[TriLUG] apm gives wierd values for old battery

[Joseph Mack NA3T]

I have a new (used) laptop, with a new battery, which I 
bought and which does all the right things (about the right 
lifetime, apm gives reasonable values for % battery 
remaining) and the laptop hibernates fine when the battery 
is low.

With the old battery (which came with the laptop and 
presumably is well past it's expected lifetime), when apm 
show 73% battery left (takes about 30mins to discharge from 
full), the laptop hibernates. I would not be surprised if 
the battery had only 30mins of life in it, in which case I 
would expect it to be showing 5% rather than 73% when the 
machine hibernated. If the battery really has 73% charge, 
then the operating time on the battery would be about 2hrs, 
which is what I'd expect for a new battery (not an old one).

Thus I think it's likely that the battery really is 
discharged when it's showing 73% charged.

Is there some way of getting apm and the battery to agree on 
the charge left, or is this an old battery and not 
neccessarily being truthful?

THanks Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
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