Template:Battery Testing - Revision history

Aradan at 21:51, 12 October 2013

2013-10-12T21:51:21Z

Aradan at 21:50, 12 October 2013

2013-10-12T21:50:14Z

Aradan at 20:37, 12 October 2013

2013-10-12T20:37:47Z

Lynnae: create page, first draft

2012-12-12T21:35:58Z

create page, first draft

Lynnae: Created page with "Waiting for 12.04 testing drives to complete article ~~~~ Category:Laptops"

2012-10-21T01:05:18Z

Created page with "Waiting for 12.04 testing drives to complete article ~~~~ Category:Laptops"

New page

Waiting for 12.04 testing drives to complete article [[User:Lynnae|Lynnae]] 01:05, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

[[Category:Laptops]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 __NOTOC__
 ===Battery Charging and Testing===
 '''Confirm the Battery is Fully Charged''' <br>

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ===Understanding Laptop Batteries===
 The rechargeable batteries that power today's laptops are much more complex than the batteries typically found in other consumer electronic devices. They use sophisticated chemistry and control circuitry to maximize their runtime and longevity across years of use and potentially hundreds of charge/discharge cycles. Understanding their behavior - especially ones that have seen significant use - can be difficult but is very important for our Laptop Build processes. This guide is intended to help you measure and interpret a battery's vital signs and determine how much useful capacity remains.
-'''Checking the State of a Battery''' <br>
+===='''Checking the State of a Battery'''====
 &#9744; To check and monitor the state of the battery, open a terminal and type: <br>
 <code>
   watch -n3 -d cat /proc/acpi/battery/*/*
 </code>
-* The window should now display many lines of information about the battery that refresh every 3 seconds or so. The most important lines to look for are shown below with values taken from a healthy battery as an example. Other lines have been intentionally left out of this example and replaced with a '''-''', but will appear in real-world use. Real-world values may be significantly different, use different units, or missing entirely.
+* The window should now display many lines of information about the battery that refresh every 3 seconds or so. The most important lines to look for are shown below with values taken from a healthy battery as an example. Other lines have been intentionally left out of this example and replaced with a '''-''', but will appear in real-world use. Real-world values may be significantly different, use different units, or be missing entirely. <br>
- '''Example'''<br><code>
+'''Example:'''<br>
   design capacity:       5200 mAh
   last full capacity:    4331 mAh
@@ Line 18: / Line 21: @@
   remaining capacity:    3679 mAh
   present voltage:       12358 mV
- </code>
+</code>
 '''Battery Capacity'''<br>
 In this example we can see from the difference between the <code>last full capacity</code> and <code>design capacity</code> that the battery has seen some use but still has about 83% of its original capacity. If the <code>last full capacity</code> is less than 30% of the <code>design capacity</code>, the battery may end up being too worn out to function correctly. <br>
 '''Charging'''<br>
-We can also see from the <code>charging state</code> and <code>present rate</code> that it is charging at a healthy rate, and we would expect the value for <code>remaining capacity</code> to increase steadily until it is at or near the value for <code>last full capacity</code>. A battery will typically charge slower and slower as it approaches its <code>last full capacity</code>; when it is fully charged the <code>charging state</code> should change to <code>charged</code> and the <code>present rate</code> should be at or very near <code>0 mA</code>. <br>
+We can also see from the <code>charging state</code> and <code>present rate</code> that it is charging at a healthy rate, and we would expect the value for <code>remaining capacity</code> to increase steadily until it is at or near the value for <code>last full capacity</code>. A fully discharged battery will typically charge at several hundred mA at first, then faster (1000 - 3500 mA), then slower and slower as it approaches its <code>last full capacity</code>; when it is fully charged the <code>charging state</code> should change to <code>charged</code> and the <code>present rate</code> should be at about <code>0 mA</code>. <br>
 '''Battery Voltage'''<br>
-You may also have noticed that the <code>present voltage</code> is actually somewhat higher than the <code>design voltage</code>; this is normal for a healthy battery, and when the battery is discharging the value will drop initially then settle in around or a bit below its <code>design voltage</code>. If a battery has
+You may also have noticed that the <code>present voltage</code> is actually somewhat higher than the <code>design voltage</code>; this is normal for a healthy battery. When the battery is discharging the value will usually drop initially then settle in very near or a bit below its <code>design voltage</code>. If the <code>present voltage</code> continues to drop well below the <code>design voltage</code> as it discharges, it may suddenly shut off entirely even when the <code>remaining capacity</code> is high; this type of failure usually indicates a worn out or damaged battery.
+<blockquote>
 ===Battery Charging and Testing===
 '''Confirm the Battery is Fully Charged''' <br>
@@ Line 33: / Line 42: @@
   watch -n3 -d cat /proc/acpi/battery/*/*
 </code>
-*If the battery seems like it is healthy and charging normally, check the '''Start''' box next to Battery Charge on the Keeper Label and let it finish charging. <br>
+*If the battery seems like it is healthy and charging normally, check the '''Start''' box next to Battery Charge on the Keeper Label and let it finish charging. <br><br>
 '''Test Battery Life'''<br>
-&#9744; When the battery is fully charged, open a terminal and run the following command: <br>
+&#9744; When the battery is fully charged, open a terminal and run: <br>
   <code>batterytest</code><br>
-*Open a second Terminal ('''hint:''' press '''Super''' + '''T''' to quickly open a new terminal window) and run:
+&#9744; Open a second Terminal ('''hint:''' press '''Super''' + '''T''' to quickly open a new terminal window) and run:
   <code>
   while : ; do stress-test ; sleep 300 ; done
   </code>
 &#9744; Disconnect the AC adapter from the power outlet, but keep it with the laptop for later. <br>
 <blockquote>
 '''How it works'''<br>
-The laptop will run the stress-test in a loop until it runs out of power. For every minute the laptop is on during battery testing, a line of text is logged in a file called <code>bat_mon</code>. When battery test is run again, the script counts up the number of lines of text in the <code>bat_mon</code> file, and outputs the number as the number of minutes the battery lasted.
+The laptop will run 3 minutes of <code>stress-test</code>, then 5 minutes at idle, in a loop until it runs out of power and shuts off. For every minute the laptop is on during battery testing, a line of text is logged in a file called <code>bat_mon</code>. When battery test is run again, the script checks for the <code>bat_mon</code> file and counts up the number of lines of text in the file, then outputs the number as the number of minutes the battery lasted.
 </blockquote>
 [[Category:Laptops]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-&#9744; Charge the battery completely
+===Understanding Laptop Batteries===
-*Check the '''Start''' box next to Battery Charge on the Keeper label.
+The rechargeable batteries that power today's laptops are much more complex than the batteries typically found in other consumer electronic devices. They use sophisticated chemistry and control circuitry to maximize their runtime and longevity across years of use and potentially hundreds of charge/discharge cycles. Understanding their behavior - especially ones that have seen significant use - can be difficult but is very important for our Laptop Build processes. This guide is intended to help you measure and interpret a battery's vital signs and determine how much useful capacity remains.
-*Charge the laptop with the AC adapter on the testing shelf.
-*To see if the battery is charged, hover over the battery icon on the Desktop toolbar.
+'''Checking the State of a Battery''' <br>
-&#9744; Start <code>batterytest</code><br>
+&#9744; To check and monitor the state of the battery, open a terminal and type: <br>
-*Open a Terminal. Type
+<code>
-  batterytest
+ watch -n3 -d cat /proc/acpi/battery/*/*
-and hit enter.
+</code>
-*Open a second Terminal, and type
+* The window should now display many lines of information about the battery that refresh every 3 seconds or so. The most important lines to look for are shown below with values taken from a healthy battery as an example. Other lines have been intentionally left out of this example and replaced with a '''-''', but will appear in real-world use. Real-world values may be significantly different, use different units, or missing entirely.
   while : ; do stress-test ; sleep 300 ; done
-&#9744; Disconnect the AC adapter from power
+ </code>
-*Keep the AC adapter with the laptop
+&#9744; Disconnect the AC adapter from the power outlet, but keep it with the laptop for later. <br>
 '''How it works'''<br>
 The laptop will run the stress-test in a loop until it runs out of power. For every minute the laptop is on during battery testing, a line of text is logged in a file called <code>bat_mon</code>. When battery test is run again, the script counts up the number of lines of text in the <code>bat_mon</code> file, and outputs the number as the number of minutes the battery lasted.
+</blockquote>
 [[Category:Laptops]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:35, 12 December 2012
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−	~~Waiting for 12~~.04 testing ~~drives to complete article [[User~~:~~Lynnae\|Lynnae]] 01:05~~, ~~21 October 2012 (UTC)~~	+	☐ Charge the battery completely
		+	*Check the '''Start''' box next to Battery Charge on the Keeper label.
		+	*Charge the laptop with the AC adapter on the testing shelf.
		+	*To see if the battery is charged, hover over the battery icon on the Desktop toolbar.
		+	☐ Start <code>batterytest</code><br>
		+	*Open a Terminal. Type
		+	batterytest
		+	and hit enter.
		+	*Open a second Terminal, and type
		+	while : ; do stress-test ; sleep 300 ; done
		+	☐ Disconnect the AC adapter from power
		+	*Keep the AC adapter with the laptop
		+	'''How it works'''<br>
		+	The laptop will run the stress-test in a loop until it runs out of power. For every minute the laptop is on during battery testing, a line of text is logged in a file called <code>bat_mon</code>. When battery test is run again, the script counts up the number of lines of text in the <code>bat_mon</code> file, and outputs the number as the number of minutes the battery lasted.

	[[Category:Laptops]]		[[Category:Laptops]]