[graphitedv]

Tested with BT off screen set to 50% and got 4 hours 27 minutes before it shutdown (light usage).


Specs: Dell Vostro A90 | Mac OS X 10.5.7 | 1GB RAM | 5GB Dropbox | Bluetooth | .3 MP Camera

Tweaks: DellEFI 1.1 | Meklort's Touchpad Driver | USB Legacy Mode off | Bluetooth Patch |Sun VirtualBox running Win7 & Ubuntu 9.04 from SDHC

[rbrtrx]

Bluetooth off, screen dimmed as far as it can go, I get just over 4:45min of actual use before I have to plug it in (or else!). On 10.5.6, with Bluetooth on, I got 2 hrs, if I was lucky.

So either Bluetooth is a very big power drain, or 10.5.7 is a very big win, or both!

[dchao]

I think the big draw of battery is the wireless network. BT module is very low power. If you feel the temperature around the case and module cover, the most heat is generated over the wireless card, where the BT module is (under the palm rest) is pretty cool.

Did you do the timing with the wireless network on or off?

[vdub6127]

I had been puzzling about my battery performance too, and it seems like disabling bluetooth did the trick and well over doubled my battery life from 2 hours to 4.5 hours. It's really surprising that bluetooth can make such an impact.

My guess is that when you have a paired bluetooth device, the OS keeps polling for it, which is a major drain on the battery.

The procedure for fixing bluetooth disabling is described here:
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/mac-...minal-mod.html

[leftnose]

My experience is quite different. With 10.5.6 and 1.2a5, my batter meter would be over 3 hours on a full charge. Now, with 10.5.7, it reads 1:58 on a full charge.

EDIT: Nevermind! I just reinstalled DellEFI (for the second time after the update) and I now get a reading of 4:34.

[dchao]

rbrtrx was correct. When OSX BT driver is in discoverable mode, it uses some battery power. I tried to turn BT off on 10.5.7, but the option was missing.

I have now patched "IOBluetoothFamily.kext" with the correct vendor and product IDs for our Dell's BT module. The option to turn off BT from the menu bar is available now. You should check out the Bluetooth Terminal Mod thread on how to do it.

[CulinaryChef.com]

I am getting barely 2 hours on my Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh 10.5.7. I don't see any visible change from the previous version. I looked at my power settings, and everything appears to be correct for more battery life, but I am still only getting about 2 hours (according to the battery indicator). What are some tips to improve this? I would be happy to get 3 hours, let alone the extended hours so people have been reporting. I am also considering getting an 8-cell battery, but holding off due to some compatibility issues I heard about.

UPDATE: I ran DellEFI1.1 again, and now getting about 2.5 hours, so a bit of an improvement. The odd things is that the battery indicator has gone up a bit while the computer is using the battery. That's strange. I have a feeling that this indicator is off. Any ideas? Should I run DellEFI1.1 again??

[thejokell]

Originally Posted by CulinaryChef.com

I am getting barely 2 hours on my Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh 10.5.7. I don't see any visible change from the previous version. I looked at my power settings, and everything appears to be correct for more battery life, but I am still only getting about 2 hours (according to the battery indicator). What are some tips to improve this? I would be happy to get 3 hours, let alone the extended hours so people have been reporting. I am also considering getting an 8-cell battery, but holding off due to some compatibility issues I heard about.

UPDATE: I ran DellEFI1.1 again, and now getting about 2.5 hours, so a bit of an improvement. The odd things is that the battery indicator has gone up a bit while the computer is using the battery. That's strange. I have a feeling that this indicator is off. Any ideas? Should I run DellEFI1.1 again??

You need to charge it, drain it completely, then charge it again. Then you may start to get an accurate time from the battery meter.

[kjmass]

Originally Posted by CulinaryChef.com

I am getting barely 2 hours on my Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh 10.5.7. I don't see any visible change from the previous version. I looked at my power settings, and everything appears to be correct for more battery life, but I am still only getting about 2 hours (according to the battery indicator). What are some tips to improve this? I would be happy to get 3 hours, let alone the extended hours so people have been reporting. I am also considering getting an 8-cell battery, but holding off due to some compatibility issues I heard about.

UPDATE: I ran DellEFI1.1 again, and now getting about 2.5 hours, so a bit of an improvement. The odd things is that the battery indicator has gone up a bit while the computer is using the battery. That's strange. I have a feeling that this indicator is off. Any ideas? Should I run DellEFI1.1 again??

turn off bluetooth if you can. On my iphone, with bluetooth on, it takes a considerable hit.

[TheDoctah]

Originally Posted by kjmass

turn off bluetooth if you can. On my iphone, with bluetooth on, it takes a considerable hit.

Bluetooth is definitely a culprit with battery life especially when left on permanently. If turning off Bluetooth doesn't resolve your battery life, you may have a corrupt dsdt.aml after the upgrade.

Remove the existing one, reboot, then let DellEFI regenerate a new one.