Dell XPS notebook charger BIOS issues

I recently purchased a used Dell XPS L502X notebook.

It came with the OEM Dell charger. Although the charger will operate the PC when plugged in, a message pops up in both the BIOS startup and Windows 8 stating the type and wattage of charger cannot be determined - as such, the PC may operate slower and the battery will not be charged (FYI, I used this charger for AC power for over a week; the PC ran perfectly aside from not charging the battery).

Although I purchased a new Dell 130-watt charger on Amazon ($27 versus the $90 Dell wanted for the identical charger), the reviews on both Amazon and Dell's website seem to indicate this is a common failure issue with these chargers.

I've played with the battery and power monitoring settings in the BIOS menu to no avail. Does anyone know a hack or other trick that will disable this "feature?" It seems to be nothing more than a ripoff designed to sell more chargers.

 

Hi GMan,

I would beg, borrow or steal another battery to try on that one. Most of the battery charging circuit is built into the battery. I don't see how that could be it but it may save you a lot of headaches.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Major Attitude, thanks for the tip. I agree with you - I normally avoid Dell; however getting this PC for a little over $200 was too good to pass up. Even if I hadn't been able to solve the charging issue (for now, anyway) by replacing the power adapter, it would have still been a good deal as a desktop only PC - the only other thing I had to do to it was remove the bootleg copy of Win 7 Ultimate that was causing BSODs and reformat it with a genuine copy.

jlphp, thanks for your tip as well. Again, replacing the power supply seems to have cured the problem for now. I agree batteries are often the culprit - if it happens again, I'll likely replace the battery as well.

Once again, thanks to both for your replies.