HP Compaq Presario CQ61 Doesn't charge at all.

[Alumnia]

Hi,

My two years old HP Compaq Presario CQ61-425SH was working perfectly today morning, however, when I came home a few hours ago I wanted to turn it on, but it freezed my the first screen (when there is a lighting -). It didn't react to any buttons, not even the power button, so I plugged it off from the charger and waited until the battery ran out of power. (Since the battery can't keep the laptop run for more than 5 minutes by itself.) After that I plugged it in, but there was no sign of charging, not in the front LEDs not by the charger port. I tried many ways, battery-charger detached, held the power button for 30 secs, then charger back, didn't work, repeat the process again, battery and charger back, didn't work either. The only thing what happens that when I remove the battery, the LED by the charger hole lights for 20-30 seconds, then the light goes out. When I plug in the charger while the battery is on, nothing happens at all. I don't know what else to do. I don't have warranty for this laptop any longer and the seller has closed a year ago, so I can't contact them either.

Thank you for your help.

[SSDdrive]

Hello,

        Please attempt another hard reset, remove the battery, unplug the power and any usb devices and then hold the power button down for 45 seconds, plug the unit back in, but not the battery, and start it.

                                       'I am a volunteer!

If it were a rattler. . . .

[Rodder2000]

I have the exact same problem with CQ61-EJ260.

Computer doesn't boot after upgrading to latest BIOS.

Battery is dead as well, but no issues using the previous BIOS.

Hard reboot didn't help, nor did any of the other solutions offered.

I suspect newer BIOS may block boot when dead / no battery(?)

See http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/Presario-CQ61-260EJ-won-t-boot-after-BIO...

[SSDdrive]

Hello,

     Your problem is somewhat different, but whenever you upgrade the BIOS on your laptop, a copy of the previous version is stored in the HP TOOLS partition of your hard disk drive. To activate this previous BIOS, please plug the laptop into an AC adapter and then press the Power Button while holding the Windows Key and the B Key down. This will set the emergency recovery feature, which replaces the currently faulty BIOS with the last known good BIOS. Your laptop computer should automatically reboot when this process completes, unless the HP_Tools partition has been deleted. . .  then it's not there to be retrieved, okay? But you can recover the BIOS anyway using a USB Key. This is a little tougher but the USB Key can be created by using the HP UEFI BIOS Update SoftPAQ or the new HP UEFI Support Environment SoftPAQ and selecting the Create a USB Key option. The USB Key does not have to be bootable, and you can recover the BIOS on your notebook using this USB key by doing exactly what I described earlier, plug the notebook into an AC adapter, then Insert the USB Key with the HP_Tools installed into an available USB port. Next, press the Power Button while holding down the Windows Key and the B Key. Okay?

 Hope this works! Oh, and, don't update the bios anymore, okay! It's not a question.

                                       'I am a volunteer!

If it were a rattler. . . .

[Rodder2000]

Thanks for the tips, but I already tried that (USB key), and it didn't work.

Regarding BIOS update, I never would have tried that unless it was RECOMMENDED BY HP's support site (Fixing Webcam After Changing the Operating System):

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01114052

[anorw]

I have the same problem as alumnia in this thread. Usually when I plug in the ac adapter it will not charge. I unplug and plug it in again  20 - 30 times and sometimes it will start charging. I have tried a hard reset, but my machine will not start at all without battery inserted. I will be stuck the day may battery runs out...

 My machine will run on ac power supply when it's inserted (not draining the battery) but will not charge the battery. When I remove the battery and insert the power cord, the light comes on for 3- 4 seconds and goes out,  and it will not boot.

[SSDdrive]

Hello,

Please follow these steps: shut the laptop down and unplug the AC Adapter, then remove the battery and hold down the Power Button for a full minute. Next, plug in the AC Adapter and start the laptop without the battery inserted, open the Control Panel, open Device Manager, expand the entry for Batteries, then right click on the Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery and select Uninstall/ please do not uninstall anything else, okay?  When the uninstall completes, shut the laptop down, unplug the AC Adapter, install the battery and then start the laptop on just that battery.  Don't worry, Windows will automatically update and install the missing driver. Let Windows run for a few minutes and then shut the laptop down again.  Next, plug the AC Adapter in and start the laptop to see if the battery is charging correctly. If this fails, your laptop's problem may boil down to an issue with the Power Manager. But since I do not know your laptop's particular model no., the best way to resolve the issue is to goto your laptop model's home page and download the Power Manager. Once the Power Manager has been downloaded, open up the Control Panel/Programs and Features and uninstall the current corrupted Power Manager, then install the new Power Manager and restart the laptop. The issue should be resolved. If you cannot find the homepage, the following link should suffice: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&softwareitem=ob-86344-1 

Also, make restore points; they save computers' lives.

                                       'I am a volunteer!

If it were a rattler. . . . Rattle Snake, that is. . . .

[anorw]

Thank you for your help SSDdrive. As I wrote above, I cannot boot without the battery so I cannot follow your steps properly. My model number is CQ61-203EO.  

[SSDdrive]

Hello again,

   Thank you for including your laptop's model no.. It has helped, but this serious issue can describe many faults; a failing motherboard comes first to mind; or a faulty charger; as I do not know your laptop's hardware. Also, non-HP-original, aftermarket products do not do at all well with HP computers. . . . Please goto the following HP Support link: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-Notebook-PC-Questions/HP-G71-Power-Adapter-Charging-but-not-recog...  Here the problem and solution boils down to an aftermarket non-HP part. In order for me to better help you, you should describe in more detail the laptop's ongoing failure, okay?

                                       'I am a volunteer!

If it were a rattler. . . . Rattle Snake, that is. . . .

[anorw]

Thank you again. A failing motherboard sounds plausible. My charger is an original HP charger. So is all other hardware except  the battery. But the problem started before I got this battery, while it still had the original one. The symptoms in the last thread you refer to is indeed strikingly similar to mine, except I have an original charger. Please let me know what's missing in my description because I don't know what more to say. Please re-read my original post. I'm going to try plugging in the power adapter many times without the battery, since I only tried it about 5 -6 times in a row.  I think the sensor is seeing the power adapter immediatly, because the power indicator is reacting but not starting to charge. Also when the machine is powered off the indicator light next to the ac inlet comes on at once when I plug it in but shuts down after 3 seconds like I said before.

Hope this helps.