hey its alg again i tried mandrake 9.2 download edition is this a trial os? because anytime i tried to install a program or hardware device the software removed a whole buch of programs at each attempt finally had to remove it.then i installed redhat 9 big improvement anyways the battery monitoring option does not detect my battery in the laptop even if ac power is disconnected the icon is in the taskbar .i downloaded and installed all the updates still no change everything else works mint ! could anyone tell me why is it not detecting the battery ?and how to remedy the problem?

any help would be greatly appreciated
alg

Is your laptop one of these?

its a satellite 1900 -000fs p4 1.6 ghz 30 gig drive 512 mb ddr ram,speed step, in windows the power control software slows the processor to conserve power as the battery reserve decreases.its about a year and a half old.went to the site you suggested the 1900-101 is almost identicall

alg