Non-standard chargers on Raspberry Pi 5 🔗

Raspberry Pi 5 sometimes fails to detect that a non-official USB-C power supply can deliver 5 A. In many cases it will only draw around 3 A, which can cause warnings, throttling (reduced performance), or even instability under load.

I have encountered many issues related to this message. It almost always appears when using a non-official Raspberry Pi 5 power supply, even if the label says it provides 5 V and 5 A. In many cases, power spikes trigger the warning. The Raspberry Pi 5 and the official power supply also use a negotiation process during boot that allows the Pi to recognize the official adapter.

1. Allow maximum current in EEPROM 🔗

Open the EEPROM configuration:

sudo rpi-eeprom-config --edit

Add at the end of the file:

PSU_MAX_CURRENT=5000

Save and reboot:

sudo reboot

2. Enable higher USB current in boot configuration 🔗

Edit the boot configuration file (Pi 5 uses /boot/firmware/config.txt:

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

In the [all] section at the end of the file, add:

usb_max_current_enable=1

Save and reboot:

sudo reboot

3. Verify the settings 🔗

Check if the values have been applied (if vcgencmd is installed):

vcgencmd get_config int | grep -E 'PSU_MAX_CURRENT|usb_max_current_enable'

Also check the kernel log for undervoltage or throttling messages:

dmesg | grep -i -E 'voltage|under|throttle'

Stability tips 🔗

• Use a dedicated 5 V / 5 A PSU and a high-quality USB-C cable.
• Avoid cheap USB-C hubs between the PSU and the Pi 5.
• Power high-draw USB devices separately when possible.

Note: These steps target Raspberry Pi 5 specifically. Older models behave differently and may use other configuration paths.