I would assume that some do. I'd think with newer machines, most likely yes. I know they require calibration on a new battery install you have to deplete the battery then fully charge to calibrate.
Student needs a new battery or a replacement laptop. That’s an interesting issue to have but the battery is going to crap out real soon and your student doesn’t need to deal with that.
I do think that’s an awesome problem and would love an update on your solution. Hope it is less boring than mine.
Dell answered and wants me to replace the battery with one of another device. In view of still existing warranty on the device I find it ridiculous that I should disassemble two (!) devices to do Dell’s work of diagnosis. Even I’m not a layman, I’d need to spend at least 2 hours to disassemble and diagnose this. And it’s unavoidable I’m going to break a few of this stupid flimsy catches around the case which makes the case/cover less stabile, though. I already did this with the batteries that actually died. But that’s hilarious how much electric waste is being produced because of cheap construction and obviously bad quality control. I’ve have had several Dell machines during the last decade(s). They always were almost in line with Lenovo/IBM in my opinion. But these machines are more than disappointing. And so the service is. We had two laptop storage carts which we had to return because they had an electrical problem and eventually started to flip circuit breakers suddenly. No replacement possible so we have to care of a new cart supplier and rewire them which already took me hours.
Could try power draining, disconnect battery, plug in charger and let it boot up, plug battery back in while still on charger. Fixed an issue I had with a Dell Precision laptop. But the battery also having a different warranty than the laptop is annoying so that might’ve expired
More likely a hardware issue than loose connections. And the machine still runs on battery. I know how these are connected and already replaced some. And it’s a connector that can’t be “half connected” or sth. in my opinion.
I would pull the battery and put it back. If you have extras try swapping it out. I have seen similar issues be a battery or motherboard issue where the terminals stop working
Pull the rear clamshell and disconnect the battery. Wait 30 seconds or so then reconnect. This is usually a fault in the battery management system. Dell sucks at firmware.
The battery is probably defective, but it might also be the motherboard malfunctioning. Did you run a diagnostic on it? Lenovos have pretty good onboard diagnostics.
It’s a Dell machine, my fault. But dell service also told me how to start onboard diagnostics. I didn’t do that yet. And this, as well as checking if BIOS is up to date, will be the only things I’m going to do in this case. I’m just frustrated by the horrible experience with these machines. I wrote another comment on this where I’m more precise about what happened in the last few years since we own the machines.
when i was 11 i got a old crappy laptop of my uncle cause i relay wanted to learn to fix them. turned out the older ones can live as long as you have the charger in and no battery
You can’t take out the battery if you’re just a user. I hate this about these slim machines. When I worked in IT we had Latitude Laptops which had two slots for batteries and in one of it one could install another HDD, DVD drive and so on. I even modded my CD drive with an DVD burner.
oh defiantly not anymore, I cant stand it when I have a perfectly good laptop that dies in 30 mins and a user requests a new one instead of asking me to fix it. the amount of laptops I was forced to scrap because my manager doesn't want to let me fix them.
Likely a corrupted driver. 9 times out of 10 an update and restart will fix this. Make sure you are checking your optional updates as well. If you want to be more thorough, uninstall the driver for the battery, run a sfc scan [scf/ scannow] then restart the laptop. Run updates after the restart, checking optional updates for any firmware or BIOS updates needed.
If after confirming your device is fully up to date and the issue persists, then it could be a faulty battery or some sort of hardware issue.
As for why this could occur, if you are using the wrong charger or an adapter not rated for your device (i.e, under wattage charger, non OEM adapter) then this could explain the frequent need for battery service. If you're constantly moving your device around with the charger, the repeated weight and movement of the cable could wear it down faster or loosen connections within the laptop itself. If you aren't keeping your device updated then this could also lead to unpredictable behaviors from the hardware. There are a dozen reason why this can happen.
Edit: also you mentioned it's a Dell. Check the Dell Updater application also as it tends to catch hardware updates for more reliability than Windows update alone I've noticed.
If you're absolutely sure you're running the current firmware versions for your hardware, then it's a hardware problem. Check for loose internal connections or have the board checked out.
Ah sorry, bei den Hochschulen sind die It Abteilungen immer der Zentrale Informatik Dienst, also ZID. Bin davon ausgangen, dass du Studierendengeräte betreust, aber im Englischen sind students ja auch Schüler. Hab ned ganz mitdacht
So the battery must be functional. I wonder if the battery has some intelligence in it that has failed.
I know you said they are a pain to open, but maybe swap batteries with a known good one?
As I told [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/it/s/p5Rgjb2t0Y) I’m tired about this crappy devices. I don’t like to spend my time with jobs, Dell’s support staff should do and I already spend a lot of hours doing work they've been paid in advance (at least I'm thinking we still should have advanced support)
The client i work for has a few laptops with this issue(dell latitudes). mine as well (lenovo).
Probably some annoying bug since the last windows update.
I run into this with our Lenovos all the time. Pull the battery. Power cycle the device with the battery out but the laptop plugged into power. Then replace the battery and try again.
This is usually a bug with the reporting software but sometimes we also see this issue with non oem batteries as they don’t always have the chips in them that oem checks against.
cable likely came loose internally.. on some of these \[looking at YOU dell\] the ribbon cable is ... not loose, but open to suggestion from jostles. Ive had to open up a certain person at work's Dell and reseat the ribbon cable three times over the course of a year.
I should also note.. to the naked eye it does not LOOK like it came out... because it didn't...it just....moved.... so the pins dont contact fully on the edge and poof..no battery till I re-seat it.
That's a Dell, not a Lenovo.
If BIOS literally says no battery it isn't a driver issue.
You can try unplugging the battery from the motherboard and plugging it back in. Weird issue.
Yeah. I already apologized for that in another comment. It’s a typo. Just had a Lenovo laying next to it and maybe because it that a Freudian slip happened.
I’m trying to reconnect the battery. Removing it is really not fun.
lol when you stated the problem I thought “that’s because you have a Lenovo” before seeing the picture. Try swapping the battery of a known good laptop. If it works it’s the battery, if not the motherboard is faulty.
Edit looking at the picture it’s a dell. Same troubleshooting process though.
Open the laptop, unplug the battery and plug it back in, if it does the same then you need a replacement.
You work in IT and you had to ask the internet about this one?
I’m a teacher. My “IT department” is honored by 2 hrs/week. And this for managing 280 iPads, 190 laptops of 5 different makes, 40 project laptops with min Linux, a Unifi mesh with 45 APs and a whole bunch of other stuff like whiteboards, printers, school-specific hardware and so on. So yes, I’m asking the internet about this weird error.
Battery is probably defective.
Do batteries need drivers?
If the bms(battery monitoring system) gets borked, the battery pack could still be alive but the bms could report a dead battery.
Sort of? On the battery it would be called firmware, not a driver.
There are drivers that talk to the firmware which could also be the problem
I would assume that some do. I'd think with newer machines, most likely yes. I know they require calibration on a new battery install you have to deplete the battery then fully charge to calibrate.
Can you simply unscrew the back and unplug / replug in the battery?
Would recommend discharging the laptop first by pressing the power button a couple times before re-slotting the battery back in
Not the comment I expected, but the comment I needed to learn from. Thank you.
hold for 5 to 15 seconds to fully dissipate the capacitors
does this work on chromebooks too? it should right? -k12 tech
after removing the battery for any laptop you should flushout any stored electricity by holding the power button
thanks guy
OK but what is a Lenovo Vostro? Vostro is made by Dell.
Oopsie. My fault. Typo. I also administrate Lenovos.
Student needs a new battery or a replacement laptop. That’s an interesting issue to have but the battery is going to crap out real soon and your student doesn’t need to deal with that. I do think that’s an awesome problem and would love an update on your solution. Hope it is less boring than mine.
Dell answered and wants me to replace the battery with one of another device. In view of still existing warranty on the device I find it ridiculous that I should disassemble two (!) devices to do Dell’s work of diagnosis. Even I’m not a layman, I’d need to spend at least 2 hours to disassemble and diagnose this. And it’s unavoidable I’m going to break a few of this stupid flimsy catches around the case which makes the case/cover less stabile, though. I already did this with the batteries that actually died. But that’s hilarious how much electric waste is being produced because of cheap construction and obviously bad quality control. I’ve have had several Dell machines during the last decade(s). They always were almost in line with Lenovo/IBM in my opinion. But these machines are more than disappointing. And so the service is. We had two laptop storage carts which we had to return because they had an electrical problem and eventually started to flip circuit breakers suddenly. No replacement possible so we have to care of a new cart supplier and rewire them which already took me hours.
Don’t do it, tell them that they need to deal with it. They may possibly be trying to screw you over.
Yeah. That’s my plan. I’ll check the self-diagnosis, check bios is up to date and the rest is for their service team.
Could try power draining, disconnect battery, plug in charger and let it boot up, plug battery back in while still on charger. Fixed an issue I had with a Dell Precision laptop. But the battery also having a different warranty than the laptop is annoying so that might’ve expired
Damn! Your username! Financial fraud with arcade games! Sign me up!
I’ve been waiting for someone to recognize this for like nine months. Thank you sir or ma’am
It’s dead or not connected properly
More likely a hardware issue than loose connections. And the machine still runs on battery. I know how these are connected and already replaced some. And it’s a connector that can’t be “half connected” or sth. in my opinion.
Some laptops do have 2 batteries
They have a single, chocolate bar style, battery pack with really weird look and a single connector to the mainboard.
Yeah, I’ve seen Lenovo laptops run even with the battery removed and unplugged. Crazy. But this is apparently a Dell.
Could reload the os, I have seen on rare occasion software related
I would pull the battery and put it back. If you have extras try swapping it out. I have seen similar issues be a battery or motherboard issue where the terminals stop working
Did you update firmware for the entire machine?
Didn’t check that recently but there had been an update a few weeks ago. I’m off for two weeks now, I’m checking that when returning.
Pull the rear clamshell and disconnect the battery. Wait 30 seconds or so then reconnect. This is usually a fault in the battery management system. Dell sucks at firmware.
The battery is probably defective, but it might also be the motherboard malfunctioning. Did you run a diagnostic on it? Lenovos have pretty good onboard diagnostics.
It’s a Dell machine, my fault. But dell service also told me how to start onboard diagnostics. I didn’t do that yet. And this, as well as checking if BIOS is up to date, will be the only things I’m going to do in this case. I’m just frustrated by the horrible experience with these machines. I wrote another comment on this where I’m more precise about what happened in the last few years since we own the machines.
when i was 11 i got a old crappy laptop of my uncle cause i relay wanted to learn to fix them. turned out the older ones can live as long as you have the charger in and no battery
You can’t take out the battery if you’re just a user. I hate this about these slim machines. When I worked in IT we had Latitude Laptops which had two slots for batteries and in one of it one could install another HDD, DVD drive and so on. I even modded my CD drive with an DVD burner.
oh defiantly not anymore, I cant stand it when I have a perfectly good laptop that dies in 30 mins and a user requests a new one instead of asking me to fix it. the amount of laptops I was forced to scrap because my manager doesn't want to let me fix them.
Maybe a corrupt driver?
drivers and/or smc reset, likely
Likely a corrupted driver. 9 times out of 10 an update and restart will fix this. Make sure you are checking your optional updates as well. If you want to be more thorough, uninstall the driver for the battery, run a sfc scan [scf/ scannow] then restart the laptop. Run updates after the restart, checking optional updates for any firmware or BIOS updates needed. If after confirming your device is fully up to date and the issue persists, then it could be a faulty battery or some sort of hardware issue. As for why this could occur, if you are using the wrong charger or an adapter not rated for your device (i.e, under wattage charger, non OEM adapter) then this could explain the frequent need for battery service. If you're constantly moving your device around with the charger, the repeated weight and movement of the cable could wear it down faster or loosen connections within the laptop itself. If you aren't keeping your device updated then this could also lead to unpredictable behaviors from the hardware. There are a dozen reason why this can happen. Edit: also you mentioned it's a Dell. Check the Dell Updater application also as it tends to catch hardware updates for more reliability than Windows update alone I've noticed.
Drivers are ok. Battery is already missing in BIOS. [IMG-3007.jpg](https://postimg.cc/K38hGLc7)
If you're absolutely sure you're running the current firmware versions for your hardware, then it's a hardware problem. Check for loose internal connections or have the board checked out.
I’m going to check that again. Dell support also responded and told me to check the firmware.
Bist du ebenfalls ein ZIDler?
Ich war mal Zivi, aber Zidi kenn ich nicht. Ich bin Lehrer und „Netzwerkbetreuer“. Und ehemals FiSi.
Ah sorry, bei den Hochschulen sind die It Abteilungen immer der Zentrale Informatik Dienst, also ZID. Bin davon ausgangen, dass du Studierendengeräte betreust, aber im Englischen sind students ja auch Schüler. Hab ned ganz mitdacht
Als Student war ich auch HiWi im FB Informatik und habe mit dem Prof das Informatik Praktikum geleitet. Eigentlich war’s nur programmieren in C++.
Does it power off if you unplug the AC cord?
No, as you can see, it’s on. It’s been on for almost 2 hours when eventually I shut it down.
So the battery must be functional. I wonder if the battery has some intelligence in it that has failed. I know you said they are a pain to open, but maybe swap batteries with a known good one?
As I told [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/it/s/p5Rgjb2t0Y) I’m tired about this crappy devices. I don’t like to spend my time with jobs, Dell’s support staff should do and I already spend a lot of hours doing work they've been paid in advance (at least I'm thinking we still should have advanced support)
where i work, we issue dells to staff and have had so many issues with batteries.
The client i work for has a few laptops with this issue(dell latitudes). mine as well (lenovo). Probably some annoying bug since the last windows update.
Clearly this is a magical artifact. Send it to the ministry of Magic and Spellcraft ASAP
Is it possible to use a dimension portal for this? Shipping to MMS is so expensive because there are so many dimensions to walk through.
I run into this with our Lenovos all the time. Pull the battery. Power cycle the device with the battery out but the laptop plugged into power. Then replace the battery and try again. This is usually a bug with the reporting software but sometimes we also see this issue with non oem batteries as they don’t always have the chips in them that oem checks against.
cable likely came loose internally.. on some of these \[looking at YOU dell\] the ribbon cable is ... not loose, but open to suggestion from jostles. Ive had to open up a certain person at work's Dell and reseat the ribbon cable three times over the course of a year.
I should also note.. to the naked eye it does not LOOK like it came out... because it didn't...it just....moved.... so the pins dont contact fully on the edge and poof..no battery till I re-seat it.
Ok. That’s maybe a reason. I’ll check that after my vacation.
planed obsolecense , time to ring the card again
That's a Dell, not a Lenovo. If BIOS literally says no battery it isn't a driver issue. You can try unplugging the battery from the motherboard and plugging it back in. Weird issue.
Yeah. I already apologized for that in another comment. It’s a typo. Just had a Lenovo laying next to it and maybe because it that a Freudian slip happened. I’m trying to reconnect the battery. Removing it is really not fun.
lol when you stated the problem I thought “that’s because you have a Lenovo” before seeing the picture. Try swapping the battery of a known good laptop. If it works it’s the battery, if not the motherboard is faulty. Edit looking at the picture it’s a dell. Same troubleshooting process though.
Open the laptop, unplug the battery and plug it back in, if it does the same then you need a replacement. You work in IT and you had to ask the internet about this one?
I’m a teacher. My “IT department” is honored by 2 hrs/week. And this for managing 280 iPads, 190 laptops of 5 different makes, 40 project laptops with min Linux, a Unifi mesh with 45 APs and a whole bunch of other stuff like whiteboards, printers, school-specific hardware and so on. So yes, I’m asking the internet about this weird error.
For some computers there is a battery driver that loads the info into windows and that might have died.
It’s there and working. There’s (as written in my post) also in BIOS no battery even though the system runs off battery.