Inspiron 9400 - Generic adapter won't charge battery

I have had this laptop for 2 years and after the first year I had to replace both battery and adapter. The first generic adapter I got was fine until the cable split (my fault as I was wrapping the cord around the brick).
I got the second generic from the same place I got the first.
I bought the new one last month and since then I have sporadically received a message that the adapter wasn't OEM and that it wouldn't charge the battery.
It would get back to charging after a reboot or stand by.
Now I have tried everything but it won't get back to charging the battery.
I did a search here and found others with the same problem (different dell laptops) solving the issue by flashing the bios.
Can anybody point me to the correct file I should download for my laptop as well as explain what should be done to flash the bios?

Thank you,

FayeC

 

BIOS flash for E1705/9400: http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=214240 Should work for both XP and Vista; just save it and run it, and it'll do it's thing.

 

I got the file, flashed the BIOS and nothing...still won't charge using my adapter....
WOuld it be possible to use the XPS flash that someone else used to fix the problem? He didn't have an XPS but used it and it fixed the problem right away.
I am not very knowledgeable in BIOS so I am not sure and I am afraid I might kill the laptop for good....

FayeC

 

I would stay away from using a different model's BIOS.

 

Is it possible for you to try using a genuine Dell adapter? If this generic adapter is different from your previous one, it may simply be bad. Updating the BIOS may have helped for a different generic, but maybe not all of them. Furthermore, use of generic adapters might have also damaged your motherboard's charging circuit (though I'm doubtful about that). In the end, I'd try to test with a genuine adapter if possible. That'll get rid of a lot of variables.