:| LAPTOP DIED

[d3monn]

I've got a huge problem...

I haven't taken the machine apart yet, and I'm already experiencing a problem I shouldn't! The power wont work on my laptop. I came home from work, sat at my desk and went to turn on the power, and nothing. The machine's LED doesn't show that the adapter is plugged in, doesnt show battery charging, wont turn on (with or without the power adapter). The battery reads that it is full, and yet, it wont turn on.

I was hoping someone here might have any suggestions as to why?... Lol, I shouldnt be experiencing this until after I take it apart... :unsure:

[dougkinzinger]

Is it under warranty? You'd be best off by calling the manufacturer for support...it's just easier if you're unfamiliar with laptops.

[bakerster]

...

umm. what kind of laptop?

[d3monn]

Nope, it's no longer under warranty. This is my older machine (warranty is about 8 months over (maybe more its been a while)). :s

Edit: It's a Compaq Presario 700

[panicswitched]

unplug it, pull out the battery and just plug in the ac adaptor and try to turn it on

if that doesnt work try with just the battery

if none of those work your f'd :nods:

[d3monn]

unplug it, pull out the battery and just plug in the ac adaptor and try to turn it on

if that doesnt work try with just the battery

if none of those work your f'd :nods:

I've done that... several times... I hope im not f'd... :'(

[AltecXP]

if his suggstion doesnt work, just uncscrew teh laptop and slowly take it appart, something may have just come lose.

[Ultomato]

replace the battery

[d3monn]

I'm starting to do that now... I've got got the keyboard off and im taking off the screws now. ill post when thats done

EDIT:: I've got the keyboard off, and the plate underneath. I can see most of the mainboard. There doesnt seem to be anything loose, damaged, or not connected.... I'm going to get the rest off and see there...

Do you think the mainboard might be fried? It's not even registering that the power adapter is plugged in, and the it wont even turn on with battery power.

[tkyoshi]

Well maybe the power adaptor might have gone or the cord inside is broken. Broken cords on power adaptors are quite common if you flex the cable and bend it too much.

Is your battery charged/working? If so it should powerup on it's own without the power adaptor. Try leaving it for an hour (battery/power unplugged) and see if it comes back (might have just tripped a safety circuit).

You might have just been unlucky and maybe it was hit with a surge or something but let us know!

[Ultomato]

im 80 percent sure ur motherboard is NOT fried,

it is just a dead battery or a crappy a/c adapter

[d3monn]

Well maybe the power adaptor might have gone or the cord inside is broken. Broken cords on power adaptors are quite common if you flex the cable and bend it too much.

Is your battery charged/working? If so it should powerup on it's own without the power adaptor. Try leaving it for an hour (battery/power unplugged) and see if it comes back (might have just tripped a safety circuit).

You might have just been unlucky and maybe it was hit with a surge or something but let us know!

It doesnt seem like the power adapter is damaged. There is a green light on when its plugged in and it was working perfectly fine this morning before work.

Second, the battery is fully charged. When I press the indicator, it reads 100%. I don't know why that isnt working.

Third, I just noticed when I plug the power adapter into the laptop the green light on the adapter itself flickers (blinks on and off constantly)... it's never done that before.....

[Sim31]

Yikes, Ins't there somekind of extended warranty? Hopefully you can get that thing working again..

[d3monn]

I bought the laptop two and a half or three years ago. The extended warranty is over.. :s.... thats why i bought my newer compaq...(which is in repair at HP central down in Brampton) and since the warranty was over, I decided I was going to take this one apart (after my other one gets back) and make a car-media player.

I'm seriously starting to think its the mobo... maybe tkyoshi was right and some kind of safety circuit got triggered. I hope its not the mainboard...

EDIT: I havent opened the case before now (after the power problem) so, I doubt something is loose, and I cant think of any reason as to why it wouldn't work

[Ultomato]

how old is ur battery

[d3monn]

its the same age as the laptop, but it hasn't shown any problems. The time the battery last has decreased slighty (from 2 hours and a little bit to about 1 and a half hours, but other than that.. it works fine, and the indicators have never failed me, it still reads 100% (well 5 out of 5 indicator lights)

[raid517]

Erm... do laptops have CMOS batteries? If so is there no way to reset the bios?

I've seen green lights on fried power adpaters before. Try unplugging the IDE cables and see if a drive has gone. I've seen that stop a machine from starting in the past too.

GJ

[dougkinzinger]

Sorry friend, I think it's toast. Time to move on.

[Kona04]

Hey man...I had this happen last week to my laptop and it was because a little prong on the female connector of the adapter broke off. I just send it to HP and the fixed it and returned it within 2 days. There should be a tip on the end of the female connection...if it looks like just a pin with our a fatter tip then thats probably what happened.

[d3monn]

Well, I took out all power sources for the night, and tried it again, and still no dice, I doubt it was a safety switch-off. I'll try taking out the ide devices and that after work today. Thanks everyone for posting. Um... for the adapter, I dont quite understand what you mean kona. There doesnt seem to be anything out of place anywhere... so I don't know...

[+s55 Subscriber¹]

ok i think i may know whats wrong.... I had a compaq laptop here to fix from friends work.... is the power supply build in by any chance? as in u just plug a mains cable straight into the latop and theres no transformer or anything on the power cable? < first i'd seen that but u might find it could be the power supply fuse if its internal or just the supply is dead.... meaning if the battery connects to it then the laptop wud fail to start.

I dont think its ur mobo... its more likely to be a dead power circuit in the laptop itself. if the ac transfomer is external then it may be easy to fix. any chance of a photo of the power circuitry... might lead to an idea.

Dont give up on it yet!

[+s55 Subscriber¹]

ok judgeing buy a review photo the transformer is external. meaning its most likely to be a problem with the inernal poer circuitry with is usually basic enough to fix as long as u have a electronics store and a soildering iron handy.

[PseudoRandomDragon]

Should have gotten a Dell.

Anyway, you definately need to call them up first and be sure to tell them that the AC adapter light flickers now. That is important. I would blame the AC adapter except it does not work with the battery either, telling me it is the MB. But just to be sure, unplug the battery and AC adapter and leave it off for an hour, then test it again.

[d3monn]

ok i think i may know whats wrong.... I had a compaq laptop here to fix from friends work.... is the power supply build in by any chance? as in u just plug a mains cable straight into the latop and theres no transformer or anything on the power cable? < first i'd seen that but u might find it could be the power supply fuse if its internal or just the supply is dead.... meaning if the battery connects to it then the laptop wud fail to start.

I dont think its ur mobo... its more likely to be a dead power circuit in the laptop itself. if the ac transfomer is external then it may be easy to fix. any chance of a photo of the power circuitry... might lead to an idea.

Dont give up on it yet!

What would the transformer look like if it was external from the laptop? It's a pretty small adapter (the box of it) so I don't know if it's in there. But even if the transformer was on the board, why would it prevent the battery from running (because if it was external then wouldn't you need the adapter plugged in at all times to run the battery?)

I'll take some pictures of it tongith after work and see if it can help anyone out.

[d3monn]

ok judgeing buy a review photo the transformer is external. meaning its most likely to be a problem with the inernal poer circuitry with is usually basic enough to fix as long as u have a electronics store and a soildering iron handy.

Well, I'm going to call Compaq/HP tonight and see what they think. If they say send it in and it'll cost ya, blah blah blah, I'll go to the shop here in town and get them to look at it. They have compaq certs for laptop repairs, and it'll be cheaper than compaq themselves... I'm willing to do some soldering if its going to be a 2 second repair... but i dont want to mess anything up (i've soldered stuff in elec. / tech. class before)