the ac adapter type cannot be determined this will prevent optimal system performance

Anyone else get this before? I got this on startup with my l502x and the guy already sent a 2nd power cord (unfixed).

Now they want to send me a support technician to replace the power ports (on motherboard) and 3rd AC adapter.

 

Sometimes a faulty circuit on the motherboard, could also be a bad AC adapter. Just cause Dell replaces it doesn't mean it tests good.

 

I had this happen on my new L702X occasionally. Finally figured out that it would happen if the power connector was not inserted into the laptop all the way. Since the connector plug is just smooth cylinder, there is nothing much to lock it in place.

Maybe there's some slight misalignment with your case that prevents the plug from seating all the way into its socket.

 

I concur. I've had this happen a few of times. I freaked out first time, but then reseated the connector and pushed it in firmly and it was fine. It's happened a couple of times since, but brushed it off both times

 

Same thing with me OP. Technician's coming in today to replace the motherboard. CPU throttles down to 800 MHz even though the adapter is a 2nd replacement from Dell!

 

And did this motherboard swap fix it?

 

Sure did, but it feels weird that a 3 month old motherboard can fail this easily!

 

I got the same error this morning, even though the adapter was plugged in all the way, error was displayed at the BIOS level, then again from Quickset when Windows started. I started a chat, the tech connected via GoToAssist and was going to reinstall Quickset. When uninstalling, he chose the wrong option, he could have selected the "close the quickset application before uninstalling to prevent a restart" (I paraphase) but he didn't, and a restart was needed. He said he would connect from his end via GoToAssist after the restart, but that didn't happen.

He did call me afer several minutes however, and I had reinstalled Quickset by that time. He had me turn off Power adapter warnings in BIOS, then restart. Apparently on that basis, he said it was a windows error because the error apeared in windows only. I pointed out that the reason it no longer appeared at the BIOS level was because he had me disable warnings. Still, his solution was to restore to factory windows setup. I told him that was a last ditch option bordering on unacceptable.

Finally he said they'd dispatch a motherboard and new adapter and have a tech replace the motherboard. This system has had two displays replaced in the last month, and I wasn't wild about the motherboard replacement, so I asked that we try the adapter first, and he agreed, and they are sending that out.

I think the real problem is that when the adapter is cold, it doesn't put out enough juice. The room with the laptop got down to 55 degrees last night, and I unplug the adapter at night; it's an "electricity vampire". Now that the computer and adapter have warmed up, I no longer get the error message. I will do further testing to see if it's the cold computer or the cold adapter that is the issue.

Anyone know if it's possible to get a replacement MB with 4 dimm slots in this situation? I currently have the 2 dimm MB.

 

Nope, not at all unless you get the 3D system with the 555m. Many have tried, Dell just won't do it, they never made boards to do that. Bad decision I think, but there is a certain logic. The i5's only support up to 8GB RAM. The 3D system requires a quad to configure it (iirc), so it is safe to have the 4 slots there. Otherwise, someone with an i5 would start complaining how they wasted money on 16GB RAM... I guess that's a decent reason, but count me among those that was pretty angry at Dell and spent hours on the phone arguing with them.

 

I had followed this thread because I had exactly the same issue. Then I had another problem with audio distortion, i.e. when I was listening to music (e.g. on iTunes) and surfing the web the audio would distort when loading a new web page. It was maddening. On a hunch I completely uninstalled McAfee and the audio problem completely disappeared (in addition to the system running smoother). In addition since I have done that I am no longer getting the pop up message about the ac adapter.