I finally found a workaround in this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org//showthread.php?t=1866533 . Specifically,
$ gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power 'use-time-for- policy' 'false' made it possible to run my netbook for several minutes without AC (I didn't bother trying longer), and dconf-tools and experiment show this setting is persistent across reboots. The only drawback for me was that I couldn't reboot without AC; my netbook hung on a blank screen. Good luck! -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Desktop Bugs, which is subscribed to gnome-power-manager in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/860427 Title: Oneiric displays 'Laptop battery critically low' message after AC is unplugged when 'charged' shown on battery indicator To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-power-manager/+bug/860427/+subscriptions -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs