Actually, I don't believe that is the case. There are two different icons, one of which indicates that you are running on AC power, and also recharging your battery (it has a little lightening bolt over the power cord image), and one that means you are simply using AC power to run your computer, but you are not charging your battery (just an image of the power cord). I get the latter of the two images, and my battery is certainly not charging.
"Recently my Inspiron 5100 has developed a problem: the battery will not charge while the computer is turned on. Once it is turned off, the battery will charge,"
Spooky...the computer has obviously learned that to charge a battery and prolong its life...charging it whilst switched off is the WTG
Recently my Inspiron 5100 has developed a problem: the battery will not charge while the computer is turned on. Once it is turned off, the battery will charge, but while in use, the computer always has the "on AC power" logo displayed on the task bar. Any help regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Adrian
Hi
I have exactly the same problem since yesterday. Have you managed to solve it yet? If yes, can you please tell me how you went about it.
I have a new I6000, about 2 months old. I've been using it as a desktop, plugged into AC power all the time. The battery discharges, according to the 'Open Power Meter', continuously. Somewhere I read that when the battery capacity drops to 95%, it's supposed to start trikle charging, but mine doesn't; I've see the capacity drop from 100% to about 40% when the laptop has been on AC power the whole time.
I can get the battery to charge by unplugging the AC adapter, waiting a few seconds, and then plugging it in again. But this doesn't always seem to work, and I don't think it should be required.
Has anyone else observed this problem, and if so, what can be done about it?
I seem to have fixed the problem. I updated the bios and now the battery seems to charge normally. (I also spent some time removing viruses and trojans, but I think it was the bios update that did the trick). However, my battery LED now flashes four times orange quickly and then once green slowly, whereas it used to only flash green. I've read numerous reports of this happening with the LED shortly before the battery dies, so I got on the phone to Dell to try to figure it out. Interestingly, the good folks at Dell were not able to tell me what this change in the LED signal means, and were quick to inform me that that a laptop battery is not actually part of a laptop, and is certainly not covered under a three year warranty. They were going to email me some diagnostic software to help me determine if my battery is okay, but I guess the pre-mothers' day rush is holding up the mail...
Anyway, if you're having this problem, update your bios. If it persists, post here again, and I'll get you the links to the anti-virus/trojan software that worked best for me. Good luck.
Cool- Thanks for the update, Abhi. I'm hoping that everything is okay now. I was concerned that the new LED pattern mean that my battery was in trouble, but I'm encouraged that yours did exactly the same thing as mine (it would be quite a coincidence if both batteries were dying). It's a little strange that Dell can't tell us if this is normal or not. I'll definitely post again if the situation changes.
I did exactly the same too. I updated the bios to A22 and then to A31 as recommended by some others on this forum. And now I have exactly the same problem as yours, 4 orange flashes and then one green. But the battery looks like it charges normally now. The guy at Dell had no clue when I called in. He made me tinker with the bios (change the time to midnight, I have no clue why..) and asked me to keep the battery charging for 3 hrs continuously. Nothing helped. I am going to call them again. I'll keep you all posted. In the meantime, if there is any development, please let me know. Thanks.
clarabo999
3 Posts
0
April 19th, 2005 19:00
clarabo999
3 Posts
0
April 19th, 2005 19:00
clarabo999
3 Posts
0
April 19th, 2005 19:00
Adrian01
4 Posts
0
April 19th, 2005 19:00
Actually, I don't believe that is the case. There are two different icons, one of which indicates that you are running on AC power, and also recharging your battery (it has a little lightening bolt over the power cord image), and one that means you are simply using AC power to run your computer, but you are not charging your battery (just an image of the power cord). I get the latter of the two images, and my battery is certainly not charging.
-Adrian
bluetracker
2 Intern
•
369 Posts
0
April 21st, 2005 13:00
Spooky...the computer has obviously learned that to charge a battery and prolong its life...charging it whilst switched off is the WTG
abhiatsunysb
7 Posts
0
April 23rd, 2005 14:00
Hi
I have exactly the same problem since yesterday. Have you managed to solve it yet? If yes, can you please tell me how you went about it.
Thanks.
blnsfu
1 Message
0
April 23rd, 2005 23:00
I can get the battery to charge by unplugging the AC adapter, waiting a few seconds, and then plugging it in again. But this doesn't always seem to work, and I don't think it should be required.
Has anyone else observed this problem, and if so, what can be done about it?
Thanks in advance.
Rod
Adrian01
4 Posts
0
April 25th, 2005 12:00
Adrian01
4 Posts
0
April 28th, 2005 16:00
Cool- Thanks for the update, Abhi. I'm hoping that everything is okay now. I was concerned that the new LED pattern mean that my battery was in trouble, but I'm encouraged that yours did exactly the same thing as mine (it would be quite a coincidence if both batteries were dying). It's a little strange that Dell can't tell us if this is normal or not. I'll definitely post again if the situation changes.
-Adrian
abhiatsunysb
7 Posts
0
April 28th, 2005 16:00
I did exactly the same too. I updated the bios to A22 and then to A31 as recommended by some others on this forum. And now I have exactly the same problem as yours, 4 orange flashes and then one green. But the battery looks like it charges normally now. The guy at Dell had no clue when I called in. He made me tinker with the bios (change the time to midnight, I have no clue why..) and asked me to keep the battery charging for 3 hrs continuously. Nothing helped. I am going to call them again. I'll keep you all posted. In the meantime, if there is any development, please let me know. Thanks.
Abhi.