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Anonymousperson551

1 Rookie

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6 Posts

14402

October 28th, 2022 17:00

AC power adapter wattage and type cannot be determined.

"Alert! The AC power adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. The battery may not charge. The system will adjust the performance to match the power available.” Is the message I get when I turn on my computer, in very rare cases my laptop does charge and I use it but when I checked my AC power adapter status it said "unknown". I ordered a 90WT charger to see if my laptop charger is too weak but if you can tell me the actual problem it would be greatly appreciated.

4 people also have this problem

filbert

6 Operator

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1.8K Posts

October 28th, 2022 18:00

Is it a genuine Dell AC adapter?
What model laptop? 
Does the adapter have the barrel-type connector or USB-C connector?

If it's a genuine Dell adapter, boot while repeatedly pressing F2 to access BIOS. Is the adapter recognized in BIOS? Next to "AC Adapter Type", if it doesn't recognize your adapter, then there is a problem somewhere.

  • If you have another Dell adapter, try that one, too.
  • If you have another Dell laptop, try your adapter with that laptop. If the adapter is not recognized by either laptop, then the adapter or its connector are the problem. 
  • If two adapters are not recognized by your laptop but are by another laptop, then the problem is with the jack or the charging circuit on the motherboard.
  • Clean out the connector with Q-tip and 99% alcohol, and do the same to the jack.
  • Unplug AC cord and reconnect and try again.
  • If a known-good adapter still won't work, then you could try replacing the jack. You can buy genuine Dell jacks with power cable at Parts-People.
  • If a new jack doesn't solve it, then unfortunately you'd need to replace the motherboard.

Also: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-ca/000125125/how-to-troubleshoot-ac-adapter-issues

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