AC Power Adapter Type Cannot Be Determined

I've got XPS 16, and it has not even complete a year and i got this problem... what should i do in this case... i cane live without my laptop for a day and what i see is.. these guys could take my laptop for replacing montherboard

MY EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR CARRY IN SERVICE CENTER:

I just been to one of your service center in Kalyani Nagar, Pune. I must say they are dead men at work.

They( like govt. employees) treat customers as like we are unwanted people making them work.

And if you people don't keep usual spare parts in Service Center why you have opened them in first place?

those people doesn't seems like technical people but the people who knows that solution to every problem is to REPLACE THE PART.

the reason to be there was, the charger didn't work. the guy at store asked me to keep it there. he will order one and will reach to them within 2-3 days. when i asked him what would i do till that time.. then he said (very carelessly) "take your original charger with you and CALL US after 2 days to check if the charger came..."

Wow! what a service center you have.. they are not interested in catering customers, they are impulsive to customer's problems, they don't care to keep you informed.. you have to do it on your own..

God knows what would happen if I'd have called in your support center.. you might have asked me to come to b'lore for solving problem. won't you?

The fix I'm referring to for "AC Power Adapter Type Cannot be determined" is removing and then reinserting the adapter with more pressure than usual and holding it in place until the charging light comes on.

Insert the power adapter into your computer using more pressure. Hold it in place a few seconds until charging begins and then let go. It worked for me and I had no further problems with that error message!

ok well i honestly like dell as company (dont hate) but i found a solution that worked for me if you look at the end of your charger there is a little pin in the middle i got so frusterated that i got some needle nose (actualy leather men) and i bent the needle very slightly that i could still plug it in but enough to make sure it is bent and and i pluged it in and bam it worked. dont ask me why but it just did so 3 different adaptars that i purchased went to paper wieght  but no my computer is charging and is once more portiable 

I hope this helps

isaiah

AC Power Adapter Type Cannot Be Determined

Hi

I work in IT Related Field i like fixing computer problems

I had the same problem i started to dig in to the problem step by step

so Here is the steps i took to resolve this problem

I have Dell inspiron N4010

Step 1 Google search try those things as mention in this forum thread

Step 2 I Checked ac adaptor ( i went to dell service center in my location to test adaptor/charger for FREE ( No problem Found)
Step 3 I Check battery  is dead or not some service center do that for free if you take battery only to service center :) (No problem found)
Step 4 OK this is how i fix my problem now i know that  battery is not charging because it does not receive AC Power so i shake very carefully and gently

the motherboard pins where battery pins is connecting to and clean it softly and put the battery to its seat again and switched on the AC power

WOLAA! my battery status light becomes ON and my problem  is fixed

No Choice ? The last thing do  is   using in AC power or changing Motherboard Thank god i cant afford  that much these days ;) and i know there are ppl just like me.

hehe I hope you guys find this info useful

good luck

I have a m1330 with the same problem.

My fix:

I disconnected the small cell battery which is connected to the motherboard. ->reconnect

Voila. 

Charges again...

They won't fix this problem under the warranty, as i've just found out to my disgust!  They are nothing but thieves!

A new coin-cell battery is for sure not going to fix a power adapter problem for good......

I know this thread is old, but issues continue in 2012 - it is Dell's fault - here's a GREAT article I wish I'd seen before spending 2 days on this:  www.laptop-junction.com/.../inside-dell-ac-power-adapter-mystery-revealed

My Brother in law has the same problem as i had, he found a local electrician who repair such issues in laptops and it got fixed by some modification on Mohterboard and it cost him,

which is very very reasonable then going to Dell for motherboard replacement.

I would suggest same to all of you to check out local laptop vendors and repairers to find permanent solution at cheapest.

I've been having the same problem on my laptop.

So, less than a month ago, Dell sent out and engineer to repair my laptop, at my cost, because apparently i'd been tampering with it! Even though it was still under warranty.

The guy came to fix it, said it had not been tampered with, replaced the part, and said he'd get Dell to give me my money back. ( Just reminded myself that i need to check that they have, with my credit card company! )

Never going to believe it! Less than a month, and it's got the same problem again!  AC adapter cannot be determined.

Back to shop i go with it.

The shop didn't like dealing with Dell tech support last time it happeened, I didn't like dealing with Dell tech support. And it looks like it's all going to happen all over again! Deep joy.

While it's still under warranty, i'm going to see if the shop will replace it with a different make. I can see this problem never going away. You've only got to look on the internet to see how common the problem is.

I meet this problem frequently but at last I found the problem, the problem is the plug on laptop is not tighten or loosen. Every time I meet this problem I will check the plug then I found loosen and I found my laptop is no problem. Hope this can help you.

I meet this problem frequently but at last I found the problem, the problem is the plug on laptop is not tighten or loosen. Every time I meet this problem I will check the plug then I found loosen and I found my laptop is no problem. Hope this can help you.