http://tinyurl.com/DD-Caveat