Lenovo battery not detected

Hi,

My Lenovo Thinkpad L390 is reporting that it doesn't recognise the battery anymore - or rather, it's reporting that it doesn't support non Lenovo-made batteries, but the original Lenovo one is installed and has worked up to now.

I've seen some info suggesting this can be a glitch rather than the battery going bad, but the usual fixes haven't worked. I've:
Checked in Device Manager, "working properly" and updating drivers reports latest installed.
Run power troubleshooter, no changes made.
Checked on Lenovo site and installed all system updates there.
Updated Windows 11 to 22H2.
Removed battery, reset with power held for 30 secs, cleaned contacts as best I could since they're tiny pins under a cover.

One video I saw suggested uninstalling all the battery drivers and then just putting the battery back in and booting, but it didn't say whether this would do anything different from the normal Update Drivers routine.

Once it started this a few days ago, it was clearly not charging the battery either. Plugged in, it sometimes reports charge at 255%, mostly just shows empty battery symbol in notification area with Battery status: plugged in or Battery status: unknown remaining when disconnected (although it keeps running for the short time I've disconnected it).

Win 11 Pro x64, 22H2, Build 22621.674

If it's just the battery has died, does anyone know if I'll have the same issue with any "new" non-Lenovo replacement, or if Lenovo ones are even still available? So many laptops of mine have ended up permanently plugged in!

lettersquash said:

One video I saw suggested uninstalling all the battery drivers and then just putting the battery back in and booting, but it didn't say whether this would do anything different from the normal Update Drivers routine.

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The point of this suggestion would be to ensure reinstallation of the driver in the hope that the problem was caused by the installed driver having become corrupted in use.
Checking for updates does not have the same effect.

They'd be no need to disconnect / reconnect the battery for this, just uninstall the driver in Device manager, Batteries, Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery then let Windows re-detect the device and reinstall its driver.


Denis

Thanks, Denis, that gave me confidence to try that idea - unfortunately it's still the same.

Was this the latest Lenovo driver?

No my battery driver is dated 2006! I don't know why the system update thingy didn't offer me that. I've switched to the UK site rather than the au, and the 28 September 2022 version is listed. The readme lists my model. Should I download the exe and just run it? I'm not much of a power user with driver stuff.

HI,
Did you do a reset with paperclip in the reset hole in the bottom panel?

Ciao, Han

han jansen said:

HI,
Did you do a reset with paperclip in the reset hole in the bottom panel?

Ciao, Han

Click to expand...

No. It says in the manual that's for if the computer won't shut down. It's working as it should other than reporting the battery is non-Lenovo and not charging it (or at least not reporting any charge value).

Fabler2 said:

Was this the latest Lenovo driver?

Lenovo Power and Battery Driver for Windows 11 (Version 21H2 or later), 10 (Version 1607 or Later) - ThinkPad - Lenovo Support AU

support.lenovo.com

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I installed that. No change. Thanks anyway.

Fabler2 said:

Was this the latest Lenovo driver?

Lenovo Power and Battery Driver for Windows 11 (Version 21H2 or later), 10 (Version 1607 or Later) - ThinkPad - Lenovo Support AU

support.lenovo.com

Click to expand...

I don't understand - this appeared to install, but the relevant battery item in Device Manager still shows the same 2006 driver. I have an Administrator (local) account, and it reported installing successfully, so I don't know what it is or what it's done.

lettersquash said:

I don't understand - this appeared to install, but the relevant battery item in Device Manager still shows the same 2006 driver. I have an Administrator (local) account, and it reported installing successfully, so I don't know what it is or what it's done.

Click to expand...

It sounds like that Lenovo download was the software for something else and was not the driver for the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery.
- Perhaps you have a Lenovo utility related to power management, called "Vantage", and it was the software for that?
- Your download's ReadMe file says

Lenovo said:

This software installs the dependency software for Power features of Lenovo Vantage.
This software works with the Lenovo Power Management Driver, but it is a different component.

Click to expand...

By the way, very many Windows built-in drivers are dated 21st June 2006. It's a way of manipulating the relative priority of drivers - any driver issued by an OEM will be later than 21st June 2006 so Windows will accept it as better and replace the installed default driver with it.
- There are a few other dates that MS uses as driver dates. There's 21st April 2009, for example.

All the best,
Denis

Thanks, yeah I just noticed it's for the Vantage package, which has bad reviews and isn't necessary so I haven't got that. I've posted for help at Lenovo forums as well.

can you purchase a spare original Lenovo battery for that Thinkpad L390 laptop (if it's still available)?
in case the current battery turns out to be faulty

Yeah, I think I can get one, but I'd be annoyed if I got one and found it wasn't the issue, as they're fairly expensive. So I thought I'd see if anyone knew how to figure out if it's the battery or a software or connection issue.

has this problem been remedied by anyone? I'm having the same ongoing issue

spharris73 said:

has this problem been remedied by anyone? I'm having the same ongoing issue

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Welcome to ElevenForum! At least from the postings up to this point, it doesn't sound like they resolved the issue. Have you spoken directly with Lenovo regarding this issue? I would hope that they could provide some more informed guidance to you on this topic.