Inspiron 6400 "battery not installed"

Post by mike
I picked up a junker Dell Inspiron 6400.
Got everything working except the battery.
In the BIOS, there are battery info and a battery health
screens.
Both show "battery not installed".
Has latest BIOS 17.
Test button on the battery shows no lights.
In windows XP, the icon shows AC powered.
The battery gauge shows all bars, but "unknown"
state of charge. Charge led suggests it's charging.
When I unplug the AC, the laptop runs about three minutes
before shutting off. The icon stays at "AC powered".
This is a new set of symptoms to me.
I've read hundreds of web pages complaining about Inspiron battery
sudden death, but nothing about fixing it.
I have a battery tab welder, but have never been successful
resetting the chip.
Old Latitude batteries will run the computer, but flash
an error code and the battery gauge doesn't work.
I've had one system that would only charge when the computer
is off and will only run on battery unless you remove it to
enable AC power...by design. Some won't even enable after
the chip loses its settings.
There used to be a chip reset utility, but the price of the
program was prohibitive. Anything freeware out there?
Before I go tearing into this one, I'd like to see if anyone
has any relevant info.
Batteries are cheap on EBAY, but if this is an internal
laptop problem, I'd not like to waste the $$.
And, any "new" battery you buy is likely to be 8 years old
and have issues of its own.
Suggestions?

I got impatient and disassembled the battery.
New symptoms.
Now, the test lights work and show all green.
Battery measures 12.4V at the cells.
11.6V with 1A load...not great, but should work.
No evidence that I hurt anything during disassembly.

The bios battery info page still says, "battery not installed"
but the battery health screen says, "the system cannot communicate
with this battery.

The keyboard response is sluggish in the bios and in XP.
Removing the battery restores keyboard response.

?????? stranger and stranger...

Sjouke Burry

2013-07-30 05:20:44 UTC

I got impatient and disassembled the battery.
New symptoms.
Now, the test lights work and show all green.
Battery measures 12.4V at the cells.
11.6V with 1A load...not great, but should work.
No evidence that I hurt anything during disassembly.
The bios battery info page still says, "battery not installed"
but the battery health screen says, "the system cannot communicate
with this battery.
The keyboard response is sluggish in the bios and in XP.
Removing the battery restores keyboard response.
?????? stranger and stranger...

Not so strange. A laptop trottles down in clockspeed as the battery
gets low .

mike

2013-07-30 05:32:55 UTC

I got impatient and disassembled the battery.
New symptoms.
Now, the test lights work and show all green.
Battery measures 12.4V at the cells.
11.6V with 1A load...not great, but should work.
No evidence that I hurt anything during disassembly.
The bios battery info page still says, "battery not installed"
but the battery health screen says, "the system cannot communicate
with this battery.
The keyboard response is sluggish in the bios and in XP.
Removing the battery restores keyboard response.
?????? stranger and stranger...

Not so strange. A laptop trottles down in clockspeed as the battery
gets low .

When it's running on AC?

Sjouke Burry

2013-07-30 05:44:58 UTC

I got impatient and disassembled the battery.
New symptoms.
Now, the test lights work and show all green.
Battery measures 12.4V at the cells.
11.6V with 1A load...not great, but should work.
No evidence that I hurt anything during disassembly.
The bios battery info page still says, "battery not installed"
but the battery health screen says, "the system cannot communicate
with this battery.
The keyboard response is sluggish in the bios and in XP.
Removing the battery restores keyboard response.
?????? stranger and stranger...

Not so strange. A laptop trottles down in clockspeed as the battery
gets low .

When it's running on AC?

Yes, because the battery is in between the charger and computer,
and if the charger cannot pull up the battery far enough,
instant low speed.

mike

2013-07-30 17:10:23 UTC

I got impatient and disassembled the battery.
New symptoms.
Now, the test lights work and show all green.
Battery measures 12.4V at the cells.
11.6V with 1A load...not great, but should work.
No evidence that I hurt anything during disassembly.
The bios battery info page still says, "battery not installed"
but the battery health screen says, "the system cannot communicate
with this battery.
The keyboard response is sluggish in the bios and in XP.
Removing the battery restores keyboard response.
?????? stranger and stranger...

Not so strange. A laptop trottles down in clockspeed as the battery
gets low .

When it's running on AC?

Yes, because the battery is in between the charger and computer,
and if the charger cannot pull up the battery far enough,
instant low speed.

OK, I've seen that architecture, but it's rare.
If that were the case, a computer with a working but
discharged battery wouldn't speed up when you plug in the AC.
And the battery measures 12.4V at the cells.

There appears to be a communication problem. I'm trying
to determine if it's the battery or the computer that needs
fixing.

the wharf rat

2013-07-30 22:12:33 UTC

The reason keyboard lags is because something is in a tight polling
loop and/or something is interrupting a lot, queuing so many that even the
keyboard has to wait some. I'd say "Toss the battery and try a known good
or a $20 knockoff via Ebay." And make sure the little copper 'fins' on the
laptop that connect to the battery aren't bent or misssing.

If that don't help keep the laptop for spare parts and head back
to Ebay :-)

mike

2013-07-31 04:27:26 UTC

Post by the wharf rat

The reason keyboard lags is because something is in a tight polling
loop and/or something is interrupting a lot, queuing so many that even the
keyboard has to wait some.

Yep, just don't understand why it didn't do that before I opened the
plastic...wires left connected.
I'd say "Toss the battery and try a known good

Post by the wharf rat
or a $20 knockoff via Ebay."

Not sure i wanna spend $20 on a $2 laptop. Quite a waste if it don't work.
I'm rather skeptical about buying a "new" 8-yera-old battery.
Would be nice to have the
old battery work for a short time and leave it at that.
And make sure the little copper 'fins' on the

Post by the wharf rat
laptop that connect to the battery aren't bent or misssing.

Been there, done that. Shined 'em up.

Post by the wharf rat
If that don't help keep the laptop for spare parts and head back
to Ebay :-)

It's a perfectly good $2 dual core widescreen computer.
I just hate to see anything broke. Not like I don't have
half a dozen other laptops ;-)

the wharf rat

2013-07-31 08:33:17 UTC

Post by mike
I'm rather skeptical about buying a "new" 8-yera-old battery.

Battery not 8 years old. New manufacture, knockoff replacement
for big used equipment market Asia+Africa. Laptop not worth $2, more
like $150. I'll buy as is for 20 :-)

mike

2013-07-31 19:25:56 UTC

Post by the wharf rat

Post by mike
I'm rather skeptical about buying a "new" 8-yera-old battery.

Battery not 8 years old.

Certainly possible, but let's look at the situation...
I'm a battery vendor in the US. I know that the street price
for this battery is $15 shipped.
Let's make us some money.
I'm gonna commission a chinese battery factory to make these
with high quality cells and stock 3,000 of them.
Is that really the best use of my investment $$$?

And why would an ebay listing say "almost gone" when they're just
gonna order more new ones to fill the demand?

I'd wager that most of the batteries for older laptops on ebay
are new old stock
that's been moving from warehouse to warehouse for many years.
Yes, there are likely exceptions, but you have no way of knowing which.

I found another interesting warranty statement.
Guaranteed for 1 year...free replacement for 60 days. After that
there's an unspecified replacement fee. You pay the shipping.
New manufacture, knockoff replacement

Post by the wharf rat
for big used equipment market Asia+Africa. Laptop not worth $2, more
like $150.

WOW!, I'd take $100 in a heartbeat. If you showed up at my door, I might
even take $20.
I've picked up 4 garage sale computers in the past 2-weeks. Total cost
$2.
I'm swimming in computers at least as good as the one I use every day.
And it's twice what I need.

Around here, the market is saturated. Every new iPAD obsoletes a laptop
that eventually shows up for free at a garage sale. If it's not quad-core,
media center, with huge screen and hard drive, nobody wants it.
Current sweet spot for $1 garage sale machines is 2.2GHz. dual-core,
2GB ram, >300GB HD. Some have flakey nVidia gpu cards, but most work fine.
I'll buy as is for 20 :-)
But I digress...
Research suggests that I ain't gonna get this battery to work without
buying on of the two applications that talk to the chip.
Way too expensive, even if they did manage to work on this battery.

the wharf rat

2013-08-01 19:34:03 UTC

Post by mike
Is that really the best use of my investment $$$?

Big market in 3rd world for used equipment.

Post by mike
I'd wager that most of the batteries for older laptops on ebay
are new old stock

No. I've bought hundreds. Literally.

Post by mike
WOW!, I'd take $100 in a heartbeat. If you showed up at my door, I might

Will be in touch.

~misfit~

2013-07-30 22:41:34 UTC

I got impatient and disassembled the battery.
New symptoms.
Now, the test lights work and show all green.
Battery measures 12.4V at the cells.
11.6V with 1A load...not great, but should work.
No evidence that I hurt anything during disassembly.
The bios battery info page still says, "battery not installed"
but the battery health screen says, "the system cannot communicate
with this battery.
The keyboard response is sluggish in the bios and in XP.
Removing the battery restores keyboard response.
?????? stranger and stranger...

When you disassembled the battery did you keep power to the circuitry when
the cells were disconnected? (Such as with a bench power supply.)

It's well known on the ThinkPad forums that this needs to be done with
ThinkPad batteries (for instance when you're replacing cells) as the data
and code that's stored in the battery is stored in volatile RAM. If it's
lost not only is the battery bricked but any laptop it's connected to will
keep polling it to try to aquire said data......

--
/Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)
[Sent from my OrbitalT ocular implant interface.]

mike

2013-07-31 04:22:11 UTC

Post by ~misfit~

I got impatient and disassembled the battery.
New symptoms.
Now, the test lights work and show all green.
Battery measures 12.4V at the cells.
11.6V with 1A load...not great, but should work.
No evidence that I hurt anything during disassembly.
The bios battery info page still says, "battery not installed"
but the battery health screen says, "the system cannot communicate
with this battery.
The keyboard response is sluggish in the bios and in XP.
Removing the battery restores keyboard response.
?????? stranger and stranger...

When you disassembled the battery did you keep power to the circuitry when
the cells were disconnected? (Such as with a bench power supply.)
It's well known on the ThinkPad forums that this needs to be done witho
ThinkPad batteries (for instance when you're replacing cells) as the data
and code that's stored in the battery is stored in volatile RAM. If it's
lost not only is the battery bricked but any laptop it's connected to will
keep polling it to try to aquire said data......

I should have been more clear. I removed the plastic from the battery so I
could get at the cells. Thought I'd ask here before I disconnected the
wires. Sometimes, you can charge the cells up to the critical disconnect
voltage and make it charge again.
There oughta be someone here who'd tried to rebuild a dead dell battery???

Polling was my first thought. Confusion was the change in behavior
with and without the plastic. Had no lights on the test function
before and all lit after.
I pounded on it plenty with my chisel,
but I've opened a bunch of batteries and know how to avoid busting
the electronics inside.

Is there a recommended forum for dell batteries?

At this point, can't figger how I'd make it any worse by disconnecting
the wires?????

I has one battery that wouldn't work at all after pulling the wires.
But it had a PIC processor, so I could look it up and find the reset
pin.
That fixed it.

the wharf rat

2013-07-31 08:34:35 UTC

Post by mike
Is there a recommended forum for dell batteries?

Recycle bin.

:-)

Happy Oyster

2013-08-03 22:47:40 UTC