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Posts: 539 | Thanked: 165 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Berlin, Germany
#1
Hi, this morning I switched my N900 on (i.e. the display, it was running all night), had a look at the battery level and was quite surprised: according to DCEW widget the remaining charge was 0,4% / 5 mAh! That's very low in my opinion. I always thought the N900 would turn itself off when battery charge goes below a minimal value. Does anyone know what value this might be? When does the device turn off because of low battery? Or does it suck the last power off the battery and then just dies?
Might it be related to running power kernel (power44) instead of stock kernel? I never had such low battery charge before and therefore never experienced a shutdown because of empty battery.
 
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Posts: 3,159 | Thanked: 2,023 times | Joined on Feb 2008 @ Finland
#2
the lower battery level gets, the harder it is to estimate any percentages, mAhs etc...
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Posts: 539 | Thanked: 165 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Berlin, Germany
#3
But nevertheless the system soemhow has to define a level under which the system will be shut down. It makes no difference whether I read the charge level using some script or the system reading the level using some dbus-call or similar. In the end we all get the same level and the system has to decide wether to shut down or not.
If there is such implementation at all. That's part of my question too.
 
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Posts: 37 | Thanked: 27 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Antwerp, Belgium
#4
I've noticed that my N900 runs on battery level "0%" for about 2 or 3 hours... (Standby, if I get a phone call I better keep it short ) I think it indeed has something to do with the fact that estimating the power left in the battery is very hard, and I also think that when it displays 0% it actually really has some "backup power" left in it...
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Posts: 3 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Feb 2010
#5
I carry two batteries, as one often dies mid-day as I stream internet radio. I've noticed one will drain to 0% and go off soon after, and the other will sit on 0.4% for ages. Calibration/measuring issue maybe?
 
Posts: 508 | Thanked: 130 times | Joined on Sep 2009
#6
every battery has a built in chip wich masures all the values. correct me if im wrong. Every battery is different.

I had 4 n900's in my hands in the past, and all of them felt different, slided different etc etc. So products even when they are produced exactly the same are still different.

When i read about the backup power i remebered a test i did back in my teenager time. i once called a friend with my nokia with an emty battery. it died instantly, i fired the phone back up and called 9-1-1 emergency (112 in holland) for some reason the phone did not die. so i guess that the phone then even recognised the emergency and did not shutdown itself. i havent tested it on the n900 though.

But when the n900 is saying 0% then offcourse its not 0% in the battery. there is always a safety in it . its very bad for a battery to be drained 100% it could even damage the battery.
 
Posts: 539 | Thanked: 165 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Berlin, Germany
#7
Thanks for al your answers, but none of them answers my question. To clear them out once more:
1. does N900 shutdown itself when battery goes low or does it just die when batt is empty?
2. if it does shutdown, what charging level does trigger this event? And where does it get read from?
3. might it be the power kernel changes this behaviour in any way? (not talking about power consumption, only shutting down when charge goes empty)
 
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Posts: 3,159 | Thanked: 2,023 times | Joined on Feb 2008 @ Finland
#8
Originally Posted by x-lette View Post
But nevertheless the system soemhow has to define a level under which the system will be shut down. It makes no difference whether I read the charge level using some script or the system reading the level using some dbus-call or similar. In the end we all get the same level and the system has to decide wether to shut down or not.
If there is such implementation at all. That's part of my question too.
so you are 100% sure that it is based on percentage level? I seriously doubt it.
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Posts: 1,224 | Thanked: 1,763 times | Joined on Jul 2007
#9
Originally Posted by x-lette View Post
Hi, this morning I switched my N900 on (i.e. the display, it was running all night), had a look at the battery level and was quite surprised: according to DCEW widget the remaining charge was 0,4% / 5 mAh! That's very low in my opinion. I always thought the N900 would turn itself off when battery charge goes below a minimal value. Does anyone know what value this might be? When does the device turn off because of low battery? Or does it suck the last power off the battery and then just dies?
Might it be related to running power kernel (power44) instead of stock kernel? I never had such low battery charge before and therefore never experienced a shutdown because of empty battery.
Did you use hostmode? is BME running? I think BME is responsible for shutting down when battery level is low, so when it is not running, you don't have that protection.
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Posts: 539 | Thanked: 165 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Berlin, Germany
#10
No, I'm not sure at all. That's why I'm asking. I just remeber having read about this (just as every other phone does it too!). Might be it's reading percentage or current value or voltage or maybe constellation of stars in the night ... I don't know.
 
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