Bios battery bad?

I have for few days didn't power my notebook up and it says about the bios battery was low and I had to set the time and date but it that normal? Did this happen because I took the main battery that powers the notebook and the ac adapter unpluged and pressed and hold the power botton for around 8 sec? Then just plug the ac adapter back and the battery back and didnt turn on the notebook for around 3 days? Or is the bios battery bad and needs to be replaced? I just got the notebook last thursday at Office Depot so I thought it would have new batteries installed. I am still within 14 days so I can exchange notebooks if your guys think something is wrong with this new machine. The reason I did that 8 sec thing is to remove static or power left in the machine.



The model notebook I have is Toshiba C55-B5299

I just want to make sure its not defective machine but does this happen if you take the static off the computer by pressing and holding the power button for around 8 sec?

Did 100 people really viewed this topic for real? Or is that an error that it says 100 views? I see no replies yet but does that mean no one knows? I need to know before the 14 days is up since after that I wont be able to return the computer.

 

100 views might not only be people, it could be google bots indexing the content, etc.

Anyways, it's the BIOS battery. Yoiur main battery isn't responsible for keeping the date and time, the BIOS battery is. My bet would be on a defective BIOS battery that tested fine at the factory but died shortly after.

 

So just replacing the battery will be good as new then? Meaning for sure nothing is wrong with the machine like the motherboard?

 

Nothing is 'for sure'.

Make sure you don't damage it (further) when changing the battery and if that is the only problem, then yeah; problem solved.


NOTE:
Remove the power cable from the computer.
Remove the main battery from the computer.
Press/hold all keys with no power applied for a few seconds to drain any residual power.
Ground yourself before opening up the computer to get to the Bios battery.
Don't insert it the wrong way.
Don't force it into place.
Use the exact same type of battery as what you removed.

 

I actually found out what caused it to do it. When I remove the battery and power cord and press the power button for around 8 sec it seems like it discharge the RTC battery. I did try this again and it happened again. But it that normal that this happens?

 

I did call Toshiba techs and asked if this is normal and they said its normal that this happens when you remove the battery and ac cord and hold it for around 8 sec.

 

They are full of it...and I'm being nice here.

 

Agreed, on every laptop I've owned, removing the battery and holding down the power button to clear any residual charge did not clear the RTC, the same goes for any desktop. The battery for the RTC is simply not holding a charge and normal behavior it is not.

 

Is it possible that mine is made differently? Also basically what I do get is RTC batt low message when to drain the power left on the machine. Also is it possible that it somehow drains the rechargeable bios battery? Meaning discharges. All I know is that when I called Toshiba techs they said its normal but should I call them again tomorrow?


Ya someone did say this on a different forums.


"I don't agree! Been doing this for several years with many different laptop computers and held down reset as you describe quite a few times and never any indication of an effect on the CMOS battery. The procedure you describe drains electrons from various capacitors in the circuitry and provides a cold boot for the computer but has NO effect on the CMOS battery."


Is this something that I can fix like is the battery removeable so I can replace it? I know how to open the case but I don't know if this battery is replaceable meaning normal bios battery.

 

But what is strange is that if I for couple of days have the notebook turned off and turn it on it doesn't show this message it only shows when I remove the battery and press and hold the power button and then I put everything back and turn it on then it shows the RTC batt low.



Update: I found out that even I don't press the power button for 8 sec it still doesn't save bios settings. Meaning just taking the battery out and unplug the power cord shows low RTC batt again. The techs at Toshiba said this was normal when you take the battery out it will reset the bios.

 

It shouldn't do this, taking the CMOS battery out, yes, but the laptop's battery, shouldn't do this. At least it didn't on any Toshiba laptop I've seen or any other brand for that matter. It really sounds like a bad CMOS battery.

 

I attached a pic of the inside but is there a normal battery that is used for this notebook? Or is this something fixable?

 

Is that a button cell battery just SW of the fan?

 

I'm not an expert on Toshibas but have seen more than my fair share of laptops and my guess is that you are looking at a motherboard problem.

BIOS battery is replaceable and shouldn't cost more than $5 or so on feebay for most laptops. Now if swapping it doesn't solve your problem...see above.

Good luck.

 

Are you saying those two silver round things on the bottoms of each side since those are speaker magnets. They look like bios battery but they aren't.

 

So for sure its a motherboard problem? Someone said its likely just the battery is bad and when Toshiba did the test on the machine before selling them it was working but after the battery went bad. But you may be right its the motherboard. But eather way should I exchange the machine since I still have 7 days left? Or is it possible that the techs in Toshiba are right that this machine bios gets resetted when main battery is removed? They said that I had to click set as default in the bios when this happens.

 

I honestly don't see a CMOS battery in your picture, but bear in mind the following:

a) I'm not familiar with the machine and

b) My eyes are bad to begin with, and I've been up since 4am...pushing 10pm here now...

So you really need a:

1) Service manual for this laptop or

2) Someone who had worked on the system in question.

Good luck.

 

This is an interesting post I found from someone else. It looks like they have the same problem with the same model I have so I think its really true that when you remove the battery the bios clears as Toshiba says it.


First he talks about a different model similar to mine then in the middle post he says about the battery on the same model I have. C55-B5299



C55-B5202 no wired network - TOSHIBA FORUMS

 

If you were to remove the CMOS battery the BIOS would reset to defaults, yes.

This does not apply to main battery.

Also, the business of CMOS battery getting drained after 8 seconds of pushing down the "power" button is...unheard of, let's say.

 

Well I am stating to think that there is no bios battery on the Toshiba. That's why when you remove the main battery you have to set the time and date again. Also I don't see any bios battery inside the machine.

 

Actually I don't even need to press and hold 8 sec to reset the bios. Just removing the battery and unplug the plug that connects to power the notebook does the same thing. I think these are designed to not have a bios battery.

 

If that's indeed the case then it's one heck of a dumb design.

In my opinion, that is.

 

I actually called a tech again and they did look up the specs and they said there should be a RTC battery and its separate from the main battery so she said she thinks I should exchange it with a new one. The reason why I don't really want to do this is since I worked hard on loading my programs and I don't like to reinstall them again. Also the computer works great on everything else no problems with Win 8.1 and runs perfectly. Only problem is that when I remove the main battery and then put it back then I have to set the time a date and also click to set default settings.

 

Does this stuff happen a lot on cheap notebooks? Like ones that are around $250 or less? Or are all notebooks build to last normally even lower end ones? Or even slightly higher lower end ones like $300 or $350 ones gets problems often?


Also interesting is why two tech guys said its normal but the last one said its not normal since it has RTC battery?

 

^^^^^^^

A single answer to all of your questions: more often than not you get what you pay for, and this doesn't apply to laptops only.

Good luck.

 

Well do most people here that have low end notebooks work fine without problems? Are there many people that buy notebooks that are around $250 today?

 

The RTC battery could be on the other side of the motherboard. That would explain why you're not seeing it.

As for the tech support guys, these days, with the trend of outsourcing tech support to another country where the labor is cheap along with the metrics used to measured the support guy's "so called performance", you end up with people who aren't too tech savvy and who may have to "resolve" a certain amount of calls per hour to keep their job. The end result is the bad customer support we've come to expect.

Personally, I've come to expect bad service for most consumer laptops.

 

Ok now I know for sure my notebook is ok. I went to OfficeMax and had one of the guys take the battery out from there display model and unplugged AC out and put it back in and the battery back in and power it and guess what the same thing happened again so apparently its designed that so if you remove the main battery it resets the bios. Strange but true.

 

The rtc battery is clearly on the other side of the motherboard in that picture. That HUGE white circle in the middle right hand side is it's spot. Most probably LR2032 type, not soldered. If that pic is from your own laptop, then you should be able to see the battery if you just peek from the side, maybe pry them apart a little bit.

And losing bios/clock without battery is not normal, sounds something like bad battery batch if there is more than one of those computers around

Something like this:
http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/JTechLLC/2010-02-27_160611_w340ui-2.jpg

 

WorgenWolf - Did you eventually resolved this RTC Battery issue? I just upgraded the memory in my C55-B5299 and got the same error. It tells be to press enter, but nothing happens. Then, about 20 seconds later the laptop turns off. I have the right memory in it, in fact when I tried putting the original stick back in, I got the same error.

 

I just came across this thread while trying to find out where the CMOS battery might be on this motherboard. I just bought one of these...actually it's a B5300 but the motherboard looks the same. This is a manufacturing omission. They SCREWED UP! The picture WorgenWolf put up is the same as mine. If you click on his link, then on the arrow in the top right corner you can then increase the size of the picture. When you do, you'll see a + sign in the lower right corner where the CMOS battery was supposed to be. That's obviously showing the positive connection. So the CMOS battery was somehow omitted from the motherboard on the B5299 and then again on the B5300. I'm wondering if it was 'forgotten' on any of the other similar models. By not putting the CMOS battery on the motherboard you cannot let the laptop sleep or go into hibernation without getting the 'RTC Battery Low' warning and will have to constantly reset the date and time. I have never before seen anything like this. If anybody knew about this 'before' purchasing these laptops, they NEVER WOULD! Too big of an inconvenience and not worth putting up with. I'm going to contact Toshiba and see what they have to say about this and I will also be contacting my attorney to see what can be done about this...if anything. IMHO it's a huge mistake and may be grounds for a class action lawsuit. We shall see.

 

There is no CMOS battery on the MOBO of these low end laptops...removing the battery and PS adapter clear the settings

 

Components get removed / added all the time. It would be surprising if looking at a motherboard you could not find some component pads not being used.

The laptop main battery can supply a backup voltage or even with AC connected.

Wouldn't surprise me if CMOS battery was removed to lower costs.

 

Could be that the RTC on that system is maintained by a capacitor. Problem with this is that a capacitor will drain much sooner than a traditional coin cell battery.