acer aspire 5542-1011 battery not recognized and unable to flash bios

Hello,

my laptop says battery not detected with a red x threw it. Googled a bit and apparently the fix is to upgrade the bios if its older than ver 1.06 which mine is. i downladed all 3 bios updates from the acer files and none will flash. i get an error saying "flash bios fail 0x4d0"

i have also tried shutting down taking battery out holding power button and reinstall battery and ac cord and rebooting. same thing battery not detected.

When i bought the machine from a computer store he said the battery was no good. Its been 2 months no and i bought a new battery to find out same thing. Any ideas what i can do ? \computer works fine other than not detecting the battery.

continuing on the hunt some said the dc output on the charger needs to match the dc input on the laptop. I thought it was an acer charger but looks like a chinese "hipro" the charger says 4.74A 19V the laptop Dc input is 3.42A 19V. Could this be the issue ?

with a battery in it either the old or new when booting up i get a message and beep saying wrong battery could casue harm.

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JackE

>>>i bought a new battery to find out same thing.>>>

What battery did you buy? Model number? Specifically, what is its voltage output? Jack E/NJ

moparguy55

i bought AS09A75

11.1V 4400mah 46wh

wqas the same as w hat was in it that also gave the same problems. are you able to flash your bios?

JackE

Do NOT try to flash your bios before doing other tests!

Have you checked the output voltage of the charger's plug with a multimeter? It should be at least 15 volts.

Jack E/NJ

moparguy55

I have not yet but will. Is it possible to have enough volts to run the laptop but not charge it?

The battery light flashes orange when the battery is in.

JackE

Yes but in this case it's more likely due to a fault with the charger's voltage regulator. That is, the regulator isn't sensing the battery's voltage correctly. Accordingly, the battery's built-in chip control circuitry would shut down to protect the battery from a charger over-voltage. Jack E/NJ

moparguy55

What would you recommend for a charger for this Acer laptop? When I bought it I didn't notice that it wasn't the factory charger.

JackE

Like HDDs, DVDs, CPUs and other peripherals made by others, it's not unusual to find the same thing for an AC adapter shipped with a new system from most PC vendors. Your particular model came with either a 90- or 65-watt 19v charger. So I'd guess your charger was probably the original 90-watter. At this point, I suspect its voltage sensor/regulator is shot and might be trying charge an 11v Li-ion battery with its full 19v capability --- the battery's control chip shouldn't allow that to happen to due the hazard.

New charger replacements are less than $15 with free shipping. If it were mine, it'd be worth a try. Just google or search ebay or amazon for "aspire 5542 charger" and pick a vendor you feel most comfortable with. Either wattage should be fine.