Real-Time Clock Resets if the Main Battery is Drained on Dell Laptops with no CMOS Battery

Summary: The following article provides information about what happens when the main battery is drained on Latitude xx2x and xx3x or Dell Pro 13 Premium laptops. Latitude xx2x and xx3x or Dell Pro 13 Premium laptops without a CMOS battery reset the Real-Time Clock (RTC) when the main battery is fully drained. ...

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

RTC resets after discharging the main laptop battery

 

Dell has removed the CMOS coin-cell battery from various newer models. Starting with the designs for the Latitude xx2x and xx3x generation of laptop. (For example: Latitude 5320, 7320, 7420, 7520, 9520, 9330, 9430, and Dell Pro 13 Premium PA13250 laptops.) This means that the RTC is reset when the main battery drains empty, and the AC adapter is not connected. You can check your laptops specifications to see if this is applicable to your laptop.

The laptop does not boot when the AC adapter is first connected if there is a battery drain. It goes through an RTC reset instead.

The laptop restarts several times during the reset process. The keyboards backlight or any other LED indicators may activate when the power button is held and after it is released. (This depends on how you configure your laptop.) Once the reset is complete, the laptop reboots into the Dell splash screen. This indicates that the reset was completed successfully.

Note: When you become aware that an RTC reset is happening, it prompts you to select BIOS restore settings with one of the following options: (Depending on their settings.)
  • BIOS Defaults
  • Last Known Good
  • Custom User Settings
  • Factory Defaults
Select BIOS Defaults or Factory Defaults settings and the laptop does not boot if the BIOS has been changed to Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI). However, RAID ON is the default setting as it ships from Dell. If it is changed to AHCI, then select either Last Known Good or Custom User Settings instead. Any BIOS passwords that you set are unaffected by the reset. This means that you cannot set the correct boot option in the BIOS unless you have administrator rights on the laptop.

 

The models that this RTC reset affects do not directly reset the most important BIOS settings. This reduces the inconvenience if it happens.

The following table shows how an RTC reset affects the BIOS settings:

Table.1: RTC Affected BIOS Settings
BIOS Setup Menu Category RTC Reset Details and Sub-Settings that are Affected
Boot Configuration No Change  
Storage No Change  
Security No Change  
Passwords No Change  
Update, Recovery No Change  
System Management No Change  
Virtualization Support No Change  
Performance No Change  
System Logs No Change  
Integrated Device Reset Date & time; Camera; Audio; USB and Thunderbolt (TBT) Configuration; Enable Thunderbolt Technology Support;
Enable Thunderbolt Boot Support; Enable Thunderbolt (and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) behind TBT) pre-boot modules;
Disable USB4 PCIe Tunneling; Video and Power only on Type-C Ports; Type-C Dock Override;
Disable USB4 PCIe Tunneling; Video and Power only on Type-C Ports; Type-C Dock Override; Lan; Miscellaneous Devices
Display Reset Display Brightness; Touchscreen
Connection Reset Wireless Device Enable; Enable United Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Network Stack; Wireless Radio Control;
Wireless Radio Control; HTTPs Boot Feature
Power Reset Battery Configuration; Advanced Configuration; Power; Peak Shift; USB PowerShare; Thermal Management;
USB Wake Support; Block Sleep; Lid Switch; Intel Speed Shift Technology
Keyboard Reset Fn Lock Options; Lock Mode; Keyboard Illumination; Keyboard Backlight Timeout on AC;
Keyboard Backlight Time out on Battery; Device Configuration Hotkey Access
Pre-boot Behavior Reset Adapter Warnings; USB-C Warnings; Fastboot; Extend BIOS POST Time;
MAC Address Pass-Through; Sign of Life; Mouse and Touchpad

 

Cause

The laptop models in this article do not possess a CMOS battery by design. This can lead to an RTC reset when you fully drain the main and only battery in the laptop.

Resolution

This is the expected behavior for these non-coin-cell models of laptop when you drain the main battery. The laptop is working as designed and expected under these circumstances.


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Affected Products

Dell Pro 13 Premium PA13250, Latitude 5320, Latitude 7320, Latitude 9330, Latitude 7420, Latitude 9420, Latitude 9430, Latitude 7520, Latitude 9520
Article Properties
Article Number: 000206421
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 27 May 2025
Version:  6
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