Dell XPS 15 9560 Amber Light Blinking

I suppose I am having the exactly same issue with my DELL XPS 15 9560. Amber light blinking for "charging status" LED and three (3) white dots blinking (x o x o x) for "battery status" LED. I shot two videos (as GIF) to make it more clear how it looks like.

LED for "charging status":
LED battery charging status

LED for "battery status":
LED battery status

Also this issue started appearing all of a sudden (in July) some time after the BIOS update (V1.19.2) in June. From the changelog (refer BIOS V1.19.2 for Dell XPS 15 9560 systems) they updated the Texas Instruments (TI) Power Delivery-Firmware. It seems pretty obvious that they delivered a coding bug with this BIOS update.

When running the battery report of Windows 10 via command prompt (with administrative privileges) I don't see any issues (see report as screenshot):

> powercfg /batteryreport /output %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\BatteryRpt.html

Windows battery report

Dear Geoffrey (@Dell-Geoffrey R), me and the community would really appreciate a DELL techy supporting us with this issue. Preferred would be a capable software developer in response for BIOS implementation topics. 

Thank you very much!

UPDATE: Hi Justin ( @DELL-Justin C )! I had really good contact and productive conversations with you related to M.2 FAQ regarding AHCI vs. RAID ON some years ago. Maybe you can help?

My problem started up again. First, I am not having the problem with the one jack designated for "power" and the charger. Two, the two jacks on the opposite side of the laptop WILL NOT work with the charger -- won't run off the charger/being plugged in, won't charge, etc. It is as if the jacks simply don't recognize the charger. 

My battery was already replaced during a prior warranty/on-site visit.

hello, 

did you have issues with amber light blinking before ?
after you replace your battery  does it start to work fine?

i am having this issues too

Put my name on the list too. Since yesterday I have exactly the same issues. I hope Dell can deliver proper solution as soon as possible. I think all XPS 9560 are having this problem

I am having the exact same issue with my 1 year old Dell XPS 15 9560 after the most recent bios update

Hi everyone! My problem seems to be solved (for now).

After I was contacted by a DELL support assistent through PM telling "sorry your device is out of support already" (which was obvious for me, since my laptop is 2.5 years old 🤷‍ ), I started a diagnostic run from the boot options. You can reach the boot options on startup of your laptop. Immediately press "F12" once the DELL logo appears on the black screen to see the boot options and then select "Diagnostics" from "OTHER OPTIONS" list. Proper description can be found here: Running Dell PSA or ePSA 

Once the diagnostics started and after confirming the dialog "Where color bars displayed?" with "Y" (yes), it was resuming the test and giving me a high beep tone with an error message similar to "battery is reaching the end of its usable life" (sorry I didn't take a photo of it). Obviously it seems that there is some logic (maybe in the battery controller?) that "counts" the loading cycles or uptime of the battery to forcibly set it into an "end of life" state. This would explain why so many users face the same situation. It would also explain why the battery status changes from one day to the other, even with a good functioning battery. Also it might be a security feature implemented in the newer XPS models, because the battery of my old XPS 15 9550 just "blew up" one day and so crashed the motherboard (I was using it on a daily basis for 5 years as second device)... In the DELL battery FAQ it says: For the typical user, noticeable reduction in run time generally will be observed after 18 to 24 months. For a power user, reduction in run time generally may be experienced within 18 months. We recommend buying a new Dell laptop battery when the run time does not meet your needs. - funny, isn't it? 🤦‍

Well, now to solve my issue I invested ~150 EUR to buy a new battery. I changed it in my laptop and everything started back working fine again. The battery which I bought is an official DELL replacement item. I am saying that, because I saw many alternative suppliers of a batteries with the same specifications which are cheaper, but I felt it is better to take the official battery from DELL. 

Understanding the FAQ from DELL, I can just hope my battery will last longer than the previous one did...

Wishing all of you good luck! 

Stay strong! ‍

UPDATE (answering related posts to my reply):

@azraf since you were asking: YES, replacing the battery solved it for my XPS

@Browndogs: from the DELL battery FAQ they are rating you as a "power user" (you said your XPS is 1 year old), so the battery reached its "end of life" state already after 12 months in your case 

@jevan2: how old is your XPS? maybe also your battery has reached the "end of life" state - give it a check in the ePSA/PSA diagnostics on boot

@hiiammikeI started the diagnostics as you described and got the same message " The battery is reaching the end of its usable life". I bought my XPS 9560 in Dec 2017, it seems that 30 months is the max life time of the battery (not the real life time, but set by controller)

Can you write please the part number of the new battery you've bought? It is a 97Whr, 6-cell battery, maybe you have the same type of battery?

@jevan2: It’s the 97 Wh 6 cells battery with type code 6GTPY. I think all 9560 have the same battery built in.

@T607: yes it is strange that it stills showed 84Wh, but as I mentioned, I guess that there is some coded logic that prevents us from using the battery longer than usually attended by DELL or the battery supplier.

Hi Everyone,

I am getting the same problem. Suddenly (after an update!) orange light on the front started blinking and laptop wouldn't power on battery.

Battery report shows plenty of capacity still left and I had reasonable usage times before so I don't understand what's happened. Even if I'm out of warranty Dell's update has rendered the product unusable which is not right.

Can anyone from Dell comment?

Many thanks,

Ed

It's clear to me that the BIOS update package 1.19.2 and associated Intel firmware updates have caused the issue. So many people are having the same problems after the "upgrade". Can you please tell me why this is happening and please supply a fix ASAP. There was nothing wrong with my battery before the upgrade.

Look forward to your response,

Ed

Hello,

I am having the same issue, same blinking amber light, laptop shuts off when disconnected from power adapter, when on power adapter it always shows "50% available (plugged in)" and doesn't charge. Battery was working perfectly up until less than 48 hours ago and has not been able to work without the power adapter since. Very upsetting. Laptop is about 2.5 - 3 years old.

I checked and the same BIOS update package 1.19.2 has been installed. I don't recall updating my BIOS, it seems this was snuck in as part of a sudden Windows update my computer did when shutting down a few days ago.

I bought a new battery because this is a critical time for me, I'm submitting my Master's thesis in two weeks and need this laptop functioning. But I'm concerned that changing the battery may only be a temporary fix, as some users on this thread have mentioned.

I await Dell's response.
Thank you,
Nata

PS Has anyone tried this solution? I found it on another thread discussing a similar BIOS update/battery issue in 2018:
https://www.dell.com/support/article/hu-hu/sln308571/laptop-battery-does-not-charge-beyond-55-on-certain-dell-pcs?lang=en

It looks like the solution I posted in the link above is no longer applicable and that BIOS update was pulled a couple years ago with no comment from Dell. However, this all points to a larger concern of BIOS updates causing similar issues throughout the years...