[Plutox]

I have found that my newish Medion laptop battery when fully charged registers 28 minutes remaining instead of about 2 hours.

Medion tells me that a BIOS update is necessary to fix this which they offer thru their website. However they also state that this update can destroy my laptop and therefore will take no responsibility for any damage resulting from this update!!

Can anyone please comment on this and suggest a course of action. Thanks.

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How old is the system?
Is it still under warranty?
I would suggest taking it to a shop and have them do the bios flash?

Backup all important data before taking it in.

Flashing a bios will not destroy the system but if done wrong will render the system useless.
In most cases if this is done then the only other way to fix the problem is to replace the bios chip.
Replace the MOBO( This is costly and in my opinion not worth the charge)

[rshaffer61]

How old is the system?
Is it still under warranty?
I would suggest taking it to a shop and have them do the bios flash?

Backup all important data before taking it in.

Flashing a bios will not destroy the system but if done wrong will render the system useless.
In most cases if this is done then the only other way to fix the problem is to replace the bios chip.
Replace the MOBO( This is costly and in my opinion not worth the charge)

[Plutox]

Thanks for your response.

It's about 7 months old (same problem on another 3 year old Medion laptop - both problems happened at about the same time - what can this imply I wonder?)

The first is under warranty but does not cover this apparently after talking with their helpline. Presumably if anything goes wrong it will be my fault.

As I rarely need to use the battery only, I haven't done anything as the operation of the laptops seemingly are not affected. Your suggestion that a competent person could do the update would be my best bet if I decide to do so.

[rshaffer61]

The steps to flash a bios are simple but as I stated if not done correctly will render the system useless. It is possible to reflash the bios but not something I have seen done successfully many times.

I would ask Medion seriously why if this is a known problem why they don't cover this issue.
I myself would ask if they intentionally put out a known defective product and why they don't offer free support in this case since it is a known issue with their bios.

If you so chose to do the flash by yourself or by someone you trust and who is competent to do the procedure at least you have tried every resolution before.

I can help you identify your MOBO and Bios revision and date with the following program.


Please download CPUz from my signature below

1: Save it to your desktop.
2: Click on the icon it creates and let it run
3: I need the following information from it.
4: Click on the Mainboard tab
5: Please list the following information in your next reply:

In Motherboard Field:

Manufacturer and Model

In Bios Field:

Brand, Version and Date

[Plutox]

Thanks again.

I have downloaded the cpu-z but cannot locate the zip file. I am using google chrome and only see in bottom left corner the description - cpu_z_140.zip.

This is the 1st I've done in chrome - perhaps I should repeat it in IE!

If useful I do have from Belarc Advisor -
Board:MEDIONPC MIM2080 5a
Ser No. 123456789012 (!)
Bus Clock: 100MHz
BIOS: Insyde Software Corp. M1.13 03/06/2006

I'll try with IE anyway - yes I am a novice in this game.

[Plutox]

Oh yes, I couldn't save it to my desktop as there was no field asking me to do so - 1st time this has happened to me !

[mpascal]

In chrome, click the wrench on the top right side, then go to Options -> Minor Tweaks and you can set the download location for files to where you want.

[Plutox]

I've downloaded cpu-z zip,(1.51), extracted all files and 'ran' it but nothing has happened - I see nothing - what am I doing wrong please?

[Plutox]

Thanks for that tip mpascal for future ref. Now I'm stuck with IE!

[Plutox]

Kept on clicking 'Run' and eventually it worked!

The info revealed :

Chipset VIA CN400
Southbridge VIA VT8235
Brand Insyde Sof. Corp.
Version M1.13
Date 03/06/2006

Graphic Interface
Version AGP version 2.0
Transfer rate 2x Max Supported 4x

Side Band Enabled

Hope that's all you need.

[rshaffer61]

I need the bios information located right under the motherboard field.

[Plutox]

Under the motherboard field is only what I've written plus Manufacturer: MEDIONPC 5a and MODEL: MIM2090 as in post #5.

Should there be more info?

[Plutox]

I've got a screenshot of that info saved in My Docs. but I don't know how to get it to this thread. I tried thru notebook but that's no good I think.

[rshaffer61]

Below is a screenshot of what I'm looking for.

[Plutox]

Yes that's right. I've given all the info there is in that field. What exactly is missing? You have, 2, 3, and 4 but those fields are blank in mine.
Sorry this is a problem.