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. 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
Actually, it's the 100% charge state that is bad for LiIon. But a charge/drain cycle will likely wear the battery out even faster - LiIon batteries wear model is based on usage time. A 90% charge is ideal for long term storage - or for someone who leaves the laptop plugged into AC power most of the time. As far as software controls, I'm not familiar - but one thing that works in any OS is to simply remove the battery when on AC power. -Blake -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [CentOS] Battery condition tools CentOS/Dell From: Kwan Lowe <kwan.lowe at gmail.com> To: centos at centos.org Date: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 8:43:36 AM> 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. > > 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 >
On Wed, 2009-08-05 at 09:43 -0400, Kwan Lowe 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. > > 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.---- most laptops have Lithium Ion batteries and are not bothered by 'memory effect' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_batteries I think with Lithium Ion batteries, all you do by charge/drain cycles is shorten their life. Craig -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
Kwan Lowe 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. > > 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, > KwanLi-ion batteries should be charged "early and often". Deep discharging will shorten its lifetime as part of their normal usage cycle. I don't see how charging them to 100% is negative for the battery's lifetime as they do not have the memory effect. Li-ion batteries degrade as soon as they are produced, when they are not being used you should charge them to about 60% and store them somewhere cool, dry and without light. Glenn
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 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 > >-- Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933 Deepwoods Software -- Download the Model Railroad System http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows heller at deepsoft.com -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/
Kwan Lowe wrote:> 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. >assuming a reasonably modern (last 5 years?) laptop with a lithium-ion battery, your battery's useful life is the shorter of ~400 full discharge/recharge cycles (+/- 200) 3-5 years from date of manufacture after that, the battery charge will last about half as long as when it was new, and it will continue to deteriorate.
On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Kwan Lowe<kwan.lowe at gmail.com> 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. > > 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.Do you show the Power Manager icon on your panel? On my Latitude D400, when I right-click on that icon, chose "Information" the first tab that comes up is "Device Information." If I open the "More" tab, it tells me all kinds of information about my battery, including "Capacity" -- which I think is what you're looking for? (Mine shows 87% with "Fair" in paranthethes.) It's possible that different batteries interact differently with the Power Manager, though. -- RonB -- Using CentOS 5.3
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 >> >> >> > >
Johnny Hughes wrote:> Anne Wilson wrote: > >> My laptop is four years old, and yes the battery is aging. When I bought the >> laptop there were instructions that if a laptop is used mainly on mains, you >> should run it on battery, say once a month or so, until you are down to 10%. >> It was claimed that the periodic discharge in this way actually lengthens the >> life-span of the battery. >> >> Anne >> > > > Lithium Ion type batteries do not have the Memory issue of older battery > types, where you need to discharge fully to cycle it from low to high to > build capacity. > > It is better that you never discharge a Lithium Battery if possible.Except recent kernels (or something else) have interferred? with AC state, and I will be running on battery, even though the OS thinks it is on AC, so I am NOT watching how long I was on battery and all of a sudden, POOF! System off.... GRRR. Maybe this new 2.6.18-128.1.14.el5 will get it working right again...
On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Kwan Lowe<kwan.lowe at gmail.com> 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. > > 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.Do you show the Power Manager icon on your panel? On my Latitude D400, when I right-click on that icon, chose "Information" the first tab that comes up is "Device Information." If I open the "More" tab, it tells me all kinds of information about my battery, including "Capacity" -- which I think is what you're looking for? (Mine shows 87% with "Fair" in paranthethes.) It's possible that different batteries interact differently with the Power Manager, though. -- RonB -- Using CentOS 5.3