Battery dies when not using unit.

[Al Plant]

I have setup the Linux HP Mini 1000. Without help from HP helpers in Mumbai. I know more about Linux and networking than they do. Fortunately I have several other folks on the Berkley CA and Luau Hi lists that do know linux very well. BTW I found it is Ubuntu 8* on the netbook and it is based on Debian, the last Linux I used a while ago.

I am still trying to get printing up because the CUPS setup on the Mini doesn't work and I have a LPR setup on the network printer anyway. I have to use the Wlan with A fixed IP on my lan and have yet to find anyone who knows how to set one of these Minis to find a Wireless DHCP Wlan using the gui tool on the mini unit like at a Starbucks or other wireless connection.
I did save the working static lan configurations in a seperate Directory so they won't get wiped by the Gui tool if I try. I have to go out of my town to try this since we dont have any Starbucks here. Only Department of Defence links. The people who do connect here I have found so far all use AT@T or sprint usb cards which connect to their respective WAN's.

Any how the BIG issue I have encountered is one of a dead battery. This happened after I shut the mini down using #shutdown -h now from the command line as I always do and put it away for 1 week when I when to LasVegas for R&R. I unplugged the charger and put it in the case and put them both in the filing cabinet. The mini was fully charged then. When I came back today I brought the unit out and tried to turn it on and nothing. It only came to life showing a totally dead battery when I plugged the charger in. The icon said it would take 5.5 hrs to bring it back up. That is a fully used up battery charge I think.

What is the problem here? I have an old Dell laptop running FreeBSD that still holds a charge after a month of no use?

Any ideas appreciated.
Thanks

[Alan_152]

One of the cells in the battery probably has a short in it. Most likely you'll need a replacement battery, but there are also plenty of articles (some of them dangerous) that describe how to "repair" dead cells.

[Al Plant]

Thanks,

I was afraid of that.
I will contact HP.

[Steven Schweda]

> One of the cells in the battery probably
> has a short in it.

I don't see how that would discharge the
other cells in the battery. (To me, "totally
dead" means _totally_ dead.)

> [...] here are also plenty of articles
> (some of them dangerous) [...]

One big hazard is trying to infer electrical
details with no actual electrical information
to use as a basis for inference (like how
dead "totally dead" really is).

> [...] away for 1 week [...]

I'd re-run the experiment with the battery
out of the computer. If it self-discharges
in a few days, then I might start looking for
a new battery. If it discharges only when
it's in the computer, then I might look for
a cause in the computer, not the battery.

[Al Plant]

That is my next test.

I have already recharged it and than left it on the table in the netbook and it was not drained completely this time but was all but dead in 6 days.

Thanks for helping.