Travelmate power consumption issue (TMP614-51-50FJ)

N2EEE
N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
edited November 2023 in 2019 Archives
Hello everyone,

I recently purchased an Acer Travelmate P6 (TMP614-51-50FJ), got a larger nvme ssd, and dual booted linux (xubuntu 19.04) on it. The laptop is beautiful, and I love it, but there does seem to be an issue that I cannot find a solution to. When the system is suspended/sleeping, the battery life was pretty terrible, maxing out at 16 hours when asleep. (my chromebook gets 2 weeks+) I investigated a bit and found this was caused by the speakers and the speaker driver circuitry. They are warming up to about 30 f (17 c) above ambient and consuming 2-5 watts when the laptop is asleep. After some investigation, it appears to be an issue with suspending the speakers, which occurs 6 seconds after playing any sound. Using an oscilloscope, I looked at exactly what was happening to the speakers, and there seems to be a 1.2 MHz square wave on both speakers with a peak amplitude of about 13v. After some further investigation, overriding this speaker suspend feature fixes the situation when the OS is running, but does not when it is sleeping. Additionally when it is overridden, there seems to be a high-pitched whine between 16 KHz and 19.5 KHz. Windows has the same wine, but it does not have the 1.2 MHz square wave using the battery and possibly damaging the speakers.

I also made a post on the Ubuntu forums, where more diagnostic information can be found: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2425921

Any information that could help lead to a solution is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Answers

  • Commodore_1995#
    Commodore_1995# ACE Posts: 98,327 Trailblazer
    Bios version 1.03 updates the thermal table. What is the version of uefi bios?
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                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
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  • N2EEE
    N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
    Thank you for your comment,
    I updated to 1.03 (It was 1.01). The fan seems to run significantly less, but the issue persists. That will help power-wise in the long run, thank you for that.

    Do you have any other potential solutions you can think of?

    Best regards
  • Commodore_1995#
    Commodore_1995# ACE Posts: 98,327 Trailblazer
    I suggest you check this channel on youtube:
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJwGUHxSJ8FKqAhnOqQuAw
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
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                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
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  • N2EEE
    N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
    Hello,

    Has there been any update on this? I've tried four different operating systems with kernel versions ranging from 4.19 to the brand new 5.3.2, but the issue still stands. It appears to be a bios issue, but I cannot prove that. 16 hour max battery life is hard to work with since it is 16 hours sleeping, and far less than that when in use.

    I have been watching for new bios versions, but 1.03 is still the latest.

    Best Regards,
    Matt
  • Commodore_1995#
    Commodore_1995# ACE Posts: 98,327 Trailblazer
    Check here: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/05/slimbook-battery-optimizer-ubuntu
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • N2EEE
    N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
    egydiocoelho said:
    Check here: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/05/slimbook-battery-optimizer-ubuntu
    Thanks for the comment, but this did not make a difference. I have the battery power consumption tied down pretty tight, except for this issue. I tried a few more potential solutions and the issue still stands.

    Strangely, running this seems to help the solution until the next time it goes to sleep. This disables power management for the speakers, which in turn causes its own issue since power management is disabled, so it consumes additional current, albeit less.
    echo "on" > /sys/bus/hdaudio/drivers/snd_hda_codec_realtek/hdaudioC0D0/power/control

    Is there a place I can report this problem to Acer? Currently their bios is all closed source so I can't make my own changes. I need this laptop for light engineering work, so I need it to have a long battery life, and I need it to have Linux. Everything else besides this, USB PD-3 charging, (and sometimes the wifi timing out with error -110) are usable.

    I'm almost at the point of desoldering anything related to the speaker drivers off the motherboard. I don't use the speakers often, but I use the battery everyday.

    Thank you,
    Matt
  • Commodore_1995#
    Commodore_1995# ACE Posts: 98,327 Trailblazer
    I will ask for help from a colleague who has more knowledge about the linux operating system.
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,894 Trailblazer
    edited October 2019
    Laptop power control and power savings features are still not Ubuntu strengths relative to Windows especially on laptops that are specifically setup and designed to run best on Windows. Have you posted your issue to the Ubuntu forums and gotten any responses yet? Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • N2EEE
    N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
    Even with this speaker power management issue, my battery life is still about 2 hours longer on linux than on windows. (My old Acer laptop experienced >6 hours longer) linux is required for development on this laptop. The issue wouldn't be so bad if the speakers didnt reach ~60c (!) and the battery didnt last less than 20 hours when suspended.
    I have posted on ubuntu forums about this before posting here on acer forums, but there were no replies.
    Also, this issue is not limited to ubuntu, or any ubuntu-based linux distro, which is why it leads me to believe It is either a kernel issue, or a bios issue. I have tried kernels ranging from 4.19 to the brand new 5.3.2 on five different linux distros, so it isnt too likely to be a kernel issue

    Thank you
    -Matt
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,894 Trailblazer
    >>>he issue wouldn't be so bad if the speakers didnt reach ~60c (!>>>

    Speaker temp? 60*C? Never heard of this? These aren't old electromagnet speakers. Are you sure it isn't something else heating things up? Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • N2EEE
    N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
    Indeed. I plotted the speaker output on an oscilloscope, and it was pulse amplitude modulation with a max amplitude peaking near 13v. The temp rises up to 30c above ambient when the laptop is suspended (In sleep where the fan wont run) and less than that with the fan running. The temps were checked using a thermal camera. The speaker driver area heats up, but the speakers get the hottest overall.

    Thanks,
    -Matt
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,894 Trailblazer
    You should be hearing something thru the speakers if the amps are still on and hitting them with 13v spikes. And they should not be drawing enough power to heat up like that even when driven full tilt. What happens when you plug in a headset? Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • N2EEE
    N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
    Sorry for the delay-
    Viewing it on an oscilloscope shows most of the energy near 1.2 MHz, nothing seems to be audible, most of the audible noise is from the processor / processor power circuitry area.
    Plugging in some headphones/headset does not make a difference unfortunately. 

    If you have any other suggestions, I would be more than happy to try them. 
    Thanks, 
    -Matt
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,894 Trailblazer
    >>>I recently purchased an Acer Travelmate P6 (TMP614-51-50FJ)>>>

    The headset should disable the speakers. Seems like the proprietary mainboard amps aren't letting go of them.  If it was mine, I'd return it to the vendor for an exchange on a different model before the vendor's returns period expires. I seriously doubt warranty repair will find a hardware problem. A future driver or firmware update might fix the leak but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it if it's not there already. Check here for the latest https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/7981?b=1

    Jack E/NJ   


    Jack E/NJ

  • N2EEE
    N2EEE Member Posts: 12 New User
    JackE said:
    If it was mine, I'd return it to the vendor for an exchange on a different model before the vendor's returns period expires. I seriously doubt warranty repair will find a hardware problem. 

    Thats a shame, its about 3 weeks past the 30 day return period.
    Thank you, ill wait for an update (if there is ever one). Ive been watching for a bios update on the product page for about two months now, but nothing yet. 

    If there is no update by the time the warranty expires (in a year or two), ill manually desolder the speaker driver/controller. A usable battery is more important to me than usable audio.

    Thank you,
    -Matt
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,894 Trailblazer
    Sorry. You might try iobit's DriverBooster freeware to see if it'll pick up anything. If not, some of the other freeware driver search tools listed here might also be worth a shot. https://www.lifewire.com/free-driver-updater-tools-2619206

    Jack E/NJ


    Jack E/NJ

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