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XPS13 battery disquallified after BIOS update!?
Hi.
I have an XPS13 from 2016 with excellent battery (93% health according to F12 tests, and 8+ hour of normal usages). Yesterday I took a BIOS upgrade to 1.12.1, and immediately after that the system disqualified my battery. It now turns itself off if I unplug the AC, and refuses to turn on (power button "dead") if AC is not connected... The amber led is blinking at about 3Hz. The F12 tests says "85960 Battery - The battery is reaching the end of its usable life". Still, the health is stated to 93%...
I think the only "fault" is that the battery is manufactured in Oct-2015, and some time check has expired. Is there older BIOS versions that does not have this check? Is there some way to reset the battery manufacturing date?
I tried backing to BIOS 1.09 from Oct-18, but that did not help. Unfortunately I did not check which version I had before updating to 1.12.1.
BR, Jacob
AdrianG001
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April 11th, 2020 02:00
Laptop batteries normally last around a year to a year and a half, so, it would appear that your battery may need to be replaced. If you've tested your computer with a different battery and it's still not charging, then it could be either the adapter or the charging circuit on the motherboard. You can troubleshoot withTech Support at 1-800-624-9896 or 1-800-288-4410, or you can initiate a chat session http://dell.to/2v4snVm, and if you are out of warranty, they can assist you with purchasing additional warranty or services.
jacob2
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April 11th, 2020 02:00
Thank you for your response, but I think it is completely wrong.
The battery is in excellent shape, with 8h+ working time, so this is purely a SW issue.
BR, Jacob
jacob2
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April 11th, 2020 08:00
The blinking amber light is controlled by SW, so it says nothing about the battery status.
Note, I have had NO problem with the battery, ever, and it is in really good shape. The new BIOS is apparently doing something different - another check, which is my case was faulty.
Does anyone know how the battery check is implemented, or if/where battery tests are store, and how they can be deleted.
BR, Jacob
ejn63
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April 11th, 2020 08:00
The system's firmware communicates with a logic board in the battery. I don't think anyone outside of the engineer at Compal that built the system for Dell could tell you for certain.
As is the case with a dying hard drive, there's no way to re-write what's stored in the logic board in the battery short of replacing it.
ejn63
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April 11th, 2020 08:00
The blinking amber light and the message you're seeing say otherwise. The battery needs to be replaced - it's well beyond its design lifetime.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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April 11th, 2020 12:00
Laptop batteries normally last around a year to a year and a half,
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Since when?
No, these are Lithium-Ion ... try 3-5 years .
Tesla1856
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April 11th, 2020 12:00
I tried backing to BIOS 1.09 from Oct-18, but that did not help. Unfortunately I did not check which version I had before updating to 1.12.1.
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I think that is because ... even if the BIOS back-flashes ... the other parts (like auxiliary micro-controllers) do not. This includes the embedded-controller for the intelligent battery charging and protection circuit.
Anyway, this is why (often) back-flashes are not even allowed.
And yes, I agree with you that this event is lame. And if that battery is "built-in" ... good-luck finding an exact OEM replacement.
jacob2
4 Posts
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April 12th, 2020 00:00
Thanks for the support! I downgraded BIOS to 1.7, pulled the CMOS battery and the main battery, connected everything back, and it still did not work. So I guess the only option is to buy a battery. I think this is close to a criminal act by Dell... Apple's $27M fine should deter companies from this kind of scams in the future I hope.
Anyway, I found replacement batteries for $70 so it is not the end of the world. Only extremely annoying!
BR, Jacob