Inspiron 5515, DPM, not obeying stop charge point

Question

Hi all; First time post, long time Dell user.

I have a month-old Inspiron 5515. I was delighted to find the DPM (Dell Power Manager) app that would allow me to set start and stop charging points such as when plugged in, it would not charge beyond say 70 to 80%. However, I have determined that once the computer is restarted, and if you have allowed the battery to drain below the stop charging setpoint by unplugging for a bit during the previous session, that it will NOT charge to the stop charging setpoint when plugged in again during the new session! So, in other words, if it is for instance 70% and you have set the stop charge setpoint to 80%, it indicates plugged in, not charging, and it remains stalled at 70%. The only way to get it to behave correctly is to reset the stop charging setpoint. For instance. setting it to 81% will initiate charging because it properly recognizes again 70% is below 81%.

I have been round and round with Dell with this about 5 times now over chat and the phone and several remote sessions. BIOS is up to date, drivers are up to date, etc. The BIOS indicates when the charger adapter is plugged in, indicates 65W, and even shows properly recorded start and stop charge points as set by DPMr.

During today's call, the technician says they talked with a Level 2 technician and was told that indeed you have to reset power manager each and every time you turn on the computer. I just can't believe this.

Internet search reveals hundreds of assorted issues with DPM including "plugged in, not charging" but not necessarily in combination with DPM. Any ideas what is going on? Can I be assured like Dell tells me there is absolutely nothing wrong with any hardware or power adapter here? What is the purpose of an app that you have to reset parameters even when they are clearly recorded properly in the BIOS? Shall I delete the DPM and seek out a third party equivalent?

TIA for any assistance folks.

MtnBiking · Answer

Anyone have a fix for my issue? Thanks

XPS_Man · Answer

BIOS also has Adaptive charge configurations. Not sure which one will take over if Both Dell power manager and BIOS have different settings. BIOS should though !!

IN BIOS > Advanced

Play with these 2 settings

Battery charge configuration : Adaptive.

ADVANCE battery charge configuration : Enabled

XPS_Man · Answer

Normally in most Dell notebooks I have this behaviour is controlled via BIOS. I missed the fact that this is a Ryzen notebook and has a single page BIOS, so no Advance Battery Charging configuration.

So its completely controlled by OS and drivers,

DELL-Chris M

Do you have this machine in hand?

Can you check if Run > MSCONFIG > Dell power manager service is checked

Start > Settings > Privacy > Background apps : Dell power manager is enabled.

Open windows store and check for app updates. install the latest Dell power manager service

https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER07383273M/1/Dell-Power-Manager-Service_GD7J6_WIN64_3.9.0_A00.EXE

DELL-Chris M · Answer

Due to Forum issue, posting MtnBiking reply =

Hi XPS Man. I rechecked BIOS. It is on Battery Charge Config - CUSTOM (matches custom setting of Dell Power Manager. Selecting Adaptive eliminates BIOS display of the 50% and 70% charging set points of Power Manager. Advanced Battery Charge Config was on Disabled. Again, changing to Enabled eliminated BIOS display of the charging set points of Power Manager. So I left them both as is since it seems as if you would want BIOS to match settings of Dell Power Manager. Right? Next steps??

MtnBiking · Answer

Hi XPS Man.  Microsoft Edge seems to be allowing me to make replies! I checked and the DPM is the most up to date version of 3.9.0. I verified that on Dell Support via tag number of my laptop and it furthermore indicates no updates needed. I hope someone can perhaps try out theDPM with Custom settings like I have done to see if it works for them. This seems like a really nice app and I would love it I could get it to work.

XPS_Man · Answer

As stated earlier Charging functionality is controlled differently on AMD and INTEL chipsets.

On intel boards this feature has a BIOS control too, where you can have custom charge settings

For your model the settings are completely controlled by Dell power manager.

Dell doesn't make a separate Dell power manager app for different models, all of them are downloaded from windows store.

Uninstall both dell power manager store app and Dell power manager service from control panel

Reboot and reinstall them again,

Run > MSCONFIG > Dell power manager service is checked

Start > Settings > Privacy > Background apps : Dell power manager is enabled.

That is the best we can do check as far as software troubleshooting is concerned.

Now Dell engineering team can involve and let us know if the feature will work on this model with AMD chipset.

MtnBiking · Answer

Hi: Findings:

1. Under Control Panel/Programs, only ONE program, Dell Power Manager Service, is indicated.

2. Running the MSCONFIG and looking at System Configuration, shows dell.commandpowermanager.service but status says STOPPED (however I had not launched DPM before doing this so tried launching DPM and going back and then it said RUNNING)

3. In Background Apps, only one power manager, namely Dell Power Manager, shows Enabled

So are there supposed to be TWO DPM related programs? Does it matter if I get DPM from the Dell Support site using my tag number or through the Microsoft Store? At one point, a Dell tech via remote access uninstalled everything and got DPM from the MS store (I had installed from the Dell site). I noted the version from MS store was 3.0 unlike the Dell version 3.9.0 but also noted a day or so later, the MS version the tech installed now indicated 3.9.0 as if it updated itself.

Any news from Dell if DPM even works with AMD chipset?

DELL-Chris M · Answer

The Dell Power Manager Service is compatible with the Inspiron 5515 and its AMD chipset. The only suggestion I have is the following =

* Uninstall the DPM Service and the Windows Store DPM
* When done, restart the Inspiron 5515
* Download/save the 3.9.0 DPM Service to the Windows desktop
* Right click the "saved" file on the Windows desktop, choose "Run as administrator". Follow the prompts
* When done, restart the Inspiron 5515
* Retest DPM
* If it doesn't work, uninstall 3.9.0 and restart. Then try 3.8.0 and retest. If still no go, uninstall 3.8.0, restart and try 3.7.0

MtnBiking · Answer

Thanks Chris.  I only have Dell Power Manager Service in Control Panel.  Is a Windows Store Dell Power Manager supposed to show there too?

XPS_Man · Answer

Its showing correctly, only one Dell power manager service should be showing there.

I still believe that something is wrong with the Design itself. I don't have access to an AMD powered machine to dig in more.

Factory RESET the machine > contact tech support so that they can escalate to Level 3

MtnBiking · Answer

Thanks XPS_Man.  I have been providing Dell tech support information through the forum email system.  They recently requested msinfo32 info that I provided and have now referred it to engineering.  I really appreciate your help.  This is such a powerful and useful app I would love to get working so hopefully Dell can figure it out.  I'll post back with any updates and thanks again!!

XPS_Man · Answer

Please keep us all updated , thanks

Inspiron

Inspiron 5515, DPM, not obeying stop charge point

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