T500 and Docking Station power problem

[dmiller2]

It is normal when I dock my T500 for the battery and AC input icons on the T500 cover to illuminate.  Frequently, but not always, when I dock my T500, the icons do not illuminate and the T500 is completely dead, even after undocking.  The only way to recover is to undock and remove and reinsert the T500 battery.  This usually works the first time, but sometimes requires 2-3 attempts.  Any suggestiions on how to correct this condition?

[joeNS]

Hi,

same thing here.

I have T500 (2089-WB8 as TV Toolbox says).

I thougt BIOS update would fix this but it didn't. I've updated BIOS twice so far...

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/migr-67382.html do you have these rubber caps installed on the dock?

[borlandk]

I have a similar problem although it appears it may be related to the battery. The laptop is only about 18 months old and a short time after upgrading to Win 7, I started experiencing the battery not charging when it was docked. Plugging the cord in outside of the dock wouldn't automatically charge it, I would have to plug and unplug several times for it to charge. Then while docked it would just black screen shut off, no shut down process. A friend told me to take the battery out, which I did and it doesn't seem to shut down anymore. I am wondering...

Is it actually a bad battery? (expensive to just try buying a new 9 cell battery)

Is there some Win 7 or other conflict that is keeping it from charging even in the dock?

Is there any way to test a battery to see if it is still good?

Thank you.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

your problem can be either battery or battery related circuitry on the motherboard, you can try to find a replacement battery from outlet.lenovo.com. Windows 7 shouldn't be a culprit, since it has nothing to do with the OS as such, i have couple of them running on my T400, T500, etc they all work as intended.

[ColonelONeill]

Doubt it's the case, but could it be that it's hitting thermal shutdown temperatures?