Solo 9300 and battery charging

Hi,

I have a Solo 9300, bought in December 2000.

I have looked back through the NG archives and gather that the batteries are
generally good for only a couple of years.

I have two batteries, main and drive bay, and the main battery is at 0%.
The extra battery seems to still be working.

However I have a couple of concerns I would like to check out before I order
a new battery.

(1) I can run with the primary battery out and only the drive bay battery
in.
However the battery status widget under Win2K shows the primary battery as
Online, not absent.
Is this correct, or does this suggest a problem in the battery charging and
detection system?

(2) I do not seem to be able to boot on A/C with neither battery present.
The screen hangs with the initial Gateway logo, with the 'Press F2 to change
settings' prompt.
If I press F2 I see a little blue window in the top LHS of the screen which
keeps blinking and reporting that both batteries are absent.

Obviously, I would like to be sure that all I need to do is order a new
battery.
If the whole PC is on the way out then spending the money does not make much
sense.

TIA
Dave R
--

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have a Solo 9300, bought in December 2000.
snip
Obviously, I would like to be sure that all I need to do is order a new
battery.
If the whole PC is on the way out then spending the money does not make
much
sense.

Looking for a new battery -
http://shop.psaparts.co.uk/aka/power...solo-9300.html
This comes in at £176.25 UKP

I emailed Gateway support and they gave me 2 URLS:

http://www.mundocorp.com/tek9.asp?pg...ific=jmmodrlqq
$199 USD

http://www.capdat.com/Gateway.htm
US based - "call for pricing"

They also gave me the phone number of Partmarque.
Partmarque Direct Contact : Emma Fursland (Sales)
Telephone No : 00 44 (0) 1438 347929
I am waiting for them to confirm price and availability.


The Gateway part is $125USD.
Why don't Gateway ship worldwide?

Cheers
Dave R

My battery is long gone bad and it boots fine now with no battery in it.
ed

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have a Solo 9300, bought in December 2000.

I have looked back through the NG archives and gather that the batteries
are
generally good for only a couple of years.

I have two batteries, main and drive bay, and the main battery is at 0%.
The extra battery seems to still be working.

However I have a couple of concerns I would like to check out before I
order
a new battery.

(1) I can run with the primary battery out and only the drive bay battery
in.
However the battery status widget under Win2K shows the primary battery as
Online, not absent.
Is this correct, or does this suggest a problem in the battery charging
and
detection system?

(2) I do not seem to be able to boot on A/C with neither battery present.
The screen hangs with the initial Gateway logo, with the 'Press F2 to
change
settings' prompt.
If I press F2 I see a little blue window in the top LHS of the screen
which
keeps blinking and reporting that both batteries are absent.

Obviously, I would like to be sure that all I need to do is order a new
battery.
If the whole PC is on the way out then spending the money does not make
much
sense.

TIA
Dave R
--