Hi, Ever since I downloaded xfce mint i have had trouble with the battery indicator, at first not showing battery power, now showing 100% all the time but clearly not charging the battery as when i try to use without it want switch on, but uses a tiny bit of power which crashes system adn every time i switch on with power i have to reset and change from legacy boot to ubuntu. I am not convinced its ever been charging the battery, can i check the ral battery capacity and if there is a charging fault. Also the sound is terrible and crackly but that is minor issue to the battery, many thanks
Forgot to say Latitude E5340
XFCE Mint usually includes the “xfce4-power-manager” by default. You can access it by searching for “Power Manager” in your application menu. It should provide information about battery capacity, charging status, and other relevant details.
You can use tools like “tlp” or “powertop” to gather more detailed battery information and assess its health.
Install them using the package manager (sudo apt install tlp powertop) and run them with root privileges (e.g., sudo tlp-stat -b or sudo powertop).
If the battery is not charging despite being connected to a power source, there might be a hardware issue with the battery, charging circuitry, or power adapter. In such cases, you need to try to contact Dell or someone who has Dell parts available.
For your sound settings, open the sound settings on your XFCE Mint system and check that the audio output is correctly configured. You can access sound settings by clicking on the volume icon in the system tray and selecting “Sound Settings.”
Make sure that your audio drivers are up to date. You can check for driver updates using the package manager or by visiting the Dell support website for your specific laptop model.
To check the audio drivers on your XFCE Mint system, you can use the command line and a few commands to gather information about the installed drivers. Here are a few commands you can try:
lsmod | grep snd - This command lists the loaded kernel modules related to sound. It will display a list of sound-related modules, indicating that the drivers for your audio hardware are loaded.
cat /proc/asound/cards - This command displays the available audio devices recognized by the system. It provides information about the sound card (or cards) installed on your system and their identifiers.
aplay -l - The aplay command is used to play audio files, but the -l option lists the available audio devices and their capabilities. It provides more detailed information about the audio devices detected on your system.
amixer controls - This command lists the available mixer controls for your audio devices. It shows the names and IDs of the controls that can be adjusted, such as volume levels, mute status, and more.
Remember you can always check with the Linux Mint Xfce community for tips, bug fixes and driver help: https://linuxmint.com/xfce/
Good luck!
How old is the laptop? If it’s older, are you using the original battery?