R51 power problems / linux
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:07 am
I'm running linux on an R51. Recently it started having power problems and the details are a bit odd.
If the laptop is unplugged from AC, it immediately shuts down and tries to reboot--not a nice system shutdown, but like pulling the power completely.
On battery only, it won't boot. It gets through grub fine, but as soon as it says that it's booting the kernel, it switches off, then tries to reboot again. Occasionally it gets somewhat farther before crashing. This crash-reboot appears to continue forever. Plugging in AC again allows it to boot.
Nothing in the logs that I can see.
On battery alone, it will boot fine from a live cd, like knoppix.
The battery is getting old, and doesn't provide as much time as it used to, so that was my first guess. I have an R52 with what appears to be an almost identical battery in very good shape. I tried that battery, and the behavior was the same.
Then I tried reinstalling the operating system--maybe that would avoid some bad blocks? No help.
Then I tried swapping the drive from the R52 into the R51. As I went to do that, I noticed that the retaining screw on the drive had gone missing. With the R52's drive in, it worked fine in a brief test. So I reinstalled the original HD (including a screw) and it worked fine. Problem solved, yes? Apparently the drive just needed to be reseated.
Well, no. A few days go by, and it starts doing the same thing again. I tried reseating the HD a few times, no help. smartd reports no problems with the drive.
So it still appears that it might be related to the HD, since it boots from CD, but it's also clearly some sort of power-sensitive problem. I don't really want to buy a new drive without knowing that's the problem--it could be some internal problem involving the HD circuitry and some power differences between battery and AC, yes?
The only thing I can think to try at this point is an extended test with the R52 HD. If that works fine for, say, a week, then I suppose a new drive would be a good bet.
Anyone have any ideas?
If the laptop is unplugged from AC, it immediately shuts down and tries to reboot--not a nice system shutdown, but like pulling the power completely.
On battery only, it won't boot. It gets through grub fine, but as soon as it says that it's booting the kernel, it switches off, then tries to reboot again. Occasionally it gets somewhat farther before crashing. This crash-reboot appears to continue forever. Plugging in AC again allows it to boot.
Nothing in the logs that I can see.
On battery alone, it will boot fine from a live cd, like knoppix.
The battery is getting old, and doesn't provide as much time as it used to, so that was my first guess. I have an R52 with what appears to be an almost identical battery in very good shape. I tried that battery, and the behavior was the same.
Then I tried reinstalling the operating system--maybe that would avoid some bad blocks? No help.
Then I tried swapping the drive from the R52 into the R51. As I went to do that, I noticed that the retaining screw on the drive had gone missing. With the R52's drive in, it worked fine in a brief test. So I reinstalled the original HD (including a screw) and it worked fine. Problem solved, yes? Apparently the drive just needed to be reseated.
Well, no. A few days go by, and it starts doing the same thing again. I tried reseating the HD a few times, no help. smartd reports no problems with the drive.
So it still appears that it might be related to the HD, since it boots from CD, but it's also clearly some sort of power-sensitive problem. I don't really want to buy a new drive without knowing that's the problem--it could be some internal problem involving the HD circuitry and some power differences between battery and AC, yes?
The only thing I can think to try at this point is an extended test with the R52 HD. If that works fine for, say, a week, then I suppose a new drive would be a good bet.
Anyone have any ideas?