I think somehow the HP AC power test utility is setting the laptop to recognize the plugged-in status when it is booted, but at least one time that stopped working again when I unplugged the laptop when it was running. That said, I know a solution to the problem. Still it’s frustrating.

This all started to be a problem last week when the frayed power cord I had 🔌 wasn’t charging properly. I bought another charger on eBay but it only seemed to charge the laptop when it was off. The frayed cable became a broken one and new one seemed to be even more problematic — not charging at all when the laptop was running but only asleep. I was thinking maybe I had a bad connection the charger port, and once I was feeling somewhat better on Saturday, I took the laptop apart, got the fan working again by pushing and freeing it up from the dust and grime pack and now the laptop is running cool, and determined the power port on machine was fine, but maybe not battery. 🪫 Still getting about two hours on the battery, maybe closer to an hour and a half, but I noticed the battery is getting a bit puffy which means the electrolyte is breaking down in the lithium ion cell. They’re about $20 for a basic knock-off replacement, so I’ll get one, they last about 2 or 3 years, and last one I replaced in early 2022.

At least it’s charging with new cord, once I discovered I could boot into diagnosis mode in BIOS, run the AC Power test, unplug it, allow the system to re-calibrate, and see the incoming power, and plug it in for proper operation. I ended up ordering a second power charger cord on Amazon before I discovered this solution! Two chargers aren’t bad to have — I’ll keep one in the office and one at home. I was worried it could be a fried a capacitor when it was running too hot, but I think it’s really the battery that is bad — running hot didn’t help it at all. I haven’t had issues with unexpected shutdowns, though the discharges are quicker and quicker on the current battery, and when you even see a bit of puffiness is the cell, you know it’s time for a replacement. It’s been taking an extraordinary amount of time to figure out what is wrong with my laptop, 🔍️ the logs have hardly been much of a help and the internet forms say it could be anything from the bad battery to bad charge port to fried capacitors to bad or undersized charger. I tried load testing, running a heavy load to both to make sure cooling was running good, and to run the battery down last night to see if that would reset detection of the charger while running — that didn’t work — until I figured out the BIOS hack.

The thing is I am using my laptop so much for work these days, and while my work laptop has RStudio and QGIS on it, my personal laptop has all my code, my music, and is my own to use it for whatever I want for work or play. A work laptop ultimately is owned by the campaign committee, so I have to be a bit careful what I use it for. No looking at hot girls climbing on tractors or burn barrels with my work laptop, got it, Andy. But mostly because I like listening to tunes as I work. That said, with the BIOS reset of the charger, things seem to be good now, though I am sure that could change — as I was able to cause it to stop seeing the charger once again by unplugging it while running, though the BIOS reset brought it back once again. So I have a solution, but I think it wouldn’t hurt to replace the battery either. 🔋 Still the whole situation is quite fustrating.

It’s something to add on top of all the other problems in my life, maybe a distraction or a three-ring clown show. I am sure Mom and Dad will be asking if I voted for Trump or Kamela when I go out there today for Sunday dinner. Elderly parents are most unpleasant people to be around, even though you know time is almost up for their generation. They ask the most obnoxious questions over and over again, and you never know if it’s a technique to cower and embarrass you, or if it’s because they’ve grown senile and just don’t remember what they’ve asked you. I don’t think I can admit to them that I voted for Trump on the Conservative line, even though I’m sure they know from reading my blog.

At least I don’t feel so sick at this point, though I totally abused those caffeine pills yesterday I got from the store yesterday. 💊 I drink too much coffee, and those 5-hour energy shots are getting expensive every time I want to do a road trip or camp and smoke pot but not be super sleepy, I got a 120-pill 100 mg pack of caffeine pills. They do work, and they last a while. And so cheap, I think the bottle was under $4 including tax. Pop three, and you have more pure caffeine in your system then one five hour energy shot or three cups of coffee. Without such an intense need to pee. But it also interfered a lot with my sleep last night. And it’s just recovering from the cough. 😵 Colds really ain’t fun.

Yesterday was just cold and wet 🌧️ and I didn’t get outside except to go to the library. 💻️ The malfunctioning laptop charger was annoying me all day, as was waiting for the replacement in the mail. I spent a lot of time reading books on the Hoopla app 📚️ and waiting for that second larger charger to arrive from Amazon that was going to solve all my problems until it didn’t lol. 🤣 Plus I’ve been just doing a lot of thinking about where I am at, 17 years in my career and still stuck in this apartment.

Bought weather stripping to stop leaks around the rotting door on my apartment 🚪 and put batteries in the clocks. 🕒️ It’s good to know what time it is when making breakfast and showering. Doing a bit of cleaning, 🧹 and just enjoying my time off when I’m not busy as tomorrow most certainly will be. Going to get out my heated blanket, as while I’m not willing to turn the heat on yet for the year, I sure would like to be able to snuggle under it at night and turn it back on during the cold starts to the morning. I’m not going to use the heat until it’s well below freezing.

Forecast looks great for heading out of town next week, 🌞 of course a lot depends on the weather as the week evolves and how busy things become, though I feel pretty confident that I’m in good shape to work remote as need be. It does use a fair amount of data, but it’s already the second half of the month, and I still have close to 9 GB of data left to remote work 💻️ so I should be good assuming my laptop works fine, I get out of town early and set up where I have plenty of solar to use.