So I've got a very peculiar issue with my laptop, the whole reason I got into this whole Ubuntu saga was because windows didn't allow me to absolutely set my cpu to what I want without it boiling over.
This all started when the laptop got stuck on BD PROCHOT and refused to budge without a repaste ( which I won't and can't )making the cpu stiff at 800 mhz which is horrendous for the resource hoarder windows is. I installed Ubuntu and it ran pretty smoothly with 800 mhz but albeit slow because what can 800 mhz do in this day and age.so I wanted to tweak it a bit and installed cpupower and set the cpu upper and bottom floor to 2400 mhz while only setting it up to 3200 mhz for extreme work like managing web browsing and some editing. The laptop only reached a 100 degrees only a few times after which I toned my daily use speed down to 2000 mhz. The issue is when my laptop battery started failing, it's making my genuine dell charger forget it was genuine, forcing another bottle neck which at this point i thought would be avoided by CPU power. It wasn't. So when my laptop started this phase, it remembers the battery during usage and also forgets it time to time while it's booted. Setting the speed by cpupower only changes it without load, the second you change its load on the system it gets stuck back to 800 mhz. Along with this, an issue with which the laptop has become unusable, the key presses are being registered either too slowly or register as like 20 at one time, this issue does not go away with an external keyboard and within the bios the keyboard works just fine. This is the reason I am posting because I have tried jus tabour anything, disabling sticky keys for Ubuntu, from terminal also and changing the keypress speed to no change. Any ideas on what I can do without just giving my system a hardware overhaul
If this 2018 system has never had a thermal pad replacement and a thorough internal cleaning, it's overdue for that by many years. That's likely why it's running so hot (100 F is too hot, and the system WILL throttle to save itself).
And if the system isn't reliably sensing the AC adapter, there are three possible issues:
A bad DC plug on the adapter,
A bad DC jack in the system,
Or a bad charge circuit.
The system needs internal maintenance immediately. If that doesn't solve the issue, replace the adapter (or just try a new one; most local repair shops will have them), or the DC jack first. If neither solves the problem -- and particularly if this has been going on for awhile -- replace the mainboard if you think the system is worth that (compare the price of a complete, working used system first, as it may be similar in cost or cheaper.
I) the DC adapter is confirmed good, it's just that the laptop isn't detecting it, a friend's machine detects it as a genuine 240 watt adapter, funny thing is when I got this laptop, I got a 130 watt adapter and it was working perfectly.
2) so basically there's no solution without opening it all up? I really don't want to trust the local repair shops here, dell official warranty technicians want a warranty to even check the laptop😔
ejn63
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Posted August 26th, 2026 21:04
There are two glaring issues here.
If this 2018 system has never had a thermal pad replacement and a thorough internal cleaning, it's overdue for that by many years. That's likely why it's running so hot (100 F is too hot, and the system WILL throttle to save itself).
And if the system isn't reliably sensing the AC adapter, there are three possible issues:
A bad DC plug on the adapter,
A bad DC jack in the system,
Or a bad charge circuit.
The system needs internal maintenance immediately. If that doesn't solve the issue, replace the adapter (or just try a new one; most local repair shops will have them), or the DC jack first. If neither solves the problem -- and particularly if this has been going on for awhile -- replace the mainboard if you think the system is worth that (compare the price of a complete, working used system first, as it may be similar in cost or cheaper.