Ubuntu
gnome-power-manager package

Laptop doesnt charge if unplugged - Alienware M17xR3 (Ubuntu 12.04)

Asked by Adam N

Hello,

I have noticed that if my powercable is unplugged from my laptop or stops charging at all (socket becomes unplugged) at any time while my computer is running, then when it is replugged in, my laptop fails to detect it and still runs off the battery.

How can i fix this?

Thanks,
Adam N

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Barry Drake (b-drake) said : 		#1

I don't think this is likely to be an Ubuntu problem - charging is normally handled entirely by hardware. If you think it may have something to do with Ubuntu, please say why ... for example, is this a problem that has occurred only after upgrading to 12.04 for instance. If not, you might be better posting on the Dell forums.

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Adam N (adzz-on-a-boat) said : 		#2

Well as far as im aware this problem has only started occuring once i installed Ubuntu, originally i was on Windows 7 and i never had this problem.

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Launchpad Janitor (janitor) said : 		#3

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

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Jeshurun (sjeshurun) said : 		#4

I have an M17xR3 as well and I can confirm this problem exists. I remained on 10.04 until now because I knew this was an issue on any higher version of Ubuntu. Then around some time last week, after a kernel and nvidia update, this started happening again. I tried going back to the old kernel and uninstalled the nvidia drivers to no avail.

Some observations:
1. If the power source is unplugged, the indicator does not switch to the "battery state" immediately, and only does so after about 4 seconds.
2. If, however, it does change to show the "battery" icon, it never switches back to "charging" when plugged in.
3. The only way to get the battery to start charging again is to remove the battery when the laptop is plugged in (laptop switches off of course) and then boot back in.
4. If the power source is reconnected before the power icon switches to the battery icon, the system continues running like nothing ever happened, and continues charging.
5. When the battery isn't charging, even a regular power cycle will not get it to charge. Also, when in this state, the battery does not charge in Windows either. However, after doing the remove battery when plugged in trick, and booting into Windows, Windows properly recognizes when the adapter is plugged / unplugged and starts / stops charging.