Dell inspiron n5010 has stopped recognizing its AC adapter

[Lindberg]

I have Dell inspiron n5010 and something is going wrong with it. Whenever I am connecting its AC adapter than I am getting long message saying Ac power adapter wattage and type cannot be determined blah blah blah…”. It was working fine by yesterday, don’t know what went wrong with it today, I guess there is something wrong with my laptop and not the AC adapter but I am not that sure about it.

[Tanvir]

I think there is something wrong with your AC adapter rather than your laptop. Anyways mention the complete error message that you are getting so that I can have better idea of the issue you are going through. Better post a screen shot of the error.

[Lindberg]

This is the complete error message that I am getting:

"The AC power adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. The battery may not charge. The system will adjust the performance to match the power available please connect a dell 90W AC adapter or greater for the best system performance. Strike the F3 key (before F1 or F2 key) if you do not want to see power warning message strike the f1 key to continue, f2 to run the setup utility"

Let me know if you have any idea about it.

[Tanvir]

Have you tried inspecting your AC adapter, I mean its central pin and all. If you haven’t than check those things out first and make sure that there is no hardware fault with it. I also want to know if you are using it Original charger or you have bought a new one??

[Lindberg]

I have checked out the central pin and have inspected it joints and wires as well, I don’t see any hardware fault. I had used it last night and as far as I am aware it was kept untouched, I don’t know if something went wrong within the adapter black box.
I am using Original charger, it’s the one that I had got with the laptop, and unluckily it’s running out of warranty now. Any idea how much a new one will cost??? Is there anything that I need to check out further???

[Tanvir]

Quick searches lead me to ebay and its Original charger is available for $35 there. I haven’t found much detail regarding the error you have posted above. There are some people who had faced the same error and have posted back saying there was some hardware fault with their AC adapter and they had to get it replaced. If you don’t mind, than I will suggest you to contact dell support and address them the error message you are getting, they might be having better idea about it and might suggest you to the best solution.

[jigu902003]

I want to know if you have checked out battery and AC Adapter functionality as well as status in BIOS ? If you haven’t than restart your laptop and press F2 as soon as you see dell logo. You can check whether battery Status is Enabled in Control Panel under Power Options or not. Other than this Install / update Dell Quickset and flash your laptops BIOS as well. If you don’t get any luck with these things than get a new AC Adapter.