Comment 17 for bug 215074

Perhaps this problem has something to do with the battery calibration.

I experience this problem in Ubuntu 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04. A while back, I read something about Apple's recommendation to occasionally allow the MacBook battery to completely discharge and then recharge in order to recalibrate. (I think this may help prolong the battery's life anyhow.) On June 26, I shut down Ubuntu, booted OS X, changed the power settings so that it would never shut off if left idol on battery power, and went to bed. In the morning, as hoped, the battery was completely depleted (according to the lights on the bottom of the physical battery). I turned on the computer, booted OS X, and I let it charge to about 17%.

Then I rebooted into Ubuntu and the battery icon has worked well ever since (over 4 months now)! I don't think I have even booted into OS X since then. (I am currently running Ubuntu 8.04 on a MacBook2,1.)