List Of Related Issues? Power On, Fingerprint Reader & Clock Failure

Hi Everyone,

I’ve had some bizarre behaviour and have no idea where it’s come from. One of these issues on its own I could probably solve but together they are a pattern that I can’t seem to fix. For reference, I am running Windows 10, 19045, on the original 14" Framework. The process is as follows:

If the laptop has gone into hibernation or sleep mode, I have to plug it back in to be able to use the power button to wake it up. Long pressing I/O to hard reset the machine doesn’t work nor does pressing the keyboard.

Once I have plugged it in, the keyboard lights up and after booting to the log-in screen it always takes 3 attempts with the fingerprint scanner to unlock. The first time it says it doesn’t recognise my finger, second it ‘encounters a problem’ and third it finally lets me in. The password gets me straight in but I can’t understand why the reader always takes 3 attempts.

Lastly, if I have to wake the laptop like this, the clock is completely wrong. Usually, the time is the time I last put the machine to sleep/hibernation, but it can be anywhere in between as well. In Windows Time and Date I tried using “Sync Now” but always fails, and seems to only update it when it feels like it. It also means that until it updates I can’t reliably open certain websites such as Outlook, Facebook, Youtube etc - I get the text on a white background with no images - I’m assuming this is because the websites require you to be correctly sync’d in order to function properly.

I have attempted fixes for each of these issues individually but they’ve not worked. So any ideas on what could be wrong?

Thanks,
Alex

You have the standard RTC coin cell issue in a mild variant, some laptops get stuck even more so they don’t even boot after connecting to power.

Contact support to get a replacement RTC battery (they send them even when you’re out of warranty, as it’s a known issue) and make sure to never unplug your laptop from power for a longer time (multiple days/weeks) and that you let it connected for some time even when fully charged.

There is some work going on for a more permanent fix (that requires soldering a wire to your mainboard) which makes the laptop not need the RTC coin cell anymore.

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Thank you very much, Jonathan - exactly what I needed! I guess I have my temporary fix and hopefully, the more permanent fix is easy to do.