Problem with checking battery status

R31 laptops have a problem where anytime ACPI or APM events are polled (e.g. checking battery status), causes the mouse to jerk around the screen clicking on things. Also sometimes repeating keypresses are generated.

Affected Models

• ThinkPad R31

Causes

Anomaly in the way the kernel driver handles the i8042 keyboard/mouse controller in the R31.

Related Symptoms

These messages in dmesg seem to be related:

psmouse.c: TrackPoint at isa0060/serio4/input0 lost synchronization, throwing 2 bytes away.
psmouse.c: TrackPoint at isa0060/serio4/input0 lost synchronization, throwing 2 bytes away.

Workarounds

Don't query the battery. Remove any battery applets from your panel.

Partial Solution

Use the i8042.nomux=1 kernel parameter at boot. Add it to your appendline in /etc/lilo.conf or append it to the kernel line in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file of your grub installation.

Make sure to use ACPI, as this does not work if you boot with APM.

External Sources

• http://kruemel.rnbhq.org/r31.html#bug_batteryquery
• http://webrum.uni-mannheim.de/math/froeser/r31_linux.html
• http://forum.kanotix.net/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-6424.html
• http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/archive/25/2005/04/2/308437
• http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2003/12/msg03632.html
• http://www.systura.com/linux/thinkpadr31.php