Hi,

I have a Dell laptop which has developed a fault. It doesn't recognise
its own power supply. A bit of internet research reveals that this is
a common fault on this particular model, and it's a fault with the
motherboard, so an expensive repair. At the moment for me the fault is
intermittent. Sometimes the power supply is recognised and the thing
will run happily from the mains and charge the battery, sometimes it
isn't and it runs from the battery. Pretty soon a time will come when
the battery goes flat, the power supply won't be recognised at all and
it will be screwed unless I replace the motherboard.

To get to the point I could easily keep the PC running if I could
charge the battery without it being in the laptop. Anyone know what my
chances are? The battery has eight pins. I presume it has some
circuitry inside which means it's not as easy as guessing the right
two pins and putting a current across them.

Cheers!

Martin