more questions about the MacBook Pro, Core i5, 2.8 GHz (I5-4308U), model A1502 (EMC 2875), a model where I cannot disconnect the battery, because the whole case is closed, a model Im going to use to experiment with mac and create a partition to install a linux distro alongside the mac os.

My favorite notebook is a one that lets me take the battery off if I don’t need it. This way I’ve been able to need just one battery in the last 8 years. Regarding the mac, I’m going to need a new battery (it lasts 5 hours the most) and don’t want to waste charging cycles.

My question is twofold:

  • Is there any linux program that lets me manage the battery so I can choose to rely solely on outlet power, even if I cannot physically remove the battery?

  • the same question for mac.

  • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    124·
    9 months ago

    When connected to the outlet it will be running solely on outlet power just by default, you don’t need to do anything specific.

    Edit: Now that I re-read this OP, it sounds more like you want to stop the battery from charging when connected to AC.

    • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
      153·
      9 months ago

      That’s… not true.

      It will still run through the converters and boards inside the laptop since it runs on DC and the power from the outlet is AC. Depending on how it’s setup, the current very well could go through the battery instead of bypassing it before it reaches the laptop from the converters.

      Basically you don’t know unless you try. Some laptops work when you remove the battery and some don’t. Just like phones or any other electronic.

      • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        55·
        9 months ago

        Current can’t go through a battery, only in or out.

        When connected to AC it will be running off AC, and also charging the battery.

        • acockworkorange
          3·
          9 months ago

          That’s not entirely true. A battery can definitely be part of a running circuit and current definitely goes through it, otherwise it wouldn’t be usable.

            • acockworkorange
              31·
              9 months ago

              I’m sorry but you’re mixing concepts. Electrical charge: measured in Coulombs, physicaly either electrons or gaps. Current: movement of electrical charge. Battery charge: chemical capacity to generate a voltage differential. Voltage differential: the potential energy difference that pushes charges through a circuit.

              Electrical charges need to move through a battery for it to do useful work. If the battery is causing the movement (current), it is depleting its chemical charge. If the battery is not pushing the electrons, it’s likely being chemically charged (the complexities of which are beyond a lemmy comment). In both cases, the battery is part of the circuit that is conducting electrical charge. If there are no parallel paths and you remove the battery, the circuit ceases to exist and so does the current.

          • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
            44·
            9 months ago

            some charge the battery as it’s being dissipated since it’s running off the battery.

            The current will simply bypass the battery assuming it’s charged, it can’t flow in and then back out when both the charger and load are connected.

            • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
              43·
              9 months ago

              Yes it can, you’ve clearly never used an underpowered charger where the battery both charges and drains at the same time. Happens with any modern phone and can happen you laptops and plenty of other electronics.

              Why you’re claiming this can’t happen is beyond me.

              • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
                53·
                9 months ago

                If the charger is underpowered the laptop draws from both the battery and the charger at the same time, since the charger cannot provide enough current on its own.

                The current does not go through the battery on its way.

                • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world
                  31·
                  9 months ago

                  The current does not go through the battery on its way.

                  Just because it changes from current to chemistry and back doesn’t change age the fact that the laptop is powered from the battery while it’s being charged…. The charger is supplying no power to the laptop, just through the battery. So if current can’t go through the battery… how could it be receiving power…?

                  • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
                    23·
                    9 months ago

                    Think of it like a water tank connected to a “T” in a hose, when the tank is partially empty some of the water from the hose will go into it, but once the tank is full the water just continues through the hose bypassing the tank entirely.

                    So if current can’t go through the battery… how could it be receiving power…?

                    Once the battery is charged current goes directly from the DC power supply to the laptop electronics, like the example with the hose and tank it just bypasses the battery entirely because the battery is at the same potential as the power supply.

                    Batteries don’t have an ‘input’ and ‘output’, they just have a single connection.

      • sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        7·
        9 months ago

        Some laptops allow for controlling level kf charge. For example I keep my battery at 65% to prolong its life. If its supported, you should be able to set it through /sys/class/power_supply/bat0/charge_level

        i dont rember file name and path exactly but shouldnlook like this

        Edit: Correct filename is /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_control_end_threshold

        • Dandroid@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          9 months ago

          I do the same. My laptop had a weird bug where it would reset that value to 100 every reboot, so I made a systemd service to write it at every boot.

          • sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            2·
            9 months ago

            my laptop does reset it every reboot.

            If you are using KDE, you can just use KDE’s battery manager to set it there.

            otherwise, your solution is good too.

      • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
        61·
        9 months ago

        Framework laptops have it as a BIOS setting. I keep mine at 60%, and before a trip I bump it back to 100%.