Linux

Im running Ubuntu 9.04 and the battery indicator on my laptop always reads 0% no matter what. Whether im charging or discharging, the pop up says:

"Computer is running on battery power
Laptop battery discharging (0.0%)
Battery discharge time is currently unknown"

When plugged in it says pretty much the same thing but charging:

"Computer is running on AC power
Laptop battery charging (0.0%)
Battery charge time is currently unknown"

My battery is fine because I can run off the battery for a good 2 hours so that shouldnt be the problem. If anyone has any information on why this is happening or how to fix it, it would help me greatly.

Mainly because when im running on battery there is no warning when the computer is about to die, and it will jsut abruptly shut off with no warning. Simply cuz Ubuntu doesnt know how much time is remaining and when to warn me.

Some more info if this helps anyone:

/proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/info

present: yes
design capacity: 6000 mAh
last full capacity: unknown
battery technology: rechargeable
design voltage: 14800 mV
design capacity warning: 250 mAh
design capacity low: 150 mAh
capacity granularity 1: 10 mAh
capacity granularity 2: 25 mAh
model number: JM-6
serial number: 3761513358
battery type: LION
OEM info: Hewlett-Packard

/proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state

present: yes
capacity state: ok
charging state: charged
present rate: unknown
remaining capacity: unknown
present voltage: unknown


This has to do with some sort of ACPI problem, but ive tried ACIP=FORCE but doesnt help.


More info when I run sudo acpi -V in terminal before and after I unplug the power cable.

WITH AC ADAPTER:

charbs@charbs-laptop:~$ sudo acpi -V
[sudo] password for charbs:
Battery 0: Full, 100%
AC Adapter 0: on-line
Thermal 0: ok, 53.0 degrees C
Cooling 0: Processor 0 of 10

WITHOUT AC ADAPTER (Just after unplugging)

charbs@charbs-laptop:~$ sudo acpi -V
Battery 0: Discharging, 100%, 71582:46:00 remaining <---------(This will stay at 100% forever even when batter is low)
AC Adapter 0: off-line
Thermal 0: ok, 54.0 degrees C
Cooling 0: Processor 0 of 10
charbs@charbs-laptop:~$


So as you can see, my battery is somewhat recognized, but the Power Management icon wont register any info properly.

The battery indicator is probably a GNOME plugin. I had it too once for a Xubuntu installation with a similar plugin and the problem went away after a reboot. But your story tells me it is more persistent. If so, best to contact the developers of the plugin and report as a bug.

ACPI is not properly reporting on your battery. This is either a kernel bug, or a BIOS bug.