copy conky.conf to your MyDocs folder (/home/user/MyDocs/) edit it: replace ${battery_short} with ${execi 10 hal-device bme |awk -F"[. ]" '$5 == "is_charging" {chrg = $7}; $5 == "percentage" {perc = $7} END if (chrg == "false") {print perc "%"} else {print "Chg"}'} enjoy your decreased battery life and non-updating percentage.