T20 won't charge battery after 1.22 BIOS update! PLease help

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95BlackZ28 · #1 Post by **95BlackZ28** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:39 pm

Long time thinkpad owner, first time with a serious problem.

Anyway, last night I decide to reinstall windows, update my drivers ect, and after updating my BIOS to 1.22, my battery won't charge, isn't recognized by the battery maximiser, and the amber light blinks all the time whether plugged in or not.

I tried to downgrade the bios to 1.21 but it says I need a "fully charged battery" before continuing so I think I'm out of luck.

Based on research on this forum I think it has something to do with the embedded controller: 1.06.

If anyone could shed some light I would appreciate it very much!
Thanks

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:00 am

Welcome to the Forum!

Try removing the battery from the system and rebooting it several times. Then while the system is ON, reinsert the battery and see if it recognizes it. If it doesn't, then remove the battery and reboot several more times. This time, install the battery PRIOR to starting the system.

95BlackZ28 · #3 Post by **95BlackZ28** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:58 am

Ok I'll try that when I get home, thanks for the advice. I"ll post later with the results.

95BlackZ28 · #4 Post by **95BlackZ28** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:46 pm

Well I tried rebooting several times and swapping the battery just like you said but it didn't fix the problem.

I think I need to find a way to downgrade the bios, but without a fully charged battery it's impossible. Any ideas?

phool@round · #5 Post by **phool@round** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:50 am

With power off and removed, battery removed, hold the power button and count to 10. Reinstall battery, apply wall power, start up.

pianowizard · #6 Post by **pianowizard** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:58 am

I had this problem before, also on a T2*. I think it's because the new BIOS refuses to charge batteries whose health aren't at "green" levels. With this BIOS update, IBM/Lenovo is forcing people to buy new batteries, which is unethical IMO. I was lucky and happened to have an extra battery that was "green", so I plugged it in and flashed the BIOS to an older version.

Hopefully, phool@round's method will work. Otherwise, you will need to find a healthy battery to flash back to the older BIOS.

phool@round · #7 Post by **phool@round** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:03 am

Crazy isn't it? I haven't looked at their stock lately but if this is the future I'm buying a few shares.......lol.

95BlackZ28 · #8 Post by **95BlackZ28** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:03 am

thanks for the advice Pool round- I'll give it a shot tonight after work!

If that doesn't work I might just throw it off the roof

Wingnut · #9 Post by **Wingnut** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:26 am

Weird....I just got finished updating the bios on a 2647 41U T20 and the same thing happened....battery light blinking orange and not charging. But I shut it down & restarted it and it is working fine now. FWIW, the battery I used shows yellow for health level (holds about a 1 hour charge).

95BlackZ28 · #10 Post by **95BlackZ28** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 2:32 am

Well looks like I'm gonna throw this thing off the roof. Tried the power button thing for 10 seconds and no luck. Any other ideas?
I can't believe I'm going through this much trouble for trying to UPDATE my computer....

SMA · #11 Post by **SMA** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:22 am

Not that I believe that this will help either, but in lack of anything better, consider this:

The installation instructions for the bios update says, that after the update, one will have to go into the bios setup utility and press F9 to load default configuration.

If not already done, try disconnecting both the ac adapter and the main battery.

Is it an aftermarket battery you have?

95BlackZ28 · #12 Post by **95BlackZ28** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:57 am

No it's not aftermarket, but genuine IBM battery. I know the battery is good because before the BIOS update it would hold a charge for hours...

This is SO annoying.

95BlackZ28 · #13 Post by **95BlackZ28** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:18 pm

Well good news!! I fixed the problem. I called up a local used computer dealer and they happen to have a fully charged T20. I went down there, swapped the batteries, downgraded the BIOS to 1.19 and now everything is back to normal!!

But now I have a new problem... do I keep the new T41 I bought or sell it?

phool@round · #14 Post by **phool@round** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:19 pm

Keep it!

T20 won't charge battery after 1.22 BIOS update! PLease help

T20 won't charge battery after 1.22 BIOS update! PLease help

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