Ubuntu misinterprets available battery charge on laptop and shuts down in 2 minutes even with 98% charge remaining!

[meshellwm]

Ubuntu 9.04 upgraded to 9.10 on a Compaq Presario X1000 laptop with 1 Gb memory and a Centrino CPU (1.3 GHz). The problem was observed after the upgrade.

Starting from a fully charged battery, I unplug the mains power and wait. Ubuntu initially reports 100% charge. Shortly after, Ubuntu reports that the battery is critically low and will shut down in 2 minutes. When I move the mouse over the battery icon on the tool bar, the help bubble reports a 99% or 98% charge. Ubuntu does indeed shut itself down.

Kernel Linux 2.6.31-15-generic
GNOME 2.28.1

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Nov 30 21:11:21 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
Package: firefox-3.5 3.5.5+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-15.50-generic
SourcePackage: firefox-3.5
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-15-generic i686
XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-settings-daemon:1577): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:1677): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
 (nautilus:1672): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed

[Philip Muškovac (yofel)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. I have classified this bug as a bug in gnome-power-manager.

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport, either via the appropriate application's "Help -> Report a Problem" menu or using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[Philip Muškovac (yofel)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:

apport-collect 490632

This will help us to find and resolve the problem. Bear in mind that you may need to install the python-launchpadlib package from the universe repository. Additionally, when prompted to give apport-collect permissions for Launchpad you will need to give it at least the ability to "Change Non-Private" data as it will be adding information to your bug report. Thanks in advance!

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport, either via the appropriate application's "Help -> Report a Problem" menu or using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[meshellwm (meshellwm5)]

Architecture: i386
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
Package: gnome-power-manager 2.28.1-0ubuntu1
PackageArchitecture: i386
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-16.53-generic
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-16-generic i686
UserGroups:

XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-settings-daemon:2827): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (gnome-settings-daemon:2827): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:2925): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
 (nautilus:2920): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed
 (nautilus:4908): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed

[santq (santq)]

I have this same problem, but I know it's my battery that is to blame, since it reported wrong battery status even with Windows.

The problem is that Ubuntu nicely presumes the battery is working like it should, and keeps shutting down even when the battery is full. It gets quiet annoying after a while. Why there is no option to do nothing? This remind me of all the horrible Windows memories, how the operating system presumes I'm too stupid and get confused if I have too many options.

[meshellwm (meshellwm5)]

Hey,

IA friend had a problem like that. In that case, it turned out to be the firmware in the voltage sensing device. A firmware upgrade fixed it. But if your battery is old, then it may be the battery, as you say...

--- On Tue, 3/16/10, santq <email address hidden> wrote:

From: santq <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 490632] Re: Ubuntu misinterprets available battery charge on laptop and shuts down in 2 minutes even with 98% charge remaining!
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 6:09 AM

I have this same problem, but I know it's my battery that is to blame,
since it reported wrong battery status even with Windows.

The problem is that Ubuntu nicely presumes the battery is working like
it should, and keeps shutting down even when the battery is full. It
gets quiet annoying after a while. Why there is no option to do nothing?
This remind me of all the horrible Windows memories, how the operating
system presumes I'm too stupid and get confused if I have too many
options.

--
Ubuntu misinterprets available battery charge on laptop and shuts down in 2 minutes even with 98% charge remaining!
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/490632
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of the bug.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

@meshellwm: Are you saying in your previous post that this issue is fixed for you now? If it's still a problem, this is a duplicate of bug 531190.

[meshellwm (meshellwm5)]

Hey,

No. Here is the situation:

Worked fine in ubuntu 9.04.
Did not work correctly in ubuntu 9.10.
Does not work correctly in ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

The problem has not been resolved.

Regards,

William

--- On Sun, 6/13/10, David Tombs <email address hidden> wrote:

From: David Tombs <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 490632] Re: Ubuntu misinterprets available battery charge on laptop and shuts down in 2 minutes even with 98% charge remaining!
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Sunday, June 13, 2010, 5:27 PM

@meshellwm: Are you saying in your previous post that this issue is
fixed for you now? If it's still a problem, this is a duplicate of bug
531190.

** Changed in: gnome-power-manager (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Incomplete

--
Ubuntu misinterprets available battery charge on laptop and shuts down in 2 minutes even with 98% charge remaining!
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/490632
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of the bug.

[David Tombs (dgtombs)]

OK, marking as dupe of bug 531190.