Ubuntu reports low battery capacity on my Dell Vostro

Posted by Jeff on Ask Ubuntu See other posts from Ask Ubuntu or by Jeff
Published on 2012-03-20T14:58:33Z Indexed on 2012/03/20 23:39 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 280

Filed under:

battery

|

power

I have a Dell Vostro 1500. Before I wiped Windows XP off my hard drive in 2009, I had a full ~7 hrs battery capacity. I installed Ubuntu 9, and the capacity immediately dropped to about 27% (and has since decreased to about 11%). I couldn't figure out what to do, so I've just lived with the 20-30 minute battery life ever since.

I upgraded to Ubuntu 10, and the issue remained. I wiped my hard drive clean again and installed Ubuntu 11, and the issue still remains. I tried what they told me in the forum here, but it didn't do anything.

Is it possible for a battery to suddenly lose most of its capacity?? Or is there a bug in the power management software?

© Ask Ubuntu or respective owner

Related posts about battery

Regardless of battery charge, when unplugged Ubuntu displays critical battery message and hibernates

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Regardless of battery charge, when unplugged Ubuntu displays critical battery message and hibernates. I can only seem to change it to either shutdown or hibernate. This does not happen when using windows 7 on the same computer. Windows 7 gives a good few hours on a full charge indicating that it… >>> More
Ubuntu 12.10 is reading mouse battery as a laptop battery

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have a bluetooth mouse connected to my laptop. Much to my delight (I posted the suggestion!) the mouses battery is now displayed along side the laptop's battery. Unfortunately is is named simply "battery" in the drop down and "Laptop battery" once the power statistics windows is opened. The details… >>> More
The battery indicator& Power setting panel shows wrong battery state

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
My laptop is Thinkpad E420 with Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit installed, the kernel version is 3.2.0-33-generic. I have set the battery threshold as 60% via windows7. It seems that the threshold auto effected in Ubuntu. However, there are some problems of the battery indicator's state. I'll list some information… >>> More
To have a long life with the battery it has to be separated from the Laptop after each use

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
To have a long life with the battery it has to be separated from the Laptop after each use Developing a Laptop and concern about it's battery life Don't be concerned follow this advice how to deal with your Laptop battery. A fresh power supply of your Laptop can be purchased in a very low charge… >>> More
How to Calibrate HP Laptop Battery

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Calibrating the HP Laptop Battery This document pertains to HP Notebook PCs with Windows 7 and Vista. Calibrating the laptop battery Calibrating the battery means recharging the battery to its maximum capacity and resetting the battery gauge to display the level of charge accurately. The Windows… >>> More

Related posts about power

Power supply triggered to start by another power supply

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I am building a raid array in a separate enclosure. I will be putting an empty tower case next to an existing tower computer, and this second tower case will only hold hard drives. There are many solutions for connecting the drives in the second case to the raid card in the first case (SFF-8088… >>> More
Which power USB hub uses if it has external power supply as well

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have 7 port USB hub with external supply. I tried turning it off by removing external power but then it takes power from motherboard and is still working. I have many external hardrives connected to it. i was worrying if i turn off the power it may damage the motherboard by withdrawing so much… >>> More
External Monitors shut off when Laptop Lid closes

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have researched the solution... gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_ac "nothing" does not fix it. I have two external monitors and when I close my lid the settings are reset and the laptop's monitor is set to the default. Thanks! gsettings list-recursively… >>> More
Turn a Computer Power Supply into a Desktop Power Supply

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
If you’re looking for a desktop power supply for your electronics workbench, this tutorial video shows you how to turn a computer PSU into a desktop power supply. In the above video the guys at JumperOneTV show us how to make a desktop power supply. As an addendum to the video; they note in… >>> More
How to prevent screen locking when lid is closed?

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have Ubuntu 11.10 with Gnome 3 (no Unity), gnome-screen-saver has been removed and replaced with xscreensaver. The screensaver stuff all works fine -- no complaints there. When I close my laptop lid, even for a second, the screen locks (and the dialog box asking for my password is xscreensaver's)… >>> More