xfce power manager failing to charge linux mint 19.3

[andyjay]

I've tried a new battery for my 9 yr old ASUS Eee netbook x101H and confirmed the charge unit works but the XFCE power manager takes several days to charge and will no longer allow screen dimming. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling it with no success. There is no update for it in software manager or synaptic package manager but there is an updated one I found on line (version 4.16.0 released in 2020) see:

https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-power- ... st_release

but as a beginner I am used to GUI and not using the terminal.I found some guidance here:

https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/v ... nager.html

Is this terminal install do-able for a novice? Any tips to avoid a disaster?

Thanks in anticipation of some help.

[bin]

It is unlikely that the power manager software itself is the cause of your problems here.

The power manager software is - to some extent - at the mercy of what info it gets back from the machine which is determined by what it can get from the battery.

From what you say, these symptoms are linked to the change of battery.

So, first of all, are you replacing the original battery with a 3rd party one?
If so then welcome to the world of pain from unchipped rubbish quality batteries.

Simple test - leave new battery in laptop overnight - switched off but on charge. If it's charged OK by morning then all well and good.
If not then either the battery is at fault or the charger, or the laptop.

Batteries do tend to improve a bit after a few charge/discharge cycles.

It may be worth grabbing MATE 19.3 - I think you're 32 bit???? and just trying with a live version to see how it behaves with the new battery.
You've probably already seen this - but it may help generally viewtopic.php?t=261881 with your machine.

From what I have seen, xfce4-power-manager is pretty tolerant to being updated on its own - but if you are 32 bit then you're a bit stuck unless you can build your own.

[andyjay]

Thanks for the info. I shall go for the mate edition you suggested and just read up on the links you supplied. BTW the new battery is from asus, but the old battery still has some go in it and will slowly charge to 80% over a few days. Enough to get me thru the mate install.

Thanks again.

[bin]

I'm not suggesting that you install MATE on your Asus - merely to boot off a live media and see what it says about your new battery to double check that it is hardware rather than software. Older versions of MATE are quite memory hungry and I would not recommend it for day to day use on an older machine like yours.

[andyjay]

Got it - will do. Yes, I have mint 19.3 xfce 32bit.
If 19.3 mate it runs okay off live media, is it correct that I do not need to install that mint package with mate, rather I can use synaptic package manager to install mate desktop environment and then subsequently remove xfce desktop envoronment?
Thanks again

[bin]

Got it - will do. Yes, I have mint 19.3 xfce 32bit.
If 19.3 mate it runs okay off live media, is it correct that I do not need to install that mint package with mate, rather I can use synaptic package manager to install mate desktop environment and then subsequently remove xfce desktop envoronment?
Thanks again

Hmmmm.........
Your original question was a suggestion that the xfce power manager software was somehow responsible for your new battery not charging properly.
We have established that you have a new Asus battery - was this supplied by Asus as a factory replacement?

The question is therefore split into 2 parts
1. Establish whether or not your new battery is defective
2. Compare the way the battery charge state is being reported in a different (TEMPORARY) DE.

If this were my machine I would
1. Remove old battery
2. Hold power button down for 20 seconds
3. Insert new battery, plug in charger and leave overnight
4. Next day boot laptop and see what the charge state shows.
5. IF it shows it is still not charged I would just boot off another live media and see what that shows - just in case for some unaccountable reason there is a discrepancy.
6. IF it shows not charged with a different DE I would probably take a look at the BIOS - if the Asus allows that - and see what it says about the battery.
7. I would then go back to the supplier and query the item supplied.

As I have already said - please do not replace your existing XFCE setup. Just use the live media to double check the battery charge reporting.

[andyjay]

will do this week and update .
Thanks

[andyjay]

Solved
left new battery charging overnight as you suggested but no charge.

Tried live version of 19.3 mate and it charged both old and new batteries slowly.

Installed Mate desktop on my mint 19.3 and it charged both, and much faster in suspend mode. So now OK

Thanks for the guidance.

[bin]