# Solved: Dell Laptop Battery Not Being Detected



## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

I was given a 7-year old Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop to do a clean reinstall of Windows XP. 

The battery in it is Dell-branded and appears to be the same one that came in it. 

The charger works fine and kept the laptop powered during the entire setup/install/update process.

After I was done, I discovered in the power options and in the taskbar that the battery isn't being detected.

I examined the battery and the contacts and didn't see any damage or corrosion.

I wanted to update the BIOS, but I couldn't because of the "no battery detected" issue.

I realize a 7-year old battery likely no longer holds a charge, but why isn't it being detected?

I've never run into this issue before, so I'm stumped. 

Anyone have any ideas?

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## Frank4d (Sep 10, 2006)

Frank, See this thread I started two years ago: http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/959066-replacing-laptop-motherboard.html.
The problem ended up being a defective charger.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Frank4d said:


> Frank, See this thread I started two years ago: http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/959066-replacing-laptop-motherboard.html.
> The problem ended up being a defective charger.


I'm ahead of you there and thought about the charger.

The charger that came with the laptop is a Chinese replacement model, so I switched to the one that came with my Dell Latitude D830 laptop - which has the same connector but with a slightly different output rating.

Replacement charger:

Input: AC 100 - 240V 1.5A 50/60Hz
Output: 19.5V 3.34A

D830 charger:

Input: AC 100 - 240V 1.5A 50/60Hz
Output: 19.5V 4.62A

It didn't resolve the "no battery detected" issue. 

The D830 charger did allow the green battery light to appear on the laptop for a few minutes, but it then disappeared.

The replacement charger never allowed the light to come on at all.

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## Riverglen (Aug 29, 2006)

Since the computer should be able to recognize the battery and assess the state of charge regardless of whether the charger is plugged in, I'd be inclined to suspect the battery itself. I believe most batteries have some built in "smarts". Maybe this one has had a failure thats rendered it dumb?


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Riverglen said:


> Since the computer should be able to recognize the battery and assess the state of charge regardless of whether the charger is plugged in, I'd be inclined to suspect the battery itself. I believe most batteries have some built in "smarts". Maybe this one has had a failure thats rendered it dumb?


I have no idea why the laptop isn't detecting the battery with either charger, and if it's "dumb".

Buying a new battery to resolve the "no battery detected" issue is not a financial option, especially considering what a 7-1/2 year old laptop is worth.

The owners can live with it being plugged in all the time.

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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

www.amazon.com had a replacement Dell D5318 battery for that laptop for $17.00, so I bought it.

Once it arrives, I'll find out quick enough if that resolves the "no battery detected" issue.

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The cheap replacement charger seems to be another issue.

Using it causes the processor to run at a much slower speed.

If I use my Dell-branded 90 watt charger and edit the "Batteries" entry in the Device Manager, that seems to resolve that issue.

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## Riverglen (Aug 29, 2006)

Well, $17 is a pretty reasonable price for the experiment. I haven't had great luck with 3'rd party batteries. They never seem to have the longevity that I get from the original battery. But I don't have to pay $100 plus for them either. I am just about at the point where I'm going to have to spring for a new one for my fairly old HP laptop. Haven't researched my options for where to get it.

I'm fascinated by your report that the replacement charger makes the machine run slow. For the life of me, I can't imagine how an inferior charger could have that kind of effect without causing a lot of more obvious problems as well. What did you change in the "Batteries" options? As it happens, I helped a friend with a problem with her Dell not long ago. The charger wouldn't charge the battery. After checking with a similar Dell charger from another machine to make sure the charger was the problem, I went out and bought her a replacement for $10 or so, and as far as I know she hasn't had any further problems. Not sure whether she would notice that the machine wasn't running a full speed though. Interesting.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

If the System Properties window "Computer:" section shows the processor running at a speed that's noticably lower than its rated speed, try the below fix.

It worked fine for me when I used a Dell-branded 90 watt charger, but not when I used an off-brand 60 watt charger.

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Go into the Device Manager.

Click the + in *Batteries*.

Right-click the *Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery* entry, then click "Uninstall - OK".

Allow that device to uninstall.

Click "Action - Scan for hardware changes".

The device you uninstalled should reappear.

Restart the computer.

Go back into the System Properties window and check the processor speed.

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## Riverglen (Aug 29, 2006)

Well, I understand what you did, but I still don't understand how it helps resolve a processor speed issue. Have to admit though that I'm pretty ignorant of the functions of a battery driver. It never would have occurred to me to consider a driver as being the cause of a charging problem, much less a processor speed problem.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

The Intel Pentium M processor in this laptop is rated at 1.60 GHz.

System Properties was showing it at 221 MHz.

System Information was showing it at 598 MHz.

After I applied the fix, System Properties showed it at 1.60 GHz and System Information showed it at 1595 MHz.

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I'm waiting for the battery and charger to arrive to see if they resolve both issues - "battery not detected" and low processor speed.

This has been a learning experience for me.

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## Riverglen (Aug 29, 2006)

Amazing! How did you know enough to even try that?


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

I just recently learned about the "fix", and I've been doing a lot of research on the Dell Inspiron 6000. 

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## Riverglen (Aug 29, 2006)

That's why I enjoy trolling around in these forums. You're bound to learn something useful. I've got another thread open about a monitor problem. But so far, I haven't learned much on that one.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

The replacement Dell D5318 battery arrived today.

After installing and charging it, the "no battery detected" message no longer appears.

I was then able to update the BIOS from A08 to A09.

The replacement charger arrives in 2 - 3 days, but the original issue has now been solved.  :up:

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## Riverglen (Aug 29, 2006)

Glad to know that you got your $17 worth. For whatever reason, it seems that the Dell laptops are prone to having charging issues. Good start for the new year!


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