Path: news.ccsf.jp!tomockey.ddo.jp!news.tornevall.net!news2.arglkargh.de!news.n-ix.net!newsfeed.freenet.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: John Williamson Newsgroups: japan.comp.toshiba Subject: Re: Battery - Hardware; Configuration or Nothing Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:19:26 +0100 Lines: 47 Message-ID: <6dhbboF2jdsgU1@mid.individual.net> References: <487368d2$0$22854$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: individual.net zT4JfNSC9AmGgGxnlUoIoQhX539878xdUBIvR+OyiVb/qK66gU Cancel-Lock: sha1:GiZPa84yXB8eBzbAOwkVwgo29rU= User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.14 (Windows/20080421) In-Reply-To: <487368d2$0$22854$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com> Xref: news.ccsf.jp japan.comp.toshiba:1540 John Dulak wrote: > Group: > - The battery is just over a year old and has gotten only light use. > > - The system recently sat off but plugged in with the battery charging > for several weeks. > > - A second (older) battery gives the same results. (This battery gives > less than hour of use - Hence the newer battery.) > > - OS is Windows 2000 Pro. Recently recieved and installed a few new > updates from Microsoft. > > - I've tried "Deep Cycling" the battery by letting it become compleatly > discharged (Command prompt only mode) and then recharging. Interestingly > enough it will often recharge from this state with no problems. > > - I also entered the CMOS/BIOS setup via Esc-F1 and looked for relevent > power configuration settings but did not find anything. > > * Recently everything has started working normally with the battery > recognized and charging as normal. I would, however, very much like to > understand what was going on. This laptop is old but serves me well and > I would not mind putting a modest amount of money (~$100) into fixing a > real problem. I am also comfortable with taking the thing appart and > tinkering if something has come loose or needs cleaned. > > Any suggestions, or even WAGs, are welcome. > For about a 70% confidence level, leaving it connected to a charger without use for a long period has confused the circuitry inside the battery, making it think it's lost a large portion of its capacity. Deep cycling has reset the circuitry, giving normal usability again. It is possible that the battery has permanently lost some capacity and/ or the control circuitry is damaged/ permanently confused to a greater or lesser extent. Carry on using it normally for a while, & see how it goes. There may be a battery calibration utility either installed or avalilable from Toshiba's download centre, if so, run it, & see what it says. It's often hidden in the Toshiba Power saver screen in Control Panel. -- Tciao for Now! John.