IBook G4 Shuts Down Before Battery Is Gone

Question

Recently, I have had this problem with my iBook. I charge it to 100%, disconnect the power adapter and take the laptop somewhere else, and use the computer. However, the computer automatically shuts off anywhere between 20% and 50% power left, according to the icon in the top right corner. I know that the battery won't last as long as my computer ages (I've had it for 2 years, I think), but I at least expect it to reach below 10% or give me the warning before shutting off. Also, unlike some other users with a similar problem, my laptop's clock is fine once I start it again (after connecting it to the charging cable) and can sometimes recover documents, etc.

Answer 1

Arggh! I too have this same problem.
Once it hits around 60%, the iBook goes directly to sleep and can't "resume" until i plug the power cable in. What's frustrating is that it gives no warning on what it's going to do! I even downloaded Coconut Battery and actually watched it die!
So I put the battery to the test and I set my battery preferences to NEVER turn off hard disk, NEVER go to sleep, and NEVER use the screen saver. I also adjusted my screen brightness to the highest level to see how long this battery would last. I waited for a full charge and then unplugged it.
Here's how it turned out:
At exactly 70%, I went back on to test it out by opening a program, then BAM! It goes into the dreaded sleep mode! Before it went to sleep, I checked the MAH levels from CoconutBattery and it said I still had about 2245mAh out of 3404mAh. Another thing shocking is that the Battery-Loadcycles is pretty low at 138 compared to some of the people above. BUT - when I plug in the power adapter to get it out of sleep mode, CoconutBattery AND the battery level in the top main bar all of a sudden show 0 battery left and 0mAh.
WTH can the problem be? I am about to buy a new battery just to test it out (eBay - those 4400 mAh batteries).
Here's my log:
Battery Information:
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 649
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 3404
Health Information:
Cycle count: 138
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 816
Voltage (mV): 16504
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 13
Dynamic Power Step: No
Reduce Processor Speed: No
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: Yes
Wake On Modem Ring: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 3
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 180
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1
Dynamic Power Step: Yes
Reduce Processor Speed: No
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On Modem Ring: No
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Hardware Configuration:
Clamshell Closed: No
UPS Installed: No
AC Charger Information:
AC Charger (Watts): 65
Connected: Yes
Charging: Yes