Weird Battery light -- Inspiron 6000

On Mon, 25 Dec 2006 10:26:37 -0500, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

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, just curious, how old is this laptop? I can't add any more help
than you already received but my experience tends to show 18 to 24
months is normal life for laptop batteries so if I had to "guess", I'm
going with a bad battery.

That said, I am trying now what Barry suggested about not leaving the
laptop plugged in more than necessary. I think Barry said it will
lessen the number of recharges but I'm not sure he is right. Of
course Barry will say he is grin but I wonder because once it's
recharged, I would think the current would lessen to a small amount if
still plugged in but I honestly don't know so I'm going to ASSUME
Barry is correct and see what my experience yields down the road. And
hopefully when the batteries do need replacing, I will report back
here just for the record. And Barry, if you are reading this post, I
know my experience isn't a scientific conclusion but it's still worth
noting if there isn't anything else to go by and meanwhile I'm hoping
you are correct.

RnR wrote in message ...
On Mon, 25 Dec 2006 10:26:37 -0500, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

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, just curious, how old is this laptop? I can't add any more help
than you already received but my experience tends to show 18 to 24
months is normal life for laptop batteries so if I had to "guess", I'm
going with a bad battery.

That said, I am trying now what Barry suggested about not leaving the
laptop plugged in more than necessary. I think Barry said it will
lessen the number of recharges but I'm not sure he is right. Of
course Barry will say he is grin but I wonder because once it's
recharged, I would think the current would lessen to a small amount if
still plugged in but I honestly don't know so I'm going to ASSUME
Barry is correct and see what my experience yields down the road. And
hopefully when the batteries do need replacing, I will report back
here just for the record. And Barry, if you are reading this post, I
know my experience isn't a scientific conclusion but it's still worth
noting if there isn't anything else to go by and meanwhile I'm hoping
you are correct.


It's about 18 months old and likely at end-of-life. Doubt it is the CMOS
battery.

As I said, it is my daughter's and she uses it regularly on battery. Trying
to instill any battery regimen is a waste of time. She's 13. She won't
listen.

If it dies, then she can use it plugged in until I'm in the mood for a new
battery

On Mon, 25 Dec 2006 19:08:27 -0500, "Tom Scales"
wrote:


RnR wrote in message ...
On Mon, 25 Dec 2006 10:26:37 -0500, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

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, just curious, how old is this laptop? I can't add any more help
than you already received but my experience tends to show 18 to 24
months is normal life for laptop batteries so if I had to "guess", I'm
going with a bad battery.

That said, I am trying now what Barry suggested about not leaving the
laptop plugged in more than necessary. I think Barry said it will
lessen the number of recharges but I'm not sure he is right. Of
course Barry will say he is grin but I wonder because once it's
recharged, I would think the current would lessen to a small amount if
still plugged in but I honestly don't know so I'm going to ASSUME
Barry is correct and see what my experience yields down the road. And
hopefully when the batteries do need replacing, I will report back
here just for the record. And Barry, if you are reading this post, I
know my experience isn't a scientific conclusion but it's still worth
noting if there isn't anything else to go by and meanwhile I'm hoping
you are correct.


It's about 18 months old and likely at end-of-life. Doubt it is the CMOS
battery.

As I said, it is my daughter's and she uses it regularly on battery. Trying
to instill any battery regimen is a waste of time. She's 13. She won't
listen.

If it dies, then she can use it plugged in until I'm in the mood for a new
battery



Yes Tom, I was referring to the laptop battery not CMOS.

I got a laugh when you said your 13 year old daughter won't listen. I
have that problem with my 18 year old daughter. In fact my brother
in law, told me he told his daughter not to roll up the adapter cord
for their laptop the way she was doing it but she didn't listen and it
cost him about $40 to replace it (I guess it shorted out) and that
daughter is also 18 years old. Kids, geeze.....

Anyway, I'm glad your daughter can still use her laptop off the wall
meanwhile.

Regards...

RnR wrote in message ...
On Mon, 25 Dec 2006 19:08:27 -0500, "Tom Scales"
wrote:


RnR wrote in message ...
On Mon, 25 Dec 2006 10:26:37 -0500, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

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, just curious, how old is this laptop? I can't add any more help
than you already received but my experience tends to show 18 to 24
months is normal life for laptop batteries so if I had to "guess", I'm
going with a bad battery.

That said, I am trying now what Barry suggested about not leaving the
laptop plugged in more than necessary. I think Barry said it will
lessen the number of recharges but I'm not sure he is right. Of
course Barry will say he is grin but I wonder because once it's
recharged, I would think the current would lessen to a small amount if
still plugged in but I honestly don't know so I'm going to ASSUME
Barry is correct and see what my experience yields down the road. And
hopefully when the batteries do need replacing, I will report back
here just for the record. And Barry, if you are reading this post, I
know my experience isn't a scientific conclusion but it's still worth
noting if there isn't anything else to go by and meanwhile I'm hoping
you are correct.


It's about 18 months old and likely at end-of-life. Doubt it is the CMOS
battery.

As I said, it is my daughter's and she uses it regularly on battery.
Trying
to instill any battery regimen is a waste of time. She's 13. She won't
listen.

If it dies, then she can use it plugged in until I'm in the mood for a new
battery



Yes Tom, I was referring to the laptop battery not CMOS.

I got a laugh when you said your 13 year old daughter won't listen. I
have that problem with my 18 year old daughter. In fact my brother
in law, told me he told his daughter not to roll up the adapter cord
for their laptop the way she was doing it but she didn't listen and it
cost him about $40 to replace it (I guess it shorted out) and that
daughter is also 18 years old. Kids, geeze.....

Anyway, I'm glad your daughter can still use her laptop off the wall
meanwhile.



Ok, I opened up my new 6400 today and have been trying to get it all set
the way I want it: uninstalled google search and Norton and AOL. I didn't
think I would like using a touch pad but I've quickly gotten use to it.
Some questions on battery life:

Sounds like the most I should expect to get out of this battery (53 WHr
6-cell Lithium) is one year to two years. Correct?

So what is the smart way to handle batteries to get maximum life out of
them? If I use it mostly hooked up with the power cord is it best to remove
the battery? But, I have removed the battery a few times today just to look
at it and noticed the bottom of the battery makes up part of the bottom of
the laptop. So, If I don't have the battery in the laptop there is a big
gap in the bottom of the laptop.

The directions that came with the laptop said once the battery is charged
it stops charging and there is no chance of overcharging it. Nothing
mentioned removing the batter except when not using it for long periods of
time but then - if I remove the battery that leaves the under part exposed.
Do I really want to do that?

Also, the directions said if I charge up the battery with the computer
off the computer led light stays solid while charging and blinks when
getting close to being fully charged. It doesn't say what the light does
when fully charged. Should I take blinking as fully charged? Or maybe the
light completely goes out when charged full?

Don't wrap the power cord?

Can't wait to take this thing outside during Summer time and send
e-mails while watching the hummingbirds and drinking orange juice and rum!

Thanks!

Happy Holidays

"Tom Lake" wrote in message
...
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


Should have nothing to do with the ( permanent ) CMOS battery inside the
unit.

-Stew

"Von Fourche" wrote in message
ink.net...

(snip)

Ok, I opened up my new 6400 today and have been trying to get it all
set the way I want it: uninstalled google search and Norton and AOL. I
didn't think I would like using a touch pad but I've quickly gotten use to
it. Some questions on battery life:

Sounds like the most I should expect to get out of this battery (53 WHr
6-cell Lithium) is one year to two years. Correct?

So what is the smart way to handle batteries to get maximum life out of
them? If I use it mostly hooked up with the power cord is it best to
remove the battery? But, I have removed the battery a few times today
just to look at it and noticed the bottom of the battery makes up part of
the bottom of the laptop. So, If I don't have the battery in the laptop
there is a big gap in the bottom of the laptop.

The directions that came with the laptop said once the battery is charged
it stops charging and there is no chance of overcharging it. Nothing
mentioned removing the batter except when not using it for long periods
of time but then - if I remove the battery that leaves the under part
exposed. Do I really want to do that?

Also, the directions said if I charge up the battery with the computer
off the computer led light stays solid while charging and blinks when
getting close to being fully charged. It doesn't say what the light does
when fully charged. Should I take blinking as fully charged? Or maybe
the light completely goes out when charged full?

Don't wrap the power cord?

Can't wait to take this thing outside during Summer time and send
e-mails while watching the hummingbirds and drinking orange juice and rum!

Thanks!

Happy Holidays




Honestly, I think the entire temporary battery/how to extend the life
discussion is somewhat overblown. I also happen to believe any comments are
(generally) unscientific due to variables of the battery itself, the
configuration of the machine and how it is used.

Further, the replacement cost is relatively reasonable so my suggestion is
that you concentrate on enjoying your new machine, and charge the battery
when it appears to be low.

Now there is some scientific advice. g


Stew

Hi!

That doesn't mean that the failure is temporary! On some
laptops there are two batteries inside.

Should have nothing to do with the ( permanent ) CMOS battery
inside the unit.

Are you sure there is one? It looks like Dell uses a mini rechargeable
battery pack in most of their notebooks to hold the CMOS contents AND to act
as a battery "buffer" for brief operation in standby while the user is
swapping main batteries.

I haven't tried to see how my Latitude D800 reacts to having that battery
removed, as I don't really want to try and break it.

William

"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:xYmkh.328874$1i1.6853@attbi_s72...
Hi!

That doesn't mean that the failure is temporary! On some
laptops there are two batteries inside.

Should have nothing to do with the ( permanent ) CMOS battery
inside the unit.

Are you sure there is one? It looks like Dell uses a mini rechargeable
battery pack in most of their notebooks to hold the CMOS contents AND to
act
as a battery "buffer" for brief operation in standby while the user is
swapping main batteries.

I haven't tried to see how my Latitude D800 reacts to having that battery
removed, as I don't really want to try and break it.

William



http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1123661