How to troubleshoot Samsung Chromebook Pro that isn’t charging?

The charging process in Chromebooks or any laptop for that matter is pretty straightforward; plug the AC adapter to a working outlet and connect your computer to the other end. As simple as it is, some of the owners of the Samsung Chromebook Pro are having some issues because according to some of our readers, their Chromebooks are not recognizing the charger.

We will look into this matter in this post and we will try to tackle every possibility and rule them out one by one until we can figure out what the problem really is. That way, we can formulate a solution that might just fix the problem for good and bring your Chromebook back to life. If you’re one of the owners of this computer and are currently bugged by a similar problem, continue reading as this post may help.

Now before we proceed, there are two situations that we need to consider. First is the fact that your Chromebook has already drained its battery completely and won’t turn on while the second one is that the laptop still has enough battery left to power it up and that it turns on just fine.

Troubleshooting Samsung Chromebook Pro that neither charges nor powers on

The thing about charging issues is that we’ll be able to notice them when our device is running out of battery. That gives us limited time to troubleshoot as there’s only so much we can do about a laptop that neither charges nor turns on. Don’t worry, even though your Chromebook has already drained its battery completely, there are still things we can do to try and make it charge…

Make sure the AC adapter is plugged into a working outlet

If this is the first time that the problem occurs, then it’s possible that the problem is neither with your Chromebook or its charger. The first thing you have to look into is whether the power outlet you plugged the charger in is working. If you have a tester, you can check if there’s electric current flowing or you can simply plug an appliance and see if it turns on or not. After ruling out this possibility, move on to the next.

Verify the AC adapter is working properly

Unless you have a multimeter or another Chromebook Pro, it’s actually difficult to determine if the charger is working. Of course, the LED indicator will be lit up when it’s plugged into a working wall outlet but there’s no way to test if current is actually flowing through its cable. But try to check the end of the cable to see if there are debris, lint or any form of corrosion that may prevent proper contact between connectors.

Connect the charger and check the Power LED

I understand that we’re troubleshooting a Chromebook that doesn’t charge but try to observe how your laptop behaves when plugged in. Usually, your Samsung Chromebook Pro will show a red light when it’s charging. It will turn to green when the battery is fully-charged. I want you to check if the LED indicator lights up when your laptop is connected to its charger. If it doesn’t light up, then allow your laptop to charge for at least ten minutes.

While it’s plugged in, close the lid so that it will go into sleep mode and if it’s charging, it will speed up the process a little bit. There are times when the battery is totally drained that it will take a few minutes for the Chromebook to show those charging signs.

Open the lid to see if the Chromebook turns on

After ten minutes of charging, try to turn on your laptop by opening its lid. If the battery is above 5%, it will turn on the moment the lid is opened. If it doesn’t respond, try to press and hold both the Refresh and Power buttons, it will reset the Chromebook and it might bring it back to life. If it still doesn’t respond after this, I suggest you bring it to the tech.

Being a technician myself, I’ve encountered this problem a few times already and what I did was to open the Chromebook and disconnect its battery for a few seconds then reconnect it. After which, the laptop will boot up normally. This might be the only thing the tech will do to your laptop so it should be easy. However, I don’t suggest you do it on your own especially if it’s still under warranty.

Troubleshooting Samsung Chromebook Pro that doesn’t charge but still powers on

In the event that you noticed your Samsung Chromebook Pro doesn’t charge when there’s already little juice left, then we can check a couple of things to verify what the problem really is all about. But before we jump into our troubleshooting steps, I want you to try doing this as it worked for me a few times already:

Turn your Samsung Chromebook Pro off and then close the lid.
Unplug the charger from the wall outlet and disconnect your laptop from it.
Connect your Chromebook to its charger again and then plug the AC adapter to a functioning wall outlet.
Keep the lid closed.
The battery indicator light may not turn to amber, which means your Chromebook is charging.
Leave it charging for an hour without opening the lid and everything should be working after that.

If the battery hasn’t been charged, then you need to do these things…

Try to soft reset your Chromebook

Regardless whether your laptop is powered on or not, press and hold both the Refresh and Power keys and it will reset the device. This is often effective in dealing with minor firmware and hardware related issues. The moment your Chromebook turns on, try charging it again to see if it charges this time. If it’s still not responding to its charger, then move on to the next method.

Check if the AC Adapter is actually charging

Chrome will tell you if the charger is actually giving off charge to your laptop’s battery and this is one of the benefits if your laptop is still running.

Plug the adapter to wall outlet and connect the other end to your laptop.
Turn the laptop on if it’s still turned off.
Press the ctrl + alt + t keys to open crosh.
Type battery_test 1 into crosh, and then hit enter.
Check the result to confirm the battery is charging.

It should show “Battery is charging or full” if it’s working properly. If it doesn’t show it, then the AC adapter isn’t charging. It’s possible it’s damaged or something and you may need to buy a new one.

Check the discharge rate of the battery

We’re actually checking the health of the battery here and the test we have to undergo may have the following results:

If the Battery health percentage is greater than 50%, the battery is within the expected wear limits.
If the Battery health percentage is equal to or less than 50% and the battery is less than a year old, the battery is outside expected wear limits and might need to be replaced.
If the test results show Battery is Unknown, the battery might need to be replaced.

Now, here’s how you check the health of the battery in your HP Chromebook 14…

Disconnect the charging cable from the Chromebook.
Power on the Chromebook and sign in to your account.
Close any open apps or tabs and reduce the screen brightness to the lowest level.
Open the Chrome browser and type chrome://extensions/ in the omnibox (browser address bar), and then press enter.
Remove the check marks next to Enabled to disable all of the extensions.
Press the ctrl + alt + t keys to open crosh.
Type battery_test 1 into crosh, and then press enter.
A screen displays the current battery health and discharge rate.

Depending on the result, you may need to have the battery replaced as it might be the reason why it doesn’t charge anymore.

I am hoping this troubleshooting guide can help you one way or another.

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