Inspiron 15 Power/Battery status LED

Question

Power and battery-status light Indicates the power and battery status of the computer. Solid white: Power adapter is connected and the battery is fully charged. Off: — Computer is running on battery and the battery has more than 5% charge. — Computer is in sleep state, hibernation, or turned off. Solid yellow: Computer is running on battery and the battery has less than 5% charge. The above is a copy of the text from the Inspiron manual. When I first received the unit it was working as described in the manual but after a day or two and receiving updates I noticed that when I turned on the unit the LED would initially be a Solid white but then faded to off after a few seconds. Tech support tried to convince me that what it was doing was normal so I asked if the manual was wrong and they said no. I expected the LED to be on Solid white when I was on AC and the battery was fully charged which it was doing for the first few days but then started to be solid white and fade to off after a few seconds. Anyone else having the same problem? This is not really a big deal but I find it strange that Tech Support tried to convince me it was normal. I am used to seeing the power on LED 'ON' when the unit is on.

Goes_M · Answer

I see the same behavior, and have found the same description. I was also expecting the light to be on when plugged in and the computer was turned on. Or maybe when plugged in, computer turned off, and fully charged.

Cynical explanation: It *should* be on when plugged in and the computer is turned on, but the charger is so gutless that -- to the light's logic hardware -- when the computer is on,. it looks like your running off the batteries. My suggestion find someone with a larger Dell laptop and borrow the charger for a short test.

dschar · Answer

The AC adapter for the Inspiron is a 3.34amp unit and I also have Dell Latitude AC adapter that is 4.62amp and I get the same results. Note that when I first received the Laptop the LED worked properly and stayed on solid white while it was on AC. It started fading after a few seconds after I had the unit for a couple of days and after receiving updates both from Microsoft and Dell.

JeffSmith15 · Answer

I have a Dell Inspiron 15 that is barely past the 1 year delivery mark. I just got a new power cable and AC adaptor for it as I don't know what happened to the original. It worked for a minute or two but now I just get a white like for the 3rd icon from the left, looks like the charging light. When I hit the power button, I get the power on light for about a second and it immediately dies. Without the AC it will not start. Without the batter and just the AC, it will not start. I have unplugged the AC and the battery and held down the start button for over 30 seconds, replaced and it still will not turn on. Do I have a bad motherboard only after 1 year? This is pretty bad quality if so...

Goes_M · Answer

I was thinking that maybe the battery characteristics had changed enough that some voltage threshold was a tiny bit above where the battery + charger could do. Sounds like this is probably not the case. If the light is controlled through software, then it could be due to a software change.

I have a 100W charger from a M4700 that I can try tonight, but I now doubt that it will change anything. But I'll post if it does.

We bought it about a week ago from Costco. I do not have any idea how old the software is, but at this point it is fully updated and the light only stays on for a few seconds like yours.

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Inspiron 15 Power/Battery status LED

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