Phoenix Award on Dell XPS 1640

[natedog74]

Here is a question for you super smart people. The Dell BIOS on the XPS line of laptops and several other Dell models have a function inside that will restrict the laptop from allowing the battery to charge if there is a failure in the power supply or the circuit on the motherboard. ( I happen to have a laptop with this issue)

What you see in the BIOS is AC adapter not recognized. This will not allow the battery to charge and limits the CPU and hinders performance. If i can get you both a backup of my BIOS extracted and SLIC 2.0 is it possible to remove this function from the BIOS? I know my adapter is providing more than enough power to charge the battery and allow maximum performance. If is the correct adapter that came with the laptop. Dell sent me a new adapter and it did not correct the issue to support said the only thing they could do is replace the motherboard. (at a cost of $500 to me since it is out of warranty) I do not believe that is the only way to fix this perfectly good machine. I think an unlocked Phoenix BIOS will correct this issue.

Depending on the discussion I will add information as it is requested. (trust me if it can be fixed a donation will follow)

[goodstone]

Hi,


I have had this problem on my xps m1710. Went through 3 power adaptors and now the motherboard has the issue. Luckly i was in warrenty in the end they upgraded system to m17xr2.

In answer to your question, the jack plug on your power adaptor is a 3 core cable outside (shield) is earth 2nd core provide 12v and a center pin which i think is +5 (which controls battery charge). I think the only choice is to replace your motherboard as there is a problem with your center pin in your adaptor/ motherboard. The center pin is the thinnest of all cores which breaks easly with constant day to day running thats why i had to replace my power brick every 9 months or so.


Ant