'0190: Critical low battery error' - X220

[kyófú]

Hello lovely people,

(first of all, thank you for even reading this question and thank you a million times for attempting to give an answer. I'm always surprised by how people still care about forums in 2018 when Facebook and other social media seem to have taken over the internet.)

recently I've been experiencing this error (0190: critical low battery error) after I press the power button of my X220. I've been reading through some people's posts about this error and one of the topics concerning it seems to be the battery and the charger. I've tried three options:

- With both battery and charger
- Without battery, with charger
- Without charger, with battery

and the scenario is the same all three situations. Pressing the ThinkVantage button does nothing.

Multiple people discussing this error online have suggested that in this case, the issue is probably the motherboard.

1) If that's the case, what does it mean for my ThinkPad? Sorry I'm a noob - does it mean it's dead, are my data lost or can I just replace it with a new one without either of those things being threatened?

2) If it isn't the case, what are other possible reasons for this error? Should I call an IT service?

Thank you sincerely for caring. All my work is inside this machine and I've developed a strong emotional attachment to it , so any responses will be greatly appreciated!

Have a great day,
Kyófú

[axur-delmeria]

1) If that's the case, what does it mean for my ThinkPad? Sorry I'm a noob - does it mean it's dead, are my data lost or can I just replace it with a new one without either of those things being threatened?

Your data is safe, as your data is stored in either the hard drive or SSD (if your X220 has one). You can buy a complete X220 and just put in the old hard drive and/or SSD to the "new" X220.

I've encountered a similar error only once, when I used a non-spec charger (19v only instead of 20v) on a Thinkpad X61 without any battery installed.

But since you're experiencing it even with only the battery installed, I see two possibilities.

1. Both the charger and battery are malfunctioning. Borrow another charger, one that's known to be good. Remove the battery, then plug in the charger. Turn on the laptop. If the problem disappears, turn off the laptop and install the battery and wait for an hour. Don't turn on the laptop. If the battery charging light blinks orange even after an hour of charging, then it's probably dead.

2. If the problem persists even with a known good charger, then it's highly likely that the laptop's motherboard is malfunctioning. To be specific, the power circuits in the motherboard. In this case, you can either replace the motherboard, or as mentioned earlier, buy a complete X220 and transfer your hard drive and/or SSD there.