Help! My M14x R2 has disabled my battery.

Received the M14x R2 back in August. I love it and have had no problems until now...

Yesterday I went to turn on my M14x and it immediately came up with a black screen that said something like "This Battery Charging has been disabled. Press F2 to check battery status in the bios...etc"

I went on to use my computer before it randomly turned off when I was playing a video. I turned it on for it to do the exact same thing 30 mins or so later. Later on that day (fearing It was an over heating issue) tried playing a game. Managed to get over an hour on Killing Floor with out an issue.

The next time I checked the bios and under battery status said "This battery has been temporarily disabled. Please turn off your computer, Re-seat AC adapter and try again when the unit is back to normal operational temperature." So basically my laptop is refusing to use any form of battery power. The Battery Test button on the bottom of the laptop shows full charge.

I tried opening the cover to remove and re-install the battery but my screw driver was too big for the battery's screws so that is not an option. When in windows, the battery shows "Fully Charged (100%)", but if I remove the ac cable it will immediately turn off. Also an Alien Autopsy scan claims my Battery Passes.

So... Before I Contact Dell about this issue I would greatly appreciate a second opinion. Would updating the Bios fix this, as the laptop is on the stock bios? Bit worried about performing this due to the random turn off's I had.

 

Open the start menu and type "msinfo32", you'll find your current BIOS version around the 10th line.

Here's a link to BIOS A11 for M14x R2, update if necessary.

If you're already on A11 you'll need to find a smaller screw driver to remove the bottom cover and try a power drain (Remove the battery and AC adaper, press and hold power buton for 30-45 seconds, reconnect both and attempt to power on).

 

had this exact problem my friend, last week if i'm not mistaken. i think it happens when i play a game without it being plugged in, or accidentally being unplugged while gaming. what i had to do to fix it was take the battery out and press the power button on the laptop and wait 30 seconds. replace the battery and it should work. it seems that while gaming it draws too much from the battery and causes an inevitable shutdown that screws something up with the battery. IIRC i remember the shutdowns also happening with the R1, although i thought they fixed this in R2. seems not.

 

Thanks for the replies. Turns out I was on the A03 Bios so I updated to A10 which didn't fix it.

I 'm going to hunt around/buy a smaller screwdriver for the power drain. Hopefully that works other wise I'll have to call Dell who, I assume, would replace the motherboard.

This definitely makes me consider purchasing an extended warranty.

 

Try the power drain as suggested by eats7, that should help you fixing the issue.