IBM Laptop Power Meter

[William E. Mahaffey]

I have am IBM laptop runing XP Pro SP2. I purchased a new battery for it
and everything was running fine then the laptop locked up. I tried
everything I knew to get it to reboot but was unsuccessful. I let it set
for several hours and It never shutdown.

I removed the battery, let set for about an hour then replaced the battery.
Since then the batter meter shows 0% charge in one place and battery life as
unknown in another.

I installed SP3 and tis did not help. I found a hotfix on the Microsoft Web
site that was described as a fix for this problem but It would not install
on SP3.

Thanks in advance,

Bill Mahaffey

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have am IBM laptop runing XP Pro SP2. I purchased a new battery for it
and everything was running fine then the laptop locked up. I tried
everything I knew to get it to reboot but was unsuccessful. I let it set
for several hours and It never shutdown.

I removed the battery, let set for about an hour then replaced the
battery. Since then the batter meter shows 0% charge in one place and
battery life as unknown in another.

I installed SP3 and tis did not help. I found a hotfix on the Microsoft
Web site that was described as a fix for this problem but It would not
install on SP3.

Thanks in advance,

Bill Mahaffey

Let the battery be charged for a few days.

Next time your machine locks up, use the standard method to shut it
down: Press the power button for about five seconds.

 

[William E. Mahaffey]

The laptop would not shutdodwn by pressing and holding the power button.

Thanks for your help,

Bill

 

[Unknown]

Did you charge the new battery prior to using it?

The laptop would not shutdodwn by pressing and holding the power button.

Thanks for your help,

Bill

 

[John McGaw]

I have am IBM laptop runing XP Pro SP2. I purchased a new battery for it
and everything was running fine then the laptop locked up. I tried
everything I knew to get it to reboot but was unsuccessful. I let it set
for several hours and It never shutdown.

I removed the battery, let set for about an hour then replaced the battery.
Since then the batter meter shows 0% charge in one place and battery life as
unknown in another.

I installed SP3 and tis did not help. I found a hotfix on the Microsoft Web
site that was described as a fix for this problem but It would not install
on SP3.

Thanks in advance,

Bill Mahaffey

Did you calibrate the battery after replacing it? This is standard on every
laptop that I've owned and IIRC it has always been an option in the BIOS
menu. It certainly is how it is done on my current unit. Check your manual
-- they should describe the proper process to follow. Without proper
calibration the computer has no clue as to the true status of the battery.

John McGaw
http://johnmcgaw.com

 

[David B.]

I've noticed that very few laptops have a calibration utility in BIOS.

 

[John McGaw]

I've noticed that very few laptops have a calibration utility in BIOS.

I guess it could be that they've changed radically but it is necessary that
there be some way (automatic, manual, magical, or something else) of doing
the calibration. Unless the system knows what a fully-charged and a
nearly-dead battery looks like it will be unable to predict run time.

Doing a Google search for "ibm laptop battery calibration" (without the
quotes of course) there are a load of hits describing procedures, software,
etc.


John McGaw
http://johnmcgaw.com

 

[William E. Mahaffey]

Thanks everyone,

I did cycle/calibrate the battery and every thing was working well until
Windows locked up and I had to remove the battery to get it to reboot. I
tried every thing I knew to do before I removed the battery. Not of the
normal procedures to reboot the computer worked. It would not reboot when I
pressed and held the power on/off button.

Thanks again,

Bill

 

[David B.]

The IBM's seem to have it, some Dell's, but many don't. They usually give a
procedure like unplug the A/C, turn off power saving features in Windows,
and run it till it dies, then plug it back in.