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Shutd down due to "Critical Battery", even after charging
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Heisenberg
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:55 pm
- Location: Dallas, Texas
Shutd down due to "Critical Battery", even after charging
Hey all,
I have a T430, which I have had for only a month or so. It will randomly go into hibernation, and when I restart it, it says it did so because of a "Critical Battery." The most recent time this happened the battery indicator said I was at 94% battery life. I have had this happen a few times in the past, but at those times the battery was lower (20-30% so I thought it may be falsely thinking the battery is critical). I did a battery reset, through the Lenovo battery manager, but the critical battery hibernation still occurs. The battery manager says the battery is in good condition, so no problems there.
I am stumped as to what the problem may be. There is no apparent reason for the computer to go into hibernation, it just seems to do it at random, regardless of what percentage is displayed on the battery life gauge. It isn't overheating, as I have been monitoring all temps on the computer. So, do any of you have any idea what might be the problem and how I can address it?
I have a T430, which I have had for only a month or so. It will randomly go into hibernation, and when I restart it, it says it did so because of a "Critical Battery." The most recent time this happened the battery indicator said I was at 94% battery life. I have had this happen a few times in the past, but at those times the battery was lower (20-30% so I thought it may be falsely thinking the battery is critical). I did a battery reset, through the Lenovo battery manager, but the critical battery hibernation still occurs. The battery manager says the battery is in good condition, so no problems there.
I am stumped as to what the problem may be. There is no apparent reason for the computer to go into hibernation, it just seems to do it at random, regardless of what percentage is displayed on the battery life gauge. It isn't overheating, as I have been monitoring all temps on the computer. So, do any of you have any idea what might be the problem and how I can address it?
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Cigarguy
- ThinkPadder

- Posts: 1761
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 3:08 pm
- Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Re: Shutd down due to "Critical Battery", even after charging
Is this a genuine Lenovo battery or aftermarket? I got an aftermarket battery that will, on occasion, return a "critical battery" error even though the battery is fully charge. A couple of times Power Manager come up with the message that there is no battery installed even though the laptop (X61T) at the time is running on the said battery. Taking the battery out, holding the power button for about 1 minute, and reinserting the battery resets everything.
Re: Shutd down due to "Critical Battery", even after charging
Do you use tpfancontrol?Heisenberg wrote:Hey all,
I have a T430, which I have had for only a month or so. It will randomly go into hibernation, and when I restart it, it says it did so because of a "Critical Battery." The most recent time this happened the battery indicator said I was at 94% battery life. I have had this happen a few times in the past, but at those times the battery was lower (20-30% so I thought it may be falsely thinking the battery is critical). I did a battery reset, through the Lenovo battery manager, but the critical battery hibernation still occurs. The battery manager says the battery is in good condition, so no problems there.
I am stumped as to what the problem may be. There is no apparent reason for the computer to go into hibernation, it just seems to do it at random, regardless of what percentage is displayed on the battery life gauge. It isn't overheating, as I have been monitoring all temps on the computer. So, do any of you have any idea what might be the problem and how I can address it?
jayton4
Current models/upgrades:
T410 2518X01- 8GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB
T410s 2901A3U- 8GB, Intel 6300 WiFi, Crucial m4 256GB w/ mSATA>microSATA adapter
T420s 4174PPU- 16GB, Intel 520 180GB, Crucial M550 512GB mSATA, Intel 6300 WiFi
and a stack of classics in storage
Current models/upgrades:
T410 2518X01- 8GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB
T410s 2901A3U- 8GB, Intel 6300 WiFi, Crucial m4 256GB w/ mSATA>microSATA adapter
T420s 4174PPU- 16GB, Intel 520 180GB, Crucial M550 512GB mSATA, Intel 6300 WiFi
and a stack of classics in storage
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Heisenberg
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:55 pm
- Location: Dallas, Texas
Re: Shutd down due to "Critical Battery", even after charging
It is a genuine Lenovo battery. I may try what you did.Is this a genuine Lenovo battery or aftermarket? I got an aftermarket battery that will, on occasion, return a "critical battery" error even though the battery is fully charge. A couple of times Power Manager come up with the message that there is no battery installed even though the laptop (X61T) at the time is running on the said battery. Taking the battery out, holding the power button for about 1 minute, and reinserting the battery resets everything.
Yes, I do. 90% of the time I leave the setting on BIOS, but I like to use it to monitor the core temp.Do you use tpfancontrol?
Re: Shutd down due to "Critical Battery", even after charging
There is a known bug in tpfancontrol v062 that causes exactly what you are describing, but not typically in BIOS mode. The bug is fixed in the new v063 that was just released a couple weeks ago. I would give that a try first.Heisenberg wrote:Yes, I do. 90% of the time I leave the setting on BIOS, but I like to use it to monitor the core temp.
jayton4
Current models/upgrades:
T410 2518X01- 8GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB
T410s 2901A3U- 8GB, Intel 6300 WiFi, Crucial m4 256GB w/ mSATA>microSATA adapter
T420s 4174PPU- 16GB, Intel 520 180GB, Crucial M550 512GB mSATA, Intel 6300 WiFi
and a stack of classics in storage
Current models/upgrades:
T410 2518X01- 8GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB
T410s 2901A3U- 8GB, Intel 6300 WiFi, Crucial m4 256GB w/ mSATA>microSATA adapter
T420s 4174PPU- 16GB, Intel 520 180GB, Crucial M550 512GB mSATA, Intel 6300 WiFi
and a stack of classics in storage
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Heisenberg
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:55 pm
- Location: Dallas, Texas
Re: Shutd down due to "Critical Battery", even after charging
Hmm, looking into this more, it sounds like this is my issue. I never really paid much attention, but when it would randomly go into standby it may have been in smart mode.(sometimes I forget to change it when I turn my computer on, since it's default is smart mode on startup) I just downloaded v063, and I'll be back if it happens again, but I doubt it will. I appreciate the help!There is a known bug in tpfancontrol v062 that causes exactly what you are describing, but not typically in BIOS mode. The bug is fixed in the new v063 that was just released a couple weeks ago. I would give that a try first.
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