computers
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mr rusty
- Posts: 469
- Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:17 am
- Location: Harlow, the birthplace of fibreoptic communication, as the town sign says.
Re: computers
the battery issue with dell is a major issue if you have one of the affected machines- sometimes there just isn't a fix...I did a lot of research trying to get ours to go and it would seem that even using official dell replacement chargers, and official dell replacement batteries, the machines still wont recognise them. I've tried flashing the bios from a pendrive, no luck and interestingly, while I was looking for info to open up a different machine to fix its charging socket i came across a chap who's some sort of laptop service engineer and also total obsessive because he's running a website stuffed full of manufacturers service manuals for laptops and stripdown procedures......every mainstream manufacturer is represented except dell, because apparently they don't release service information to anyone other than dell agents.
1968 Triumph Vitesse Mk1 2 litre convertible, Junior Miss rusty has a 1989 998cc Mk2 Metro, Mrs Rusty has a modern common rail diesel thing.
Re: computers
Service information is available for download from Dell's site. I've never been challenged when I've had a PDF from there for any of their machines. Saying that, their factory info isn't always accurate as they'd sooner sell new machines than admit to the real upgrade limits on older ones. But it's there nevertheless.
Example here. To access the full service sheet, just enter the service tag and serial number of any Dell of the same model, regardless of its native firmware version and of which of the available mobos it has.
There are a few conditions that need to be met; don't use IE! If you access the site with IE, then it detects the service tag and firmware version of the machine automatically. Using Firefox or other, "incompatible" browsers (ironic seeing as Dell - .com, but they do export - offer split new machines with Ubuntu as an alternative to Windows), the service tag must be entered manually and Dell's site has no way of "knowing" these details so this means that it's then possible to download PDFs showing user and service manuals for any machine built by them from the last few years. Not sure exactly where the cutoff is as the oldest I've needed a download for recently was a 2004 Latitude, but that one was obtainable without any bother. A more recent Inspiron mini was equally straightforward to obtain service info for and that download was made from one of the A/V engineering tutors' Meenee laptops, so proving to me (I had wondered...) that this information is downloadable regardless of the brand of machine as long as it doesn't run IE. It's even possible to do this with Windows provided the appropriate extension pack is installed in the Windows version of Firefox, I've also tried with Safari and that was even easier - no extension pack, no problem.
I know plenty independent specialists who have similarly erroneous notions about the ease with which Dell service info may be obtained, what I don't know is why. It's all out there.
Example here. To access the full service sheet, just enter the service tag and serial number of any Dell of the same model, regardless of its native firmware version and of which of the available mobos it has.
There are a few conditions that need to be met; don't use IE! If you access the site with IE, then it detects the service tag and firmware version of the machine automatically. Using Firefox or other, "incompatible" browsers (ironic seeing as Dell - .com, but they do export - offer split new machines with Ubuntu as an alternative to Windows), the service tag must be entered manually and Dell's site has no way of "knowing" these details so this means that it's then possible to download PDFs showing user and service manuals for any machine built by them from the last few years. Not sure exactly where the cutoff is as the oldest I've needed a download for recently was a 2004 Latitude, but that one was obtainable without any bother. A more recent Inspiron mini was equally straightforward to obtain service info for and that download was made from one of the A/V engineering tutors' Meenee laptops, so proving to me (I had wondered...) that this information is downloadable regardless of the brand of machine as long as it doesn't run IE. It's even possible to do this with Windows provided the appropriate extension pack is installed in the Windows version of Firefox, I've also tried with Safari and that was even easier - no extension pack, no problem.
I know plenty independent specialists who have similarly erroneous notions about the ease with which Dell service info may be obtained, what I don't know is why. It's all out there.
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
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mr rusty
- Posts: 469
- Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:17 am
- Location: Harlow, the birthplace of fibreoptic communication, as the town sign says.
Re: computers
I've already been through the dell site- hopeless! Enter service tag, etc, etc, ........no go without 10% battery, even when downloaded to a drive on another machine, it's really infuriating! I certainly wouldn't but one with my own money, based on my experience with this one! it was a freebie, it worked fine on the battery until one day it suddenly decided not to but would run ok on the mains, not ideal! I assumed like all the others that we've got it would be a simple battery swap, but no........looking on the web some folks have had the motherboards done under warranty but this one is too old for that.
The charging and battery management system from what I've been able to gather from other dell users appears to be an overcomplicated solution in search of a problem, a bit like a modern car with an electronic handbrake: un-neccessary, and a curse when it stops working!
The charging and battery management system from what I've been able to gather from other dell users appears to be an overcomplicated solution in search of a problem, a bit like a modern car with an electronic handbrake: un-neccessary, and a curse when it stops working!
1968 Triumph Vitesse Mk1 2 litre convertible, Junior Miss rusty has a 1989 998cc Mk2 Metro, Mrs Rusty has a modern common rail diesel thing.
Re: computers
There are a couple of other options available before you get frustrated and program in the new firmware with a hammer.
Does your Dell have the option to flash the BIOS through the BIOS itself? Some laptops do and that may not check battery status.
You may find there is a command line utility with a switch to ignore the battery status, or a boot disc which does not have that requirement either from Dell or the bios manufacturer (Award, Phoenix, etc).
I have various older Dell laptops kicking about and haven't had a moment's trouble from any of them beyond changing batteries at the end of the service life. I wouldn't strongly recommend them to anyone as I have had less than good experience with them working on corporate machines. Whenever someone has a reasonable budget to spend I normally try and steer them towards HP as when I have had cause to contact them they have always been polite and courteous plus have provided next day service without fail.
Does your Dell have the option to flash the BIOS through the BIOS itself? Some laptops do and that may not check battery status.
You may find there is a command line utility with a switch to ignore the battery status, or a boot disc which does not have that requirement either from Dell or the bios manufacturer (Award, Phoenix, etc).
I have various older Dell laptops kicking about and haven't had a moment's trouble from any of them beyond changing batteries at the end of the service life. I wouldn't strongly recommend them to anyone as I have had less than good experience with them working on corporate machines. Whenever someone has a reasonable budget to spend I normally try and steer them towards HP as when I have had cause to contact them they have always been polite and courteous plus have provided next day service without fail.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: computers
Slight flaw with that plan, the bios is unique to Dell. There is, however a small spring clip that presses against the underside of the relevant IC on the mobo. This fit between the removable panel at the rear of the plinth - take off the whole plinth wgere that's not separate - and effectively provides a short between the two leadouts from the chip that are responsible for the usual security such as user passwords, etc. which aren't retrievable on these by simply pulling the cmos battery and refitting.
Try putting a suitably small rectangle of insulating tape on board that covers all of the pins coming through from that chip. Then connect your charger and boot, pressing F12 and selecting the name of your USB device from the list. The bios UI will then appear and there'll be a message asking whether you want to flash the bios from the USB drive, it doesn't matter that the bios will be the same as the existing version, agree to this and away you go, machine, mains PSU/charger and battery will now communicate, problem solved.
Once you have the machine running and showing the charger connected in the panel icon at whichever corner of your screen that might be, you can safely hibernate the machine (don't shut down at this point), remove the bits of case that are in the way and take the insulation out. Then reboot as normal as soon as the machine has regained its state, go for a full reboot.
You could have left the insulation in place if you'd rather, but that will remove the password options from bios and will prevent the battery's calibration being read correctly in future, which would obviously compromise the life expectancy of the battery.
This should work for most any Dell laptop from around 2009 on, apart from the Alienware ones, a couple of Latitudes with Asus mobos that were used for a spell during that period, the 10" Inspiron which uses a generic bios and another maker's innards. If it doesn't, then download the specific service sheet with another machine.
Try putting a suitably small rectangle of insulating tape on board that covers all of the pins coming through from that chip. Then connect your charger and boot, pressing F12 and selecting the name of your USB device from the list. The bios UI will then appear and there'll be a message asking whether you want to flash the bios from the USB drive, it doesn't matter that the bios will be the same as the existing version, agree to this and away you go, machine, mains PSU/charger and battery will now communicate, problem solved.
Once you have the machine running and showing the charger connected in the panel icon at whichever corner of your screen that might be, you can safely hibernate the machine (don't shut down at this point), remove the bits of case that are in the way and take the insulation out. Then reboot as normal as soon as the machine has regained its state, go for a full reboot.
You could have left the insulation in place if you'd rather, but that will remove the password options from bios and will prevent the battery's calibration being read correctly in future, which would obviously compromise the life expectancy of the battery.
This should work for most any Dell laptop from around 2009 on, apart from the Alienware ones, a couple of Latitudes with Asus mobos that were used for a spell during that period, the 10" Inspiron which uses a generic bios and another maker's innards. If it doesn't, then download the specific service sheet with another machine.
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: computers
Every model of system board has a unique bios but for example the bios on my Dell 6400 is award. I found this fairly easily by opening the bios image in notepad and looking. My HP is a phoenix (easier to tell as the flash tool has a phoenix logo on it).
Dell don't make anything. At all. They do however assemble components. Someone produced it, they purchased it. it is simply a case of finding who that someone is.
There is also the possibility that the tool from a different model of laptop will flash the bios image without the battery level requirement.
Dell don't make anything. At all. They do however assemble components. Someone produced it, they purchased it. it is simply a case of finding who that someone is.
There is also the possibility that the tool from a different model of laptop will flash the bios image without the battery level requirement.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: computers
All of the Dell-branded parts are apparently made by IEC these days so yes, bought in, but some nevertheless have parts which openly carry other makers' logos. Regardless of that, the above works, not that it's remotely relevant to the o/p, whose machine will be covered by the warranty if it all goes horribly wrong. No reason it should but turnaround time for our Dells at work was well under a fortnight and that's not too bad compared to HP's times which reminds me, I must keep at them about the whereabouts of my photosmart premium all in one but only when it feels like it, which they managed to lose between my home and their service facility across in Fife. Bless them they did send me a new print head and all five XL inks for free, a whole lot of good when the machine it's wanted for is still missing in action. I'm guessing that you'll tell me that HP don't usually lose stuff 
but that's kind of the point; very few laptops these days are DOA (possible exceptions being high end MSI gaming ones and Macs) and those that are can always be put right with or without the maker's help but asking for that help is usually where people would start.
but that's kind of the point; very few laptops these days are DOA (possible exceptions being high end MSI gaming ones and Macs) and those that are can always be put right with or without the maker's help but asking for that help is usually where people would start.J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: computers
i have no idea what you are talking about chaps 
ignorance is bliss
ignorance is bliss
Re: computers
You took your time!
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: computers
i have no idea what you are talking about chaps
I have no idea what chips they're talking about ..either .
I can fix anything.. I fixed the value kettle- just leave the lid open a bit .I've fixed the phone i dropped- by dropping it again on the opposite corner.
I have no idea what chips they're talking about ..either .
I can fix anything.. I fixed the value kettle- just leave the lid open a bit .I've fixed the phone i dropped- by dropping it again on the opposite corner.