*New* and different BATTERY BUG

[bmcilw1]

My battery info file on Latitude E6400 Laptop:

present: yes
design capacity: 5200 mAh
last full capacity: 2958 mAh
battery technology: rechargeable
design voltage: 11100 mV
design capacity warning: 520 mAh
design capacity low: 157 mAh
cycle count: 0f
capacity granularity 1: 52 mAh
capacity granularity 2: 52 mAh
model number: DELL KY26698
serial number: 5164
battery type: LION
OEM info: Sanyo

My battery is (by default in Linux Mint 12 native OS) capped at about 57% full capacity.
How do I fix this?

Is there a way to change this read only file's Last Full Capacity to the real 80% 4160?
Is there a program to fix this for me?

[dagon]

Is there a way to change this read only file's Last Full Capacity to the real 80% 4160?

But how do you know that the, admittedly depressing 57%, is wrong?
(I don't know if there is software around to write this register (it's on board the battery), I've looked for it myself)

Maybe your charger is broken and can't give the last oomph needed to push the battery to it's full capacity?
Do you have access to any other compatible charger?

Edit: Whoopie, post no. 1000!

[bmcilw1]

Ahh... I did not understand the message in info. I have replaced my battery and am sitting satisfied with this new info file:

present: yes
design capacity: 5200 mAh
last full capacity: 5193 mAh
battery technology: rechargeable
design voltage: 11100 mV
design capacity warning: 520 mAh
design capacity low: 157 mAh
cycle count: 0
capacity granularity 1: 52 mAh
capacity granularity 2: 52 mAh
model number: DELL NM6320B
serial number: 4135
battery type: LION
OEM info: SMP

I also noticed that I have 2 BatteryLifeExtender programs. I wonder if I am being limited to 80% twice.
The "new" battery that I'm using was charged on a different machine. I hope I can charge it on this one up to a max of 80%.
We'll see, but I think this is a false alarm.

[bmcilw1]

How do I get rid of the extra BatteryLifeExtender? It does not show up in Synaptic etc...

[AlbertP]

That the last full capacity was low for the old battery is just because the battery was old. It does not mean that the battery was only half charged - it means that the capacity (when it's at 100%) has degraded.
Capacity of batteries degrades over time. My laptop has just 51% of its battery capacity left after 4 years.