Brand new M17x. "Plugged In, Not Charging."

So, this is frustrating. I just got my brand new Alienware M17X in yesterday, and I'm already falling in love with it.

However, I can't get the battery to charge. It runs when plugged in, but it doesn't charge. It says, "Plugged In, Not Charging."

I've been having a few other issues with it, but I think these all stem from the battery issue.

Any ideas? Should I just send it back to avoid further problems with it? I mean, if I'd had it for a while and given it a chance to get a bug or something I wouldn't worry, but in a day, it must be something wrong with it before I got it...

Thanks in advance.

 

don't let the slippery slope get the best of you.

you have warranty on it. i suggest you make use of it; you did pay for it after all.

 

Is the battery actually fully charged or close to fully charged? My G73 tends to do that until the battery drops on it's own for a little bit. It then charges back up. When it is charged, it runs off AC and not battery, therefore giving that message.

 

Next time you should ask in the actual Alienware forum if you want a quick answer. You need to do a power drain. This involves the following:

1. Unplug your computer
2. Remove the battery
3. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds
4. Replace the battery
5. Plug in the AC cord
6. Reboot the system and now it should indicate the battery is charging


If your system isn't already on bios A06, I'd suggest upgrading to it.

 

Did you screw with any BIOS settings? There is a setting in Alienware BIOS'es that allows you to disable charging when connected to an AC adapter.

 

That sounds like a good idea for battery preservation.

 

I think I heard some people say that the feature is there for airlines that allow you to use your laptop, or charge the battery, but not both at the same time. Apparently, some electrical systems can't handle that. Although I've never been on an airline with that restriction before.

Personally, I have disabled the charging on my laptop for the reason that you mentioned. I keep the battery at 40% charge and disable charging.

Most laptop batteries that I owned that I kept in my laptop and always kept charged would lose about 50% capacity after 1.5 to 2.0 years of use. Meanwhile, I have a spare battery for my Dell XPS M1330 that I've kept at 40% charge. I've owned that battery for 3 years, used it only about a dozen times, and it still has 95% of the original charge capacity. I'm hoping that giving my Alienware M11x the same "40% treatment" will let the battery last, and be useful when I actually need battery power.

 

this used to happen to me with my Hp laptop when i reach 13% and start charging , it did not charge , i should have replaced it , anyway , leave it plugged while in standby for about 10 min and it should continue charging when u r using ur laptop , this works with my HP , cheers

 

I did the power drain, and it worked. Is there any reason that this happened? Does it foreshadow future problems?

And no, I didn't screw with the BIOS or anything, I haven't even been into it yet.

One more question. What should I do to protect this laptop? I've never owned an expensive laptop before, so I've never worried about trying hard to keep them in pristine condition. I want to keep it in mint condition for as long as possible. I know this includes BIOS and driver updates as well as antivirus and other programs. What does everyone recommend?

 

As someone already suggested, go to the Alienware thread and make friends. If there are any rules to protect your laptop they should know about it. Stay informed!

 

worked for me, thank you very much!
just got mine yesterday and the disconnected and when i woke up it was turned off so i connected the charger and it was on 3%.
anyways was scared XD