Off-Topic PC help

[atrax27407]

Anyone know how to fix a "fwbase.dll" error?

[+Ksarul]

You might try this solution from Microsoft. I suspect the best bet will be the method 2 answer. . .

[atrax27407]

I get error messages for both methods.

[GDMike]

https://www.exefiles.com/en/dll/fwbase-dll/

Something to do with MS access and it's allowance for code through it's passive firewall. as matter of fact I'm still on office 2003 and never have trouble. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by GDMike

[atrax27407]

The latest cumulative update downloaded and installed a few minutes ago and the problem has resolved. I assume that the .dll file had somehow been corrupted and the update re-installed a correct version of the file.

[GDMike]

Sounds about right. I've turned updates off years ago.

[Asmusr]

Perhaps someone has a suggestion for my PC issue? I have spent hours googling for a solution, so I have tried everything you can easily find on the net.

 

My ThinkPad E590, which is 3 years old, lose the ability to charge after it has been turned on for a while, and I have to shut it down before it will charge again. As long as I keep it connected to the power after shutdown it charges, but if I pull out the plug and insert it again there is an even chance it stops charging, and I have to shut it down before it will charge again. When it's not charging the computer still gets power, so it will run forever on, say, 10% battery. I have tried to change the battery, so I assume it must be some issue with the charging circuit. It doesn't seem to be software related, although it's suspicious that the problem only kicks in after a while.

 

The problem started about a month after the warranty expired, and I think if I try to get it fixed they will say it works fine and charge me for that. ?

[+Gemintronic]

56 minutes ago, Asmusr said:

Perhaps someone has a suggestion for my PC issue? I have spent hours googling for a solution, so I have tried everything you can easily find on the net.

 

My ThinkPad E590, which is 3 years old, lose the ability to charge after it has been turned on for a while, and I have to shut it down before it will charge again. As long as I keep it connected to the power after shutdown it charges, but if I pull out the plug and insert it again there is an even chance it stops charging, and I have to shut it down before it will charge again. When it's not charging the computer still gets power, so it will run forever on, say, 10% battery. I have tried to change the battery, so I assume it must be some issue with the charging circuit. It doesn't seem to be software related, although it's suspicious that the problem only kicks in after a while.

 

The problem started about a month after the warranty expired, and I think if I try to get it fixed they will say it works fine and charge me for that. ?

 

You're sort of stuck with a gamble.  Buy a new battery and see if it solves the problem.  You could opt to have someone service it and have the same diagnosis (and cost for a new battery).

 

A free option might be to back up your stuff and install a fresh copy of Windows with the newest drivers.  This would work on the off chance it's a software issue.

[Asmusr]

40 minutes ago, Gemintronic said:

Buy a new battery and see if it solves the problem.

Thanks. As I wrote, I already did. I have also upgraded from Windows 10 to 11, so I guess drivers are up to date. The ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery driver is the latest. 

[+Gemintronic]

6 minutes ago, Asmusr said:

Thanks. As I wrote, I already did. I have also upgraded from Windows 10 to 11, so I guess drivers are up to date. The ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery driver is the latest. 

Upgrade is not a clean install of Windows.  You should use the drivers directly from the manufacturers website.  But, at least the new battery pairs down the possibilities.

[GDMike]

Oh no.back up your Data to another drive. Download drivers for the devices from their website for the os. , then Install windows from USB iso. BUT do this after you have exhausted the power settings, turning OFF power save for everything.

 

[+OLD CS1]

39 minutes ago, Asmusr said:

I have also upgraded from Windows 10 to 11, so I guess drivers are up to date.

I would not bank on that.  Windows 11 has been a shit-show.  Are you running the latest firmware/BIOS for the laptop, and is it shown by the manufacturer as Windows 11-compatible?  I saw similar issues back in the early Windows 10 days.

 

If you have a spare drive, as a test you could do a load of Windows 10 and see if the problem exhibits there, as well.

[HOME AUTOMATION]

I've had several different THINKPADs. The power supplies have often been problematic, esp. T41, and T60. They often reach a point where they will not power-up at all, or will show some lights but no action. Aside from waiting for months at a time... I have discovered that placing them in the oven at lowest setting(160F), for about 5-10 minutes will do the trick! I usually remove the battery, and hard drive first though.

 

    P.S. DON'T FORGET!!!?

[Asmusr]

1 minute ago, OLD CS1 said:

I would not bank on that.  Windows 11 has been a shit-show.  Are you running the latest firmware/BIOS for the laptop, and is it shown by the manufacturer as Windows 11-compatible?  I saw similar issues back in the early Windows 10 days.

Yes I'm running the latest BIOS. And I also had the problem before upgrading to Windows 11.

[Asmusr]

 

2 minutes ago, HOME AUTOMATION said:

I have discovered that placing them in the oven at lowest setting(160F), for about 5-10 minutes will do the trick!

Mmm, baked ThinkPad.

[+OLD CS1]

6 minutes ago, Asmusr said:

Yes I'm running the latest BIOS. And I also had the problem before upgrading to Windows 11.

Interesting.  Normally, I would work with the manufacturer to resolve if there is nothing in forums to assist.  Even if it is out-of-warranty, you can sometimes get a tech to discuss known issues with you, if this is a known issue.  Another option to try is setting resetting the BIOS to default settings.  I do not know if the ThinkPads have a hardware reset feature like Dells -- remove all power, hold power button down for 30 seconds, restore power -- but that would be another option which has worked for me on Dells with weird issues like recognizing a replacement battery.

[Asmusr]

18 minutes ago, GDMike said:

Oh no.back up your Data to another drive. Download drivers for the devices from their website for the os. , then Install windows from USB iso. BUT do this after you have exhausted the power settings, turning OFF power save for everything.

 

My TI stuff has always been in the cloud. But your comment makes me think that I should try to run under Linux for a while to confirm that it's not a software issue.  

[+InsaneMultitasker]

14 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Are you running the latest firmware/BIOS for the laptop,

This is a good call out.   I haven't seen the exact issue Rasmus describes but for most of my Thinkpads through the years, periodic BIOS updates have resolved various head-scratching problems.  Look up the BIOS updates for your particular FRU/model type (related to the E590) and read the BIOS release notes to see if there is anything remotely applicable to charging.   The problem could also be either the battery or charging circut, as have been mentioned previously.

[wierd_w]

4 hours ago, Asmusr said:

Perhaps someone has a suggestion for my PC issue? I have spent hours googling for a solution, so I have tried everything you can easily find on the net.

 

My ThinkPad E590, which is 3 years old, lose the ability to charge after it has been turned on for a while, and I have to shut it down before it will charge again. As long as I keep it connected to the power after shutdown it charges, but if I pull out the plug and insert it again there is an even chance it stops charging, and I have to shut it down before it will charge again. When it's not charging the computer still gets power, so it will run forever on, say, 10% battery. I have tried to change the battery, so I assume it must be some issue with the charging circuit. It doesn't seem to be software related, although it's suspicious that the problem only kicks in after a while.

 

The problem started about a month after the warranty expired, and I think if I try to get it fixed they will say it works fine and charge me for that. ?

 

I am going to suggest that the problem has to do with the SRAM inside the fuel gauge circuitry; That they specc'd a really shitty SRAM, (or worse, a flash memory) that has very bad longevity, and it is getting corrupt data inside it.

 

I have a similar problem with a knockoff battery for my playstation portable.  The fuel gauge circuit that tracks the charge/discharge history of the cell gets full of random bullshit, and then the battery reports all kinds of strange things. This of course, prevents the charge controller from functioning properly, and it wont charge.

 

I have found that simply disconnecting the lipo cell inside temporarily will blank the sram, force the fuel-gauge to repopulate the sram's contents, and then the cell will charge and discharge normally. As a ghetto solution, I incorporated a simple IDC header and put a jumper on it, that protrudes from the plastic shell of the knockoff battery.  When the jumper is on, the battery is connected to the charge controller. When the jumper is removed, the negative terminal is D/C. This lets me correct the battery when it misbehaves.

 

Getting raw data from the i2S bus the battery is connected to might give some insight.

 

Alternatively, perhaps the contact pin for the i2S bus the battery uses is loose or damaged on the laptop's motherboard.

 

 

Laptop batteries use either i2s or smbus to communicate with the computer, to tell it the status of the fuel gauge, what the voltage of the individual cells inside are, what the current allowed max charge and factory design charge are, etc.

At least on linux, that information can be read directly.

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by wierd_w

[Asmusr]

25 minutes ago, wierd_w said:

I am going to suggest that the problem has to do with the SRAM inside the fuel gauge circuitry; That they specc'd a really shitty SRAM, (or worse, a flash memory) that has very bad longevity, and it is getting corrupt data inside it.+

Is that something you could change, or would it mean a new motherboard?

[wierd_w]

27 minutes ago, Asmusr said:

Is that something you could change, or would it mean a new motherboard?

 

The fuel gauge sram is baked into the battery's charge controller.  It is not easily replaced.

 

more accurately-- the fuel gauge is a special IC, that incorporates an internal predictive model of the battery based on cycle count (which is what can get corrupt), and voltage at initial power on.

https://www.digikey.com/en/articles/fuel-gauge-ics-simplify-li-ion-cell-charge-monitoring

 

Different manufacturers can have different quality controls on these chips.  Some manufacturers may even fail to account for very heavy use, and have only 16bit counters for the charge/discharge logic, resulting in strange data being used by the charge model after a time, etc.

 

Again, I fixed it by just forcing the fuel-gauge to hard reset.

 

 

BE WARY though;  Some battery makers, angry at cottage industry workers rebuilding battery packs, utilize flash memory instead of sram, to store cycle counts.  Others still, store important parts of the battery model inside the sram at the factory, which then get lost when you yank the cell from the fuelgauge.  They do this for 2 major reasons: 1) Prevent people from using rebuilt packs (either for safety or to enforce the 'gilette razorblade' model of economics)  2) cost savings (as fewer components need to be nonvolatile).

Edited May 12, 2022 by wierd_w

[atrax27407]

Another PC problem has arisen! It seems that 7ZIP has hijacked a bunch of the icons for programs (mostly .bin files) on my computer. The files are unchanged but the ugly 7ZIP icon is there instead of the original icon. Is there a way to change them all back?

[wierd_w]

Re-associate them with a different default handler program.

 

I havent driven windows in ages though. So, the specific details are a lesson to the reader.  Microsoft, in its zeal to hide anything even remotely technical from their users, has systemically moved the mechanism to manage file associations on EVERY. SINGLE. VERSION. it has released since win98.

 

But basically, you just need to manage your associations.

[GDMike]

Get rid of software that you don't register and buy. Doesn't windows already have built-in programs that zip and unzip. Anyway to be checked on. 

[atrax27407]

There is more than One way to "bonzai a cat". After playing around with various utilities, I discovered that the .bin files would open in the user-critical programs (i.e., my Eprommer). They just choked 7ZIP. So, I just changed the association of the loader program (thanks @wierd_w). I changed the loader to HxD which solved the open issue and gave me a better looking icon besides.