ILCE9 Incompatible Battery Warning

[Dave V]

Hoping for some insight here before I send off to the repair shop.

I have an A9 v1 that I have been using for a couple years with no issue.  About a month ago, it randomly gave me the message "Incompatible battery. Use correct model".   I removed the battery for a while and then it worked with the battery(s), but I still get that message when using the VG-C3EM grip.  I am using all Sony OEM components.  Any ideas as to what it could be?  I have done a firmware upgrade and reset factory settings, but no luck.  I also cleaned the contacts and tried 4 different Sony OEM batteries.  The added grip is invaluable for shooting sports and I would like to figure it out.

Thanks in advance.

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[jimk1963]

Any update to this? My A9ii with genuine Sony batteries and same vertical grip. Started happening after latest firmware update.

[FunWithCameras]

I can think of two possibilities.

1. is it possible you have a counterfeit battery? They do exist - Canon has had problems with people counterfeiting batteries for quite a while, and while I haven't heard of counterfeit Sony batteries, it's possible. Maybe the firmware update added some code which detected the counterfeit?
2. Maybe the battery is getting old, and not maintaining a sufficient voltage, making the camera think it's not the right model? How old is the battery (there is a date on all FZ100 batteries - I think my oldest one dates to 2018), and how heavily has it been used?