As conscious as Framework is about sustainability, it is very curious that threshold charging was not in the plan from the beginning. It would be interesting to know what the reasoning was.
Even though no threshold charging would be a deal breaker while shopping for a new notebook, I bought in because I understood the hardware to have the capability and believed the engineers at Framework would add the feature.
Many of us use the computer on a desk with another monitor, mouse etc. and would like to have the charge level controlled in the background.
Could someone in the know please give us an update on the status?
I think the best solution it will be if this option [ baterry charge options LIMIT ].
Implement in BIOS/UEFI like in my old Dell Inspiron, Because when users change Distributiion of Linux or other OS they should remember install software to check or change settings.
My opinion the best solution is Dell laptop in BIOS settings like in this
If the battery is removed to protect it, you would still have to store it at 60-75% charge anyway. It’s more convenient to have the computer get it to the storage level for you in place.
yes and I know battery threshold setting is new method to prevent swollen battery for planned obsolescence strategy by many laptop manufacturers. But, old fashioned removable battery is the best and easy way for mitigate this because it is simple, easy, even somebody with low IT skills can do that and we don’t need to tamper with software unnecessarily.
It would also require a non-trivial redesign of the computer case, which potentially means a non-trivial redesign of major internal components.
I think a more pragmatic solution would be some means of disabling, soft-“disconnecting” the battery from the OS. The functionality is already there, except for two drawbacks:
It’s “not latched”. This means that once power is reapplied to the system, the firmware unsets this and soft-connects the battery again
It can’t be done on the fly; you need to reboot to toggle this. This makes it less convenient (though way more convenient than shutting down and disconnecting it physically)
Now, as far as brainstorming goes…
I don’t know if the Firmware design in the Framework permits that, but I know that some vendors, such as Dell expose some features via WMI/WBEM, and we use it at work for configuring notebooks during Windows setup (some manufacturers disallow this unless a firmware password is configured first, and others permit all but the firmware password to be configured to prevent ransomware from murdering computers).
@winny yes you can. But, you need a screwdriver to remove the screws, open the chassis and carefulness which is takes more time than conventional removable battery method (unlock the lock switch and then the battery pops up without any screwdriver) similar like System76/XMG/Gigabyte Laptops.
I have set up the battery charge limit in mine and it seems to work fine - but the charging light never stops flashing - is that a bug that as it only gets to 95% (my setting) that it is never seen as fully charged so the charge indicator remains flashing?
@Fraoch So to be clear, the indicator turns white when charged to 100%, but flashes orange when user-defined limit is reached, correct? To me that would make perfect sense as a “reminder” that it’s not “fully” charged.
Edit: asking because I haven’t tinkered with it yet, but plan to set 90% as a compromise between 100% (not so great in long run) and 80% (best for battery health but less convenient)
Exactly. I have not seen white again after setting my charge limit to 80%. I see blinking amber when it’s reached its charge limit, and I see solid amber when it’s below its charge limit and charging.
@mjnz An 80% charge is roughly the compromise between 50% and 100%, so 90% is not much of one.
Some experts even say lithiun ion batteries should be stored at 40% ideally. I use 70% which is a compromise of previous compromises!
@John_Lombardo a compromise of compromises lol. I think eventually I’ll figure out how much I actually use in a normal day and set it like 10% higher. Realistically I probably only use around 40% in the evenings (2 hrs max) so maybe 50 will be good. This max charge setting is new to me, so I’m learning and I will pay more attention.
Thanks all, I’ll set mine too 80% and see how it goes. Like you say @John_Lombardo a compromise there’s no right number here but for my use case 80% will be fine. Now I need a fix for the headphone noise issue… But that’s a different thread
