[dewjunkie]

Hey all!

So my buddy just gave me his "dead" laptop. He pretty much gave up on it because it won't boot up. He says it was dead, but I disagree with him. I am guessing it's a power issue at some point. I know that it is getting some power because when I plug it in 2 of the little lcd status lights light up (The battery light and the light for when it's actually plugged in) So far I've taken it apart and reseated everything. Then I bought a brand new
SWITCH BOARD 6-BUTTON.Hotkey Board 6-Button (10E+) (V000062290) and a new flat cable for it. Still am having the same issue. Does anyone have any ideas????

Thanks!!

[no2pencil]

If the led battery charge indicator lights up when you plug it in, then it is allowing power to recharge the battery, so I would agree that there is life left in this thing.

Try unplugging the battery & powering the laptop on with AC Power only. & then if that doesn't work, vise versa.

If that does not provide you any results, I would guess that the panel where the power switch is at is not seated properly. Try pressing firmly where they should connect.

If that does not provide you any results, try unhooking the panel that indicates that the lid is closed.

I'll try to think of some other "gotchas" in the mean time.

** Edit **

One other item. Try swapping the RAM with known working memory, as well the cpu may be fried. Lets try everything else 1st. You should at least get fans even with damaged components.

[dewjunkie]

no2pencil, on 8 Nov, 2008 - 11:33 PM, said:

If the led battery charge indicator lights up when you plug it in, then it is allowing power to recharge the battery, so I would agree that there is life left in this thing.

Try unplugging the battery & powering the laptop on with AC Power only. & then if that doesn't work, vise versa.

If that does not provide you any results, I would guess that the panel where the power switch is at is not seated properly. Try pressing firmly where they should connect.

If that does not provide you any results, try unhooking the panel that indicates that the lid is closed.

I'll try to think of some other "gotchas" in the mean time.

** Edit **

One other item. Try swapping the RAM with known working memory, as well the cpu may be fried. Lets try everything else 1st. You should at least get fans even with damaged components.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Unfortunately I tried them all and the problem is still there. I thought that I should get fans too but I don't that's why I figured it was the power board or flat cable to it. But yea I swapped the ram twice and neither worked. Although I did notice something that I hadn't before. I think it may point to the battery. When I have the power cord plugged in and the battery in I get both led lights. When I take the battery out I still have the led for the cord lit up. However when I try anything without the power cord and the battery in nothing lights up.

My understanding is that some laptops need the battery even if it's operating off AC current because somehow the battery is in the circuit at all times? If the battery is missing or completely, totally toasted then the computer won't even boot up. Is that true???

[no2pencil]

I almost always run my Laptop(s) without battery unless I actually need to use the battery. So I disagree that you can't do this. Even a unit as new as it came with Vista I've been working on it, exclusively without the battery.

If both lights come on red, then I would guess that battery is dead. If possible try one from another system, but it should still work on just AC power alone.

Can you use a multimeter to verify that you are getting good power out of that AC Power Adapter?



...I vaguely remember a "lock" on the battery causing some issues with a customers laptop.

However if you are trying it altogether without the battery that removes this as an option.

I believe (a105) he had the lock disengaged, & while he put it on the table the battery slightly came out of the unit, thus not allowing it to properly charge.

[dewjunkie]

Ok I might just be mistaken about the needing the battery to complete the circuit. I just thought some laptops were designed that way but yea I don't know that for sure. I am almost certain it is not the ac adapter. I took it into a shop and they said it was still alive and kicking and that was just the other day so I am good there. I really don't care about fixing this thing as much as figuring out why it's doing this. But yea who knows what the hell is up with it.

[UG Cyber]

dewjunkie, on 9 Nov, 2008 - 12:37 AM, said:

Ok I might just be mistaken about the needing the battery to complete the circuit. I just thought some laptops were designed that way but yea I don't know that for sure. I am almost certain it is not the ac adapter. I took it into a shop and they said it was still alive and kicking and that was just the other day so I am good there. I really don't care about fixing this thing as much as figuring out why it's doing this. But yea who knows what the hell is up with it.

Toshiba recalled some of there batteries due to an "over heating" problem. That could have caused some problems on the inside. They got a list of the batteries that got recalled but i'm not sure what the URL was.

[dewjunkie]

Hey thanks for the lead UG. So I looked into it and my battery was on the recalled battery list. But when I called Toshiba just now the fing bastards said that I didn't qualify for a replacement because the battery is 1+ years old. Even though the latest recall on this was in October. FU toshiba.

Thanks for the help all!

[UG Cyber]

dewjunkie, on 9 Nov, 2008 - 02:06 PM, said:

Hey thanks for the lead UG. So I looked into it and my battery was on the recalled battery list. But when I called Toshiba just now the fing bastards said that I didn't qualify for a replacement because the battery is 1+ years old. Even though the latest recall on this was in October. FU toshiba.

Thanks for the help all!

You should be able to get another bat for it.

p.s. Ubuntu told me about that.....lol.