[TriLUG] Linux laptop battery

[M. Mueller (bhu5nji)]

Can anyone help me determine if a laptop battery is dead?

Symptoms:

1.  Laptop runs no longer than 5 minutes without AC
2.  cat /proc/apm gives this:  1.14 1.2 0x03 0x01 0xff 0x80 -1% -1 ?
3.  apm -v gives this :
APM BIOS 1.2 (kernel driver 1.14)
AC on-line, no system battery
4. battery is installed
5. charging light goes out pretty quickly after being reinstalled

Is there anywhere to go to get the battery checked?
Is there a chance that I'll buy a new battery only to find out the laptop is 
faulty?
It's not a Mandrake 8.1 problem or an APM problem is it?

Thanks,
Mike M.