tp_smapi_dkms works one boot only - until hardware reset

[Redsandro]

TL;DR version:

thinkpad_ec works once, but not ever again after a reboot until you do a hardware reset.

DMI info here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/tp-smapi/+bug/814380/+attachment/2230861/+files/dmidecode2.txt

Detailed version:

I run Linux 2.6.38-8-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP x86_64 on my Thinkpad Edge 15 with Intel Core i3 M370.
To loosen the charging policy and activate hard drive protection, you need tp_smapi & hdaps < thinkpad_ec < thinkpad_acpi.

For this I installed tp-smapi-dkms version 0.40-9:

$ aptitude install tp-smapi-dkms
$ modprobe -a tp_smapi hdaps

$ echo "thinkpad_ec" >> /etc/modules
$ echo "tp_smapi" >> /etc/modules
$ echo "hdaps" >> /etc/modules
$ update-initramfs -u

No problems, running fine. They show in lsmod. There is now a directory called /sys/devices/platform/smapi. You should be able to loosen the charge policy like so:

$ echo 60 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh
$ echo 90 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh

No problem. But on REBOOT (hard or soft), thinkpad_ec cannot be loaded anymore.

dmesg:
[ 18.666480] thinkpad_ec: thinkpad_ec_read_row: failed requesting row: (0x01:0x00)->0xfffffff0
[ 18.668188] thinkpad_ec: initial ec test failed
[ 18.719701] thinkpad_ec: thinkpad_ec_read_row: failed requesting row: (0x01:0x00)->0xfffffff0
[ 18.721802] thinkpad_ec: initial ec test failed
[ 18.799916] thinkpad_ec: thinkpad_ec_read_row: failed requesting row: (0x01:0x00)->0xfffffff0
[ 18.801368] thinkpad_ec: initial ec test failed
...
[ 23.063877] thinkpad_ec: thinkpad_ec_read_row: failed requesting row: (0x01:0x00)->0xfffffff0
[ 23.063881] thinkpad_ec: initial ec test failed

Checking modules:
$ modprobe thinkpad_ec
FATAL: Error inserting thinkpad_ec (/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/extra/thinkpad_ec.ko): No such device or address
$ modprobe -a tp_smapi hdaps
WARNING: Error inserting tp_smapi (/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/extra/tp_smapi.ko): No such device or address
WARNING: Error inserting hdaps (/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/updates/hdaps.ko): No such device or address
$ find /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/ | grep -E 'thinkpad|tp_smapi|hdaps'
/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/extra/thinkpad_ec.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/extra/tp_smapi.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/updates/hdaps.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/thinkpad_acpi.ko
$ for i in `find /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/ | grep -E 'thinkpad_ec|tp_smapi|hdaps'`; do rm $i; done
$ aptitude remove tp_smapi_dkms
$ aptitude install tp_smapi_dkms
$ modprobe thinkpad_ec
FATAL: Error inserting thinkpad_ec (/lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/extra/thinkpad_ec.ko): No such device or address

No avail. Not after reboot, not after shutdown.

But, if you remove the battery and AC power and leave the laptop grasping for air for a few minutes (hardware reset, older models have a button for this on the backside), THEN it works again!

Now officially I am supposed to mention what I expected to happen, which is ofcourse the flawlessly loading of the modules after as many reboots as I please.

On an extra note, although I didn't understand it at the time, I now realize I've had the exact same problem in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

Google tells us that throughout history, there have always been similar problems ranging from recent to a couple of years back. But where they state that a fix is released, they implicitly say that they are not the same as this bug. There are also a few possibly related bugreports active. But none of them mention the Thinkpad Edge specifically, or more importantly, that the cause of their problem is simply rebooting.

DMI information in comment #3

[Redsandro (redsandro)]

I've also tried a some thoughts from previous bugreports for which fixes have been released, but I forgot some of it.

I tried the mentioned force_io:
$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/local.conf
# thinkpad Edge 15 specific options for thinkpad_ec, tp_smapi, hdapm
options thinkpad_ec force_io=1
#options hdaps invert=1

I tried running that other package instead (but removed it again):
$ aptitude install tp-smapi-source
$ module-assistant prepare tp-smapi
$ module-assistant auto-install tp-smapi
$ modprobe tp-smapi
Didn't work either. But I haven't messed around with this for a long time, because I came to understand that I need the dkms version for my laptop anyway.

[Redsandro (redsandro)]

DMI information added as attachment.

[Redsandro (redsandro)]

Same DMI data, this time without serial numbers..

[Maurizio Galli (maurizio-galli)]

Same problem here with Thinkpad Edge 13 and Ubuntu 11.04

[Redsandro (redsandro)]

@Maurizio: Can you please provide your BIOS dmi info?
I am not a developer but I am sure if anyone is going to be assigned to this bug they would appreciate this data.

Command:
# dmidecode

Optionally you can remove any serial numbers before attaching the text file with dmi info.

[Joshua Taillon (jat255)]

Just wanted to report that I'm experiencing the same problem here on my ThinkPad Edge E420s.

Running Ubuntu 11.10 Ocelot (3.0.0-12-generic) and tried both the dkms and `m-a a-i` building from source. Attached is my DMI info.

[Ivan Frederiks (idfred)]

Same problem on ThinkPad X100e.
dmidecode output attached.

[Ivan Frederiks (idfred)]

Sorry, forgot some information:
System:
xubuntu 12.04 x86_64
Package:
tp-smapi-dkms:
  Installed: 0.41-1
  Candidate: 0.41-1
  Version table:
 *** 0.41-1 0
        500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[Evgeni Golov (evgeni)]

sorry, this is unsupported HW

[Redsandro (redsandro)]

Ok, let me take my time machine back to 2010 and warn everybody. O-)

(I apologize in advance for this remark.)

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu 12.04 (precise) reached end-of-life on April 28, 2017.
Ubuntu 11.10 (oneiric) reached end-of-life on May 9, 2013.
Ubuntu 11.04 (natty) reached end-of-life on October 28, 2012.
Ubuntu 10.10 (maverick) reached end-of-life on April 10, 2012.
Ubuntu 10.04 (lucid) reached end-of-life on May 9, 2013.

See this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

We appreciate that this bug may be old and you might not be interested in discussing it any more. But if you are then please upgrade to the latest Ubuntu version and re-test. If you then find the bug is still present in the newer Ubuntu version, please add a comment here telling us which new version it is in and change the bug status to Confirmed.