Tp smapi

The tp_smapi kernel module exposes some features of the ThinkPad hardware/firmware via a sysfs interface. Currently, the main implemented functionality is control of battery charging and extended battery status. It also includes an improved version of the HDAPS driver. The underlying hardware interfaces are SMAPI and direct access to the embedded controller. For older ThinkPad models, see also tpctl. This driver uses undocumented features and direct hardware access, so it may work unreliably or even damage your hardware; but so far no such damage has been reported.

Features

• Battery charge/discharge control
• Battery status information
• Modified HDAPS driver with improved stability, model support and functionality

Project Homepage / Availability

• Project page: http://tpctl.sourceforge.net/
• You need to download only the tp_smapi package.

Installation

Installation from source

You will need the kernel headers and makefiles corresponding to your current kernel version. On Fedora, this means # yum install kernel-devel-$(uname -r) .

# tar xzvf tp_smapi-0.39.tgz

# cd tp_smapi-0.39

Then, either compile and load the driver within the current working directory (for testing):

# make load

OR compile and install into the kernel's module path:

# make install

If you use the HDAPS driver, add HDAPS=1 to also patch the hdaps for compatibility with tp_smapi (this requires a kernel source tree matching the current kernel). Again, either load the driver within the current working directory:

# make load HDAPS=1

OR install into the kernel's module path:

# make install HDAPS=1

To prepare a stand-alone patch against the current kernel tree (including a patch against hdaps and new Kconfig entries):

# make patch

To delete all autogenerated files:

# make clean

The original kernel tree is never modified by any these commands. The /lib/modules directory is modified only by # make install.

Installation in Gentoo

The Gentoo portage system carries a tp_smapi package, which follows the latest version pretty closely. On a Gentoo system, you can install and load as follows.

If you use the HDAPS driver, do this first:

• Disable the hdaps module in your kernel configuration (Device Drivers → Hardware Monitoring Support → IBM Hard Drive Active Protection System)
• Rebuild and install the kernel
• Add the hdaps use flag in /etc/make.conf
• # rmmod hdaps

Then:

• # emerge tp_smapi (or install tp_smapi with hdaps support manually, as above)
• # echo "tp_smapi" >> /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6
• # echo "hdaps" >> /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6

Then reboot, or run:

• # modprobe tp_smapi
• # modprobe hdaps

Installation on Debian unstable (sid) or testing (lenny)

Debian now contains the packaged module source and prebuilt modules for Debian kernels.

If you use a custom kernel, you can build tp_smapi with module-assistant:

• # aptitude install tp-smapi-source
• # m-a -t a-i tp-smapi

If you use a stock Debian kernel, you can install the tp_smapi modules with:

• # apt-get install tp-smapi-modules-`uname -r`

Installation on Ubuntu Hardy

Ubuntu ships tp_smapi in their linux-ubuntu-modules Package since Hardy, so you don't have to build it yourself. Please note that they have renamed tp_smapi's modified hdaps module to hdaps_ec. You should load hdaps_ec, not hdaps.

Installation on older Ubuntu/Debian

Installation on Ubuntu or Debian is quite easy, but there are a few things to look after:

To get your system ready for compiling code, install the build-essentials (as root, of course, as all of the following comands; Ubuntu users have to prepend 'sudo' to every line and enter their own password when prompted):

apt-get install build-essential

To get tp_smapi to work, obtain the latest source as mentioned above and unpack it. If you want to use HDAPS, you need to install the kernel source matching te kernel you are running. To do so, issue this:

uname -r

This will give you the version of your current kernel. Debian users execute the following:

apt-get install linux-source-`uname -r`

Ubuntu users execute the following using the kernel-version only (exclude -XX-generic; e.g. 'linux-source-2.6.20'):

apt-get install linux-source-`uname -r`

Be sure to unpack the source file. The easiest way is to open Nautilus as root:

sudo nautilus

Then browse to /usr/src/ and extract the source file to that directory.

Now change to the tp_smapi dir:

cd tp_smapi-X.YY

(X.YY being the version-number of tp_smapi)

and make and install tp_smapi as instructed above.

If you get an error that the kernel version isn't matching (or that you need to set KSRC/KBUILD), please check that there is a symlink from the modules dir to the kernel source:

root@localhost:~#ls -l /lib/modules/2.6.20-16-generic
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root     28 2007-02-02 08:39 source -> /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.20

Create the link if the line above is not existent:

root@localhost:~#ln -s /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.20 /lib/modules/2.6.20-16-generic/source

Now the following will build and install the correct modules to their locations:

make install HDAPS=1

To make sure your system loads the modules at boot time, do this:

echo "tp_smapi" >> /etc/modules
echo "hdaps" >> /etc/modules

and update your initramfs:

update-initramfs -u

To get tp_smapi running now, just load the modules:

modprobe -a tp_smapi hdaps

This description was tested on Kubuntu 'Feisty Fawn' and should work on all Debian-based distros with minor tweaks.

EDIT: Works on Kubuntu 7.10 ("Gutsy Gibbon"), too

Battery charge control features

To set the thresholds for starting and stopping battery charging (in percent of current full charge capacity):

# echo 40 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh

# echo 70 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh

# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/*_charge_thresh

Hint:

Battery charging thresholds can be used to keep Li-Ion ad Li-Polymer batteries partially charged, in order to increase their lifetime.

To prevent charging for 17 minutes (regardless of thresholds):

# echo 17 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/inhibit_charge_minutes

Hint:

Charge inhibiting can be used to reduce the power draw of the laptop, in order to use an under-spec power supply that can't handle the combined power draw of running and charging. It can also be used to control which battery is charged when using an Ultrabay battery.

To cancel charging preventation:

# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/inhibit_charge_minutes

To force battery discharging (even if connected to AC):

# echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/force_discharge

Hint:

This can be used to choose which battery is discharged when using an UltraBay battery.

To cancel forced discharge:

# echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/force_discharge

Battery status features

To view extended battery status such as charging state, voltage, current, capacity, cycle count and model information:

# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/installed
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/state       # idle/charging/discharging
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/cycle_count
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/current_now # instantaneous current
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/current_avg # last minute average
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_now   # instantaneous power
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_avg   # last minute average
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/last_full_capacity
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_percent
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_running_time
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_charging_time
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_capacity
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/design_capacity
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/voltage
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/design_voltage
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/manufacturer
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/model
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/barcoding
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/chemistry
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/serial
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/manufacture_date
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/first_use_date
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/temperature # in milli-Celsius
# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/ac_connected

The raw status data is also available, including some fields not listed above (in case you can figure them out):

# cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/dump

In all of the above, replace BAT0 with BAT1 to address the 2nd battery.

Note that the battery status readout conflicts with the stock hdaps driver, so if you use hdaps you will need to load tp_smapi using # make load HDAPS=1 (see Bundled hdaps driver below).

On ACPI-enabled systems, most of above information is also available through the files under /proc/acpi/battery. However, the ACPI interface does not include the instantaneous power and cycle count readouts, and does not work well when hotswapping UltraBay batteries.

Scripts

Some scripts can make it easier to grep the information you need from tp_smapi

• battery.rb

Other features

There is also sysfs attribute for making direct SMAPI requests to the SM BIOS firmware. Don't touch it unless you really know what you're doing. Example:

# echo '211a 100 0 0' > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/smapi_request; cat /sys/devices/platform/smapi/smapi_request
211a 34b b2 0 0 0 'OK'

The "4b" in the 2nd value, converted to decimal, is 75: the current charging stop threshold (stop_charge_thresh).

Bundled hdaps driver

The tp_smapi package includes a modified version of the hdaps Linux kernel driver used by the HDAPS system. To use tp_smapi and hdaps concurrently, you must use the modified version.

To build the modified version, simply append the HDAPS=1 parameter to the make command (see Installation above):

# make load HDAPS=1

or

# make install HDAPS=1

If you don't do that, you will not be able to load tp_smapi (and its support module thinkpad_ec) when hdaps is loaded, and vice versa. You can use rmmod to switch between these modules.

Note that some of the battery status is also visible through ACPI (/proc/acpi/battery/*), independently of tp_smapi.

The modified hdaps has several changes:

• The hdaps driver in mainline kernels conflicts with the extended battery status (they use the same IO ports). The modified hdaps coordinates this access through the bundled thinkpad_ec driver.
• The modified hdaps driver fixes reliability and improves support for recent ThinkPad models (*60 and newer), since unlike the mainline driver, it correctly follows the Embedded Controller communication protocol.
• Several other improvements, such as the ability to control the polling rate.

Troubleshooting

If you get "thinkpad_ec: no ThinkPad embedded controller!" when trying to load the module on a supported model listed below, you should upgrade your BIOS. Some early BIOS (like 1.x on the X31) don't handle the embedded controller.

Model-specific status

tp_smapi feature support matrix

A series
Model and machine type	start_ charge_ thresh	stop_ charge_ thresh	inhbit_ charge_ minutes	force_ discharge	battery status files	Bundled HDAPS	HDAPS axis orientation1	tp_smapi version	BIOS version	EC firmware version	Notes
A22p 2629-USG	no	no	no	no	no	unknown	unknown
A30	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown
G series
Model and machine type	start_ charge_ thresh	stop_ charge_ thresh	inhbit_ charge_ minutes	force_ discharge	battery status files	Bundled HDAPS	HDAPS axis orientation1	tp_smapi version	BIOS version	EC firmware version	Notes
G41	yes	no	yes	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown
R series
Model and machine type	start_ charge_ thresh	stop_ charge_ thresh	inhbit_ charge_ minutes	force_ discharge	battery status files	Bundled HDAPS	HDAPS axis orientation1	tp_smapi version	BIOS version	EC firmware version	Notes
R31	no	no	no	no	no	unknown	unknown				No SMAPI BIOS
R40	no	no	no	no	unknown	unknown	unknown
R50	unknown	no	unknown	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown
R50e 1834-JAG	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	unknown	unknown
R50e 1834-5US	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	unknown	unknown
R50p	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown
R51 18*	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	0	0.32	3.22		Machine types 1829, 1830, 1831 and 1836
R51 28*	yes	no	yes	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown		1.29		Machine types 2883, 2887, 2888, 2889, 2894 and 2495
R52	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	0	0.33	1.29	1.06
R60	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	1	0.33
R61	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	yes	yes	1	0.35-test1	7KETA7WW 2.07	7KHT24WW 1.08	Machine type 8918
R61i	yes	yes	unknown	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown				Machine type 8250
T series
Model and machine type	start_ charge_ thresh	stop_ charge_ thresh	inhbit_ charge_ minutes	force_ discharge	battery status files	Bundled HDAPS	HDAPS axis orientation1	tp_smapi version	BIOS version	EC firmware version	Notes
T20	no	no	no	no	no	unknown	unknown				Has SMAPI BIOS but no function is supported. EC LPC3 protocol fails.
T22	no	no	no	no	no	unknown	unknown				Has SMAPI BIOS but no function is supported. EC LPC3 protocol fails.
T23	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown
T30	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown
T40	no	no	no	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown
T40p	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown
T41	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown
T41p 2373-AM9	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	1	0.32	3.20	v3.04
T42	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	unknown	unknown
T42p 2373-KXU	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	1	0.32	3.21		Stop charge threshold works in Windows, but dmesg says "__get_real_thresh: cannot get stop_thresh of bat=0: Function is not supported by SMAPI BIOS".
T42p 2373-KUU	yes	no	yes	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown
T43 2686	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	0	0.33	1.27
T43p	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	unknown	0
T60	yes	yes	unknown	yes	yes	yes	7	0.32
T60	yes	yes	unknown	yes	yes	yes	1	0.34
T60 1951-24G	yes	yes	unknown	yes	yes	yes	unknown	0.36	1.09a
T60p 8743-CTO	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	1	0.32
T61	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	1	0.32			ref
T61p 6457-7XG	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	1	0.32			ref
T400 and T500	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown 1	0.37			Modules tp_smapi and thinkpad_ec fail to load on Ubuntu/Kubuntu, see http://www.nabble.com/thinkpad_ec-fails-to-load-on-Thinkpad-T500-td19932985.html for discussion.	X series
Model and machine type	start_ charge_ thresh	stop_ charge_ thresh	inhbit_ charge_ minutes	force_ discharge	battery status files	Bundled HDAPS	HDAPS axis orientation1	tp_smapi version	BIOS version	EC firmware version	Notes
X20 2662-31G	no	no	no	no	no	unknown	unknown
X24	no	no	no	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown
X30	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown	0.34	1.09
X31	no	no	no	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown
X32	no	no	no	no	yes	unknown	unknown
X40	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	3	0.32	2.08	1.62
X41	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	3	0.32
X41 Tablet	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	yes	(see ref)	0.32		ref
X60	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	6		2.07	1.10	2.6.20 issue (see discussion)
X60s 1704-5UG	yes	yes	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	3	0.34	7BETD2WW 2.13	7BHT40WW 1.13
X61s	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	6 / 3	0.32			ref says 3 but conflicting report received
X60 Tablet	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	3	0.34	7JET25WW (1.10 )	7JHT13WW 1.04	ref ref
X61 Tablet	yes	yes	unknown	unknown	yes	yes	6	0.32
X61 7675-4KU	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	6	0.34	7NET30WW (1.11 )	7MHT24WW-1.02
X61 7675-CTO	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	yes	6	0.35-test1
X300	yes	yes	yes	unknown	yes	yes	unknown	0.37	7TET25WW (1.02 )	7THT15WW-1.00c
Z series
Model and machine type	start_ charge_ thresh	stop_ charge_ thresh	inhbit_ charge_ minutes	force_ discharge	battery status files	Bundled HDAPS	HDAPS axis orientation1	tp_smapi version	BIOS version	EC firmware version	Notes
Z60m	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	unknown	unknown
Z60t	yes	yes	unknown	unknown	yes	unknown	unknown
Z61m	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	0	0.32
Z61t	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	unknown				ref
Z61p	yes	yes	unknown	yes	yes	yes	unknown
SL series and IdeaPad
The ThinkPad SL series and IdeaPad series have firmware that is completely different from other ThinkPad models. Neither tp_smapi nor thinkpad-acpi support these models.

SMAPI capabilities may depend on the BIOS version as well, so upgrading to the latest version of the BIOS might provide more SMAPI functions (especially true for long-lived BIOS with lots of releases, like the TP-1R).

Please update the above and report your experience on the discussion page. If the module loads but gives a "not supported" or "not implementeded" error when you try to use some specific file in /sys/devices/platform/smapi/, please report the dmesg output and whether the corresponding functionality is available under Windows - maybe your ThinkPad just can't do that.

While at it, you may also want to add your laptop to the list of DMI IDs.

HDAPS axis orientation

¹ The HDAPS axis orientation is set using the invert module parameter (at load time) or sysfs attribute (at runtime). The tp_smapi's hdaps driver supports all 8 possible sensor orientations (inversion and swapping). You can use hdaps visualisation to check if the settings is correct.

invert is an integer between 0 and 7, whose meaning is as follows. Let X and Y denote the hardware readouts. Let R denote the laptop's roll (tilt left/right), and let P denote the laptop's pitch (tilt forward/backward). The possible values are as follows:

   invert=0:   R= X  P= Y   (same as mainline)
   invert=1:   R=-X  P=-Y   (same as mainline)
   invert=2:   R=-X  P= Y   (new)
   invert=3:   R= X  P=-Y   (new)
   invert=4:   R= Y  P= X   (new)
   invert=5:   R=-Y  P=-X   (new)
   invert=6:   R=-Y  P= X   (new)
   invert=7:   R= Y  P=-X   (new)

Tools using this driver

The driver's interface can be accessed directly through the files under /sys/devices/platform/smapi, or via the following tools:

• KThinkBat - display battery status on the KDE kicker panel.
• gkrellm-ThinkBat - battery status plugin for Gkrellm2
• thinkpad-smapi.sh (download) - script to display various SMAPI information using tp_smapi module.