Battery problems with 8.04

[FranciscoLopez]

ok i'm using 8.04 in an inspiron 9400 everything works fine except the battery, first ,it reports a different discharge time and rate when you run the acpi command than what is shown automatically, second it sucks my battery time, in winxp I had like 1:45 in Ubuntu i get 1:05.

third my battery's total capacity has gone down from 69% to 54% in 2 DAYS!!!!!!!

[mtbsoft]

How old is the battery? Could be a fault in the battery itelf or just that it's getting to the end of its life. I've the same laptop, with a 9 cell battery and I'm finding the Hardy battery life to be comparible with Gutsy (between 2.5 and 3 hrs), which was similar to XP. What software are you running?

[drfarrin]

I'm having a similar issue, I got a massive battery for my 9300 (just the previous year's model) and if I have the right settings on xp, it can last up to 4 hours, now it lasts barely 1:30.

[cooldudeny]

i think i am having the battery issue it is draining at the speed of light i always thought linux is suppose to be better but it is turning out to be a pain so i guess i will be going back to windows .... atleast i can work the issues a little better in windows but i have been using it for ages now

[FranciscoLopez]

it's practically new!
its my first replacement battery, the original that came with the equipment lasted 14 months, this one is less than 3 months old.
and running practically just netbeans, mysql community server and firefox.

[FranciscoLopez]

here is more info:

Charging


~$ acpi
Battery 1: charging, 2%, 02:10:06 until charged

acpi -V
Battery 1: charging, 3%, 02:50:34 until charged
Thermal 1: ok, 48.0 degrees C
AC Adapter 1: on-line

$ cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/*
alarm: 720 mAh
present: yes
design capacity: 7200 mAh
last full capacity: 3616 mAh
battery technology: rechargeable
design voltage: 11100 mV
design capacity warning: 720 mAh
design capacity low: 218 mAh
capacity granularity 1: 72 mAh
capacity granularity 2: 72 mAh
model number: DELL 00
serial number: 683
battery type: LION
OEM info: Sony
present: yes
capacity state: ok
charging state: charging
present rate: 1185 mA
remaining capacity: 128 mAh
present voltage: 12780 mV

$ acpi -ba
Battery 1: charging, 4%, 03:22:26 until charged
AC Adapter 1: on-line

unplugged:
acpi
Battery 1: discharging, 100%, 02:22:11 remaining

acpi -V
Battery 1: discharging, 100%, 02:22:11 remaining
Thermal 1: ok, 47.0 degrees C
AC Adapter 1: off-line


cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/*
alarm: 720 mAh
present: yes
design capacity: 7200 mAh
last full capacity: 3616 mAh
battery technology: rechargeable
design voltage: 11100 mV
design capacity warning: 720 mAh
design capacity low: 218 mAh
capacity granularity 1: 72 mAh
capacity granularity 2: 72 mAh
model number: DELL 00
serial number: 683
battery type: LION
OEM info: Sony
present: yes
capacity state: ok
charging state: discharging
present rate: 3038 mA
remaining capacity: 7200 mAh
present voltage: 12249 mV

acpi -ba
Battery 1: discharging, 91%, 3313:00:00 remaining
AC Adapter 1: off-line


now i sense my bat is already toast
here are 2 images taken aprox 8 minutes apart from my laptop
in those 8 mins the bat went from 90%+ to 0%

before :

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/711/pantallazosk2.th.png (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pantallazosk2.png)

after:

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7410/pantallazo1hr0.th.png (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pantallazo1hr0.png)

[Melindrea]

I'll add my issues to this. I haven't tried using it without power for too long, but the battery time is 1 hour on Ubuntu and 2 hours on Windows. Laptop is not even six months old, so the battery isn't that old either (got it at Christmas).

[sdennie]

It could simply be that you have a faulty battery. I've not noticed anything in Ubuntu that specifically would shorten the lifespan of a battery. My XPS m1330 has a 9 cell battery and it's maximum capacity is decreasing at a rate well below 1% per month.

[fragos]

Install the powertop package. It will help you find the largest power consumers and configuration suggestions to extend battery life. My 1420n gets almost 5 hours with the 9 cell battery. I saw little or no differences in power consumption between 7.04, 7.10 and 8.04. You might also check the Power Management Preferences which are a major factor in battery life.