Dell Power Adapter - hardware or firmware (BIOS) control?

The Dell power adapters have a Dallas DS 2501 1-wire memory chip that transmits a binary code through the center pin of the power supply cable. Since these pins break very easily, or the wire inside of the shielded cable fails often, I have a pile of Dell power adapters that still deliver power but do not transmit the code. A few google searches show this is a common problem, but not many solutions other than purchasing new power adapters. It seems wasteful to dispose of perfectly functioning power adapters because of the flimsy dictatorial obsessive-controlling circuits are the first parts to break.

The laptop will enable/disable battery charging depending on the receipt of the adapter code. If no code is received, no battery charging, regardless if the power adapter is otherwise healthy.

Is this decision made in hardware (in the power circuitry) or in firmware (in BIOS)?

There is a great reference for this, but the forum denies me of posting links. Find detailed hardware analysis of the Dell power adapters at (remove spaces):
www . laptopbattery4 . co . uk / blog / dell-ac-power-adapter-type-cannot-be-determined-solution

 

I originally thought the adapter control was done by a separate microcontroller (since my first d600), but recently have been rethinking my conclusion. The newer Latitudes (such as my e6220) prerelease BIOS had a "AC Battery Charging Behavior" setting that could disable the power adapter from charging the battery from BIOS. This opens the possibility that the charging control may be done by BIOS, although the actual decryption of the adapter code may be done elsewhere.