Laptops Dell N4110 doesn't charge while switched off - AC adapter not recognized occasionally

logistopath

logistopath

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Facing a weird problem since the last couple of months. My Dell Inspiron N4110 (14R) occasionally throws up a message that the AC adapter is not recognized and the battery cannot be charged. This happen randomly. Sometimes when the laptop is on and I insert the charger; sometimes when I switch the laptop on with the charger in.
When the laptop is connected to the charger and it goes into hibernation or sleep, the charging stops. When it is already in sleep or hibernation, and if I connect the charger then, still the charging does not happen. I am not sure if the issue is with the battery or with the charger or with the laptop internals. I am not able to get hold of a spare charger to try and test until now; hopefully I should get someone's N4010's charger within the next couple of days. Until then, if someone has any insight into the issue, please share.
 
logistopath said:
Facing a weird problem since the last couple of months. My Dell Inspiron N4110 (14R) occasionally throws up a message that the AC adapter is not recognized and the battery cannot be charged. This happen randomly. Sometimes when the laptop is on and I insert the charger; sometimes when I switch the laptop on with the charger in.
When the laptop is connected to the charger and it goes into hibernation or sleep, the charging stops. When it is already in sleep or hibernation, and if I connect the charger then, still the charging does not happen. I am not sure if the issue is with the battery or with the charger or with the laptop internals. I am not able to get hold of a spare charger to try and test until now; hopefully I should get someone's N4010's charger within the next couple of days. Until then, if someone has any insight into the issue, please share.
Click to expand...

1) Boot into bios, connect the adapter and see if bios recognises it ..............if i does its not the adapter
2) Boot the laptop without battery (connected to adapter only)and see what happens .......if it boots properly then its battery or the battery connector on the motherboard
3) Remove adapter + battery + HDD + Optical drive and hold the power down for 45 secs and see what happens
4) Update BIOS

let me know what happens, used to troubleshoot laptops years ago :p
 
Its mostly the adapter, I believe it uses a connector with a center pin. If so, then its a common problem where the internal connection to the center pin (it uses a very thin wire, which you can verify if you cut open the cable) is damaged at the joint of the cable and the connector. So depending on the position you keep the cable it sometimes work and sometimes doesn't.

The center pin is used by the motherboard to determine if you are using a dell charger or not and if the voltage is not right it will throw the unrecognized adapter error.

If you do not want to replace the entire adapter, you could simply replace the cable as well --
DC Cord Tip 7 4 x 5 0mm with Central Pin Plug Connector Cable Dell HP 65W 90W | eBay
DC 7 4x5 0mm Plug Socket Connector with Cord Cable for HP Dell 1 2M Cable | eBay
 
@ryanrulez4ever:
1) Boot into bios, connect the adapter and see if bios recognises it ..............if i does its not the adapter
Done. The BIOS shows the adapter as 65W. I am guessing this is alright.
2) Boot the laptop without battery (connected to adapter only)and see what happens .......if it boots properly then its battery or the battery connector on the motherboard
Done. Works fine without probs.

Was not able to do instruction no.3. Will try it some other time and let you know. As for no.4, I think my laptop is already on the latest BIOS.
@varkey: Quite possible that this is an issue with the adapter. Will try with a friend's adapter and update here.
 
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