Ultrabase auxiliary battery issues.

[Robert100]

I have an X31 with an Ultrabase. If I have the X31 in the Ultrabase, and a battery installed in the Ultrabase bottom, the laptop will boot and use the battery. However, the battery status light blinks orange and Windows XP reports zero battery percent charge, even if the battery is fully charged.

If I have the laptop running off of a battery in the ultrabase (and no battery in the laptop itself) and I plug it into the AC, it will then run off the AC. If I then unplug the AC, even with a fully charged battery in the Ultrabase, the computer goes dead.

In other words, the computer will turn on using a battery in the Ultrabase, but it will not switch to it if AC power is supplied then removed. This problem only occurs with the Ultrabase, not when a battery is in the laptop itself.

This is really annoying, because I used to be able to have a battery in both the laptop, and ultrabase, and I could use the laptop for about 10 hours at a time away from an outlet. But now, the battery in the laptop will run out first, and the computer will cut off instantly when it runs out. Then I can turn the computer right back on, using the battery in the Ultrabase. But the laptop refuses to automatically switch over to the Ultrabase battery when it needs to call that battery into duty.

Oh yeah... there is something rattling around inside the Ultrabase if I shake it. Something must have broken off. Any ideas on how I can fix this thing? Is this a common problem?

Thanks,

Robert

[sjthinkpader]

With the Ultrabase, a X31 can have three battery options; one on the computer and a 2nd one in the Ultrabay or the bottom slot but not both. Are you having this problem with a 2nd main battery or an Ultrabay battery? Had it worked before but don't work now?

[Robert100]

The problem does not exist when I put the battery inside the laptop (as opposed to the ultrabase).

For instance, if I put the battery in the laptop, then put the laptop in the ultrabase, it will act completely normal. The problem has to do with batteries that are inserted into the Ultrabase.

There are two battery slots on the Ultrabase... one under the back (the long rectangular one) and also the one that fits in the CDROM slot. I have one of those batteries also, and it exhibits the same problem... Even before the computer gets to the BIOS screen, the battery light is flashing orange, even though I know the battery is charged. The battery will still run the laptop, even though the laptop seems to think the battery is going to fail. So the problem is that I then plug in the AC, then unplug the AC, and the computer goes dead, even though the laptop should switch to the battery.

Basically, the laptop doesn't want to switch to the ultrabase batteries from AC, and it thinks all batteries in the Ultrabase are dead (reports 0% charge in WinXP). Maybe there is some hardware in the laptop that will not allow the laptop to switch to the battery, if it thinks that battery is dead?

I do remember dropping the ultrabase like a year ago, and that may have been the start of this problem. Its been so long, I can't remember. I wonder if taking the Ultrabase apart would yield any answers.

Robert

[Harryc]

One of the complaints over the years about Ultrabay batteries and power management is that Thinkpads switch to and use up the Ultrabay batteries first prior to switching to the main battery. The complaint was that this added to short life spans on the Ultrabay batteries due to high cycles.
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Options-Acc ... td-p/61861

So, in your first post you stated, "If I have the X31 in the Ultrabase, and a battery installed in the Ultrabase bottom, the laptop will boot and use the battery. However, the battery status light blinks orange and Windows XP reports zero battery percent charge, even if the battery is fully charged. If I have the laptop running off of a battery in the ultrabase (and no battery in the laptop itself) and I plug it into the AC, it will then run off the AC. If I then unplug the AC, even with a fully charged battery in the Ultrabase, the computer goes dead. In other words, the computer will turn on using a battery in the Ultrabase, but it will not switch to it if AC power is supplied then removed. This problem only occurs with the Ultrabase, not when a battery is in the laptop itself."

If you have both batteries installed (Ultrabay or Ultrabase and main Thinkpad batteries), power management will use up the Ultrabay/Ultrabase batteries first. So, if you then remove the Thinkpad battery and try to run off of the Ultrabay/Ultrabase battery with no AC power, it would make sense that the Thinkpad won't run because you are now attempting to run off of a drained battery, and that it shows 0% charged. I am not saying that there is not a problem with your Ultrabase, but I simply wanted to point out that you seem to be misguided about how power management works in this scenario.