Binary package hint: acpi-support
Steps to reproduce:
Laptop (Dell Inspiron 2200 with an after-market AC adapter)
1) unplug AC power
2) replug AC power
Resulting symptoms: Frequently (probably 70% of the time)
1) Pulsing, Flashing, beating, flickering display (looks like the brightness level is popping up and down rapidly at about 133 beats per minute) . My workaround is -- use the Fn Arrow Down keys to manually turn down the brightness to minimum then i can't see the pulsing, though if I turn it back up then I can see it again.
2) The battery indicator still shows battery as discharging.
3) The battery indicator's Power Statistics (usually accessed by clicking battery status on popdown menu) and Preferences screen are unavailable. If you click on the battery status area you can see a faintly visible 3D outline of a transparent dialog box the size of the normal popdown menu item, but no item is visible).
4) results of
upower --dump
cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state
and
cat /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/AC/state
sometimes match what the battery indicator displays and sometimes not. This is what leads me to think it is some kind of acpi event or other power event not being properly processed on a deeper level than just the gnome-power-manager or the battery indicator malfunctioning.
5) Sometimes something (I haven't been able to determine what) will happen and the AC power will be acknowledged by the system and the battery will start to recharge again. The battery indicator sometimes matches what the upower and other checks say, but usually even if it does, the battery indicator might show charging but the other more detailed screens will still be inaccessible. Most of the time though it will keep discharging until the system shuts down.
6) If rebooted, everything looks normal again. unplug/replug will start back at 1)
I'll try and provide more details of this at a later time.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: acpi-support 0.136
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-22.36-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-22-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Tue Jul 13 22:48:06 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20100429)
ProcEnviron:
LANG=en_US.utf8
SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: acpi-support
---
Architecture: i386
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
GnomeSessionIdleInhibited: No
GnomeSessionInhibitors: None
GnomeSessionSuspendInhibited: No
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20100429)
Lsusb:
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: Dell Inc. Inspiron 2200
Package: gnome-power-manager 2.30.0-0ubuntu1
PackageArchitecture: i386
PccardctlIdent:
Socket 0:
no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
Socket 0:
no card
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic root=UUID=6ff2cb4a-4d04-48ab-b05e-9e76259fdf2d ro splash
ProcEnviron:
LANG=en_US.utf8
SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-22.36-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Tags: lucid
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-22-generic i686
UserGroups: adm admin audio cdrom dialout disk fuse haldaemon lpadmin mythtv netdev plugdev root sambashare vboxusers video x2gousers
dmi.bios.date: 03/31/2005
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A03
dmi.board.name: 0U6962
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA03:bd03/31/2005:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron2200:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0U6962:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 2200
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.
acpi-support is unrelated to processing such events. If the power management GUI becomes unavailable, but upower --dump still returns, sounds like this is likely to be a gnome-power-manager bug; reassigning there.