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Dell Latitude XT2 Battery / Service Tag Issue
Hi,
I recently purchased a 'refurbished' Dell Latitude XT2 laptop (without battery) to replace my own which met a rather unfortunate end.
The new unit works perfectly (and was in pristine condition) however when I put my old battery in it I get the following error on boot and the battery does not charge;
WARNING: If a Service Tag was just installed you will need to shut the
system down and unplug the AC adapter if present. Re-Insert the AC adapter
and power on the system to allow for proper functionality. WARNING: If a Service Tag was not just installed, then the primary
battery is not identifiable. This system will be unable to charge batteries until this battery is removed.
The battery is a genuine DELL battery and charges fine, strangely, when plugged into my old XT2 - but carrying it around as a charger seems a tad ridiculous ;)
The Service Tag on the refurbished unit is '1234567' which strikes me as more of a placeholder, but I can't find a way to change it - I've tried numerous versions of ASSET.COM and the server tools (which provide the means to set the service tag in the event of swapping out a logic board) but none of them seem to work with this laptop.
Everything else works perfectly, and it will run from the batteries, it just refuses to charge them.
Any advice anyone can offer would be very much appreciated.
DELL-Terry B
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June 1st, 2012 15:00
rsmck
The Latitude XT2 does have battery Authentication. If the correct service tag isn't inputted in the BIOS, the system will not charge a battery.
In order for the battery authentication to succeed, the Service Tag field in the System Setup (BIOS) must be populated and a Dell battery and AC adapter must be installed. If any of these parameters are not met, the battery authentication fails resulting in the system's inability to recognize and therefore charge the battery.
If you haven't already tried I suggest entering the BIOS. Start the system while tapping F2, if the service tag isn't set up it should automatically flash to the service tag screen. Otherwise if you choose the maintenance section you can bring up service tag there. Does the BIOS read 1234567? If so then either then the incorrect service tag was inputted or that the system board is defective. If you are able to input the correct service tag should do the trick for you, if you don't have the correct service tag then I would contact the original owner and see if you can get that information. Other than that I can only think that the system board is defective.
TB
DELL-Venkat K
18 Posts
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June 1st, 2012 15:00
Hi rsmck
Welcome to the community
The issue seems to be with motherboard. Motherboard can be replaced if system has active contracts. To check if system has active contracts, you can visit the following website: www.support.dell.com
And enter the system service tag.
OR
You can send me a private message by clicking on my user name, add me as a friend, and send me the system service tag / express service code, phone # and address with Best time to reach.
sebidibartolo
1 Message
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June 13th, 2012 15:00
Hi!
I have the same problem and I bought from the same seller.
I also have the service tag number 1234567!
I think the solution is to replace the service tag. But how?
Please Dell, you take care!
kirknes
1 Message
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June 14th, 2012 09:00
Hi all,
sorry, but I got the same problem...
My service tag is set as described and incorrect and now I can't charge the battery, so sad...
Can anyone help sebidibartolo and me to change the service tag to a valid one to check out the mainboard is charging the battery correctly???
Thank you very much in advance!
Kind and friendly regards
Rainer
rsmck
3 Posts
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June 15th, 2012 17:00
I'm guessing we've bought these from the same seller on eBay .... who was selling these purporting to be authorised by DELL to sell refurbished equipment.
I'm looking into this further, and making a complaint however if there's anyone at DELL who could offer some advice that'd be helpful - whilst I appreciate it falls outwith your normal remit there *must* be tools available (other than the freely available ASSET.COM) that allow this information to be set and it'd be good for customer relations (many of us who bought these units also have other DELL products, and in my case many servers!)
The reply I got from "Silicon Connect Limited" was;
You can change the System Tag , and program your tag from other laptop etc for example if you wish.
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/19369-Dell-Bios-Editing-Removing-Bios-Lock-Changing-Service-Asset-Tag-Software-Here
Which was not tremendously helpful, and is downright inaccurate.
Perhaps DELL could confirm if these are genuinely 'production line extras' and if so if the sale of these was ever authorised, and who to.
adamadamadam
1 Message
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December 5th, 2012 17:00
Has anyone got an update on this?
mortified
1 Message
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April 8th, 2013 22:00
i'm having the same problem, and it worries me that you don't seem to have gotten an answer in nearly 12 months.
rsmck
3 Posts
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April 9th, 2013 02:00
Unfortunately it seems the eBay seller is a bit of a con.... as far as my local DELL service centre was concerned they are of the opinion that these are essentially "stolen" in that they were never authorised for sale (although they were unable to track the origins of mine from the serial information on the unit)
I was allowed to keep the unit but it will never charge batteries which for the purpose I'm using it for isn't that big a problem. Negative feedback left on eBay but they refused any claim through PayPal unfortunately because I did actually receive the item.
Best of luck with yours and yes, no response for over 12 months from any official DELL representative... but I can't say I'm surprised. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised.
DELL-Terry B
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April 9th, 2013 10:00
I just noticed this today; I apologize for missing all the posts since my original one last June.
If these systems was purchased directly from Dell and you have the service tags please send me a private message (just click on the link in my signature and click start conversation) and I will be happy to research possible service options.
If the systems wasn't purchased directly from Dell, either EBay or elsewhere and if you have the information who the original purchaser was you should try filling out a transfer of ownership form and get the systems ownership moved into your name so that these systems may be serviced. You can find the transfer of ownership form here
Please be careful of purchasing products online; please get as much information on the seller and where the products were obtained. That way if there is an active warranty on the product you will be able to get it transferred to your name.
TB
joebal
1 Message
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July 20th, 2013 15:00
The problem has nothing to do with service tags or faulty batteries/mobos/AC adaptors per se. The problem is about Dell's overzealous and overprotective design to force you buy their $$$$$ components that are 5 times the price of similar quality components from third-parties. That's the real purpose of 'service tags', the middle signal pin in their AC chargers, etc. Go ASUS; they are the best and most durable and most user-friendly brand (and much less costly for better specs and higher quality than DELL!).
People had same issues for many years now. One thread starts in 2007 with many posts over the years till 2013: http://www.notebookforums.com/t/194017/very-weird-battery-not-recognized-problem-can-anyone-help/40 - all having similar issues.
Now read this informed quote from:
http://nctritech.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/dell-laptops-reject-third-party-batteries-and-ac-adapterschargers-hardware-vendor-lock-in/
It couldn’t be more obvious that Dell has put special circuitry and programming into their laptops to disable third-party batteries. I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I call it how I see it, and four totally different batteries can’t all be wrong. If Dell didn’t charge $200 for a replacement battery that costs less than one fifth of that to make and bring to market, I’d just tell everyone to buy replacement batteries straight from Dell.
The problems appear to be ongoing and systemic, too; for example, one poster reports that his two otherwise identical Dell branded batteries for a Dell Latitude XT and a Dell Latitude XT2 are not interchangeable, despite having the exact same Dell part number and being official Dell batteries. If these laptops have serious problems recognizing official Dell batteries, what does that imply about non-Dell branded ones? It sounds like Dell has spent too much time engineering ways to lock out third parties and not enough time thinking about their customers’ needs.
What would motivate this? Two things. One, profits from battery sales (and upgrades and accessory sales in general) are Dell’s biggest money maker, and two, every $200 battery sale seems (based on some third-party replacements being $50 or less) to carry a gross profit of over $150.
The problem is that I can buy any third-party component I want for an HP or Toshiba or Acer or Gateway, and it will gleefully run with my choice. Dell appears to be the only computer manufacturer (sort of; Dell owns the Alienware brand) that designs ALL of their computers to discourage or outright block third-party components. Even the desktops tend to be either the long-defunct and universally hated BTX case form factor (like a Dimension E510) or a small form factor variant of BTX (think of the XPS 200, which also has an extremely serious design flaw that causes the hardware to overheat). Replacement motherboards for these desktops MUST be a matching Dell board, which usually forces the buyer to purchase even more parts to fix a motherboard failure, because now the computer’s case, power supply, and CPU heatsink/fan assembly all have to be replaced as well, often pushing the costs of a motherboard replacement above $200.