FreeBSD Laptop: Find Out Battery Life Status Command

I know how to find out battery life status using Linux operating system. How do I monitor battery status on a laptop running FreeBSD version 9.x?

You can use any one of the following commands to get battery status, remaining battery life and more:

Tutorial details
Difficulty	Easy (rss)
Root privileges	No
Requirements	amp/sysctl hwstat

apm command : The apm utility controls the Intel / Microsoft APM (Advanced Power Management) BIOS and displays the current status of APM on laptop PCs.
sysctl command : The sysctl utility retrieves kernel state.
hwstat command : Another command line tool to display CPU temp and battery info.
acpiconf command : The acpiconf command allows the user control of the ACPI power management functions and query laptop battery status.

amp command example

The syntax is:

apm
apm [options]

Type the following command:
$ apm
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: FreeBSD apm command in action

sysctl command example

Type the following command:
$ sysctl hw.acpi.battery
Sample outputs:

hw.acpi.battery.life: 100
hw.acpi.battery.time: -1
hw.acpi.battery.state: 0
hw.acpi.battery.units: 1
hw.acpi.battery.info_expire: 5

hwstat command

The hwstat command is not part of the base system. Type the following command to install hwstat using pkg_add command:
# pkg_add -rv hwstat
Sample outputs:

 
scheme:   [ftp]
user:     []
password: []
host:     [ftp.freebsd.org]
port:     [0]
document: [/pub/FreeBSD/ports/amd64/packages-9.0-release/Latest/hwstat.tbz]
---> ftp.freebsd.org:21
looking up ftp.freebsd.org
connecting to ftp.freebsd.org:21
<<< 220 beastie.tdk.net FTP server (Version 6.00LS) ready.
>>> USER anonymous
<<< 331 Guest login ok, send your email address as password.
>>> PASS vivek@fdbsd9
<<< 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
>>> PWD
<<< 257 "/" is current directory.
>>> CWD pub/FreeBSD/ports/amd64/packages-9.0-release/Latest
<<< 250 CWD command successful.
>>> MODE S
<<< 200 MODE S accepted.
>>> TYPE I
<<< 200 Type set to I.
setting passive mode
>>> PASV
<<< 227 Entering Passive Mode (193,162,146,4,226,183)
opening data connection
initiating transfer
>>> RETR hwstat.tbz
<<< 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for 'hwstat.tbz' (8779 bytes).
Fetching ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/amd64/packages-9.0-release/Latest/hwstat.tbz...Waiting for final status
<<< 226 Transfer complete.
x +CONTENTS
x +COMMENT
x +DESC
x +MTREE_DIRS
x bin/hwstat
x share/licenses/hwstat-0.5.1/catalog.mk
x share/licenses/hwstat-0.5.1/LICENSE
x share/licenses/hwstat-0.5.1/BSD
x man/man1/hwstat.1.gz
tar command returns 0 status
 Done.
extract: Package name is hwstat-0.5.1
extract: CWD to /usr/local
extract: /usr/local/bin/hwstat
extract: /usr/local/share/licenses/hwstat-0.5.1/catalog.mk
extract: /usr/local/share/licenses/hwstat-0.5.1/LICENSE
extract: /usr/local/share/licenses/hwstat-0.5.1/BSD
extract: /usr/local/man/man1/hwstat.1.gz
extract: CWD to /usr/local
Running mtree for hwstat-0.5.1..
mtree -U -f +MTREE_DIRS -d -e -p /usr/local >/dev/null
Attempting to record package into /var/db/pkg/hwstat-0.5.1..
Package hwstat-0.5.1 registered in /var/db/pkg/hwstat-0.5.1

Type the following command to see CPU temperature and battery information under FreeBSD operating system:
$ hwstat
Sample outputs:

Fig.02: hwstat in action

acpiconf command example

To see information about the specified battery, enter:
$ acpiconf -i batt# $ acpiconf -i 0 | grep capacity $ acpiconf -i 0
Sample outputs:

Design capacity:	50000 mWh
Last full capacity:	50000 mWh
Technology:		secondary (rechargeable)
Design voltage:		10000 mV
Capacity (warn):	100 mWh
Capacity (low):		50 mWh
Low/warn granularity:	1 mWh
Warn/full granularity:	1 mWh
Model number:		1
Serial number:		0
Type:			VBOX
OEM info:		innotek
State:			high
Remaining capacity:	100%
Remaining time:		unknown
Present rate:		0 mW
Present voltage:	10000 mV