Librem14 signals plug-unplug of power supply in rapid succession

Hardware
1

The power connector feels firm, but I hear the unplug-plug-in sound frequently - sometimes more than once a second. When that happens, the battery discharges as if it wasn’t plugged in, despite the LED being green and the icon at the top of the screen indicating that it is charging.
Sometimes I can use the laptop for hours without problems, and sometimes I have the issue described above. Sometimes actually unplugging and re-plugging the device will solve the problem for a while, sometimes it doesn’t help at all.

Today the screen suddenly went black, and the fans started whirring on overdrive. After about 15 mins the laptop went to sleep, and I could wake it like normal. This might or might not be connected to the above issue. However, it prompted me to have a look at syslog, and I found a ton of these messages:

Jul 6 22:17:08 lis acpid: netlink read error: No buffer space available (105)

Jul 6 22:17:25 lis acpid: netlink read error: No buffer space available (105)
Jul 6 22:17:25 lis acpid: too many errors reading via netlink - aborting
Jul 6 22:17:25 lis systemd[1]: acpid.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jul 6 22:17:25 lis systemd[1]: acpid.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
Jul 6 22:17:25 lis systemd[1]: acpid.service: Consumed 52.476s CPU time.
Jul 6 22:17:25 lis systemd[1]: Started ACPI event daemon.
Jul 6 22:17:26 lis acpid: starting up with netlink and the input layer
Jul 6 22:17:26 lis acpid: 27 rules loaded
Jul 6 22:17:26 lis acpid: waiting for events: event logging is off
Jul 6 22:17:31 lis acpid: netlink read error: No buffer space available (105)
Jul 6 22:17:48 lis acpid: netlink read error: No buffer space available (105)
Jul 6 22:18:05 lis acpid: netlink read error: No buffer space available (105)
Jul 6 22:18:21 lis acpid: netlink read error: No buffer space available (105)
Jul 6 22:18:37 lis acpid: netlink read error: No buffer space available (105)
Jul 6 22:18:37 lis acpid: too many errors reading via netlink - aborting
Jul 6 22:18:37 lis systemd[1]: acpid.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jul 6 22:18:37 lis systemd[1]: acpid.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
Jul 6 22:18:37 lis systemd[1]: acpid.service: Consumed 52.209s CPU time.
Jul 6 22:18:37 lis systemd[1]: Started ACPI event daemon.
Jul 6 22:18:38 lis acpid: starting up with netlink and the input layer
Jul 6 22:18:38 lis acpid: 27 rules loaded
Jul 6 22:18:38 lis acpid: waiting for events: event logging is off

… on and on, over and over again. I know very little about the internal workings of Linux, but some online searching made me assume that this could be connected to the plug-unplug issue. Thought I’d mention it just to be sure.

My best guess is that there’s a loose connector somewhere, or maybe a problem with the cable. Is there anything I could try to confirm/exclude that? Or anything I could try to solve the problem?

2

What EC version?
What operating system & version?
How long have you been using the computer?

2 Likes
3

Thanks for the quick reply, Carlos.
EC-Version as per purism_ectool: 2021-05-25_3b5ef1e
OS-Version: PureOS Byzantium 10.0
Laptop in use since summer/autumn 2021 - don’t remember exactly when it arrived.

4

You are using old ec version, update it to the brand new e.c.v1.9 and retest your gnu librem 14.


Amazing work in v1.9 from @nicole.faerber :partying_face:
when upgrading the EC version make sure the Librem 14 it has 30% battery as minimun with uncharging mode like unplugged charger this will reset the ec controller.
5

Thank you - I will try this and report back this eve.
Also, thank you @nicole.faerber for the amazing work! :·)

6

Just wanted to report back that I have updated the EC version, but I didn’t have the time to test the laptop thoroughly. The problem hasn’t occurred so far, and that’s a great start!
I will report back again after some long(er) term usage.

7

Awesome!
Do not forget upgrade Coreboot or Pureboot too, the newest coreboot 4.17 version is coming…

8

The joy was relatively short-lived. I no longer heard the notification sound for plug-unplug, but the battery has drained despite the laptop being plugged in. I had hoped that it would load over night while I don’t use it, but instead the battery has drained completely. When I press the power button, the keyboard and screen backlight light up shortly, but then go black again almost immediately.

The LED next to the plug and at the top edge of the keyboard are green for a while, then start blinking irregularly, then go off. Wiggling the plug makes then turn on again, but the same thing repeats. Sometimes, when wiggling the plug, I can hear a very high-pitched sound that disappears after a bit.

Is there anything I can do apart from watching the LEDs constantly and hoping that the battery will, eventually, load again?

9

Sound a hardware failure, have you manipulated the computer before? Did you pull the power cord sharply when the charger was still connected to the computer?

10

I handle all things with care to make them last as long as possible.
I have neither manipulated the computer not pulled the cord. I bend cords for transport, but never fold them, either.