System and method for reserving information handling system battery charge to perform diagnostics
A power diagnostics module running on an information handling system initiates a power down state of the information handling system upon detection of a predetermined battery charge that is sufficient to allow the information handling system to recover from the power down state and run the power diagnostics module. The power diagnostics module runs on the predetermined charge to diagnose faults associated with the power system, such as failure of an external AC adapter, and to present the faults to an end user, such as at a display, with LEDs or through a network message.
1. An information handling system comprising:
a chassis;
processing components disposed in the chassis and operable to process information;
a display integrated with the chassis and operable to present information;
a battery integrated with the chassis and operable to provide power to the processing components and the display;
a power controller integrated with the chassis, the power controller interfaced with the battery and an external power source, the power controller operable to provide power to the processing components and to charge the battery with power from the external power source; and
a power diagnostics module operable to run on a processing component, the power diagnostics module interfaced with the battery and the power controller, the power diagnostics module further operable to monitor the battery charge to initiate a power down state if a predetermined minimum charge is detected, the predetermined minimum charge sufficient to restart one or more of the processing components from the power down state and run the power diagnostics module on the restarted processing component.
2. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the power diagnostics module is further operable to initiate from the power down state by running with the predetermined minimum charge, to diagnose the power controller, and to provide an indication of the diagnosing of the power controller.
3. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the indication of the diagnosing of the power controller comprises presentation of visual information at the display.
4. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the indication of the diagnosing of the power controller comprises presentation of visual information at one or more LEDs integrated in the chassis.
5. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the indication of the diagnosing of the power controller comprises a network message.
6. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the power diagnostics module is further operable to store fault codes present at the processing components in permanent storage before initiation of the power down mode and to present the fault codes with the indication of the diagnosing of the power controller.
7. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the diagnosing of the power controller comprises a determination that external power is available, the power diagnostics module further operable to initiate a recovery from the power down state by using the external power.
8. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the diagnosing of the power controller comprises diagnosis of an external power adapter and the indication of the diagnosing comprises an indication of failure of an external power adapter.
9. A method for monitoring information handling system battery charge, the method comprising:
detecting a predetermined battery charge associated with a minimum charge needed to power down the information handling system, restart at least a portion of the information handling system and then run a diagnostics application on the information handling system; and
entering a power down state of the information handling system in response to detecting the predetermined battery charge.
10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
detecting a request to run the diagnostics application;
running the diagnostics application on the information handling system with the predetermined charge; and
providing a diagnosis indication with the predetermined charge.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein detecting a request to run the diagnostics application further comprises detecting a request to recover from the power down state.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein providing a diagnosis indication comprises presenting diagnosis information at a display integrated with the information handling system.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein providing a diagnosis indication comprises presenting diagnosis information at one or more LEDs integrated with the information handling system.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein providing a diagnosis indication comprises communicating a message through a network.
15. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
storing one or more fault codes in permanent memory before entering the power down state;
retrieving the fault codes with the diagnostics module; and
presenting the fault codes with the diagnosis indication.
16. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
detecting the presence of external power at the information handling system; and
recovering from the power down state in response to the detecting of external power.
17. A system for monitoring information handling system battery charge, the system comprising:
a power controller operable to receive power from an external adapter to power information handling system components and to provide power to charge an internal battery of the information handling system; and
a power diagnostics module interfaced with the power controller, the power diagnostics module operable to initiate a power down state of the information handling system at detection of a predetermined charge in the battery, the predetermined charge sufficient to power down the information handling system, power up at lease a portion of the information handling system, run the power diagnostics module, and report the results of a diagnosis by the power diagnostics system.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the power diagnostics module is further operable to run on the information handling system with the predetermined charge to diagnose faults associated with the external adapter and to provide diagnosed faults at the information handling system.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein the diagnostics module is further operable to store faults detected at the information handling system before entry into the power down state and to provide the stored faults with diagnosed faults.
20. The system of claim 17 wherein the power diagnostics module initiates a power down state at the predetermined charge by adjusting a battery charge reported to an operating system.