[Dragon306]

okay i recently upgraded my IBM Thinkpad 380XD from 96mb of RAM to 160mb and from a 5gb hard drive to a newer (and faster) 12gb hard drive, and let me say the Windows (2000 Pro) responsivness is greatly improved. anyway, my problems were present prior to these upgrades.

problem 1: i have mentioned it before but nobody really helped so i am hoping to get help again. it will not power on from a state of complete "off-ness" on battery power only. when plugged in, it powers on normally, but when on just battery power (even a fully charged and good battery) it wont power on. though it works fine with a battery as the main power source once it is on (that is to say, i can unplug the AC adapter once it is powered on and it will remain on as normal). and also, it will revive from being in standby under battery power. it just wont turn on under battery power. batteries (i have two, have tried both) are good and take full charges, and I have updated to the latest BIOS, and checked the IBM website for power-related troubleshooting, to no effect. there is a small button with the circle-and-line symbol for power on the bottom of the laptop, requiring to be pushed with a paper clip or pen or something (meaning it is recessed). a bit of google searching brought back not but a few vauge referances to this as a "hard" power switch. What the...?? the thing that is very aggrevationg about this is that it used to power on under battery power just fine (this behavior has started within the past few months). does it have something to do with this "hard" power switch? 'cause i have pressed it to no effect, as well as holding it in for like 60 seconds to no effect. what can i do about this problem, as it did not used to be there and is very inconvenient and annoying?????

problem 2: the power indicater light remains orange under a power on or off state, which i think is supposed to indicate that it is charging the battery. but it still remains orange even when the battery is fully charged (again, i have two batteries and it does this with both of them). am i mistaken, does the orange (as opposed to green) LED color of the power indicator light not neccessarily mean that it at least thinks it is cahrging a battery?? or what is the deal with this??

problem 3: it will not take a new CMOS battery. the CMOS battery died, meaning that i am forced to re-set the time and date each time i power the laptop on. so i "made" a new one by taking a button cell of the same voltage and size then soldering the tips of the cord that was connecting the old one to the laptop onto the correct sides on the button cell. but the laptop continues to insist that there is no CMOS battery and that i need to re-set the time and date each time i power it on. why is it doing this????

solving/identifying the cause of all three problems is obviously ideal, but problem one is most important, followed by three, with two being just a minor annoyance.

thank you all for any help with any of these issues!!!

[Advertisements]

Hello dragon-How you doing?I think you really need to consider the cmos battery.
Below is a link.This should be you first objective to get the BIOS stable.Hello again Friend.


http://www.ebatts.co...7&equiv=02K6487

[street1]

Hello dragon-How you doing?I think you really need to consider the cmos battery.
Below is a link.This should be you first objective to get the BIOS stable.Hello again Friend.


http://www.ebatts.co...7&equiv=02K6487

[Dragon306]

a) i already "made" a new CMOS battery from a good cell battery of the same size shape voltage etc and the wires from the old one soldered to the correct polarity sides of said cell battery. why wouldnt this work??

b) you think a simple CMOS battery is causing all my problems?? not that i am questioning your answers i just would be very surprised if that were the culprit behind all three problems...is that what you are saying??

street1?? from computing.net?? LOL i am fine; how you doing, man??

[Dragon306]

you know, now that i think of it, i can imagine a BIOS/CMOS battery causing instability. does anyone else think this could be the problem??

im a bit out of it and loopy right now cause the last time i slept was two nights ago for about three hours

i guess you finally gave up on computing.net as well? jboy gave you too much trouble (now that i left he had to find a new victim, of course)? good to hear from you rob!

[Dragon306]

would anyone else think it probable that my bad CMOS battery is the cause of all three issues?

Edited by Dragon306, 10 June 2006 - 10:33 PM.

[HaraldR]

Dragon:

I do not think the cmos has anything to do with the issues

It would appear to me that the batteries you use are old and or not properly charged.
Rechargeable batteries (particularly Nickel Metal Hydride or NiMh ) can "print to memory" that is a voltage lower than peak voltage.
This usually comes about age and from chargeing when these batteries are not completely empty.This shortens there usable life and there chargeing times
The solution is fully discharge battery before recharging to ensure optimum voltage is reached.
A second charge when battery is fully charged can help to overcome "memory voltage:

Symptoms:
First: Your Laptop won't start from cold on battery.
Battery cannot deliver correct voltage/current to start all hard drive fans etc
Second: AC adapter can start Laptop.
Voltage output of an AC adapter is higher than that of DC battery
Third: Laptop will remain on and can soft start on Battery:
The power required to maintain or do soft start is considerably less than cold start
Extra memory and Hard drive would increase load on battery


I note that there are at least 2 replacement batteries available

1.An Nickel Metal Hydride 8.4V 4000mAh Capacity
2. a Lithium Ion 10.8 Volts 3600mAh Capacity.The Lithium Ion battery does not suffer from "memory print chargeing".

Also note Voltage of lithium is 10.8v and standard NiMh battery is 8.4v (more power to start and run Laptop)

[Hawaiantom]

I think that the batteries are playing a part in this. I would also advise before going out and buying new batteries. I would replace the cmos battery with a new one. Getting the cmos straight will tell you what the next step should be. You have to get the cmos straight anyway. so why not start there. Your right the light should be green when the battery is full charged. So It could be the battires are on the way out or that your power cord is bad. Just my 2 cents

[Dragon306]

both my batteries for this machine are Lithium-Ion 10.8 volt units. the first came with the machine when i bought it used and was said to have been pruchased new about a year prior. the second is one that i bought, refurbished with new Li-Ion cells (from a reputable eBay seller whom i have purchased from in the past), about a month ago. the laptop used to be capable of powering on with just the battery, using the battery that came with it (the first one). the second battery was purchased after the problems began occuring, as i was thinking they were symptoms of a bad battery.

why would the "made" CMOS battery not even be seen by the machine? the battery had a good charge, was the same size and voltage, and i soldered the contacts of the connection wire solidly to the correct polarity.

so this "hard" power button/switch thing on the bottom has nothing to do with any of this?? what the heck is it??

also, it is noteworthy that when it first started having the porblem of not powering on with a battery, the problem was not all the time, only sometimes. it became more frequent as time went on.

[Hawaiantom]

I know its diffucult. Ok since you have a "new battery" and it still does it. What about getting a 100% new cmos battery from ibm leads and all or just new leads. I still think that the most important thing is to get the cmos stable. Are the power setings under the control panel all set like they should be.

[Dragon306]

the power settings in Windows or the BIOS? as far as Winodws, yes. as far as the BIOS, there are no settings. that is the most limited BIOS i have ever seen in my life. about the only options/settings are time, date, and boot order.

Edited by Dragon306, 11 June 2006 - 12:23 PM.