i have an old gateway solo 9500 that seems to be in pretty decent condition. it took a couple different OSes, but it has this random problem... it wont boot from battery power... the only way it will boot is if its plugged into the wall, but once i have it booted, and i unplug it, it reads almost 5hrs of battery time. i tried the battery learning thing, but i dunno if i did something wrong, but it seemed to just loop over and over... *shrug* i can suspend/standby it and it will snap back on, it just wont boot. any ideas?
they dont seem to have any residue or anything on them, but whats the best way to clean them? just use rubbing alcohol and like a tisue or something? they are orientated in a goofy way so i cant even get a qtip on them
it did not seem to help at all. im starting to think something else is wrong.. when i install linux on it, the gdm screen is all buggered up... maybe video card? but, it would seem wierd that it would work fine for windows, but look all stupid on linux. i think this laptop is on its last legs
How long does the thing actually run on the battery? One thing is how long it thinks it can run, how long time it really can run is something completely different... Is there any error msg or does it just stay black? does it start to spin disks/fans and then stops?
it starts, posts... seems to spin up, and then dies... when in windows, the power icon says around 4 hrs
Will it boot off a CD while on batteries? You say the icon says 4hr but how long does the computer actually run for if you leave it. I have an old thinkpad where the battery is dead and although the icon says there is a few hours worth of battery time the comp dies after about 5min
tonight i will unplug it and see how long it will last, and ill try to boot it from a cd with no power
