Robert Heller wrote: > At Wed, 5 Aug 2009 09:43:36 -0400 CentOS mailing list <centos at centos.org> wrote: > > >> Hello all: >> Does anyone know of a tool/project that will allow me to read the >> battery condition (not the charge status) on a Dell laptop battery? >> Under XP there is a utility that warns that the battery is still >> holding a charge but that the battery is degraded and should be >> replaced. >> > > If the laptop uses the (old!) APM interface, xapm will work. If the > laptop uses the (newer, current) ACPI interface, I have written a little > utility that displays the battery state. Visit > http://www.deepsoft.com/OddsAndEnds and scroll down to the section > titled 'TkBattery' for more information. This program just > reads/monitors the files under /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/ and > /proc/acpi/battery/, which map to the state of the power cord (plugged > Interesting. According to info, my battery was built 2007/04/09. When I started using this box I would get 2.5 hrs on battery, now I am fortunate to go 1.25 hrs. So either Centos is pulling more A, or the battery has aged and time to get a new one for travel purposes. Oh and the "design capacity" is 1566 mA, and the charge is 1539 mAh. Yet the 'run time' is half of what it use to be... I don't like the idea of running without a battery while on AC. It is not an easy trick to remove/add the battery on this HP nc2400, and I frequently pull it off my desk to work elsewhere. > in or not) and the battery(ies) info and state files. All of these > files are just text files that can be read by a program (or a simple > script). > > >> Also, not sure if this is possible, but I would like to control how >> the laptop charges the battery. I tend to have the laptop plugged in >> most of the time and this constant charging state is apparently very >> bad for battery lifetime. So a charge/drain cycle is supposedly >> better. >> >> Thanks, >> Kwan >> _______________________________________________ >> CentOS mailing list >> CentOS at centos.org >> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >> >> >> > >