Dell Latitude D610 Power Brick question

Does anyone know the exact method the laptop
uses to determine when to display the message

"unable to determine power adaptor type" on
a cold boot ?

my D610 will not charge the battery (tried
multiple batteries that work in a companion
D610). on a cold boot, it displays the message
above, and the CPU clock is throttled back
to about 800 mhz on the BIOS screen (vs the
full 1.73 Ghz it's capable of). Which probably
explains the remainder of the error message,
saying it's not configured for "optimal performance".

talked to tech support, and they wanted to
send me a new power brick. that made zero sense
to me, since the same power brick has a green
LED illuminated, and it can power the laptop
fine without the battery packs installed. which
tells me it's working.

now, unless i'm missing something and Dell does
some unusual instantaneous "load" testing of the
power brick (determine voltage drops, or how
much wattage it can deliver), that power brick,
in my book, is working - so that's why i'm asking,
does anyone know if there actually is some such
confidence test done by the laptop ?

being the techie wisea$$, i 'strong armed' the
tech support person with the logic above, (ruling out
the power brick & batteries), and had them send
me a new system motherboard - since that's where
the charging & logic circuitry is located.

well, guess what ? it ain't the mother board !
same problem still exists - "unable to determine
power adaptor type".

it can't be Win XP, since the message happens on
the BIOS boot sequence, before Windows even has a
chance to load drivers.

could it actually be the power brick ?????

 

Replace the AC adapter.

 

why ? (as an engineer, i would like to know what the
technical basis for replacing an item - that, at first
glance, is functioning).

 

<snip>


There was a guy posting in this very ng some months ago who ( I believe )
posted of some reverse-engineering he performed over a failed AC adapter. To
be honest, I didn't follow it very closely because it didn't interest me.
That thread may or may not have had some emphasis on the AC adapter
(identification) function of the design.

A google search of the PA-model number (ie-PA-9 or PA-10) might shed some
light upon the specific 'whys/whats' of the adapter design (and might even
turn up that specific thread via google groups). I believe that attempting
to contact Dell for such information might prove futile but you could
certainly try.

I can tell you that I've run into a few systems with this warning, and the
AC adapter was at fault each time. The barrel pin(s) varied in appearance
from undamaged/unbent to completely broken and missing.

The good news is that replacement adapters are readily available and
reasonably inexpensive via Dell or even ebay.

 

"Glance" at a sealed piece of electronics to tell if it's functioning???

Last week I couldn't even spell "enjuneer"...
and now I are one.

 

Hi!

Yes, the Dell power bricks (and many others) communicate with the
system. I believe the protocol is a very simple serial type.

If for some reason this communication has failed (or is returning
garbage data) the computer will do as much as it can to not overload
the power supply, because its logic does not "know" what it is dealing
with on the other end.

Replacing the power supply is the thing to do. Who knows what else
might fail--and being a power supply, the failure could prove fatal to
your laptop's health. If you don't want to pay full retail price, head
over to eBay and see what turns up.

William

 

wish the "tech support" person had known this ! their "script"
at first led them initially to the power brick, but i objected
based on the (wrong) assumption that the power brick was a
dumb device.

if they had told me directly, "yes, it actually exchanges data with
the motherboard" - i would not have insisted on a new motherboard.
(based on the reasoning that the power brick was powering the lap
top fine, and it's green LED was illuminated - and charging/logic
circuitry is located on the system board).

well, at least i got a new motherboard. swapping it out on my own
wasn't that big a deal - took about 90 minutes following the online
service manual procedures. but being a veteran of old Heathkits, &
building my own PC's, it was an educational experience of what's
actually inside a Dell laptop.

it's a corporate service contract, so it's all covered.

can't complain about their service, Dell has stepped up to the
plate many times in the past when i had a problem with any of their
machines. reading from the posts here, i guess it's either love
them or hate them in terms of customer service.

thanks to all who responded.