my perfectly functioning laptop ran into trouble yesterday(dell 1520 inspiron).after using for a long time (pluged in),i observed the charge indicator was not showing an increase in charge.i felt this strange as the battery indicator was not lit up even when the charger was on and battery at a stubborn 26% charged.i thought restarting would fix the issue.but when i restarted,at boot time before the boot options were displayed(have both linux ubuntu and windows XP),it said something about battery not recognised press f3 to view msg again or f1 then f2 to continue.i never had this problem before.i was kind of shocked as i never had a battery problem and had a good 2 hour back up before the problem.anyone can help?

It sounds like hardware. Does the battery work in another box?

but it was a perfectly functioning battery till that problem.no short diffusing and no fuss.i did not even remove it and replace it before

Don't beat me over the head with what it WAS. We are trying to decide what it IS. It sounds like it's open circuit - not fitted correctly, or internal junction between cells gone.

Hi

There are a number of possible causes for the type of problem that you have described.
May I suggest that you make a few basic checks:
1) remove the battery and inspect the terminals for anything that my obstruct the battery terminals from connecting to the laptop battery terminals. Including: dust, oxidation, etc
Poor physical contact or any obstructions will prevent communication with the battery and battery use/charging.
2) most laptop manufactures supply a battery test and calibration utility with their laptops.
For example my Compaq laptop beside has a Battery Optimizer utility supplied for MS Windows XP (Start : All Programs / Utilities / Battery Optimizer). These type of utilities may be used to confirm that a communication path to the battery can be established/is present, the type of battery (make, serial, charge capacity, etc), as well as testing the charge capacity of the battery. Locate, install, and run the utility for your laptop to verify that a communication path can be established with the battery (ie. the laptop and battery "smart" logic are operating normally), and that the battery can be charged.
3) As batteries age they lose their charge capacity. Similarly a battery can be detrimentally affected by: charging patterns, environmental conditions (temperature), and mechanical damage.

It is entirely possible that the problem you have described is cause by poor physical connection between the laptop and the battery, failed "smart" circuitry in the battery (unlikely), the failure of one or more cells in the battery (most likely), the failure of basic wiring and circuitry in the battery (unlikely), diminished capacity due to old age (likely).

The best approach is to test the battery in another compatible laptop, and to test the laptop with a battery which is in known working condition.

If the battery was new, and failed under warranty, I suggest that you approach the manufacturer and lodge a claim for a replacement battery. Alternatively you might like to consider taking the laptop and battery to a laptop battery supplier of good reputation and ask them to examine the situation for you.

Hope that assists.

Regards

Chris

i had the curcuits fail in a battery
it would not boot if the battery was in
and if i pressed the test button on the battery the lights would blink wildly
first try removing it and putting it back in