[EN] Poor battery life 2012.1/2

[Chippyash]

I've recently installed sid on my (new) Toshiba U840 laptop, having completely ditched the windoze install.  The one big thing is battery life.  It has gone through the floor.

Under win it was typically about 5-6 hours.  Under sid it is down to a couple of hours.

What I think is happening (although I have no proof) is that when it goes into suspend or hibernate, it isn't properly powering down.

Is there some sort of tool that I can install that monitors power usage (and preferably what is using it.) Maybe that way I can get to the bottom of the problem.

ta

[devil]

Under win it was typically about 4-5 hours. Under sid it is down to a couple of hours.

couple of as in 2?
If you go into suspend or hibernate, your hand is your best tool. the device cools down completely after a while. If it does not, something is wrong. But in suspend it should last much longer than 4-5 hours.

I've recently installed sid on my (new) Toshiba U840 laptop...

You installed exactly what flavour?

greetz
devil

[Chippyash]

Yes couple as in 2.

XFCE flavour of current sid RC sid dist-upgraded on Tuesday

The device does cool down, but for instance if I hibernate overnight on a full battery, it can be 1/2 to 3/4 down by the morning.  Maybe the monitoring program is telling lies so the system thinks it has less juice than it really does ?

[Chippyash]

So I did an experiment today.  I set the machine to hibernate on full power and left it for a couple of hours.  When I started it again it went from full boot mode.  Therefore I can only assume that power management isn't working.  I'd really like to get to the bottom of this so any suggestions gratefully received.

[devil]

I had suspended my notebook with full battery (which is already 3 years old) for 48 hours. Waking it now went flawless and battery is at 49%. This is with 2012.2-RC2 and xfce. No suggestions, sorry.

greetz
devil