ibm t61 battery isn't charged

Question

I've just bought an IBM T61 laptop and it has a non-orginal battery. Everything was ok (laptop worked without being plugged in), but something has changed, and now the battery isn't charged. Power Manager says:

This system may not support batteries that are not genuine Lenovo-made or authorized. This sytem will contunue to boot, but may not charge unauthorized batteries

Here is a screenshot:

Answer 1

I have a (genuine) T400 myself, and while shopping for batteries on Amazon, I read some tales of woe from people who tried saving money and bought cheap OEM "Thinkpad-compatible" batteries and ran into the same issue.

Apparently, this is Lenovo's way to block competition. For their side, I read a claim that cheap, no-QA batteries may cause fire hazard and they are just trying to protect their users. I tended to scoff at that (just like I scoff at HP for blocking non-original inkjet cartridges), until I bought a cheapo power adapter for my T400, to replace the original. Boy, that thing heats up - even when the laptop is not connected.

All this long story just to say: take the battery out and make sure it's an original Lenovo. If it isn't - get an original one. If it is, there may be a Power Manager upgrade that will support it.

Good luck!