m17 R3, four red lights, one blue

Question

Hello,Today my battery has been disabled (it appears). My power button flashes with 4 red lights followed by a blue. When I look on the user manual, there is no listing for 4 red flashes at all. Anyone happen to know what this error means? Context: If I unplug my power cord, the laptop turns off immediately, and it won't turn on without the power being plugged in. When I plug it in and turn it on, I get the message: 'This battery is temporarily disabled, please turn off computer and try again when the unit is back to operational temperature'. If I go into the BIOS, the same message is displayed with one small addition of 'reseat the AC adapter'.I had my computer off for an hour or so, turned it back on and still the same issue, so probably(?) has nothing to do with the temperature.

Azguul · Accepted Answer

This morning I tried to turn on my laptop without the power cord plugged in, and it didn't work as expected. However, when I plugged in the power cord, it started normally (no error messages). When I got to the desktop, my power icon in the service tray (bottom right hand side) said my battery was charging. Also, the flashing error sequence (four red, one blue) didn't appear, and as of now it's running a solid blue (healthy).

After my battery was showing fully charged, I unplugged my power and it seems to be running fine. The problem seems to have gone away by itself (after an overnight rest?).

Yesterday, when I was still having the issue, I ran through a couple different diagnostic tests (one through the dell website, and another on startup; I would get an error message pre/at BIOS, and there was an option to run tests there, too). On either test it didn't detect any errors. If I was still having the issue I'd run them again and post the exact results/phrasing, but as of now my laptop seems to be running normally.

Thanks, crimsom.

crimsom · Answer

Hello @Azguul thank you for good description of problem.

Agree, looking at System diagnostic lights does not help.

The read only thread Your battery is temporarily disabled. Please turn off your computer and try again when the unit is b... - Dell Community is not solved.

The BIOS message "reseat the AC adapter" suggests that the microchip in the ac adapter is not handshaking with the m17 R3 internal circuit that checks that ac adapter and/or Battery is acceptable and will not damage laptop. Does the ac adapter have a working diagnostic LED on power cord that remains on when inserted into laptop's dc-in port? Check that the ac adapter power cord plug is fully engaged in its laptop dc-in port (do not force) and that the plug's central wire is not bent or missing?

Also found this on the internet, How To Reset Power Adapter On Dell Laptop? (digieffects.com)

Please share update. Thanks.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Azguul thank you for sharing update that m17 R3 seems to have fixed itself. This is very good news.

Please run Reliability Monitor to create m17 R3 event time line, which should have captured what caused the diagnostic led code of four red lights, one blue light. If it happens again, this information should include root cause of why m17 R3 was unhappy and the Microsoft error code that can be used to find and fix this problem.

Please share this information, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.

Hint: Windows 10 three key combination, windows + shift + s will snip capture screenshot image in whole or part. Do not include any private information if image is shared in this public forum, by clicking on camera icon in message toolbar.

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m17 R3, four red lights, one blue

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