I have a Sony Vaio SVP3121BPXB laptop running Windows 8.1. Truly a great laptop but now with an issue.
The internal battery (4.5 years old) began to expand in size (it is now it is twice the size as it used to be) making the keyboard bow outward badly. Further it would only hold a charge to 60%. I replaced it with and OEM battery from Amazon. Unfortunately, that battery would no longer hold a charge after 90 days, but otherwise it worked fine.
Now for the odd part. Amazon replaced the OEM battery, but when I installed it and plugged in the power, the LED would blink orange and the PC would not boot up. 3 OEM batteries later (from 3 different sellers from Amazon (but maybe same manufacturer – no way to tell)) and I have the exact same problem with each one. When battery is installed, and power cable is attached the PC will not boot up and the LED blinks rapidly in orange. Even odder, the original OEM batter that had worked in the past, now no longer works (it has the same problem as the other 3 OEM Batteries. The ONLY way to boot the PC up is to use the Original SONY battery (which is now so large that the back of the case of the PC cannot be reattached) or to take all batteries out and plug the laptop into the charger and use it as a desktop.
I have seen from the internet some discussion of Sony having a software that prevents OEM batteries from being used in the PC, which is an issue since Sony no longer makes this battery.
My attempts to fix this
1. Looked for the software (“ISBM”) that some parties on the internet say governs the battery issue. This file is not on the laptop anywhere. I should note that a week ago I reinstalled virgin windows 8.1 on the laptop thinking that would solve the problem. No luck.
2. Held the power button down for 40 seconds with all the batteries (regular and backup) unplugged and no power on.
3. held resent bottom (on bottom of PC) down for 45 seconds with and with out the batteries in the laptop.
4. reinitialized the BIOS with the latest version from SONY.
5. reviewed all Vaio Sony Care files for any thing that would apply to the battery.
6. reinstalled all Sony drivers for EVERY system on the Laptop
Still cannot get the OEM batteries to work.
I have seen one guy in the internet who claims the only way to fix this issue is to rip open the old Sony battery and do the same to the new battery and install the old battery circuit from the old Sony battery onto the new battery, but this seems more than a bit drastic and given the many warnings of the care needed not to destroy the old or new battery in the instructions may be more than we care to try.
Has anyone faced this issue before and can anyone help? The sellers of the OEM batteries on Amazon know nothing of why their batteries will not work in the Sony Vaio.
Can anyone help please!? Thank you in advance.