hello all.
a couple of weeks ago, I unplugged the laptop from the charger and took it to the living room to track some information. the battery said it was 100% charged. about 30 minutes later I heard the battery beep for low charge left. the battery indicator said it had 56% left, but it ended up only having 7%.
since that point, the laptop will not significantly charge. here's what I've tried:
- alien autopsy - the battery passed the test
- charger - ordered a new charger. this did not help
- cleaned the connector inside the laptop. this did not help
- shut the computer off, unplugged battery and a/c charger, held down the power button, then reinstalled the battery and charger. nothing changed.
- uninstalled the ACPI compliant battery thing, and let the system find hardware changes. nothing changed.
it sounds like the battery, except 1. the battery passed the diagnostic test in alien autopsy, and 2. I see that this is a problem far beyond alienware (I googled 'plugged in, not charging) and saw the same with many different laptop brands.
today, the battery is at 8%. the laptop works fine when plugged into the wall. the battery indicator says 'plugged in, charging', but it isn't. if I unplug the a/c adapter and then plug it back in, the battery indicator acts like it's charging for about 10 seconds, then settles back down to the low battery indicator.
I sure would appreciate any advice you might have. thanks all.