Weird Battery light -- Inspiron 6000

My daughter's I6000 is acting up. It will 'die' to a black screen with a
flashing white text cursor in the corner.

The only obvious symptom is that the battery light right under the LCD is
flashing a pattern.

3 fast yellow
1 long green

I read the docs but it doesn't say anything.

Suggestions welcome.

Tom

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
My daughter's I6000 is acting up. It will 'die' to a black screen with a
flashing white text cursor in the corner.

The only obvious symptom is that the battery light right under the LCD is
flashing a pattern.

3 fast yellow
1 long green

I read the docs but it doesn't say anything.

Suggestions welcome.

Tom


Tom -

Not much out there, but both docs I accessed indicated that *any* flashing
of the battery pack LEDs indicated a failed battery:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...1301330#M17477

It's important to note the state of the battery LED on the bezel itself as
well as it relates to the problem. If that LED appears to operate normally,
then the system itself is fine. But if it flashes or acts abnormally as
well, then there may be a power or charging related failure with the system
board as well.

Stew

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
My daughter's I6000 is acting up. It will 'die' to a black screen with a
flashing white text cursor in the corner.

The only obvious symptom is that the battery light right under the LCD is
flashing a pattern.

3 fast yellow
1 long green

I read the docs but it doesn't say anything.

Suggestions welcome.

Tom


Not sure if this will help, but here is some related info:

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/44470

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
news:WGSjh.5359$_X.1278@bigfe9...

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
My daughter's I6000 is acting up. It will 'die' to a black screen with a
flashing white text cursor in the corner.

The only obvious symptom is that the battery light right under the LCD is
flashing a pattern.

3 fast yellow
1 long green

I read the docs but it doesn't say anything.

Suggestions welcome.

Tom


Tom -

Not much out there, but both docs I accessed indicated that *any* flashing
of the battery pack LEDs indicated a failed battery:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...1301330#M17477

It's important to note the state of the battery LED on the bezel itself as
well as it relates to the problem. If that LED appears to operate
normally, then the system itself is fine. But if it flashes or acts
abnormally as well, then there may be a power or charging related failure
with the system board as well.

Stew


What's interesting is that it isn't the lights ON the battery. It's the
battery light on the computer.

I'll try swapping batteries with another machine and see if the problem
follows the battery

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
news:WGSjh.5359$_X.1278@bigfe9...

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
My daughter's I6000 is acting up. It will 'die' to a black screen with
a flashing white text cursor in the corner.

The only obvious symptom is that the battery light right under the LCD
is flashing a pattern.

3 fast yellow
1 long green

I read the docs but it doesn't say anything.

Suggestions welcome.

Tom


Tom -

Not much out there, but both docs I accessed indicated that *any*
flashing of the battery pack LEDs indicated a failed battery:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...1301330#M17477

It's important to note the state of the battery LED on the bezel itself
as well as it relates to the problem. If that LED appears to operate
normally, then the system itself is fine. But if it flashes or acts
abnormally as well, then there may be a power or charging related failure
with the system board as well.

Stew


What's interesting is that it isn't the lights ON the battery. It's the
battery light on the computer.

I'll try swapping batteries with another machine and see if the problem
follows the battery


Tom -

The battery/charge LED on the bezel also has codes.....

For example, "green-orange-green-orange" indicates a "non-supported battery"
......

Hope you have some warranty. I'd at least run it by online chat and see if
they have some more specific information (provided your battery swap doesn't
tell you what you need to know).


Stew

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
news:WGSjh.5359$_X.1278@bigfe9...

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
My daughter's I6000 is acting up. It will 'die' to a black screen with
a flashing white text cursor in the corner.

The only obvious symptom is that the battery light right under the LCD
is flashing a pattern.

3 fast yellow
1 long green

I read the docs but it doesn't say anything.

Suggestions welcome.

Tom


Tom -

Not much out there, but both docs I accessed indicated that *any*
flashing of the battery pack LEDs indicated a failed battery:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...1301330#M17477

It's important to note the state of the battery LED on the bezel itself
as well as it relates to the problem. If that LED appears to operate
normally, then the system itself is fine. But if it flashes or acts
abnormally as well, then there may be a power or charging related
failure with the system board as well.

Stew


What's interesting is that it isn't the lights ON the battery. It's the
battery light on the computer.

I'll try swapping batteries with another machine and see if the problem
follows the battery


Tom -

The battery/charge LED on the bezel also has codes.....

For example, "green-orange-green-orange" indicates a "non-supported
battery" .....

Hope you have some warranty. I'd at least run it by online chat and see
if they have some more specific information (provided your battery swap
doesn't tell you what you need to know).


Stew


No warranty. Where can I find the code list?

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
news:WGSjh.5359$_X.1278@bigfe9...

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...
My daughter's I6000 is acting up. It will 'die' to a black screen
with a flashing white text cursor in the corner.

The only obvious symptom is that the battery light right under the LCD
is flashing a pattern.

3 fast yellow
1 long green

I read the docs but it doesn't say anything.

Suggestions welcome.

Tom


Tom -

Not much out there, but both docs I accessed indicated that *any*
flashing of the battery pack LEDs indicated a failed battery:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...1301330#M17477

It's important to note the state of the battery LED on the bezel itself
as well as it relates to the problem. If that LED appears to operate
normally, then the system itself is fine. But if it flashes or acts
abnormally as well, then there may be a power or charging related
failure with the system board as well.

Stew


What's interesting is that it isn't the lights ON the battery. It's the
battery light on the computer.

I'll try swapping batteries with another machine and see if the problem
follows the battery


Tom -

The battery/charge LED on the bezel also has codes.....

For example, "green-orange-green-orange" indicates a "non-supported
battery" .....

Hope you have some warranty. I'd at least run it by online chat and see
if they have some more specific information (provided your battery swap
doesn't tell you what you need to know).


Stew


No warranty. Where can I find the code list?


Tom -

All I've got are these, which may not help at all:
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...7&l=en &s=gen

TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/y77z9q

Both links are broken and will mistakenly point to a Precision Workstation
M40. Perhaps manual entry might work.

The comments regarding the "green/orange" flash I mentioned came from a
thread on the dell forums and I can't currently locate/link same.

Stew

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...

Tom -

All I've got are these, which may not help at all:
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...7&l=en &s=gen

TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/y77z9q

Both links are broken and will mistakenly point to a Precision Workstation
M40. Perhaps manual entry might work.

The comments regarding the "green/orange" flash I mentioned came from a
thread on the dell forums and I can't currently locate/link same.

Stew


Well, the flashing matches 'temporary battery failure'.

Now THAT'S helpful

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
...

"S.Lewis" wrote in message
...

Tom -

All I've got are these, which may not help at all:
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...7&l=en &s=gen

TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/y77z9q

Both links are broken and will mistakenly point to a Precision
Workstation M40. Perhaps manual entry might work.

The comments regarding the "green/orange" flash I mentioned came from a
thread on the dell forums and I can't currently locate/link same.

Stew


Well, the flashing matches 'temporary battery failure'.

Now THAT'S helpful


In that case, Merry Christmas. g


Stew

Well, the flashing matches 'temporary battery failure'.

Now THAT'S helpful


That doesn't mean that the failure is temporary! On some
laptops there are two batteries inside. A main one and one
to keep settings and RAM contents if the main one is depleted
or changed. That second battery is called the temporary battery.
Unfortunately both have to be good to operate the unit. I'm not
sure if that's the case with yours, though.

Tom Lake