Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Karol Kozimor]

Hi,
It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
battery driver. However, I need the hardware to begin with, and since Acer
Poland is playing hard to get, I need a possibly complete list of all Acer
laptops affected in case they have at least one of them to spare for a
month or two. Here's those I know of already:
Travelmate 4001WLMi (being phased out, they won't let us have it)
Travelmate 8005LMi (supposedly the same as above)
Travelmate 4501WCi
Travelmate 292 (Extensa 2920) (AFAIK phased out)
Extensa 3001 (N/A)

I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to bug Acer, so I need a couple
of models that are 100% sure to contain a smart battery. I'd be a shame to
finally manage to get a notebook only to send it back just after.

Alternatively, I'd appreciate a contact address to one of Acer's engineers
or anyone capable of providing any useful information.
Best regards,

-- 
Karol 'sziwan' Kozimor
Aurox Sp. z o.o.
kkozimor-/oHP+XAKPwnYtjvyW6yDsg@public.gmane.org


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[David Gómez]

Hi Karol ;),

> It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
> battery driver.

Those are indeed great news ;))

> Travelmate 4001WLMi (being phased out, they won't let us have it)

Travelmate 4001LMi too. I think all 4001 models use smart batteries.

If you start to write a driver, i don't think i'll be able to help you
with the code but i can do all the tests you need in case you get a
different laptop model from mine.

regards,

-- 
David Gómez                                      Jabber ID: davidge-/eSpBmjxGS4dnm+yROfE0A@public.gmane.org


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Christian Axelsson]

David Gómez wrote:
> Hi Karol ;),
> 
> 
>>It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
>>battery driver.
> 
> 
> Those are indeed great news ;))
> 
> 
>>Travelmate 4001WLMi (being phased out, they won't let us have it)
> 
> 
> Travelmate 4001LMi too. I think all 4001 models use smart batteries.
> 
> If you start to write a driver, i don't think i'll be able to help you
> with the code but i can do all the tests you need in case you get a
> different laptop model from mine.

Same here

-- 
Regards,
Christian


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[ultrakorne]

Karol Kozimor wrote:
> Hi,
> It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
> battery driver. However, I need the hardware to begin with, and since Acer
> Poland is playing hard to get, I need a possibly complete list of all Acer
> laptops affected in case they have at least one of them to spare for a
> month or two. Here's those I know of already:
> Travelmate 4001WLMi (being phased out, they won't let us have it)
> Travelmate 8005LMi (supposedly the same as above)
> Travelmate 4501WCi
> Travelmate 292 (Extensa 2920) (AFAIK phased out)
> Extensa 3001 (N/A)
> 
> I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to bug Acer, so I need a couple
> of models that are 100% sure to contain a smart battery. I'd be a shame to
> finally manage to get a notebook only to send it back just after.
> 
> Alternatively, I'd appreciate a contact address to one of Acer's engineers
> or anyone capable of providing any useful information.
> Best regards,
> 

mine has a smart battery, it's an acer travelmate 4501LCi
i buy this laptop yesterday ^^

if you starts writing this drivers i can test it, and try to help coding 
(have some c/c++ experience) but i need to learn all the rest, gathering 
information and study some stuffs.. i'll try.. i really want this so 
called "smart" battery works


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Pedro Venda]

Karol Kozimor wrote:
> Hi,
> It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
> battery driver. However, I need the hardware to begin with, and since Acer
> Poland is playing hard to get, I need a possibly complete list of all Acer
> laptops affected in case they have at least one of them to spare for a
> month or two. Here's those I know of already:
> Travelmate 4001WLMi (being phased out, they won't let us have it)
> Travelmate 8005LMi (supposedly the same as above)
> Travelmate 4501WCi
> Travelmate 292 (Extensa 2920) (AFAIK phased out)
> Extensa 3001 (N/A)
> 
> I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to bug Acer, so I need a couple
> of models that are 100% sure to contain a smart battery. I'd be a shame to
> finally manage to get a notebook only to send it back just after.
> 
> Alternatively, I'd appreciate a contact address to one of Acer's engineers
> or anyone capable of providing any useful information.
> Best regards,
> 

the smart battery driver is one of my projects, but I don't have the time to dedicate to it, so I guess it'll be eternally delayed.

however, I can try to help on anything, either code writing and/or testing. Please note that I am an ABSOLUTE newbie as far as kernel programming is concerned. I've written a kernel module (very, very 
simple) to learn about some kernel interfaces. Also I've read some ACPI and smartbattery specs, but nothing i could use today.

In just a few words, I am 100% willing to help writing/testing the smartbattery driver. I'm glad I'm not the only one needing it and that the driver can one day exist.

regards,
pedro venda.

-- 

Pedro João Lopes Venda
email: pjlv-aHmAgkVUFT6Joy8PIJZ9VA@public.gmane.org
http://arrakis.dhis.org


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Gerard Soldevila]

Hi,
Mine is 4001 WLMI, i tried to debug DSDT but this wasn't the problem
(only 3 warnings). I have the /proc/acpi/battery empty so I think I've
got an smart battery (according to older discussion threads from Pedro
Venda and Shaoua Li). I've got no spare time, but i'm able to do some
little testing if you need it.

(Sorry for my english, this is the first message I send to a mailing list)

Gerard


On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 21:39:13 +0000, Pedro Venda <pjlv-aHmAgkVUFT6Joy8PIJZ9VA@public.gmane.org> wrote:
> Karol Kozimor wrote:
> 
> 
> > Hi,
> > It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
> > battery driver. However, I need the hardware to begin with, and since Acer
> > Poland is playing hard to get, I need a possibly complete list of all Acer
> > laptops affected in case they have at least one of them to spare for a
> > month or two. Here's those I know of already:
> > Travelmate 4001WLMi (being phased out, they won't let us have it)
> > Travelmate 8005LMi (supposedly the same as above)
> > Travelmate 4501WCi
> > Travelmate 292 (Extensa 2920) (AFAIK phased out)
> > Extensa 3001 (N/A)
> >
> > I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to bug Acer, so I need a couple
> > of models that are 100% sure to contain a smart battery. I'd be a shame to
> > finally manage to get a notebook only to send it back just after.
> >
> > Alternatively, I'd appreciate a contact address to one of Acer's engineers
> > or anyone capable of providing any useful information.
> > Best regards,
> >
> 
> the smart battery driver is one of my projects, but I don't have the time to dedicate to it, so I guess it'll be eternally delayed.
> 
> however, I can try to help on anything, either code writing and/or testing. Please note that I am an ABSOLUTE newbie as far as kernel programming is concerned. I've written a kernel module (very, very
> simple) to learn about some kernel interfaces. Also I've read some ACPI and smartbattery specs, but nothing i could use today.
> 
> In just a few words, I am 100% willing to help writing/testing the smartbattery driver. I'm glad I'm not the only one needing it and that the driver can one day exist.
> 
> regards,
> pedro venda.
> 
> --
> 
> Pedro João Lopes Venda
> email: pjlv-aHmAgkVUFT6Joy8PIJZ9VA@public.gmane.org
> http://arrakis.dhis.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide
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> _______________________________________________
> Acpi-devel mailing list
> Acpi-devel-5NWGOfrQmneRv+LV9MX5uipxlwaOVQ5f@public.gmane.org
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/acpi-devel
>


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Ultrakorne]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Karol Kozimor wrote:
| Hi,
| It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
| battery driver.

in my dsdt disassembled i get 3 warning... and it contain those lines
"Name(_HID,"ACPI0001")", "Name(_HID,"ACPI0002")"
meaning i have a smart battery
my model as i say is a travelmate 4501 lci

can someone tell me where and what documents are a good read (kernel
module, acpi, smart battery...), if someone already have collect some
material this should be fine. my hope is helping the development...

Sam
- --
+--------------------+-------------------------------------+
|    Metal OWNZ U    |        GnuPG ID: E2844BB9           |
|   icq#: 61252311   | My Public key at: wwwkeys.pgp.net   |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------+
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Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Pedro Venda]

Ultrakorne wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Karol Kozimor wrote:
> | Hi,
> | It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
> | battery driver.
> 
> in my dsdt disassembled i get 3 warning... and it contain those lines
> "Name(_HID,"ACPI0001")", "Name(_HID,"ACPI0002")"
> meaning i have a smart battery
> my model as i say is a travelmate 4501 lci
> 
> can someone tell me where and what documents are a good read (kernel
> module, acpi, smart battery...), if someone already have collect some
> material this should be fine. my hope is helping the development...

hi,

from what I've collected so far, (probably) the best place to start 
learning is the acpi specification. it's a good information source if 
you already know something about kernel programming.

http://www.acpi.info/spec20c.htm

the next best source of information is probably in the sbs-if forum 
(smart battery system implementers forum).

http://www.sbs-forum.org/specs/sbsm100b.pdf

you'll have do dig in and find out what's useful and what's not.

good luck. for you, for me and for the other smart battery driver 
developers.

regards,
pedro venda.

--
Pedro João Lopes Venda
email: pjlv-aHmAgkVUFT6Joy8PIJZ9VA@public.gmane.org
http://arrakis.dhis.org


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Johannes Kuhlmann]

Hi,

as already said in another thread, I have a Travelmate 4001LCi which
apparently also has a smart battery. I would also be interested in
helping out with testing and maybe some coding though I haven't done
any kernel coding either.

Regards,
Johannes


On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 17:48:02 +0100, Ultrakorne <ultrakorne-XtQPfPCVGG7srOwW+9ziJQ@public.gmane.org> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Karol Kozimor wrote:
> | Hi,
> | It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
> | battery driver.
> 
> in my dsdt disassembled i get 3 warning... and it contain those lines
> "Name(_HID,"ACPI0001")", "Name(_HID,"ACPI0002")"
> meaning i have a smart battery
> my model as i say is a travelmate 4501 lci
> 
> can someone tell me where and what documents are a good read (kernel
> module, acpi, smart battery...), if someone already have collect some
> material this should be fine. my hope is helping the development...
> 
> Sam
> - --
> +--------------------+-------------------------------------+
> |    Metal OWNZ U    |        GnuPG ID: E2844BB9           |
> |   icq#: 61252311   | My Public key at: wwwkeys.pgp.net   |
> +--------------------+-------------------------------------+
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
> 
> iD8DBQFBpLtCzMLB4uKES7kRAh9kAJ9OXwlgq/zDhrxDT6+Ox7If32NxsgCfV+Tr
> slekYBZJown3Gm4TQTYSuWc=
> =T+dl
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
> SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide
> Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users.
> Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now.
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> _______________________________________________
> Acpi-devel mailing list
> Acpi-devel-5NWGOfrQmneRv+LV9MX5uipxlwaOVQ5f@public.gmane.org
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/acpi-devel
>


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Pedro Venda]

Karol Kozimor wrote:
> Hi,
> It's likely that I'll get my employer's backing for writing the smart
> battery driver. However, I need the hardware to begin with, and since Acer
> Poland is playing hard to get, I need a possibly complete list of all Acer
> laptops affected in case they have at least one of them to spare for a
> month or two. Here's those I know of already:
> Travelmate 4001WLMi (being phased out, they won't let us have it)
> Travelmate 8005LMi (supposedly the same as above)
> Travelmate 4501WCi
> Travelmate 292 (Extensa 2920) (AFAIK phased out)
> Extensa 3001 (N/A)
> 
> I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to bug Acer, so I need a couple
> of models that are 100% sure to contain a smart battery. I'd be a shame to
> finally manage to get a notebook only to send it back just after.
> 
> Alternatively, I'd appreciate a contact address to one of Acer's engineers
> or anyone capable of providing any useful information.
> Best regards,
> 

is there a good method to find out if one has a smartbattery?

it could help people in the forums and in the mailing lists to find out if they 
have one or not.

a deterministic method to find it out would be very useful.

I can't write one, but if I would try, I'd start by trying to ask for the device 
presence to the ACPI layer. Is it possible to do this from userland? is there a 
better way?

regards,
pedro venda.
-- 

Pedro João Lopes Venda
email: pjlv-aHmAgkVUFT6Joy8PIJZ9VA@public.gmane.org
http://arrakis.dhis.org


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Karol Kozimor]

Thus wrote Karol Kozimor:
> Alternatively, I'd appreciate a contact address to one of Acer's engineers
> or anyone capable of providing any useful information.

Just a quick update: Acer Poland decided they didn't really care and they
wouldn't let us have any hardware at least until the end of the year.
Best regards,

-- 
Karol 'sziwan' Kozimor
sziwan-DETuoxkZsSqrDJvtcaxF/A@public.gmane.org


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Re: Smart batteries and Acer: list of affected models needed

[Oisín Mac Fhearaí]

On Sunday 05 December 2004 21:28, Karol Kozimor wrote:
> Thus wrote Karol Kozimor:
> > Alternatively, I'd appreciate a contact address to one of Acer's
> > engineers or anyone capable of providing any useful information.
>
> Just a quick update: Acer Poland decided they didn't really care and they
> wouldn't let us have any hardware at least until the end of the year.
> Best regards,

Good luck; Acer seem to be absolutely terrible at communicating with the 
outside world, or at least end-users - I must have spent an hour of hold-time 
or more altogether just in calls that they cut off before I even spoke to 
someone.

And when I got through, they either stuck to "we can't help you with this, 
it's outside of our scope, bring your machine to a repair centre" or "we only 
support Windows".
In the end, it was easier for me to buy a phonecard and call their offices in 
Taiwan than it was speaking to the nearest call-centre (the UK), who 
basically sucked and promised me emails I never received, etc.

I don't think Acer will help.

Oisín


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