Battery light flashing amber

Question

Dell Inspiron 1420

Dell Inspiron 1420 14.1" laptop, released in June 2008. Identified as the 1420 on the bezel above the keyboard, available in 8 different colors.

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Lorelei Rareheart @herorareheart

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Ndz 13, 2021

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Battery light flashing amber

I found an old Dell Inspiron 1420 and have been repairing it slowly over the last month or two. Recently I purchased this replacement charger for it as the laptop wouldn’t charge on my existing one designed for an HP laptop. With this new charger the “non-genuine adapter” message goes away and the computer reports it’s trying to charge the battery but it appears to remain uncharged no mater how long it’s plugged in. The bios says it is unable to communicate with the battery. The battery light on the laptop will blink amber forever when the laptop is plugged in on the new charger. I’m unsure what this means but my best guess is given the laptops age the battery is bad and will need to be replaced, but I wanted to double check before I order a new battery.

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mike @aactech

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Ndz 13, 2021

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Does the laptop work fine on just the charger?
By the way the LED is amber not orange.
From Dell - “Blinking amber indicates that the system board cannot start initialization or in an S3 power state. There is a power problem, a device may be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed.”
Have you run the Dell Diagnostics yet ? Tap the F12 key at the Dell splash screen on start-up. Choose Diagnostics from the menu.
If all works fine with the battery removed with just the charger, and with the information you have given, I would suggest that the battery is dead. I would also suggest getting a genuine DELL battery, if you can.
Don’t forget to check voltage on CMOS battery as well - should be 3V.
I can’t remember if that model uses IDE or SATA hard drive interface.
https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-p...

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The laptop works fine on just the charger and even with the battery inserted if on the charger. I have not run the diagnostics test yet, I will try that now. Also I'm 99% sure the CMOS battery is dead as the bios seems to forget my settings, I just haven't replaced it yet. HDD interface is SATA, I put an SSD in it.

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 13, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 Lorelei Rareheart crwdne2934271:0

Hi Josh @herorareheart ,

SATA SSD is good on these old systems.

So yes replace CMOS first and then go from there. They are very inexpensive - like $2 or $3. Get a good brand.

I tend to be optimistic about these old laptops - unless water has been spilt on them. Batteries don't respond well if they haven't been charged for a lone time.

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 14, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 mike crwdne2934271:0

A new CMOS battery fixed the BIOS forgetting things issue as expected and the diagnostic test has confirmed that this battery is just totally dead. Unfortunately due to the age of this laptop my best option is a 3rd party battery, but as long as I go with a company with a decent reputation I should be fine.

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 25, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 Lorelei Rareheart crwdne2934271:0

To answer the SATA question, these are SATA but they fall under the Dell SATA I>II transition, and lack SATA III support flat out. These are a walking question mark :/. I get a drive with full B/C for the suspect 2007/2008 Dells. On the known models like the D6X20/30 series (SATA II), I can get a CS900 for it and be done with it. The Core 2 Inspiron series remained a question in 2007, and partway through 2008. The early Core 2 stuff is usually suspect, but ~2008 is when Dell began to add the SATA II Option ROM to their entire lineup. The Sandy Bridge era officially ended the question mark problem as they all support SATA III.

Usually when the laptop is from this era, or an early E series like the E6X00/10 and in some cases the E6X20, the battery is tired. It can also point to a communication error, or a permanent failure flag.

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 25, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 Nick crwdne2934271:0

@herorareheart

Good to hear!

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 25, 2021crwdnd2934271:0 mike crwdne2934271:0

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The laptop works fine on just the charger and even with the battery inserted if on the charger. I have not run the diagnostics test yet, I will try that now. Also I'm 99% sure the CMOS battery is dead as the bios seems to forget my settings, I just haven't replaced it yet. HDD interface is SATA, I put an SSD in it. — Lorelei Rareheart
Hi Josh @herorareheart ,

SATA SSD is good on these old systems.

So yes replace CMOS first and then go from there. They are very inexpensive - like $2 or $3. Get a good brand.

I tend to be optimistic about these old laptops - unless water has been spilt on them. Batteries don't respond well if they haven't been charged for a lone time. — mike
A new CMOS battery fixed the BIOS forgetting things issue as expected and the diagnostic test has confirmed that this battery is just totally dead. Unfortunately due to the age of this laptop my best option is a 3rd party battery, but as long as I go with a company with a decent reputation I should be fine. — Lorelei Rareheart
To answer the SATA question, these are SATA but they fall under the Dell SATA I>II transition, and lack SATA III support flat out. These are a walking question mark :/. I get a drive with full B/C for the suspect 2007/2008 Dells. On the known models like the D6X20/30 series (SATA II), I can get a CS900 for it and be done with it. The Core 2 Inspiron series remained a question in 2007, and partway through 2008. The early Core 2 stuff is usually suspect, but ~2008 is when Dell began to add the SATA II Option ROM to their entire lineup. The Sandy Bridge era officially ended the question mark problem as they all support SATA III.

Usually when the laptop is from this era, or an early E series like the E6X00/10 and in some cases the E6X20, the battery is tired. It can also point to a communication error, or a permanent failure flag. — Nick

score 2 · Answer 1 · 2023-03-06T09:39:19-07:00

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Kul 6, 2023

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The battery is knackered. My Dell does the same until it kicks in and starts to charge, I need a new battery too. Before you start thinking the worst, buy a new battery.

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umer ali crwdns2934065:0crwdne2934065:0: 1 · Answer 2 · 2025-09-05T13:18:31-07:00

Amber Orange WTF looks like orange on my XPS. I was removing the PVC insulation on the DC power cord and changing the ridiculously long straight plug to a rt angl and when I plugged the adaptor back in to the Laptop it was ok for a couple of weeks. I have two of these laptops and PSUs so converted the other lead to right angle and a braid sleeve as well. Second conversion was a bit neater. So that lead worked ok on the same original laptop. I then plugged the first one in and got the flashing orange blue LED om the back and on the status led on the top one. Hmm curious so I plugged the second PSU back into the first lap top back to okay. Tried first psu with second laptop and okay as well. First psu with first LT was the issue. It was dirt in the centre and inner connections on the connector on the lead which is the strange outer with inner power connection and the thin data pin in the middle that was causing the upset. A clean with IPA on a cotton bud and issue has gone for now.

Dell Inspiron 1420

Battery light flashing amber

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