USB mouse causes 3.2 watt battery discharge

[workingTeacher]

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to provide all the info:

I have a new X60S (1705-CTO) and USB peripherals that should draw very little power are causing very large increases in the battery discharge rate --as measured by Thinkpad's power manager and MobileMeter (http://tamaru.homeip.net/~shingo/mobile ... adme-e.htm). Here are my readings from Power Manager. Between plugging and unplugging a device, I waited for a new discharge rate plateau to be reached which was about 1 minute.

Basic Set up:
Maximum screen brightness
CPU speed: Addaptive
Fan Control: Balance all parameters
Stock Thinkpad Windows XP Home OS

Boot Up: 8.65W
Connect 1GB SanDisk Flash Thumb Drive: 12.65W
Disconnect 1GB SanDisk Flash Thumb Drive: 8.87W

Connect Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000: 11.63W
Disconnect Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000: 8.42W

Connect 80GB USB-powered Western Digital Passport hard drive: 13.48W
Disconnect 80GB USB-powered Western Digital Passport hard drive: 8.46W

Basically a mouse and thumb drive cause in excess of a 3W battery drain and an external USB hard drive causes a 5W drain. I've read that the most power a USB port can deliver is 2.5W. The USB mouse I used is supposed to have a current draw of 100mA (and that's with the mouse being used presumably) --which at USB's 5volt connection would amount to only 1/2W. Early last year there was a suspiciously similar issue with USB devices causing XP to prevent Intel CPUs from going into sleep mode --causing a notable increase in battery discharge rate. (http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=2693&p=1) A registry fix was made that worked at least until you put your system into Standby mode. My Windows Home XP seems to have the fix already present, but I added the proscribed one just in case. Alas, it had no effect.

Lenovo knows nothing about the issue and has offered to replace my system board --with the warning that that might not fix the problem. When I asked if someone at Lenovo could plug a mouse into an X60S (or two) at their end and see if they got the same results, the tech came back about 5 minutes later and said that the drain I was noting was normal. So now I don't know what to do. Install a new OS from scratch? Has anyone had similar experiences with their X60(S) machines? Is there a fix? A 3W difference on my 8-cell battery translates into about 3 hours of extra use so it's worth trying to resolve.

Thanks for any direction ...
Dennis

[sxr71]

I can try mine when I get mine later this week. However I think the numbers you are seeming are high just from my experience on the X31. A USB CD-ROM drive can use a lot of power both to power the drive and the HDD that it is writing to. An idle USB flash drive should not take more than 0.5w IMHO.

[Comage]

Try this:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... oContainer

[workingTeacher]

Comage -- Thanks for that link. Unfortunately the hotfix had no effect. Boot: 8.6W; Attach Mouse: 11.63W. From its date (Nov. 06), I'll bet that fix was already installed onto my OS.

[workingTeacher]

sxr71 --- I'm looking forward very much to seeing your results. I need to find out if it's my machine's problem or a general problem.

[workingTeacher]

In speaking with Lenovo tech support on another issue just a moment ago, the rep confirmed for me that ALL Thinkpad x60's have this problem with USB ports. It's something in the design of the system and there's nothing they can do about it --"Hook up a USB device: lose 3 watts". X60 owners should complain to Lenovo and get them to fix the problem. On a desktop it wouldn't be a big issue, but on an utltraportable losing 2-3 hours of battery time makes a lot of difference.

[Comage]

Thanks for the heads up. I usually only get about 2+ hours on my battery. I have a USB mouse and am often using wireless when on my laptop.

I never do really notice the extra drain, as I try to find a power source to run it at full speed.

I wonder how much more information they are hiding from us. They should make an announcement on this at their support page.

[workingTeacher]

2 hours ... that must be the 4-cell battery. My 8-cell (brand new) on an X60S ultralight with the USB mouse plugged in gives me a good 5 hours. Without the mouse, the ThinkPad guage says I got 8+ hours! (which I've never used because I NEED a mouse).

I think I have a solution to the mouse problem. I just got a Socket Serial I/O PC Card that according to its specs draws only 15mA (idle) to 30mA(working). That's only 1/4 watt. Now I have to get my hands on a serial mouse with a scroll wheel. Microsoft makes an optical serial mouse, but I'm looking for one of the old roller ball type --to save weight and hassle. If you have the ultraBase, that would give you a serial port also. Note: I found out the hard way that most PS/2 mice even with a serial adapter won't work on a serial port.

BTW, I tried both a fresh install of my own Windows XP and Windows 2000 --thinking it was a software problem. XP had exactly the same problem (3 watt drain) but Win2000 did not. The problem with 2000 is that the CPU could NEVER get into sleep mode and so at idle the laptop consumed about 15W.

[workingTeacher]

2 hours ... that must be the 4-cell battery. My 8-cell (brand new) on an X60S ultralight with the USB mouse plugged in gives me a good 5 hours. Without the mouse, the ThinkPad guage says I got 8+ hours! (which I've never used because I NEED a mouse).

I think I have a solution to the mouse problem. I just got a Socket Serial I/O PC Card that according to its specs draws only 15mA (idle) to 30mA(working). That's only 1/4 watt. Now I have to get my hands on a serial mouse with a scroll wheel. Microsoft makes an optical serial mouse, but I'm looking for one of the old roller ball type --to save weight and hassle. If you have the ultraBase, that would give you a serial port also. Note: I found out the hard way that most PS/2 mice even with a serial adapter won't work on a serial port.

BTW, I tried both a fresh install of my own Windows XP and Windows 2000 --thinking it was a software problem. XP had exactly the same problem (3 watt drain) but Win2000 did not. The problem with 2000 is that the CPU could NEVER get into sleep mode and so at idle the laptop consumed about 15W.

[Slashdot]

Just a thought, would a BLUETOOTH mouse drain as much as the USB version? I have bluetooth on my x60s and I was wondering if anyone has tested the discharge from a bluetooth mouse.

Thanks in advance

[Slashdot]

ANYONE?

Just a thought, would a BLUETOOTH mouse drain as much as the USB version? I have bluetooth on my x60s and I was wondering if anyone has tested the discharge from a bluetooth mouse.

Thanks in advance