M17xR2 Bios A10 ('Plugged in, not charging' Fix) Discussion Thread

I'm speculating here, but maybe the RGB LED screen is creating electrical interference that causes the I2C message to get botched?

 

Thanks for the links, hoofhearted.

The proprietary charging system Dell employs has been discussed in a number of threads on this forum. It has really turned off a lot of folks. That is also very apparent from reading the comments at the links you provided.

The proprietary charging system probably is the root of the "plugged in, not charging" problem, and I wouldn't hold my breath that Dell will undo it. They designed them this way on purpose. The XPS M1730 that my Alienware replaced had very similar issues.

From what I have read, there have been a few models of hp and Sony VAIO systems that used this same crappy power setup. I could be wrong, but I do not think the low end budget Dell systems employ this garbage due to the extra cost involved.

My unscientific wild guess is that dropping and popping the battery back in does something to "wake up" the chip and make it behave properly. You can turn off the obnoxious BIOS warning beep. My system gave me the warning beep the first time I powered up when I first took it out of the box. My M1730 did as well. Despite that fact, I do not frequently have the "plugged in, not charging" problem with my R2, but it was a real nightmare with the M1730. With my R2 it occurs maybe once a month on average, and usually only after running the battery down between 10% and 20%. The battery drop and pop fixes it immediately every time, so I haven't really cared about it too much.

Dell replaced the AC adapter and battery on my M1730 about 4 times in less than 2 years, and twice replaced the motherboard at the same time. Whatever money they might be making by forcing customers to buy replacement AC adapters from them instead of an aftermarket source on out-of-warranty system, I cannot help but think they must be losing more money for in-warranty parts replacement and technical support. Life would be easier for everyone, including Dell, if they would do away with this proprietary setup. Gestapo grade proprietary garbage like this is something I would expect from Apple, but not so much from a PC manufacturer.

It would be really cool if a BIOS hacker like The Wiz could does something to disable this permanently. That might turn out to be a lucrative thing. I know I would be willing to pay for a modded BIOS that disables the need for the AC adapter to communicate with the motherboard.

 

Is there any reason for me NOT to upgrade from A07 to A10? I knew initially there were issues with A08 that dropped performance, but I hear they fixed that. Also, A09 made extreme processors even better, apparently. If I install A10, it'll incorporate the A09 changes as well, correct?

 

Correct

10charsftl

 

A07 to A10. No problems no worries. Update away anytime. No need to update to A08 or A09 if you don't want to.
Go for it buddy.


Cheers.

 

Is there any benefit to A10?

 

It's supposed to help with the "Plugged in, not charging" issue. It seems to have made the occurrence far less frequent for me and some others, but it did not cure the problem completely. For some, it seems to have changed nothing.

From the Dell Support driver download page:

 

I have spoken with a level 3 about this. A10 does not really help with plugged in not charging. A10 was mainly to address the charger not being recognized as a authentic Dell charger.

I know it says this:
1. Modify EC code to get PSID delay 1 second.
2. Modify the bad battery stop charge reason ID code for debug. <--this is not why our batteries are not charging.

Some R2 motherboard's can allow for just removing the battery, some require a power drain, others require the removal of the CMOS battery to temporarily fix this problem.
When this error happends it sometimes causes the code 43 error that disableds some usb connectivety & bluetooth. This is totally not acceptable.
I'm soooo sick of this problem.

 

I'm one of the lucky ones that only needs to take 5 seconds to unlatch, lower and re-latch the battery. I have never needed to do a power drain since installing A10. I don't blame anyone for being upset if they have to do the power drain frequently, or uplug the CMOS battery to temporarily fix the problem. That is totally unacceptable... especially the CMOS battery pull. Anyone under warranty that has that sort of problem needs to keep having Alienware replace stuff over and over until they get an M18x as a replacement or a permanently fixed R2.

 

You are lucky. Most AW techs think replacing the motherboard, ac adapter & battery is a permanent fix. The only thing that changes is how to temporarily fix this issue. Alienware only has refurbished motherboards at this point, all with the exact same problem. I should be receiving a call this week by Tuesday from engineering and a level 3 tech regarding this issue. If they don't call me by Wednesday I'm calling them. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

As i said before they do that for a reason, read this to understand more:
DELL AC power adapter not recognized | The Laptop Junction

“Dell AC power adapter type cannot be determined” solution

I never had the problem with the M17x that it's used as DTR, so that raised a few question marks, i researched and wow the theory was right.
That's why i wanted for the adapter check to be lifted (in BIOS) so we can use higher quality (or self made) adapters

 

Thanks for the links! Proprietorial behavior from OEMs truly sucks.

 

DS2501 is the magic keyword to use in your google search. You will find all the nice little dirties about Dell with this. In short, this is a small chip in the power brick that sends a signature (over a third conductor in the Dell brick back to the laptop). The laptop 'authenticates' your power brick.

I am hoping the guys (TheWiz) in this BIOS mod thread come up with a solution. I would really rather see this solved at the laptop/firmware end. I see no need for the laptop to authenticate your brick except to put more money in Dells pocket.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...bios-mod-need-suggestions-future-mods-33.html

I am hoping for a search-and-destroy type patch. Something that keeps a database of all power brick DS2501 strings, find the if-then-else statement in the BIOS (hopefully that is where this check lives) and make both 'if' and 'else' return the happy path.

FYI, I have one of those Kensington multi-tip 3rd party power bricks that work with several Dell laptops (XPS1200, Vostro 1500, etc) and it charges fine with no messages even during bootup, so these Kensington guys have some magic code that circumvents Dells programmatic extortion. Wonder if this is findable.

 

OK, Dell has proprietary power. The problem is that this implementation fell flat on it's face with the m17xr2. Dell should just do the right thing, make an exception and let it go for this particular model by permamntly removing the power check from A11.

 

I am starting to have this issue frequently. It's still an easy fix, but it only used to happen under certain conditions and not frequently. I have to drop and pop the battery at least once a day now.

 

My 4 R2's started out having to remove the battery to temporarily fix....with time they only got worse.
It's time that you elevate this issue to Dell/AW instead of just sitting back and hoping it will go away....you/we deserve better than this!! Not to mention that this isn't the only unresolved problem plaguing our R2's.

If you push Dell and live in the states they will take care of you.
In the end they will make things right if your still under warranty.

 

Unfortunately, if you dont, they wont. So much for a global organisation.

 

sorry stevie.....I'm just trying to unofficially give him all the angles. They really should have done you better in your case

The bright side of this is that in M18x land we don't have to worry about this silly problem or sleep brightness/resume issue to this extent. Once you get pass receiving a unit with "hardware defects" the M18x is a sweet rig.

 

Yeah, I know Sky - im not complainin' just sayin' ......

 

I believe I have found the fix to this problem....after 5 months of trying to fix/research this problem, I found a possible solution 4 days ago on how to fix this problem on Dell computers. Since then I can not replicate this problem.....because of replacement reasons, I will not post this in the open forum. If you think otherwise PM me. I would hate to have this fix only work for a few weeks delaying another NBR members replacement process that is a certified guarantee.

 

Gunner, is that "fix" simpy to get rid of your Dell system LOL - just kiddin' but if you do have anything which may help, I'd suggest posting so those people who are "afflicted" can test it out.....what d'ya think mate? - anything that can help is all good, even if it doesnt work for everyone, its still worth a punt.

 

I sent it to Mr. Fox. I'm sending it to you.

 

Stevie - It would suck for the "fix" to be posted and have someone in the middle of an M18x exchange to be dropped on their head by Alienware while they look into the idea. Especially so if it's not really a fix, or only works on some systems, and the warranty clock is ticking away all the while. That would really stink. I like the idea of sending a PM rather than having it posted for a good while and I think that's what skygunner is being sensitive to. BTW - I sent him a PM already.

I think this problem is causing the error code 43 that I see in Device Manager when my Bluetooth stops working. My Bluetooth hardware gets a yellow exclamation point on the icon in Device Manager when that happens and the Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator disappears. It seems to happen after changing from DC to AC power, or after many hours of use.

Dell replaced the module a few months ago, but that did not help anything.

EDIT: Skygunner, thanks - I got your PM right after submitting this post. I'm going to go read it right now.

 

EXACTLY

Most people don't know about the code 43 error because they don't look for it or use bluetooth. When you do notice it, it is a SERIOUS PROBLEM if you can show this error to the techs they will replace your unit with a comparable unit(upgrade). There is NO way to fix this error without removing the battery, power drain or for some CMOS battery.

 

Received with thanks +rep.

I agree 10000% upon reviewing my previous post. Dell should do their own "homework" and for those that are in the midst of system replacement, any fix posted here would hinder that without due reason for it. +rep to you too, my friend!

 

3 days ago I gave that fix to a friend of mine that was having to remove the CMOS battery to fix the plugged in not chraging/code 43 problem if his battery drained lower than 51%. He also reports no problems since I gave him the fix.

thanks for the rep stevie!!

 

Sorry about the duplicate PM, skygunner. I am on a really lousy hotel wifi connection and it keeps timing out on me. +1 rep

Edit: just switched over to using a Bluetooth 3G connection with my BlackBerry and it is doing a much better job. It's very sad that a cellular 3G connection is faster and more stable than this crummy wifi service at the Hilton Garden Inn. Tried hooking up my miniature wireless travel router to the LAN and there is no internet on the LAN. Darn!

 

Your more than welcome ... you have worked tirelessly on this and other issues....credit where credit is due.....same goes for Mr Fox......if i could rep you guys every day, i would do!

Good (well, great actually) to hear that your fix is working.....damn, wish I had my problematic R2 to try it out on....sod's law that its now gone

 

no problem thanks for the rep.

I've tried it for the last 4 days at least 8 times a day. Drain>Charge>Drain>Charge>Drain>Repeat<


It's true that the MB & Software causes this problem. Depending on your MB determines how to temporarily fix the issue. Some MB's only have to remove the battery, some MB's have to do a power drain & use FN + F2 and in the worst case scenario like mine remove the CMOS battery. If you get the code 43 error I wouldn't bother with a fix that may push the problem back for a few months+. Instead I would request a replacement. The code 43 error associated with this plugged in not charging problem is unexceptable because it hinders the host controllers ability to allow the bluetooth/USB ports to function or become eratic.

Some AW Techs are aware of this problem including the code 43 error. I have spoken to 4 AW Techs that don't even bother with all the BS because they've seen it before and know that it can't be fixed by replacing the MB, ac adapter & battery over & over again. A clean OS install does not fix this problem. Removing the AW OSD also fixes this problem for some, but doing that limits our ability to use the FN keys and some of the touch keys.

To be honest I have gone through **** to get where I'm at with this issue. Once you properly show this problem/code 43 error to most AW Techs they will replace your system without having you jump through a bunch of hoops. I applaud them for doing this for me and so many others that have a valid reason to be offered a replacement.

Even though I'll miss my R2's 1200P RGB LED screen & IR, I take comfort in having a replacement system that works like it's intended to.

 

I just performed a system restore to before I did the fix to see if I can bring back the issue. The problem came back after my battery drained to 50%. At this point I'd have to remove the CMOS battery to temporarily get rid of the plugged in not charging error/code 43 error.

Instead I decided to try the fix. Immediately after I did it my battery started charging.

Interesting......................

 

skygunner - it seems that your suggestion for the "plugged in, not charging problem" also may have fixed the S3 resume brightness control issues on my R2. I have put my R2 into S3 sleep mode three times with the lid and not only did my display brightness setting stay the same, but the controls (the keyboard controls and the slider control in the Windows Power Options applet) are functioning properly after resuming from sleep.

I'm going to put it to sleep overnight and see if the brightness controls still work and whether my system generates a BSOD after I wake it up from S3 tomorrow morning.

As agreed, we will test this for a month before posting it as a solution on this thread or the other thread. We want to be sure it truly is a solution rather than a temporary workaround, and that it does not cause other problems not yet identified.

 

Thanks for posting your discovery with the sleep issue. Currently I can not replicate the sleep brightness resume issue or plugged in not charging/code 43 issue....only time will tell. I disabled sleep because I was sick of it causing BSOD and not being able to see my screen....I never would have thought to re-enable it to see if it was related to the plugged in not charging problem/fix. Sense you know what is getting corrupted...I suspect this fix is on a time line again until the corruption happends again............who knows such things.............

 

Like you, I had everything disabled to avoid issues resuming from S3. I re-enabled all sleep features just to see what would happen, so it was merely out of curiosity that I discovered it was working correctly now.

The code 43 issue with my Bluetooth module has me the most concerned of all, and you are correct that only time will tell for sure. The problem is very random.

I use Bluetooth for a number of things, so I just hate when it stops working due to code 43. The R2 touchpad really sucks, so I use a Bluetooth Orochi mouse. I also use Bluetooth stereo headphones and I connect my R2 to BlackBerry via Bluetooth PAN for media file transfers and 3G internet access while traveling whenever free wifi is not available.

I just ran my battery down to 9% and attached the AC adapter when the pop-up warning told me I needed to do so. It's charging [without any intervention on my part] as we speak.

It is just after midnight where I'm at, so I am putting my R2 to sleep now at 35% charged. I will post the results of what I find when I open the lid in the morning.

 

I look forward to your report. The code 43 error is the worse error I have incountered on the R2. For a long time(almost 2 months) I didn't know what was causing it. Now we know that the plugged in not charging error is causing it. Sometimes my R2 would show the code 43 error in the device manager with out alerting me. I have owned 4 R2's with these same 3 errors.

With this fix I've noticed a few times that after a drain of more than 50% of the battery that after plugging in the ac adapter....sometimes the charging starts right away or after 15 seconds......so far it's a huge improvement.

If this works after a month of testing I will call my 2 AW agents who actually care about their customers in hope that they can properly distribute our findings.

 

Hi All, I haven't posted on this particular thread in a while now (documented most of my trials & tribulations back in Feb & March). But at Skygunner's request, I'm advising everyone that the fix he is testing is one I had tried a couple of months ago - and while it provided some initial relief, it was NOT a permanent fix for me.

To calibrate you to where I believe things are, this problem (plugged in - not charging) appears to act differently amongst our various machines. I'm one of the "lucky" ones in that all I need to do is remove & replace the battery while the system is plugged in and running. It immediately starts charging again. To be clear - I use the term Lucky strictly on a relative basis. We've all paid far too much for our systems to experience this kind of issue.

I've tried all the other "fixes" at one time or another - Flashing A10 a couple of times, new battery, uninstalling - reinstalling OSD, I've got three different AC adapters, etc. etc. Yet the problem still persists - intermittently.

The only reason I'm not fighting AW for a fix right now, is that they wore me down last year with my R1 - and this R2 is so much better (reliable) that I'm taking a break from the hotline headaches I know I'll need to go through eventually. And I'm plugged into AC more than 90% of the time both at the office & home.

Good luck to all of us - as I'm not at all sure that this will ever be fixed for those of us that experieince the problem.

 

Anyone try that trick where you delete that ACIP driver thing in the Devicemanager? I had that problem once a year ago it fixed it.

 

Hi Hurp_Mc_Durp - yes that is one of the things I tried. And like every other fix - it too got my battery charging again - but the problem reappeared a little while later

 

Since it has been confirmed NOT to work for everyone here it is.... Thank you everyone who tried/is trying this fix. I appreciate eveyone's discretion while we figure out if it works for everyone on the R2. Currently I still can't get my R2 to replicate the code 43 or sleep brightness resume error with this fix...who knows maybe it's fixed, maybe it's not. At the point if you still get the code 43 error I would suggest contacting Dell/AW for a comparable or better replacement.
If the notebook battery is not charging or the notebook does not indicate that the battery is charging, the most likely scenario is that the battery itself is operating correctly, but its power management software may have become corrupt. In order to correct the problem, you will need to uninstall and reinstall the power management software by using the Device Manager. This document will explain how to uninstall and reinstall the ACPI Battery listings in Windows 7/Vista, as well as how to obtain and install updated BIOS files, if needed to correct other battery issues.
Uninstalling and reinstalling power management software in Windows 7/Vista
In order to correct problems with the battery's power management software, follow the steps below.
1. Click Start and type device in the search field, then select Device Manager .
2. Expand the Batteries category.
3. Under the Batteries category, right-click the Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery listing, and select Uninstall .
WARNING: Do not remove the Microsoft AC Adapter driver or any other ACPI compliant driver.
4. On the Device Manager taskbar, click Scan for hardware changes .
Alternately, select Action > Scan for hardware changes .
Windows will scan your computer for hardware that doesn't have drivers installed, and will install the drivers needed to manage your battery's power. The notebook should now indicate that the battery is charging.

 

skygunner, even if this is only a temporary workaround versus a real fix, if it allows our systems to go longer between episodes where we have to do stupid stuff to restore charging functionality, it's far better than having to go through a bunch of gyrations on a frequent basis. Thank you for sharing this.

I have tested this and it is momentarily allowing my system to function properly. I ran a barrage of tests today, including running off of battery power until only 7% remained. The initial status is reported as not charging, but it does begin charging after about a minute.

This also seems to have resolved the display brightness control problem on my system.

 

I still can't get it to malfunction without doing a restore before the fix. You're right it is somewhat of a fix. But until it works for everyone I can not recommend it over a certified comparable or better replacement. For some of us, this error acompanys the code 43 error. The code 43 error is unacceptable because it limits the use of bluetooth/USB. If this error can be replicated in front of an Dell/AW technician they will certainly present you with other options(replacement, refund etc....) Most agents are aware of the plugged in not charging, code 43/sleepbrightnessresume problems. The issue here is that the burden of proof is left up to you. Which I think is fair. I'm glad we have you on board genuinely trying whatever it takes to resolve this issue. At this point I don't see Dell/AW providing a fix for plugged in not charging & code 43 error.

 

I had System Restore turned off, so I have no restore points to go back and replicate the problems on demand. I do have a fairly recent HDD image, so I may have to restore that to cause it to resurface. Or, I could just be patient and wait for the problem to resurface on its own. I do have errors in the Event Logs (see attached) documenting malfunction of ACPI and the Bluetooth module.

 

Those events are caused by the code 43/plugged in not charging problem!!! I've seen those same errors in result of the code 43/plugged in not charging error. Did you show that to the AW techs? They need to see this type of stuff to futher your progress and at the same time document it for other R2 owners.

Since we have confirmation that the fix is temporary for some on the R2, I would install your other OS to get the ball moving.

 

I discovered those event logs after speaking with Alienware last night and will show it to their rep if they call me at the appointed time this evening.

I am a business traveler and unable to take time restore my OS image at the moment. I will do so at my first opportunity, but that may not be until the weekend.

 

I guess it's better late then never. I too find it hard to spend vast hours on the phone with AW but somehow I manage to pull through. I have even gone so far as to unintentionally upset members in my Family by constantly being on the phone trying to set things right.
I think you have everything you need at your disposal to work things out with Dell.

Make sure you don't post any of your progress in the open thread unless it's about resolving the plugged in not charging/code 43 error.

 

and a lot of patience!

 

Oh yeah!! I forgot to add patience.

 

Okay everyone. My maxed out M18x arrives tomorrow and they require this one to be sent back. I will no longer be able to troubleshoot this issue. I wish you all the best....for anyone who's wondering it took 7 days to build/deliver my M18x. They sent it priority next day. It has already arrived in my city to be delivered tomorrow.

Good luck everyone.

 

Outstanding... congratulations! Thank you for all of your efforts.

 

No problem!! I'm glad I could have been of assistance. I see you started working on our next problem(Aero). lol. I haven't seen that issue before on my Fiance's unit but I'm sure it's going to annoy me. At least I won't have to dea withl the plugged in not charging & code 43 any more. What a nightmare.

 

The "plugged in, not charging" problem returned again today. So, this temporary fix was good for about 7 days for me. I'll do it again because it's easy and does help.

For those that didn't catch that earlier in the thread, see the image below.

Spoiler