Newer laptops with dual batteries include battery location information in DMI. It would enhance usability to include location information on battery status. From a Lenovo x240: =============================== dmidecode ==================== Handle 0x0023, DMI type 22, 26 bytes Portable Battery Location: Front Manufacturer: SONY Name: 45N1111 Design Capacity: 23200 mWh Design Voltage: 11100 mV SBDS Version: 03.01 Maximum Error: Unknown SBDS Serial Number: 0843 SBDS Manufacture Date: 2013-02-05 SBDS Chemistry: LiP OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000 Handle 0x0024, DMI type 22, 26 bytes Portable Battery Location: Rear Manufacturer: SANYO Name: 45N1737 Design Capacity: 71280 mWh Design Voltage: 10800 mV SBDS Version: 03.01 Maximum Error: Unknown SBDS Serial Number: 682B SBDS Manufacture Date: 2013-10-23 SBDS Chemistry: LION OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000 ========================== upower -d ====================== # upower -d Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_AC native-path: /sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:09/PNP0C09:00/ACPI0003:00/power_supply/AC power supply: yes updated: Mon Mar 2 23:21:23 2015 (5563 seconds ago) has history: no has statistics: no line-power online: yes Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT1 native-path: /sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:09/PNP0C09:00/PNP0C0A:01/power_supply/BAT1 vendor: SANYO model: 45N1737 serial: 26667 power supply: yes updated: Tue Mar 3 00:53:45 2015 (21 seconds ago) has history: yes has statistics: yes battery present: yes rechargeable: yes state: charging energy: 16.88 Wh energy-empty: 0 Wh energy-full: 69.17 Wh energy-full-design: 71.28 Wh energy-rate: 17.597 W voltage: 10.856 V time to full: 3.0 hours percentage: 24.4036% capacity: 97.0398% technology: lithium-ion History (charge): 1425362025 24.404 charging 1425361995 24.187 charging 1425361965 23.970 charging 1425361935 23.753 charging History (rate): 1425362025 17.597 charging 1425361995 17.713 charging 1425361965 17.756 charging 1425361935 17.677 charging Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT0 native-path: /sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0A08:00/device:09/PNP0C09:00/PNP0C0A:00/power_supply/BAT0 vendor: SONY model: 45N1111 serial: 2115 power supply: yes updated: Tue Mar 3 00:53:38 2015 (28 seconds ago) has history: yes has statistics: yes battery present: yes rechargeable: yes state: charging energy: 15.52 Wh energy-empty: 0 Wh energy-full: 19.51 Wh energy-full-design: 23.2 Wh energy-rate: 16.8833 W voltage: 11.936 V time to full: 14.2 minutes percentage: 79.5489% capacity: 84.0948% technology: lithium-polymer Daemon: daemon-version: 0.9.20 can-suspend: yes can-hibernate: yes on-battery: no on-low-battery: no lid-is-closed: no lid-is-present: yes is-docked: no
This should be exported directly from the kernel, see https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=97841
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