Severe Power Throttling, Smart Adapter Warning

[befirat]

Hello everyone,

I am experiencing a severe and persistent power throttling issue with my HP Pavilion Power Laptop 15-cb008nt. The system is drawing extremely low wattage, causing massive performance drops. For example, running Counter-Strike 2 at the lowest possible graphics settings and a 4:3 600p resolution barely yields 40 FPS.

I ran all the available tests in the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI. The battery test simply stated that no battery was found, which is expected since I removed it. However, the AC Adapter test gives a warning saying "The Smart Adapter feature failed to return valid data." Additionally, the NVIDIA GTX 1050 Video Memory test fails and gives the Failure ID GG9W1G-91PD5R-MFPUQK-Q2W103 Entering this code on the HP website suggests that a motherboard or adapter replacement might be necessary.

I am using the original 150W HP power adapter that came with the laptop. The center Smart Pin inside the barrel connector is not bent. There is a very tiny pea-sized black spot on one of the metal prongs of the adapter plug itself (it is an EU plug model). The adapter still provides power.

The battery swelled and degraded to a 20-minute lifespan, so I completely removed it for safety and it has not been replaced. Because the battery is missing, completely disconnecting the AC power naturally results in a 502 CMOS Checksum Invalid error on the next boot, which auto-restarts and bypasses. However, this severe performance throttling issue existed long before the battery was removed.

I have already performed all standard troubleshooting steps. I completely formatted the computer and performed a clean installation of Windows. As suggested online, I performed an EC reset multiple times on different occasions by disconnecting the adapter and battery, and holding the power button for 15 seconds. I flashed the BIOS to the latest available version on the HP portal, which is Version F.42 Rev.A, dated Sep 7, 2021. I updated all chipset drivers, Intel Dynamic Platform & Thermal Framework drivers, and downloaded or updated all HP proprietary tools available on the HP website to their latest versions.

I reset the BIOS to default settings by pressing F9. I also tried turning Intel SGX and other security settings off and on in the BIOS, as I read online that this fixed the issue for some users. I forced the system into High Performance mode via Windows and Control Panel. I also tested the laptop in different buildings to rule out problems with the wall outlet, but the issue remained exactly the same.

As an attempted solution found online, I unchecked BD PROCHOT via ThrottleStop. This slightly improved the performance, but it is still nowhere near its original performance and the system continues to throttle. In ThrottleStop, "EDP Other" constantly flashes yellow and red.

During my research, I found several discussions where similar power throttling issues were ultimately related to the Smart AC Adapter detection circuit, the DC-in jack, the embedded controller (EC), the motherboard, or in some cases were resolved by BIOS updates provided directly by HP Support. At this point, I have exhausted every hardware and software troubleshooting step that I can perform on my own.

Based on the information above, what do you think is the most likely cause of this issue? Does the "Smart Adapter feature failed to return valid data" warning usually indicate a faulty AC adapter, a damaged DC jack or Smart Pin circuit, Bios Problem, embedded controller problem, or a motherboard failure? Is there any additional diagnostic test or workaround that I should try before replacing hardware?

Thanks very much for your time, and a huge thanks to everyone trying to help.

Note: This post was translated with the assistance of AI.

[Nal_NR · Accepted solution]

Hi @befirat ,

Thank you for reaching out to the HP Community. I completely understand your concern, and I’m here to help ensure it gets properly addressed.

To investigate the matter thoroughly and proceed, I have sent you a private message requesting the necessary information to look into your case.

For your privacy and security, please do not share any personal information in this public thread. Once I receive your message, I will ensure your case receives the necessary attention.