Question for M6400 Users + AC adapter Bios Error

Hi guys - I have recently returned home to Vietnam and have found that upon plugging my machine into the electricity here I get a BIOS warning that the AC adapter is not recognised and as such the machine will not run at full clock speed. I have tried several power out lets around the house to no avail.

I do not think that the AC adapter is broken as I have had similar problems on another dell system here albeit that system does not have the bios error when connected to the power outlets in this house.

I am 90% sure if I bring the machine back to the UK and plug it in the bios error will not appear.

Anyhow - when the error used to occur on the other dell it used to occur both in the bios and also inside windows every time the ac was connected to the laptop.

In the case of the m6400 no error is reported by window upon plugging it in (im using xp x64) - this leads me to hope that it is running ok.

I have downloaded CPU-Z program and it reports my clock as idling on 1596 MHZ - ie half that of the qx9300 which is 2.53 G - so thats worrying.

However perhaps its normal? Does anyone else have a qx9300 ??? If so when running the CPU-Z and the system is just idling what clock speed do you get?

If I run a game the clock does go up to 2.53 but doing a number of tasks inside windows it stays at 1.6

Any thoughts more than welcome
Thanks

 

What is the nominal and actual mains voltage for your outlets? Dell's PSUs are normally rated at 100 - 240V.

Are you using the latest BIOS? I used to get a similar (and unnecessary) warning on my E6400 when using the 65W PSU but this got fixed by the latest BIOS update. In my case the CPU speed was throttled because of the PSU. With the latest BIOS it runs fine and draws just under 65W at the mains socket with the computer under load and the battery charging.

Regarding your CPU speed, the speed should decrease when the computer is not under load in order to reduce power consumption and heat. Recent versions of CPU-Z don't detect the FSB switching properly and the CPU idle speed is probably 800MHz. I suggest you use the monitoring page of RMClock to see the CPU speed (and voltage, but this may not be detected correctly). You will probably find that it speeds up from 800MHz to 1600MHz under light usage but needs heavy usage to push it up to full speed. These speed transitions take place very quickly.

John

 

Hi John - I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

I dont know what the nominal/actual mains voltage is on any of the out lets, I dont know that much about electricity at this stage though this is probably going to prompt some research on that.

With the m6400 the power unit is absolutely huge, it states that it needs 100v-240v to operate on the sticker, however I seem to recall in the bios the error says please connect an adapter capable of 150 but I forgot if its W or V. Sorry for my ignorance there.

...
Re the BIOS - Well I have never updated it but looking in the registry I have version A01 and if I go to dell.co.uk drivers section the only bios that is available to download is the A01 - so looks like no update there as yet.

Ive just installed RMclock as well - it gives the same kind of read out - 1516 most of the time. There is also a field which says "THROTTLE" which is set at 1596.

Does that mean its perm. throttled at this speed?!

Also as a side note - in the UK the plugs are 3 pronged, in VN like the US they are 2 pronged right - so now I am getting shocks of the computer all the time (light ones) when typing. Doesnt that sound dangerous to anyone?

Does this mean everyone in the US gets shocked constantly by there laptop?! cant be right? - I need to "earth" it in some why? but how.

 

The M6400 specs say this about the AC Adapter:

So your adapter should be rated at 130W or more. You can check that from the label on the bottom. The power rating is the voltage (19.5) x the DC current (6.7 A or 10.8 A).

I see that the Vietnam mains voltage should be either 128V or 220V. However, I have lived and worked in enough places to know that there can be some substantial voltage drops in the system but normally the switch mode AC adapters which come with notebooks can handle anything within the design range plus an extra 10% each side. I actually travel with a small electric meter in my bag so I can check what's coming out of the sockets.

I suggest that you get a small multimeter which includes an AC range (usually 0-500V) so you can check your sockets. You can also get a small electrical screwdriver which has a mains testing neon tube in it. One hole in the electric socket should have enough voltage to get the light to glow, but not both. You may also want to look into getting a small voltage stabiliser (250W would be enough, 500W is generous). this should keep the mains voltage within a more acceptable range and also should be the first thing to blow if a surge comes down the wire (easier to replace than your big Dell PSU).

As for the CPU speed, we will need others with the qx9300 to report on how that CPU behaves.

I have had my share of electrics which cause tingling in the fingers. Provided it is just a tingling and no real unpleasant shocks it is caused by the voltage in the appliance floating above ground. The fact that your adapter is designed to be grounded, but isn't, may add to the problem. The extreme solution would be to install a ground wire but first check, or have checked, the mains supply. Or wear some plastic flop-flops.

John

 

I had this error on my D820 - but only on a particular customer site in one of their labs. They had special power filtering in there for all the scientific gear and it played havoc with the psu. It worked just fine when I got it home though. I think it was todo with the shape of the sine wave on the AC power - it was squared off rather than the normal power that you get at home.

 

Getting a Multimeter sounds like a good plan - If I only i can find some place that sells em. Anyhow the shocks started to get unbearable earlier so I went out to buy a external key board - bizarrely - and I havent changed a thing when I got back the computer (still on) no longer gives me shocks and when I restart it no more bios error! er. So clearly its some kind of power fluctuation thing, the only thing I am worried about is the battery, I imagine it could be damaged by all this. The battery on my 9300 is dead I suspect from the same cause.

Anyone else out there who can report on the QX9300 clocking behaviours?

Plastic flip flops it isn.

 

Could easily be a fried PSU id chip.

Read more about the DELL unshielded wire connected to the PSU ID chip

Cheers

 

That's an interesting read. The other precaution is to not leave the PSU powered up but not connected to the computer.

John