Currently when I startup my Dell Latitude 5400 I receive this message:
Alert! You have attached an undersized 60W power adapter to your system, which is less than the recommended 90W power adapter. To continue operating at peak performance, your system may also draw power from the battery. The battery charges only when the power provided by the adapter is greater than the needs of your. Use a Dell 90W (or greater) power adapter to enable charging during peak system performance.
Note: This warning can be disabled in BIOS setup.
Now, I am using the 90W power supply that was provided with laptop from the factory, so I am not worried performance or battery charge state (never had an issue with the battery draining with the work I do).
I would like to focus on the last line "Note: This warning can be disabled in BIOS setup." I have been through the entire BIOS Setup menu and cannot find a setting or option that will disable this warning message.
Where can I find this setting/option?
32 Answers
According to the manual, you can find the option under POST Behavior. It is called Adapter Warnings and should be at the very top in this menu.
On my Dell Precision 5560, the menu is called Pre-boot Behavior, the option is the same.
You indicate you’re using a docking station. If it is a USB-C docking station with passthrough charging, you need a bigger power supply. General rule of thumb with Dell is one step bigger. So if your notebook requires 65 Watts, you’d use a 90 W PSU on the dock. If it requires 90 W, 130 W. 130, 180. 180, 240.
It’s also important to keep in mind that Dell uses proprietary USB Power Delivery extensions. Use a Dell dock, if at all possible.
Otherwise, you can always connect a PSU using the barrel plug, in addition to the docking station via USB-C.
A power supply may weaken over the years, depending on its starting quality. It will not hold 90W forever.
If the warning is real, the power supply may be dying.
I absolutely recommend to work on fixing the problem, perhaps by replacing the power supply, before this becomes a much bigger problem than just a warning message.
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