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August 20th, 2019 13:00
ALERT! The AC adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. "Tutorial"
If you wrap the cord around the adapter for transporting???
Have it plugged in and bent to the side at a 90° angle???
This can happen to your AC adapter jack.
Today I was preparing an E6420 XFR for shipment to a customer.
While testing I use the AC on my bench that I know is good and tested.
The last thing I do is test an AC adapter to ship with the laptop.
And the very first one I tested this happened.
So I thought I would take the time to show what the cause of this "Alert" can be.
First thing I did was slice a few inches of the cord from the jack back towards the AC.
And guess what I found???
The wire from the "Center Pin" going to the AC adapter had worked itself loose.
Now everyone should know that this wire from the center pin carries no voltage.
The other two wires are for the 19.5 volts.
The center pin wire is for communicating with the system and BIOS.
That is why it gave the "ALERT! The AC adapter wattage and type cannot be determined."
For demonstration purposes I just lightly soldered the wire back to the center pin.
Plugged it back in and powered on.
And now the "ALERT" was gone.
Now this is not to say that every time this "ALERT" is displayed it is a broken wire going to the center pin.
It could also be:
1. The AC adapter.
2. The center pin is missing/bent in the jack.
3. A non-Dell AC adapter.
4. The DC jack on the laptop.
5. And some times the system board.
Best of luck and kind regards,
U2
joehennes
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January 20th, 2021 16:00
Bull. If you simply type "dell laptop" into a search engine one of the first auto-texts that comes up is this issue. It comes up even before, "how much". It is true for all Dell models and for LOTS of people. To glibly say that it is because all of them did not treat the equipment right is patently absurd. If what you say IS the problem, then Dell is selling defective chargers. Period. If Dell were a responsible company there would have been a recall for this problem.
I don't take this laptop on the road. It is plugged in continuously in my bedroom. The cord has almost never been wound or rolled up since I bought the laptop 14 months ago. This is not my first laptop, and I have never had this issue before. I should not have to do surgery on a cord that has never been abused just to make my laptop work.
This was my first Dell laptop, and my last.
AdemolaJames
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April 11th, 2024 09:30
My original wall cable got old and damaged.
I have a 2-pin wall cable that I connect into a 3-pin ac adapter.
It works sometimes, other times it says 'ac adapter wattage and type cannot be determined'. It then doesn't charge.
Please is there a workaround or do I have to purchase the appropriate 3 pin cable.
I would eventually buy the 3pin cable but wanted to know if I could delay that purchase.
Thank you, great article.