Replacement battery not recognized by BIOS

[SomeGuy102]

My laptop battery was bulging. I couldn't find a "genuine" replacement. I don't think they are offered anymore for this model (15-ch0xx). After installing the battery, I got an invalid checksum error on the first startup, but after restarting, this goes away. I don't think the BIOS is recognizing and reporting the battery to the OS as I no longer get a battery percentage indicator.

I have already tried a hard reset. There is also no CMOS battery in this model.

I opened the BIOS and the "Primary Battery SN" just lists "N/A".
I pressed F2 to enter the diagnostic tests and there are no battery tests listed.

I reached out to the seller of the battery. They seemed to think that I did everything right, and confirmed that the battery is compatible with this model. They sent me a second battery to try in case there was a problem with the first one, but I get the exact same results. The battery still does charge and I can run off battery power. It just does not recognize the battery and report the charge status.

I'm now running PopOS (Ubuntu based Linux distro) so I don't have access to the HP Assistant software. I was still running Windows 10 a few weeks ago when I tried the first battery swap and updated the drivers and BIOS at that time.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Nal_NR]

Hi @SomeGuy102,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

I'd be happy to help you! 

I understand that this is a Hardware issue. Since the unit might need repair, I would request you to contact HP Phone support who can schedule a repair as per the warranty and the issue can be fixed.

For that to happen, we will give you additional instructions/information via Private Message.

Please check your inbox on the forums page for the private message.

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”

[SomeGuy102]

Hi Elohi,

Unfortunately, after trying to contact HP support as per your recommendation, I wasn't able to get through to anyone. I'm not willing to buy extended support just so that I can be told where to buy the official battery. The laptop itself doesn't need repair, I just need to buy the part (replaceable battery).

The original battery says:

Replace with HP spare 928372-855

CT: 6GLQC04TZAL46V

I see there are other customers with similar laptops experiencing the same problem, and not getting through to anyone: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Hp-spectre-battery-928372-855-...

From my perspective, if HP is going to serialize its batteries and require customers to buy the official replacement parts for them to be recognized, they should at least make sure that the parts are available to buy. Anything else is preposterous. It makes me think that HP wants more computers to end up in the landfill over something as trivial as a battery replacement.

I understand that support is expensive, and that my 5 year old laptop is well past its warranty, but I shouldn't require the support of a customer service agent to buy a battery. This is honestly crazy.

[SomeGuy102]

More Updates:

I have tried a different replacement battery now, which also did not work. In the BIOS, the "Primary Battery SN" still returns "N/A" and the bios does not report charge information to the OS. I have confirmed that the Bios is the most current version available for this laptop (AFI F.38 RevA)