# Power Adapter for Dell Inspiron 6400



## mikswmn31 (Feb 7, 2003)

I have a dell inspirion laptop 6400 running xp home.

i turned on my laptop today and i gt a message telling me that it can'r recognize my ac power adapter. says it will power the laptop but wont charge the battery. says i can reset the power adapter.

does anyone know how to reset it?


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## zyper95 (Mar 9, 2007)

Try removing the battery then put it back before plugging in the power adapter.


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## mikswmn31 (Feb 7, 2003)

my battery is dying. i have learned that battery for dells seem to go out fast. cant do anything i guess....until i buy another battery.


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## zyper95 (Mar 9, 2007)

Then thats maybe the problem that your power adapter is not recognizing the battery...


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## DellCA (Jul 3, 2006)

mikswmn31 said:


> I have a dell inspirion laptop 6400 running xp home.
> 
> i turned on my laptop today and i gt a message telling me that it can'r recognize my ac power adapter. says it will power the laptop but wont charge the battery. says i can reset the power adapter.
> 
> does anyone know how to reset it?


Hi,

My name is Todd. I work with Dell's online outreach program to help customers via blogs and forums. You may want to try to flash the BIOS on that system to reset it. I checked our support pages, http://support.Dell.com, and there is a BIOS flash from June that may help.

Here is the direct link to the file.

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=212350

If that link doesn't work for some reason you can go to http://support.Dell.com and click on the Drivers & Downloads link. Type in your service tag and it will take you to the downloads for your model type. That BIOS flash may resolve the problem that you're experiencing.

As for the battery, why do you think it's failed? Is it not holding a charge at all? Most of the batteries we use in our systems have a diagnostic series of lights on them. Push the button and if the first, third, and last LED light up then the battery has failed. We do have a manufacturing warranty on batteries for one year so if your system is less than that you can get the battery replaced if it's failed.

Let me know if this helps. I'll stop back later to see if there is anything else I can do for you.

Thank you,

Todd

Customer Advocate
Dell, Inc.

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2006/11/19/3648.aspx


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## ukfletch (Sep 6, 2007)

Hi there, I am having exactly the same issue with my Inspiron 6400. 

I seemed to temporarily fix the issue (MY LAPTOP IS OUTSIDE OF WARRENTY) by dismantling the whole laptop, checking the power connector plug in the laptop (for shorts etc, which there were none), giving it a quick hoover and then rebuilding it. It charged the battery back to 100% fine (as I had let it totally discharge), but is now failing to find the AC adapter type again and thus not charging.

I only had the battery replaced under warrenty a few months a go, it the old one was failing to keep any charge. This one has been working fine - I have the higher capcity battery by the way.

I have re-flashed the Bios to A17, which was the latest as of last night, and no change.

Any help, greatfully recieved, as this is going to start causing an issue soon!

Regards,

Paul Fletcher aka ukFletch


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## kane_werndly (Oct 7, 2007)

Iv got the same problem with me dell inspiron 6400, i have exams next week and i really need my laptop working so i can study, please someone help me out!! If you can send a email to [email protected]. Thanks all


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## PisaniA (Oct 12, 2007)

I too just ran into this problem. I had seen it before, but just reseating either my power adaptor or my battery fixed it. Neither have worked now, and neither has flashing the BIOS like DellCA said. I'm running XP on it, I;ve had it just over a year, and other than this nothing has gone wrong with it.

I use this daily at school and currently i dont have enough stored battery to last me a day. This is not good.

Any additional help is VERY welcome.


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## Eddie_S (Nov 30, 2007)

I'm having the same problem with my inspiron 6400. During boot-up an error message comes up saying the AC adapter is not recognized and although the system with be powered the battery will not charge. It suggests "reseating" the adapter to solve the problem (does this mean reattaching it?). 

The battery is working fine, and my friends 65W Dell adapter allows it to charge, but as soon as I plug my adapter in again a message pops up again. Unplugging, and plugging back in used to help, but not anymore. Is my adapter toast or what?


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## PisaniA (Oct 12, 2007)

> Is my adapter toast or what?


I'm sorry to say it, but yeah. I got a new one delivered within a day of calling though, so just give tech support a call.


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## lad_-dynam1te (Sep 5, 2008)

can you use a universal power cable or do you have to buy one from dell?


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

As long as there is a universal power adapter available for your model then it can be used, some models do not have universal adapters or are harder to get. Most manufacturer's list compatible laptop models or have a selector to choose the right one on their website.


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