recently my laptop ran out of charge, and when i turned it on it beeped a few times and asked to set date in bios. but when my android phone has powered off suddenly, it successfully booted but with a nonsense date many years ago. why does a PC-laptop require setting date before booting the full OS?

  • Toes♀@ani.social
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    5 days ago

    Sounds like a bad CMOS battery. They are typically a small cr2032 battery cell.

    Your specific model should hopefully have a technicians manual or iFixit guide you can follow to fix it. If your computer is still under warranty they can fix it for you.

    That battery is responsible for the computers firmware holding onto its specific settings and can trigger various out of box and security issues unaddressed.

      • Toes♀@ani.social
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        1 day ago

        They are about €1 for a small pack. So it’s easier to replace it than to test it directly.

        But if you mean to see if it’s the problem without taking it out.

        After running the computer for a few hours. Turn it off, unplug it from the mains and disconnect the main battery for 24 hours. Connect the main battery and power it on, go directly to the bios and see if the time and date are still correct.

        If they are not, it’s likely a bad CMOS battery.