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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
 Posted - 03/06/2008 : 08:03:32
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Shoot me an email via the forum (yours isn't available).
Tom. |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 03/06/2008 : 08:11:14
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quote:
Originally posted by jiggz88
also, ive knoticed the speed is maybe slightly off for scale(low,mid,hi). Low is about 800Mhz, mid i would think would be the 1.6Ghz, and hi at 1.8Ghz. Althought this would be explained easily if you just have it staticly set for ranges. This is a AMD turion 64 X2 TL-56 1.8Ghz cpu. Heat/cpu temp reporting seems to be way off what speedfan gives me too. bat-stat gives me a flatline var, which speedfan's changes with direct relation to cpu speed+load.
Just some more information on these.
The speed report is adaptive, when it starts out everything is "mid". As it sees the
CPU speed rise and fall, it starts to collect a max and a min. Anything within 100MHz
of these extremes is "high" or "low". Anything in-between is "mid". No, I'm not interested
in finer-grained wording. 
The program has no idea what the max or min of your cpu actually is. So, if has never
seen it at 1.8GHz, then it can't assume this. In fact, the behavior is by design, if
you machine is never used at 1.8GHz, then 1.6GHZ is actually "high", for you. In fact,
personally I never see "mid", because Intel ULV Core cpus under Windows only ever use
two speeds, 800MHz and 1.2GHz. On my P5K, I saw "mid" when the CPU ran at 800MHz,
the only setting between its 600 and 900 limits. Big whoop, eh?
CPU temperature sensing is not supported on the AMD processor, I could add it easily
enough if you are interested, which I guess you are. If the cpu core sensing fails,
the program attempts to read the first ACPI sensor, which is most always the cpu,
if it returns a value. What numbers are you seeing? Are they close?
Tom. |
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jiggz88
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 03/06/2008 : 13:47:20
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actualy, I have had it go to 1.8Ghz alot as i normally have it on "HP recomended" power sceme, which allows up to the full 1.8Ghz, but will very usualy scale down to the 800Mhz if it does not need to be faster.
1.6Ghz is slightly more common though than 1.8Ghz as most of the time it doesn't need to run full speed unless I happen to be running my source test server for lua code testing. The temps for the cpu core are normaly quite off, 34C vs 22C, from bat-stats and speedfan respectively. I have also been noticing that durring charging, probably due to the W input messing up, it does not say how long any more that it needs to charge for in the tool bar or display window. |
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EB1
Average Member
USA
774 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2008 : 01:52:45
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quote:
Originally posted by tmt
The program will work on any Windows machine, running Win2K, WinXP, or Vista.
It's easily installed and uninstalled, give it a try.
Tom.
It seems to work fine. Battery indicates zero use though I used it once. CPU is 69 ｰC under full load and HD is 30 ｰC. I guess that is normal.
EB |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2008 : 09:32:49
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quote:
Originally posted by EB1
Battery indicates zero use though I used it once.
You mean the cycle counter? Fujitsu batteries don't store that. I have only seen Sony
batteries do those.
CPU core temps in the high 60's are normal for these machines, they will rise to the
70's under load. Don't worry, 100 is the Intel spec limit.
Drive temps around 30 are good for Fujitsu drives. Some drives can run into the 50's and up.
Tom. |
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EB1
Average Member
USA
774 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2008 : 19:46:27
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Thanks. The OEM Fujitsu 200GB drive only lasted a day or so. The tested drive is a Scorpio WD3200BEVT (320GB, 5400 RPM). The low temperature is probably the result of good airflow over the drive. However, I did not do anything to really stress the drive.
EB |
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Balfarg
Starting Member
2 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 15:29:02
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| I'm trying to use the toolbar on my windows taskbar. Every time the taskbar refreshes (every time I open a new program through quicklaunch, or click the arrow to expand the tray icons) the toolbar of your program gets put behind the taskbar, even though I have the always-on-top option enabled. Is it impossible for it to stay on top of the taskbar? |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 22:42:46
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Unfortunately yes, if you have the Windows taskbar set to be "always on top", it
overrides any other window that tries to be on top. You can use the Windows taskbar
properties to clear that, but I predict you won't like the result, it makes it very
hard to use the taskbar IMO. If you right-click the Windows taskbar and select
"properties" you can find it.
For a time I was working on a way to embed the BattStat toolbar in the taskbar as
something called a deskband, but I got frustrated with the really bad Windows programming
documentation on that and gave up.
Sorry, can you tell I am not a huge fan of Windows programming?
Tom. |
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Balfarg
Starting Member
2 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2008 : 11:31:59
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(^_^) no problem - I understand.
Great little program, good work. Thanks for the quick reply!
Is there any way I can use a keyboard shortcut to pop up the window?
(I have a shortcut program, but I couldn't find a command to bring it up - only to run the program)
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2008 : 11:52:12
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No, but that's not a bad idea. There is already a hotkey option to turn off the screen,
so it's not a stretch to consider it. Generally speaking though, I don't like hotkeys.
They are hard to remember and can have surprising effects. Remember, BattStat is always
active, so it would happen always.
You know you can bring up the display by double clicking either the systray icon or the
toolbar, right? I could change that to a single click, I suppose.
Tom.
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KevinN206
Starting Member
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2008 : 00:58:49
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It seems the "always on top" isn't working properly anymore since updating to the latest version. I put a check mark on the option and put the toolbar slightly above or anywhere except behind the taskbar, the toolbar still gets placed behind other windows.
For example, if I place the toolbar right in the middle of the screen and launch *any* program, it'll cover the toolbar.
The older version worked before, and I actually went back to the older version. But the older version now won't stay on top either. Note sure what's going on.
And thanks for adding the ability to hide icon from the notification area. |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2008 : 10:09:14
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I'll look into the always-on-top behavior. I didn't change anything, but the icon/toolbar
option did change the way the two are managed, somewhat.
[edit - yep, if you use the toolbar-only option, the always-on-top option is ignored.
If you use the tray/toolbar, it works properly. I'll fix it.]
I have seen some strange behavior with Vista windows staying on top from time to time,
and also the "snap to default" mouse options. Sometimes I have to clear and reset them
to get them to work. I blame the Vista window manager for those.
Another thing to consider with always-on-top is that only one window can be on top at
any single point on screen. So, if the other window has been brought to the front by
itself or the window manager, that's what happens. This is why the desktop's taskbar is
so insistent, for example.
I put my battstat toolbar up in the top right of the screen. With Vista sidebar enabled,
that space is occupied by the + < > thingy and with my WXGA display it's a great place
to stash it. It usually ends up on top of other windows however.
Tom. |
Edited by - tmt on 03/15/2008 10:15:59 |
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jkim
Junior Member
USA
161 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2008 : 15:23:41
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Love this program! Sorry if this has already been suggested - but any plans to make an "auto show/hide" feature? I have mine to stay on top of other windows and I place mine in near the upper left part of the screen. It would be nice if it went into auto-hide, and then pop up when I move my mouse near it.
Thanks for all your hard work on this!
Joseph Kim, M.D.
http://mdjosephkim.blogspot.com/ |
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ljcblue
Starting Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2008 : 15:36:02
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I have been using this program successfully on a TC1000 tablet. I have a problem with a second tablet and I'm wondering if it's because the battery is on its last legs.
It holds a charge for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours and rapidly cycles from 100% to 5%. While charging, it indicates 5% or 6% for a long period of time before shooting up to 100%.
When I look at the battery stats in this program, I get this:
capacity: 713697mWh (of 39960)
Clearly this is an error. I have done the recallibration cycle (eg, run it down to zero in an always on state, then recharge) but that hasn't fixed the problem. Is there a way to recallibrate what the computer *thinks* is the battery's full charge?
TC1000, windows tablet xp, sp2, original battery
Thanks!
best,
lj |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2008 : 17:20:14
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The battery is gone. If recalibration didn't get it back, nothing but new guts will.
Note that 39960 is about 6% of 713697, the latter of which is clearly bogus.
Is 1.5 hours about right for its former runtime? If so, just use it, but with the pack
not reporting any useful data, there's no way to detect the true charge.
Tom. |
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ljcblue
Starting Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2008 : 11:40:02
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Thank you. I actually clocked it and I can get about 2 1/2 hours off this battery. The key is to keep an eye on the clock and not let the computer alarm shut it down at what it thinks is a critically low battery. :) I guess I'll be getting a new battery for this tablet.
Thanks for this great app. |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2008 : 12:03:27
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If you could, a snapshot of the data shown in the "Batteries" window with the machine
running on battery and give or take half the charge remaining might be helpful. No need
for a screenshot, just scribble down the data.
Tom. |
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cosmicgipsy
New Member
Switzerland
86 Posts |
Posted - 03/31/2008 : 10:05:26
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Dear Tom
Thanks for this useful little tool. I just wanted to ask you, whether it would be doable to include e.g. in the right click on the tray icon menu an additional entry that allows to open the "Adjust Power Properties" (WinXP) directly from there.
In this case I could remove the windows battery tray-icon.
Thanks |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2008 : 13:57:23
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quote:
Originally posted by jkim
any plans to make an "auto show/hide" feature? I have mine to stay on top of other
windows and I place mine in near the upper left part of the screen. It would be nice if
it went into auto-hide, and then pop up when I move my mouse near it.
How about a "fade" option, which makes the toolbar semi-transparent until you mouse over
it? I don't like the idea of a window that hides itself completely, and it can be tricky
to get a window to go into the background yet still pop up on demand.
quote:
Originally posted by cosmicgipsy
would [it] be doable to include e.g. in the right click on the tray icon menu an additional entry that allows to open the "Adjust Power Properties" (WinXP) directly from there.
Great idea, I'll add it. BTW, you can right-click the toolbar to get the popup menu. So
it's not necessary to use the systray at all, if you prefer.
Tom. |
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ljcblue
Starting Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2008 : 21:22:24
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[quote]Originally posted by tmt
If you could, a snapshot of the data shown in the "Batteries" window with the machine
running on battery and give or take half the charge remaining might be helpful. No need
for a screenshot, just scribble down the data.
Tom.
-----
In the battery window:
charge: 3%, 21,368 mWh
Conditions: +13986m W 10.377 V 0c
capacity: 690964 mwh (of 39960)
In the main window (the one with the graphs) runtime: 1:31
when it first charges up, it says something absurd like 50+ hours-- after the machine has run down it seems to be fairly accurate as far as ran time for its final hour to hour and a half
On another note, even though I have the app set to autorun and always on top, I hare to reinstall every time I reboot. any way to get it in startup?
Thank-you! |
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2008 : 11:09:27
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Thanks. Three things in response:
1) Was the machine charging when you wrote down those numbers? The "+" in the Conditions
detail indicate that. If so, I'd be interested in the results when discharging, too.
2) I'm glad the runtime estimate settles down to something "fairly accurate". What is
the Method setting you are using? If it's not "Measured", that would be worth a try,
although it will take some time for it to adapt with poor battery data, maybe 15-30
minutes.
3) On the autorun failure, what OS are you running, and are you running a virus checker
that might need to be configured to allow it to run at startup? Does the program start
normally if you doubleclick the program in C:\Program Files\Battery Status\BattStat.exe
or ...\BattStatLauncher.exe?
Tom. |
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ljcblue
Starting Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2008 : 15:33:53
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quote:
Originally posted by tmt
Thanks. Three things in response:
1) Was the machine charging when you wrote down those numbers? The "+" in the Conditions
detail indicate that. If so, I'd be interested in the results when discharging, too.
2) I'm glad the runtime estimate settles down to something "fairly accurate". What is
the Method setting you are using? If it's not "Measured", that would be worth a try,
although it will take some time for it to adapt with poor battery data, maybe 15-30
minutes.
3) On the autorun failure, what OS are you running, and are you running a virus checker
that might need to be configured to allow it to run at startup? Does the program start
normally if you doubleclick the program in C:\Program Files\Battery Status\BattStat.exe
or ...\BattStatLauncher.exe?
Tom.
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ljcblue
Starting Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2008 : 15:41:12
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Sorry for the empty reply!
1--when discharging:
charge: 2% 17727 mWh
conditions: -13520 mW, 10.083V, 0C
runtime: 1:17
2--I'm using measured
3--OK--I feel *really* stupid! I didn't realize that it installed the app in its own folder under program files. I've been running the installer program each time. d'oh! I should be able to set it in my startup now.
Best,
ljc
quote:
Originally posted by tmt
Thanks. Three things in response:
1) Was the machine charging when you wrote down those numbers? The "+" in the Conditions
detail indicate that. If so, I'd be interested in the results when discharging, too.
2) I'm glad the runtime estimate settles down to something "fairly accurate". What is
the Method setting you are using? If it's not "Measured", that would be worth a try,
although it will take some time for it to adapt with poor battery data, maybe 15-30
minutes.
3) On the autorun failure, what OS are you running, and are you running a virus checker
that might need to be configured to allow it to run at startup? Does the program start
normally if you doubleclick the program in C:\Program Files\Battery Status\BattStat.exe
or ...\BattStatLauncher.exe?
Tom.
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tOM Trottier
Starting Member
17 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2008 : 20:08:36
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Another wrinkle on this, but not nearly so simple is Notebook Hardware Control - see http://www.pbus-167.com
I've been using 0.98 for a little bit - so some comments:
1. If autorun is on, it ALWAYS tries to install itself again when I start the program, resulting in a flurry of activity from my protective programs. Could it check first to see if it's already there before trying again?
2. Watts only seems to show when plugged in AND charging.
3. The disk stuff is all grey on my Lenovo 3000 n100 centrino duo on XP.
4. NHC shows my HD temp, but BattStat doesn't...
5. Why is the Runtime graph line way down at the bottom?
Some suggestions:
a. Show 0-100% on a vertical graph legend?
b, Show the time in a scrolling (slowly) horizontal legend along the bottom. Changing the rate should change the numeric spacing & scale.
c. Show runtime as spam rather than 0:00 when plugged in (or "on AC")
d. Some laptops allow changing the display brightness by program control. Could this be added to the controls, ie, dim on batteries, bright on AC option
e. Would be nice to have a "Battery life estimate" displayed somewhere, eg, by adding the Runtime and the "Discharging for ..." figures, & storing the average of the last 5 relatively long discharges, eg, more than 50% I realise this is very subject to screen brightness, typing, applications, and other exigencies.
f. support a resizable window for more history
Compliments:
A. Nice, easy to understand program with a nice trends display!
B. The screen-off command is very useful!
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tmt
Advanced Member
2761 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2008 : 20:29:09
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What do you mean "tries to install itself"?
If the disk stuff is all grey, perhaps you're not running it as an administrator?
Runtime at the bottom means it doesn't have a runtime estimate yet. Use the machine on
batteries and the program will learn it.
I have some of your suggestions either implemented, or in mind, but I'm not too wild
about the idea of controlling screen brightness. For one thing, it's not very universal,
many machines have proprietary methods. For another, Vista already does this, and all
Fujitsus too. I don't think a third app getting in on the mix will help!
I do have a longterm average runtime estimate, in the next release. It will display the
level on the graph when discharging, and in text otherwise.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Tom. |
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Topic |
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First release of my Battery Status/Monitoring app
