New battery, weird behavior

[Trice]

My laptop is getting old but is in great condition. About three months ago I replaced the battery as the old one had deteriorated and grown quite bloated. The new battery worked well at first, but about a month ago the charging indicator light started blinking white constantly. The battery is at 99% and holding while plugged in to the charger, but will not complete the charge. Every day or two, it will drop another percent and never charge above that level despite being on the charger. If I take the laptop off the charger, the battery works more or less as normal but will never charge above the level it has discharged to.

I've tried every troubleshooting tip I've been able to find:

• Charging the laptop on my other charger did not work
• Uninstalling the battery driver so it can reinstall upon restart did not work
• Holding down the power button did not work
• Calibrating the battery via the UEFI battery component test worked temporarily - the battery charged and worked normally again, but reverted to the behavior I described above after a couple of days. The battery failed one battery test I ran weeks ago before I ever calibrated it, but has passed every one of the dozen or more battery tests I have ran since then.
• Calibrating the battery via the UEFI memory extensive test on loop worked temporarily - the battery charged and worked normally again, but reverted to the behavior I described above after a couple of days.
• The battery and adapter both passed the tests I ran from the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics app

Any additional ideas for troubleshooting or fixing the issue would be welcomed. Thanks.

[ub6424]

Hello @Trice 

Sorry to hear that you are having problems ... I would like to help you.

I want the check your current system configuration.

(1) Run    msinfo32

- Select <System Summary>:

- copy/paste to following key/values pairs:

OS Name

Version

System SKU ( equals HP product number (p/n) )

BIOS Version/Date

(2) Please report your results

[Trice]

Thanks @Ub6424. Here is the info you requested.

OS Name	Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version	10.0.19044 Build 19044
System SKU	N1R86UA#ABA
BIOS Version/Date	American Megatrends Inc. F.54, 12/27/2019

[ub6424 · Accepted solution]

Hello @Trice 

Please follow instructions ...

(1) Update ME BIOS

HP Consumer Desktop / Notebook PC ME Firmware Update

19H2 Rev.A

30.0 MB

Dec 16, 2019

Download

Why should you install the update ?

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_4123786-2338478-16

Quote: "

Updating the BIOS is recommended as standard maintenance of the computer. It can also help resolve the following issues:

• An available BIOS update resolves a specific issue or improves computer performance.
• The current BIOS does not support a hardware component or a Windows upgrade.
• HP Support recommends installing a specific BIOS update.

"

(2) Let ME BIOS be installed until it's completely done !

(3) Reboot

(4) Install/Update

Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver

11.7.0.1057 Rev.B

53.7 MB

May 28, 2018

Download

(5) Shutdown

(6) Disconnect Charger

(7) Press and hold <power> button for 30 seconds

(8) Connect Charger

(9) Check <Power/Battery> using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics (UEFI)

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04499777

See how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14GKIpGPNRM

(10) Please report your results

[Trice]

The device did not need the BIOS update. It did need the Intel MEI driver update. After shutting down and holding "power" for 30 seconds, the battery passed its UEFI battery test and is now charging successfully.

However, as I noted in my original post, this has been the pattern after every battery calibration or memory test. It appears to work normally for a couple of days, then revert to the behavior I described. I will report back if/when that happens.

[ub6424]

Hi @Trice 

"Technology that inspires ..." 😉

Please observe and report the behavior of notebook, especially the <battery>.

Good luck

[Trice]

I've observed this for nearly 10 days now and the battery issue has not recurred. So the Intel MEI driver update must have done the trick. Thank you @Ub6424.

[ub6424]

---

@Trice wrote:

I've observed this for nearly 10 days now and the battery issue has not recurred. So the Intel MEI driver update must have done the trick. Thank you @Ub6424.

---

You're are welcome !

Good luck and have fun

[Trice]

Well obviously I angered the technology gods by declaring my issue "solved," because the issue I cited in my original post returned soon after. I am surprised; every other time I have temporarily solved the issue by a battery calibration or memory test, it has returned 2-3 days later. After updating that driver, it was fine for 10-11 days before again displaying this strange behavior.

Anything else I should troubleshoot?

[ub6424]

Hello @Trice 

Check <Window Update> history. Do you notice anything ?