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The Dell Chromebook 3100 2-in-1 was released in 2019 and can be identified by model number P30T001.

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Weird Boot Issues with Our Chromebooks?

Hey there! Wanted to ask the people of Ifixit this question to see if I can get any good answers/ideas.

Here's how the issue goes: I work in the tech repair portion of my local high school. Our school uses Dell Chromebook 3100s (normal ones and also the 2-in-1s). Recently, we've been having a problem with booting up some of the computers.

More specifically, the process of booting up after a shutdown. We have some computers that, when fully shut down by holding the power button, refuse to turn on again unless plugged in. No matter what I do, whether it be pressing the power and refresh button or just holding the power button for a long time, they refuse to boot up again.

The weirdest part is that as soon as you plug them in, they boot up fine? My only guess as to why is that the motherboard refuses to accept the power coming from the battery as the method to boot up the computer, and will only take wall power. That doesn't really make sense, as we have had this problem with the old and the new batteries, so I have no idea.

Here's what I've tried to diagnose the problem:

Replacing the battery/battery cable

Checking the hall effect sensor (Closing and opening the lid of the Chromebooks creates no issues, only when they are fully shut down)

Running updates on the broken computers

Checking the current on the new batteries (They look fine)

None of these have worked, so I'm looking at what I can do next. Any ideas? If you need me to provide additional information, I will do so ASAP. Thank you for reading!

TL;DR: Chromebooks won't boot up on battery like they should and will only do so on wall power. I'm looking for a way to fix this or information on the next steps I can take.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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I did a quick search, and apparently these issues can in fact be caused by battery failures. I know you just said you tried replacing them already, but did you calibrate them? Yes, that's something that you have to do with a new battery so the device that it's in can recognize the maximum charge capacity of the battery. It's possible that the battery just isn't putting out the amount of current needed to start the computer from a shutdown. Just one problem. It's been so long since I had to answer a question like this that I may have forgotten the procedure for battery calibration. I think you charge the device to full, then let it keep charging for a few hours. Then you take it off the charger and let it drain until the battery drains enough that the device shuts down. After that, you fully charge it without interruptions. I think that's how you do it. If that doesn't work, leave a comment and I'll try to find another solution. Good luck!

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5 Comments:

Here is iFixit's guide to battery calibration: Battery Calibration

Cheers

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@meekvixen Thanks! I'll give that a look and let you know how it goes.

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I'll try this method on one computer I'm having issues with and see if it works. The only problem is that we're talking about 15-20 computers that are having this problem. That means I would need a LOT of time to pull this all off. That's a me issue, but just a quick note I thought I'd mention :P

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Well, this method requires a lot of waiting anyway, so if it works on one computer, you could stagger the process on multiple computers. That way, you can calibrate all the batteries in roughly the same time frame.

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I'll have to look into that, thanks

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Havyn K. will be eternally grateful.
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