battery question

Hi,

I have an issue with the battery on my asus eee pc. I removed my battery a while ago because I was going use it plugged in most of the time. When I put the battery back, it says unknown charge. I ran the battery like this for a few hours but then when i shut down my laptop wouldn't restart. So I plugged my laptop back on ac power, and now there's an x over the laptop icon, it says charging but again there's no charge %. Does anyone know what the problem could be?

Thank you.

 

Laptop batteries self-discharge, and if you stored the battery for long enough and with a low enough charge starting off, it may be deeply depleted. The battery cannot be recharged without a special charger or tool. Some people use the "freezer trick" as a last resort, you can google it. If the battery is as good as trash it may be worth a shot, but I never recommend it.

 

Hi,

Thank you for the reply. I don't believe the battery was depleted because I was able to use it for a few hours when I first put it back in, my only issue is not being able to see the charge %. This happens every time I store the battery and put it back in for the first time to use. After a few reboots, the charge % did come back. I was just wondering what the issue and how to avoid this thing again.

Thank you again.

 

Oh. That sounds like a firmware/embedded controller quirk or it could be a failing chip on your battery (or just bad contact). There is a battery "gauge" on a microchip contained in the battery housing. That is read and managed by the embedded controller which is a chip on your motherboard. I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens repeatedly.