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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi George,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The problem is that your batteries and =
charging
system are too "smart" for their/your own good. There is probably =
a bit
of (il)logic at foot here. The way it works is that some =
circuitry
somewhere monitors power flow in and out of the battery, ordinarily (?) =
giving
the computer the ability to make some very good educated guesses about =
how much
power is left (at least early in the battery's life). The problem =
is that
the software and/or firmware that monitors and records energy usage can =
actually
have bugs. (I know that's hard to believe!) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A bug can quickly render a perfectly =
healthy $200
lithium battery pack with on-board logic circuitry completely =
useless.
DAMHIK. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Consider a discharged =
battery that
the computer thinks is 99% charged. The computer will add 1% =
charge to
reach the "full" 100% (or so it thinks), and then it will stop =
charging.
Then after 1% of the capacity of the battery is used (the last 1%, that
is), the battery will die, and the computer will go =
down.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm not familiar with your particular =
type of
computer, so I don't know specifically how to advise you, but you might =
try a
complete shutdown/reboot of your computer. That may mean that you =
need to
do a backup first. You might also try removing a battery that the =
computer
says has completely charged, finish charging it externally, and =
reinstall
it. Then the computer's "perceived" charge state would be
accurate. Your friend can probably provide you the appropriate =
type of
charger.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If the battery pack (is it a pack??) =
has its own
on-board logic circuitry, then it will identify itself to the computer, =
so that
the computer can keep track of multiple battery packs. For this =
reason, it
is hard to straighten out such a problem by playing musical =
batteries. If
there's no on-board logic circuitry (e.g. on a battery with only two =
terminals),
then this wouldn't apply.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If there's on-board logic circuitry, =
another
approach can be to absolutely, completely discharge the battery -- dead, =
dead,
dead. This causes the logic to become amnesic. Then charge =
the
battery externally. The logic will come up refreshed and hopefully =
less
schizophrenic.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Other than that, there's some =
searchable info on
the web, perhaps even for your specific computer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Have fun!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peace,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>PS If anyone has found out how to =
remedy this
problem on a Toshiba Satellite system, please tell me how!!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=geotak@magma.ca href="mailto:geotak@magma.ca">George =
Takats</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, May 28, 2005 =
2:05
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> OT Axim 5</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=3>Hello Colleague,<BR>In September 2003 I =
purchased
the Axim 5 hand held computer from Dell Canada. In October 2003 =
the
following message dropped down: "Backup battery very low. To =
prevent
possible data loss, replace or recharge your battery according to the =
owner's
manual."<BR>I contacted Dell and they replaced the original backup
battery. In the meantime I purchased a backup battery from a =
friend who
is a whole seller of batteries. He measured the "defective" =
battery and
claim that the battery is still good.<BR>Since than I bought 4 =
separate backup
batteries from my friend because for no reason at all I have been =
receiving
warning messages about low battery charge.<BR>Before I pursue this =
problem any
further I decided to experiment. Using two batteries which were
"defective" I replace one with the other when I received the =
warning.
Interestingly enough when I replaced the old battery with the "new" =
defective
battery all looked well. Backup battery showed 100%. The =
next time
I checked the battery in the system it showed 70% charge only. (I =
haven't used
the computer at all) At other times when I replaced the battery =
with a
"new" old battery it showed 100% and then within 2 seconds the bar got =
empty
and showed 0%. This happened several times. Sometimes I =
was able
to use the computer with the "defective" reading at other times the =
dropped
down window kept warning me.<BR>Interestingly enough I have 5 backup =
batteries
(CR 2032 Lithium) which read being fully charged when I measure the =
charge
with a meter outside of the computer, but from the computer I am =
getting
warning messages of low battery charge.<BR>What makes me suspicious is =
that it
happens irregularly. In another word this problem occurs
intermittently.<BR>When the main battery charge shows 70% I always =
recharge
it. I do not drain the batteries. Also I am semi retired =
meaning
that I do not tune and use the computer every day. It happened =
in the
past that the computer was sitting in the cradle for days and when I =
checked
the charge level it showed less than the previous time.<BR>The =
computer is
used only for tuning pianos using Tune-Lab. There are no other =
files
such as calendar, customer files, etc.<BR>My questions are:<BR>What am =
I doing
wrong?<BR>Anybody had this experience?<BR>What was the =
solution?<BR>Any feed
back would be appreciated.<BR>George Takats</FONT> =
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