Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (
More info?)
I was trying to update the BIOS from version A02 to A09 in Windows but
the BIOS updater requires that both the battery and the A/C power cord
be active in order to update the BIOS. So with my battery having no
charge, I couldn't update the BIOS in Windows. Then I remembered that
the BIOS updater also works in DOS. So, I booted from a CD to DOS and
was able to update the BIOS from A02 to A09. After updating the BIOS, I
noticed that the battery LED was lit on the notebook. I pushed the
indicator on the battery itself and to my surprise and delight, 3 green
dots were lit. I let the battery fully charge and then attempted to use
the notebook from battery powers without the A/C power cord connected.
The battery was functioning perfectly and powered the notebook for over
2 hours. Since updating the BIOS, the battery has been functioning
perfectly. As updating the BIOS was the only thing I changed, I can
only conclude that there was something different between version A02
and A09 which allowed the battery to function properly.
Does anybody know about any differences between version A02 and A09
that might account for my experience?
I've always been an advocate of using the latest BIOS version and this
experience reinforces that belief. I used to work on an 800 line in
customer service, so I know the safe route is always to tell the
customer "what they don't want to hear". So Dell's support jumping to
the conclusion that the battery was dead was not suprising. However,
since I had not been able to cross check the battery in another
computer, I was not ready to declare the battery dead. After updating
the BIOS I ran Dell Diagnostics Express Test, Extended Test and the
Symptom Tree's "System will not run off the battery" test. All tests
passed.
Anyway, I'm just glad the battery is working now. Daniel