Ibm Thinkpad A31 Second Battery Error
index » Classic ThinkPad Hardware » ThinkPad T2x & T3x Series All times are UTC-05:00 T30 "Critical Low-Battery Error" will not boot Moderators: Moderator group, Admin group Post new topic Reply to topic Page 1 of 2 [ 39 posts ] Go to page 1 2 Next Previous topic | Next topic Author Message j2k Post subject: T30 "Critical Low-Battery Error" will not bootPostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:20 am Offline Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:17 pm Posts: 13 Location: chapel hill, nc T30 will not boot, but powers off automatically from the "IBM Thinkpad" screen where it lists "Press F1 for IBM BIOS Setup Utility" and Press F12 to choose temporary boot device" in the bottom left corner. T30 - 2366 - UN7 with only original 256 mem. installed (which checks out on another machine) When machine is off and plugged into A/C adapter with the battery installed, the battery indicator light is NOT lit. When power button is pressed while plugged into A/C adapter WITH the battery installed, the indicator lights flash, the fan begins to spin, and then instant shut-off (no LCD display activity what so ever). When power button is pressed while plugged into A/C adapter WITHOUT the battery installed, it makes it to the "IBM Thinkpad" logo screen where it lists "Press F1 for IBM BIOS Setup Utility" and "Press F12 to choose temporary boot device" in the bottom left corner, but after hanging there for several seconds the message "0190: Critical low-battery error" is displayed and the machine powers off immediately. Somehow, it either doesn't "know" that it is plugged into the A/C adapter (im not sure if there is even such a determination made?) OR, it is sensing current overload and attributing it to a faulty battery (even though one is not present at all) Which makes me wonder if its a short somewhere on the system board near the point where the battery connects to it...? (suggestions/thoughts please) Or just a shot system board...? (suggestions/thoughts please) I would greatly appreciate ideas and/or advice. Thanks, J Top Profile Reply with quote joester Post subject: PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:53 am Offline Senior Member Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:19 pm Posts: 562 Location: Vestal, NY Welcome to Thinkpads! It sounds like you have a bad AC adapter to me, o
course, is "wow, what a great justification for buying a new laptop". With laptop prices falling and no such luck with battery prices, this almost makes sense. But, most of us will probably just bite the bullet and buy a new battery. The third alternative would be to replace the cells in the battery you already have. This article is about the third alternative. If you are not fairly skilled in working on electronics, this is not necessarily a good alternative. But, it is possible. Personally, I was inspired to do this the first time because the small (3-cell) battery for http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=60037 my ASUS laptop was very ill and I couldn't find a replacement. Financially, it also looked like a good choice. The out of stock new battery cost $129. I found the cells for a bit over $5 each. So, I ordered the cells and, expecting to have a success, ordered six more for a sick battery for one of my T23 ThinkPads. The first trick is to open the old battery http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery without destroying the plastic or anything important inside. What you need to do is find where the two parts are glued together and work on the glue line with something sharp until you can open the battery. In the case of ThinkPad batteries, there are labels over parts of the glue line. So, first cut through the labels with a sharp knife. I then chose to use a wood chisel to first find parts of the plastic that will flex because there is open space behind them and then start opening in these areas. You may have better luck with a utility knife. Once you get the opening process started, a utility knife works best in some parts, the wood chisel in others. Just be careful not to cut too deep or you could damage circuitry or wiring inside. Also, remember that the goal is to be able to glue the battery case back together and have it fit in the laptop so cutting out a little plastic (possibly with a fine saw) may be better than an attempt to just open it up with the result of warping or breaking the plastic. Once you have the battery pack open, it is analysis time. The most common battery packs
collected lots of data about the problem. For newer models we can't yet be sure, but it's probably wisest to avoid these models. IBM's handling of this http://www.levien.com/tp600-battery.html problem has been quite poor. I have tried to contact them multiple times, with no real response. This is extremely disappointing behavior, expecially for a brand which has traditionally stood for quality https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21341031/0190-critical-battery-eror.html and support. I personally consider IBM's behavior to verge on the disreputable. As a result, I do not recommend IBM ThinkPad laptops. If you are stuck with an IBM laptop and its ibm thinkpad battery is dying, my sympathies. I don't have much advice other than to consider upgrading to a better brand. 31 Jan 2003: This page was linked from Slashdot. There is some interesting discussion in the comments. The consensus is that TP600 batteries die quite earlier than most (but not all) other laptop brands. I've tried Valero's reconditioning approach with some success, but the battery seems ibm thinkpad a31 to revert to its very short lifetime quite quickly, so I don't consider it a real solution. 25 Oct 2002: I sent a fairly strongly worded letter to IBM through the feedback mechanism. We'll see if it gets a response. In the grand scheme of things, it's a small problem, but it bugs me nonetheless. I'm pretty sure IBM has made a defective product in this case, and they're not admitting it. I've gotten quite a bit of feedback on the issue, and have summarized it here. Finally, a bit of good news: Javier Valero seems to have figured out how to improve the battery life a bit. Read on. Paul Hutchison reports that his 600E battery has the same problem. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other models similarly affected. Feedback is welcome:
for Help Receive Real-Time Help Create a Freelance Project Hire for a Full Time Job Ways to Get Help Ask a Question Ask for Help Receive Real-Time Help Create a Freelance Project Hire for a Full Time Job Ways to Get Help Expand Search Submit Close Search Login Join Today Products BackProducts Gigs Live Careers Vendor Services Groups Website Testing Store Headlines Experts Exchange > Questions > 0190: critical battery eror Want to Advertise Here? Solved 0190: critical battery eror Posted on 2005-03-07 Laptops/Notebooks 1 Verified Solution 6 Comments 2,999 Views Last Modified: 2011-09-20 I have a IBM think pad in shop unit wont boot into windows with AC pluged in gives me 0190: critical battery error will not start up with battery in unit at all can not get into BIOS computer displays error 0190 and shuts down shortly after I want to open up the machine but havent found a service manual for it yet If anyone has anny ideas about the problem let me know Also if you can find me a service manual for this machine that would be verry helpfull 0 Question by:chadace Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google LVL 8 Best Solution byddrdan Some likely culprits: 1. Power failure in the charger. This would be my top guess because the unit will not take the battery at all. 2. Motherboard voltage regulator 3. The adapter plug at the back Go to Solution 6 Comments Message Author Comment by:chadace2005-03-07 Oh ya its a think pad A31 forgot to mention that 0 LVL 8 Overall: Level 8 Laptops/Notebooks 6 Message Expert Comment by:ddrdan2005-03-07 Your battery pack is dead. Do you have the charger? Will that model run with external power and no battery inserted? If it will run on charger only: Try running the PC Docotor Diagnostics version for that laptop first. Then check the results it gives on the battery. http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&q1=a31&uid=psg1MIGR-52202&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&cc=us&lang=en (download is at the bottom) 0 LVL 8 Overall: Level 8 Laptops/Notebooks 6 Message Expert Comment by:ddrdan2005-03-07 Sorry meant to add this to the last post: Here is the repair manual in PDF format: http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs