AC Adapter in laptop, but battery not recognised??

Ding Dong

Hi, like the subject says, I have an Alienware laptop. When I plug in the AC Adapter the error is basically that the laptop recognises the ac adapter is connected but the battery isnt 'recognised'. my power is at 29%, and plugged in the power stays at 29%, but doesnt charge upwards.
What course of action can I take and what do you feel is happening here? Dells website doesnt address this problem

duckysauce

Ding Dong wrote: »

Hi, like the subject says, I have an Alienware laptop. When I plug in the AC Adapter the error is basically that the laptop recognises the ac adapter is connected but the battery isnt 'recognised'. my power is at 29%, and plugged in the power stays at 29%, but doesnt charge upwards.
What course of action can I take and what do you feel is happening here? Dells website doesnt address this problem

if its under warranty ring them, if you/friend has a spare adpt try it, when you go into the bios does it say adpt unknown or give the power rating ?

Gurgle

Common problem with Dell laptops (yes its a bog standard POS Dell, they bought the rights to the Alienware logo).


Solution #1: While the system is running on mains power, take the battery out and put it back in. This might fix it, might not.

Solution #2: Get CPU-ID & find out what the actual motherboard is, download the latest Bios from the chipset maker and replace the Dell 'customized' Bios.
(You might end up with a brick, but it will still have that nice Alienware logo.)

mordeith

It's also worth checking the charger / charger port for any dust as this can sometimes lead the sensor to not recognise the charger (well that's what happened to mine anyway). Worked grand after a quick blow

johnner09

hi guys, i have a similar problem with my acer laptop. i got a new adapter for it and its saying that its "plugged in but not charging", yet it`s charging a tiny bit, say 1% every 15-20 minutes. I`ve tried a couple of chargers that were lying around the house and they`re all the same. is this just the wrong charger or something a bit more serious? i can`t work out why it will work on the A/C but not charge at the same time. My thoughts were if it won`t charge then it won`t power the laptop!!
any advise would help, thanks, john.

beanzoo

I had the same problem with my old dell 15xx (can't remember) anyway at first it was random when it would have this issue (plugged in not charging) then after a while it would never charge I checked many solutions I found on the web but none of them worked . So I noticed on on the laptop side of the adapter the cable was damaged from being wound the adapter and I wiggled it around and pulled the cable at a strange angle and boom charging.

Eventually though it began to get quite hot at the area so I pared back the cable and found that indeed it was totally frayed i also had to crack open the adapter because it was right where they meet, so I patched up the cable and taped it up and since then it works fine, bit extreme if you don't like messing wit that stuff I know but it did the job for me.

I discovered that the cable is like a coaxial except has 3 layers so be careful

johnner09

this would be old too, it still has windows vista on it but i can change that no problem. i brought it to get looked at by a freind of mine and it works out the DC jack is knackered on it! it`s pretty common with those models ( acer aspire 5290), easy enough fix but just awkward to get at.

OneOfThem Stumbled

Same problem. Given up on solutions for this adapter - it started dying slowly and then very very quickly!

Anybody have any good experiences ordering DELL AC adapters (other than from DELL itself where they start at €70) ? Is there any shop in Dublin that might stock them?

johnner09

you could try Max burns in tallaght, i bring all my stuff down to them. they`re just off the Belgard road beside Bargaintown furniture shop. they`re fairly good price wise too.
hope this helps.