won't run on battery

[undergroundryan]

I have a HP Pavilion N5470 and windows ME took a dump. So I then installed windows XP and everything works good now except it will not run off the battery anymore. It says it has a good charge, but if I unplug the ac it turns off, and will not turn back on without the ac power. Thanks for any inputs, I hope I can solve this problem.

[TripleRLtd]

I have a HP Pavilion N5470 and windows ME took a dump. So I then installed windows XP and everything works good now except it will not run off the battery anymore. It says it has a good charge, but if I unplug the ac it turns off, and will not turn back on without the ac power. Thanks for any inputs, I hope I can solve this problem. Welcome to Windrivers underman. When you depend on software to "gauge" hardware temps or charges, you are seeing through "rose colored glasses" sort of speak. If the battery was actually working and holding a charge, it would work and keep the system on. But, also, go into Control Panel/Power Options, and make sure the XP service is running before giving up.

[undergroundryan]

Welcome to Windrivers underman. When you depend on software to "gauge" hardware temps or charges, you are seeing through "rose colored glasses" sort of speak. If the battery was actually working and holding a charge, it would work and keep the system on. But, also, go into Control Panel/Power Options, and make sure the XP service is running before giving up. I'm confused....could you clarify yourself a little bit? I didn't see any XP service thing?

[TripleRLtd]

I'm confused....could you clarify yourself a little bit? I didn't see any XP service thing? Like I said: Control Panel/Power Options. Then click on the UPS tab and see it the service is running.http://forums.windrivers.com/images/smilies/thumbs.gif

[NooNoo]

Have you checked at www.hp.com (http://www.hp.com) for the battery utilities?

[FatalException0E]

Sounds to me like your battery is toast. Will the system start from powered off on just the battery? If so, how long does it last?

[undergroundryan]

Sounds to me like your battery is toast. Will the system start from powered off on just the battery? If so, how long does it last?
No, unfortunately without the ac power cord the laptop is currently useless. When it is plugged into ac, it recognizes when I plug and unplug the battery with the little amber battery comming on....which shortly goes back off. I do not think the battery is toast because it worked before I upgraded to XP, but I am not going to rule that out. I will check out the battery service thing and get back to you. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. Could I check the battery with a multi-meter?

[undergroundryan]

Like I said: Control Panel/Power Options. Then click on the UPS tab and see it the service is running.http://forums.windrivers.com/images/smilies/thumbs.gif
Under control panel/power options I only see, Power Schemes, Alarms, Power Meter, Advanced and Hibernate...No UPS tab? Maybe I am missing something, but I went through all of that. Maybe I have to download extra software? BTW, I was also all over www.hp.com looking for help but have yet fixed the problem.

[NooNoo]

did you find this? (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?product=61329&lang=en&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&os=228&softwareitem=ob729en)

how about running the diagnostics listed here? (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?product=61329&lang=en&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&os=228)

[freddy]

the obvious thing to do , is check the battery,,,,m unplug the mains lead boot it up ,,,,press f* whatever ,,and just leave it on a bios screen ,,,,or even use a win 9x 2k xp cd and boot it up ,,,and see how long the battery lasts,


sounds like you NOW have a knackered battery ,,,


repord on the above ,,,if u can eliminate the battery ,,,,then ppl can assist.



freddy

[undergroundryan]

I just went through and installed all of those with no luck yet. I tried to instal the HP display utility and it failed. It said that the HPCI driver provides access to important configuration interfaces of the system BIOS...do you think this is important? All of the other ones though were all installed. The only thing that works now that didn't is some shortcut buttons above the keyboard. I really don't want to buy another battery cause I don't think that is the problem. This really sucks...

[freddy]

the obvious thing to do , is check the battery,,,,m unplug the mains lead boot it up ,,,,press f* whatever ,,and just leave it on a bios screen ,,,,or even use a win 9x 2k xp cd and boot it up ,,,and see how long the battery lasts,


sounds like you NOW have a knackered battery ,,,


repord on the above ,,,if u can eliminate the battery ,,,,then ppl can assist.



freddy

as above ,,will you try ,,,outside of windows ,,,either the battery will run the machine or not????


take windows out of the equasion ,,,,m,,,,


freddy

[TripleRLtd]

Under control panel/power options I only see, Power Schemes, Alarms, Power Meter, Advanced and Hibernate...No UPS tab? Maybe I am missing something, but I went through all of that. Maybe I have to download extra software? BTW, I was also all over www.hp.com (http://www.hp.com) looking for help but have yet fixed the problem. No, forgive me on that UPS advice, obviously when first posted I thought you were talking about , well, a UPS and pointed to that windows service. Just confused, sorry.
A laptop battery has the same attributes, however. And, it indeed does sound like yours has bit the dust. But, have you adjusted the setting in Bios and then within Windows, Try as Freddy says and F2 (?) into Bios and check the power settings and leave it there. You should also see a gauge there for power. You can then unplug it from within Bios to see if it stays on. What we are looking at is a probable coincidence: the upgrade to XP that is.

[undergroundryan]

Well, I did as freddy did and booted into the BIOS using F2. I was messing around in there...not changing any options... and did not see any options/anything about a battery. Then I crossed my fingers, reached back and unpluged the cord and goodbye BIOS. Of course it turns off...and no it would not turn back on....without plugging i back in...I have really bad luck with this ****.

[TripleRLtd]

Well, I did as freddy did and booted into the BIOS using F2. I was messing around in there...not changing any options... and did not see any options/anything about a battery. Then I crossed my fingers, reached back and unpluged the cord and goodbye BIOS. Of course it turns off...and no it would not turn back on....without plugging i back in...I have really bad luck with this ****. No power options in Bios? I'll go check NooNoo's links, but listen. The battery no longer works!!!! OK? Just to be sure, take it to a Radio Shack to check, or some other Battery place. Down here we a place called Batteries Plus which sells even laptop batteries cheaper than the mfg. They will test the battery for you. Where do you live?

[TripleRLtd]

Alright: NooNoo's link: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/lpi05117.pdf
1:" Power Menu" in Bios page 129
2: "Power and Battery Problems" page 111
3: "Using Battery Power" page 53

[undergroundryan]

Alright: NooNoo's link: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/lpi05117.pdf
1:" Power Menu" in Bios page 129
2: "Power and Battery Problems" page 111
3: "Using Battery Power" page 53 Hrm...none of that really helped out. could I battery be bad even though it is holding a 99% charge? And also, can radio shack check and see if it is dead? I think this has something to do with the BIOS, or an internal battery that is dead. The only reason is because the battery worked before the upgrade. I really appreciate all of the help guys!

[undergroundryan]

Alright: NooNoo's link: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/lpi05117.pdf
1:" Power Menu" in Bios page 129
2: "Power and Battery Problems" page 111
3: "Using Battery Power" page 53
The power number on page 129 is for pentium only and I am running AMD. None of the troubleshooting on page 111 applys for me except trying another battery...which I don't have...and hrm...Page 53 says that amber light means charging, and that is the light that comes on when I plug in the battery...then shortly after the battery light goes off completely...not red for battery not accepting a charge, or green for fully charged. What do you guys think?

[FatalException0E]

Well, I did as freddy did and booted into the BIOS using F2. I was messing around in there...not changing any options... and did not see any options/anything about a battery. Then I crossed my fingers, reached back and unpluged the cord and goodbye BIOS. Of course it turns off...and no it would not turn back on....without plugging i back in...I have really bad luck with this ****.
If it won't run in BIOS setup or even try to boot from a fully charged (seemingly) battery, then the OS is obviously not an issue. You've either got a dead battery, or an issue with the connection or internal circuitry. I'm betting that if you get a new battery, your issue will be solved.

could I battery be bad even though it is holding a 99% charge?

When the battery in my Toshiba Tecra died, it always reported full charge and would run the system no more than 45 seconds. I believe what happens is you get a dead cell or two, so current is passing though the battery and everything looks peachy to the battery tester, but it can't get enough current through to run anything.....but I could be wrong. In any case, your battery is history.

[undergroundryan]

If it won't run in BIOS setup or even try to boot from a fully charged (seemingly) battery, then the OS is obviously not an issue. You've either got a dead battery, or an issue with the connection or internal circuitry. I'm betting that if you get a new battery, your issue will be solved.

When the battery in my Toshiba Tecra died, it always reported full charge and would run the system no more than 45 seconds. I believe what happens is you get a dead cell or two, so current is passing though the battery and everything looks peachy to the battery tester, but it can't get enough current through to run anything.....but I could be wrong. In any case, your battery is history.
Ok, so the OS is not an issue so dead battery maybe...but issue with the connection or internal circuitry..How could a diagnose this? I hope this is as simple as a dead battery. You said the battery in your Toshiba laptop was dead but would still operate it for 45 seconds...mine won't do anything at all without the ac. I would think mine would work for at least a short period before it completely died...especially after charging for hours straight.

[undergroundryan]

BTW...someone on hp forum mentioned that I should upgrade my bios and chipset drivers. Anyone know where I could find those?

[NooNoo]

On the same link I gave you.....all your drivers etc were there.

Opening up you laptop is something I do not recommend unless you are prepared to have a laptop that does NOT work at all.

Reading the thread I wonder, have you taken the battery out and let it "rest" for a bit? While its out, check the terminals on the laptop where the battery connects, they should be bright and shiny and no dust. Similarly on the battery. DO NOT touch the terminals, just blow some dry air over them if they look dusty.

It is very easy to short out a battery by inadvertently connecting two of the terminals together, for instance, polishing with a damp cloth.

Remove battery for one hour, then put in in the laptop with the laptop off AND the power cord disconnected. Now try turning on the laptop WITHOUT the power cord connected.

[undergroundryan]

On the same link I gave you.....all your drivers etc were there.

Opening up you laptop is something I do not recommend unless you are prepared to have a laptop that does NOT work at all.

Reading the thread I wonder, have you taken the battery out and let it "rest" for a bit? While its out, check the terminals on the laptop where the battery connects, they should be bright and shiny and no dust. Similarly on the battery. DO NOT touch the terminals, just blow some dry air over them if they look dusty.

It is very easy to short out a battery by inadvertently connecting two of the terminals together, for instance, polishing with a damp cloth.

Remove battery for one hour, then put in in the laptop with the laptop off AND the power cord disconnected. Now try turning on the laptop WITHOUT the power cord connected.
You have to open up the laptop to upgrade the BIOS?...I didn't know that. Last night I took the battery out and checked all of the leads which looked very clean, and same with the leads on the laptop. I left it out all night, and in the morning I poped it in with no results. I then plugged in the AC power and it came one, but instead of an amber battery light I got a RED light which means battery will not accept a charge. This light was on shortly, and turned off after it was booted into Windows XP. It did just like the amber light does as far as turning off in a short period of time. I then removed the battery and popped it back on and got the amber light....full charge...for a short period of time then it went back off. I guess it is safe to say the battery is toast..? BTW, Thank you for all the help guys.

[NooNoo]

Err no, not to flash the bios... we crossed wires there... I thought you were talking about taking it apart to fix the ac power input/charging circuits.

Yep, I think that pretty much proves the battery is toast. It was just coincidence that it happened as you changed os's.

[undergroundryan]

Err no, not to flash the bios... we crossed wires there... I thought you were talking about taking it apart to fix the ac power input/charging circuits.

Yep, I think that pretty much proves the battery is toast. It was just coincidence that it happened as you changed os's.
Well thank you, and everyone else who helped out. I have not yet bought a battery, but have came to the conclusion that mine has held it's last charge...forever at 99%. In the dark, I noticed that while the laptop was unplugged I could hit the power button and get a little flicker of a light on the cd controls in front of the laptop. That made me pretty happy to know that is was actually trying to start up. Do you guys think it is safe to buy batteries from ebay? the model number is hpf2024a..the ones there look off-brand...good idea?

[dishguy1977]

I had the exact same problem with the same battery on my Pavillion n5495. In my case, the battery was working fine and I bought a 2nd battery to have as an extra. As soon as I used the 2nd battery for the first time the old battery started exhibiting the same issues you describe. Says 99% charged, when you first plug it in orange light comes on for 10 sec than turns off and if you unplug the laptop it complety powers off instantly. I too think that it was too much of a coincidence that after using a different battery one time this one instantly goes dead. Did you ever end up having any luck fixing yours? I tried the hp battery utility and it wouldn't even start to run.
I'd love to get this battery back up and running - it wasn't even very old when this happened - about a year and 3 months - just out of warranty.


Well thank you, and everyone else who helped out. I have not yet bought a battery, but have came to the conclusion that mine has held it's last charge...forever at 99%. In the dark, I noticed that while the laptop was unplugged I could hit the power button and get a little flicker of a light on the cd controls in front of the laptop. That made me pretty happy to know that is was actually trying to start up. Do you guys think it is safe to buy batteries from ebay? the model number is hpf2024a..the ones there look off-brand...good idea?

[undergroundryan]

I had the exact same problem with the same battery on my Pavillion n5495. In my case, the battery was working fine and I bought a 2nd battery to have as an extra. As soon as I used the 2nd battery for the first time the old battery started exhibiting the same issues you describe. Says 99% charged, when you first plug it in orange light comes on for 10 sec than turns off and if you unplug the laptop it complety powers off instantly. I too think that it was too much of a coincidence that after using a different battery one time this one instantly goes dead. Did you ever end up having any luck fixing yours? I tried the hp battery utility and it wouldn't even start to run.
I'd love to get this battery back up and running - it wasn't even very old when this happened - about a year and 3 months - just out of warranty.
Yeh, it was a hella coincedence after my OS upgrade, and it sounds like you got the same problem which is a DEAD battery. I fixed my problem by purchasing a new battery and the laptop works fine. It sounds like your original battery hit the dust, to bad it only being a year old and just out of warranty. I hope mine lasts longer than that.