C600 battery not charging

Question

Latitude C600 1ghz CPU 512MB RAM Windows XP Pro SP2. BIOS A23   Laptop been fine for 2+ years, then out of the blue the battery will not charge. Got several batteries (I have a CPi as well) and 2 other power adapters, so the cause is not a faulty battery or failing/failed charger. Enter BIOS (F2) and batteries status show as idle.   Did a google search and found a reference to reverting to an old BIOS version and then flashing back to the original.   I have been on the latest BIOS (A23) for a long time, but thought I would give it a go. Flashed to BIOS version A12 and everything is working normally - the battery charge light now comes on, on the battery stats screen it now says charging and after a few hours both my batteries (left and right bay) are fully charged. To check this wasn't coincidental, I flashed to A23 again and it no longer charges the battery. SO for the time being I have reverted to A12 BIOS and all is fine. I might incrementaly flash the BIOS and see at what version it stops working. A12, A13 - A20 etc   Can anyone explain the mechanism by which my battery charging circuit is dependant on BIOS version? Thanks John

D146895X · Answer

Update: I flashed the BIOS A13, A14,...........A20. The battery screen said 'charging' until I got to A21, then said 'idle' Stepped back to A20 - charging light ON, screen says 'charging' but battery remained at 38% after hours of charging. Haven't bothered checking charging efectiveness and previous BIOS's A19, A18....Etc. Stepped back to BIOS Ver. A12 - BINGO! battery says charging and after a few hours 100% charge. Looks like I am staying at Ver. A12 John

DELL-Chris B · Answer

D146895X: I'm glad you were able to get your issue resolved and thank you for the feedback. Regards,

debsy111 · Answer

I am having the same problem with a C600 as well.  I bought my stepson one for christmas off from Ebay and the battery will not charge in his.  I put a new battery in and will not charge, used my AC adapter and still nothing.  Should I download the bios 12 in his?  I never did anything like this before and don't want to screw it up.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you in advance

jerseylily48 · Answer

I have a Latitude C600.  How do I change the BIOS to A12 as my battery is not charging.  Have read that I should do this.  How???

D146895X · Answer

Download the A12 bios update from the Support/downloads section of the Dell Website. After selecting the correct machine (i.e. Lattitude, C600) Select BIOS then at RH side of screen (under 'more options') select Browse ftp site. Select the following file : ftp://ftp.dell.com/bios/C600-A12.EXE and download to your desktop (you may be able to access the file from this message, don't know if forums disable hyperlinks)   When you execute this file (double click on it) it will create a bootable floppy disc from which you will boot your Latitude C600 and Upgrade (downgrade!) your BIOS to Version A12.   Hope this helps John

jerseylily48 · Answer

Thanks for the info.  I didn't have a floppy disk drive so went to local computer store.  Happily she had so downloaded the BIOS A12, loaded it on my laptop.  Voila, all is now well, battery is 100% charged up.

arcii · Answer

Hello.I've got similar problem. For about 2 years, my battery in C600 has probably damaged indicator (when was 100 % battery charged, time elapsed was ~1.5 hours, after 15-20 minutes it was 0 %, but laptop was still usable for more than 1 hour). I bought a used laptop.   Yesterday I switch it to battery supply for 2-3 minutes, computer turned off, and now, battery state in bios is charging, but it's always 0 %, when I unplug the power supply, computer immediately goes turn off, and after about 10 seconds, the led from battery is blinkink in orange.   I was trying tu downgrade BIOS to A12, but I received a error message that I don't have inserted battery.   Any ideas ?   PS. Sorry for my english, i'm still learning ;)

FQCS · Answer

YO HOMIES!~   Where's the BIOS downgrade for the D530?   I got the same problem and I need help!

hrova · Answer

Well.... The C600 is a completely different computer than the D530.... Just because the C600 BIOS had this aberration does not mean that it is present in the BIOS of other computers.

Having said that, if you're all set on trying, here are previous BIOS Revisions for the D530.

Let us know how it turns out.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/previousversions.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&SystemID=LAT_D530&releaseid=R186790&vercnt=5&deviceid=15742&formatcnt=1&releasetype=BIOS&servicetag=&catid=-1&libid=1&impid=-1&osl=en&os=BIOSA

billwater24 · Answer

Thank you all for the posts, they have helped.

D146895X, I flashed my BIOS to A12, but the battery still won't charge past 20%. It charged to 20% at BIOS A23 as well. This battery is new in April 2008, used to charge to 60% when new, slowly declining each month. Tried putting battery in DVD slot, no change. Three days ago I could get 25% charge.

Am I missing something??

Thanks,

Matt

billwater24 · Answer

Tried to post this already, here goes 2nd try. C600 BIOS A23, PIII 800 Mhz Win 2K 256 mb Ram. Got a new battery in April 2008, battery won't charge past 60%. Each month since battery drops %. Today is 20%. Updated BIOS to A12 as everyone here is, no luck. Battery still charging to 20%.

Any help? Put in for a replacement battery just in case.

Thanks!

Matt

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C600 battery not charging

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