jnelsoninjax Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 My daughters laptop, Dell Latitude E7450 UltraBook refurbished, suddenly will not turn on, she indicated that she shut it down via Windows last night, and unplugged it (kitty likes to play with cords) and placed it on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf. Today she retrieved it and plugged everything back in and it will not boot. I advised her to remove the battery and try turning the system on that way, and she indicated that it made no difference, she stated that the LED on the laptop for the battery was flashing (indicating it needs to be charged) even with the battery removed. I have now recommended that she attempt to charge the laptop by plugging into the UPS from the desktop, as she has already tried different outlets. I really can not think of any other troubleshooting steps. It is possible that the laptop is covered under a warranty still, I am waiting to here back from the company who sold it, in the mean time, what else could it possibly be? What other steps can I suggest that she try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted June 6, 2019 MVC Share Posted June 6, 2019 You could try removing the battery and unplugging it and holding the power button down for 10 seconds. Then plug it back in and try it again. farmeunit, Circaflex and Shiranui 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cork1958 Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 The couple refurbished computers I have purchased only came with 30 warranty's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 7 minutes ago, cork1958 said: The couple refurbished computers I have purchased only came with 30 warranty's. Yeah, this one is very confusing, it says something about 2 years, then it says extended warranty 6 months... I emailed the company asking about it, and got read receipts from Iceland, and New York... not sure what to make of that Here is the site I bought it from: https://refurbees.com/12456617/orders/2a88c3435c81fb6d4dd9d9bd568da223 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 (edited) Remove the battery plugin in power cord. If it still will not turn on, then you can rule out the battery. I have seen a lot of issues from the 7 series and 5 series laptops where powering on issues are motherboard related. Meaning, the mobo needs to be replaced. Recent issuing with a 5490 that it was not the mobo but the CPU. I have seen that holding the power button for 30-40 seconds makes things work. It reset some bios settings and discharges the mobo of any residual power. Here is the LED guide for the 7450s.... https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln295893/latitude-e7450-system-status-led-guide?lang=en goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted June 6, 2019 Moderator Share Posted June 6, 2019 Could the PSU plug be un-soldered? (on laptop motherboard side) I've seen this again and again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 14 hours ago, Mindovermaster said: Could the PSU plug be un-soldered? (on laptop motherboard side) I've seen this again and again. If there was no power making it through that plug then the battery would drain to zero and then it would appear dead. For that scenario, the lights she is seeing should vanish soon. If not there must still be power from the charger. The charger could also be dead. AND to make your head spin, the digital encryption circuit could die in the charger or the laptop and then the laptop WILL NOT CHARGE as if the plug was dead! All Dells and many HPs have this, maybe others but it is never talked about much. That's why you need to purchase a "Genuine Dell" charger and I guess watch out for discount sellers that might include a fake unit, although you would find out fairly fast as long as you use the laptop, but for many people it is just a "desk ornament" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted June 6, 2019 Moderator Share Posted June 6, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, DevTech said: All Dells and many HPs have this, maybe others but it is never talked about much. That's why you need to purchase a "Genuine Dell" charger and I guess watch out for discount sellers that might include a fake unit, although you would find out fairly fast as long as you use the laptop, but for many people it is just a "desk ornament" I had to get a new "Genuine Dell" charger for my OLD Dell Vostro 15. (around 2005) But my BIOS startup is complaining that it isn't "genuine", which actually is. It's just telling me that, not stopping me. Might be that it is for another laptop, but it does work for me? 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shockz Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 (edited) What color was the battery flashing? If you have no battery in and it's still flashing, you have a hardware fault. Edited June 6, 2019 by shockz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 8 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said: I had to get a new "Genuine Dell" charger for my OLD Dell Vostro 15. (around 2005) But my BIOS startup is complaining that it isn't "genuine", which actually is. It's just telling me that, not stopping me. Might be that it is for another laptop, but it does work for me? 🤔 The Digital Encryption signal that identifies the power brick to the laptop is carried on the tiny pin in the center of the connector. If that pin is damaged it won't send. Also, in addition to endless repeating over that wire "I'm a Real Dell" I think it also identifies the model number and power rating. So if your Dell replacement is underpowered or different in some other way, you will get squawked at! The Vostro 15 was a decent Core 2 CPU for it's day and needs a 95 watt adapter. The most common Dell adapter is 65 watts so double check that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 4 hours ago, shockz said: What color was the battery flashing? If you have no battery in and it's still flashing, you have a hardware fault. Since I am not there, I can only ask, and she says it is white. According to the page linked here, the white light breathing indicates that it is in standby, but it will not turn on, any ideas what this means? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 1 hour ago, jnelsoninjax said: Since I am not there, I can only ask, and she says it is white. According to the page linked here, the white light breathing indicates that it is in standby, but it will not turn on, any ideas what this means? It has dementia of some sort. Pull out the power cord, then turn it upside down and pull out the battery. Then open the RAM compartment and usually you can see two wires going from the CMOS battery to a connector on the mobo. Take pliers or tweezers and pull the connector out and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then reverse the steps. As soon as the laptop boots, enter the BIOS and make sure the very few settings available are correct. Usually you have to change the hard drive to AHCI and turn on the VM capability (vital for Windows 10) etc. Also if it is using on-chip GPU you will usually need to max out the RAM to the GPU, it defaults to something stupid. You might have to change the boot order. Once you have the settings just right, WRITE THEM DOWN and tape it to the bottom of the laptop. This is going to happen again! That's how you do a CMOS reset on a laptop! -------------- BONUS TIP: I love Dell Laptops but they have their unique peccadillos - sometime or other during the lifetime of that laptop, Windows will say the battery is not charging and you know everything is OK hardware-wise. The solution is to leave Windows running by turning the laptop on its side (carefully) and remove the battery and then plug it in again while Windows is still running! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted June 7, 2019 MVC Share Posted June 7, 2019 On 07/06/2019 at 03:14, DevTech said: I love Dell Laptops but they have their unique peccadillos - sometime or other during the lifetime of that laptop, Windows will say the battery is not charging and you know everything is OK hardware-wise. The solution is to leave Windows running by turning the laptop on its side (carefully) and remove the battery and then plug it in again while Windows is still running! Or if you could temporarily set it to "On lide close" do nothing. Then just close the lid, flip it upside down and remove the battery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 22 minutes ago, warwagon said: Or if you could temporarily set it to "On lide close" do nothing. Then just close the lid, flip it upside down and remove the battery YES - GOOD IDEA! More steps, but saves a potential accident! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 So this afternoon, I encouraged my daughter to try to turn the laptop back on, and it did... I even had her shutdown and restart it, and it does seem to work again, still have no idea what the exact issue is/was, and even more odd: my daughter called the tech support line and they called her back and an automated message stated "we can not help you, press 1 to talk to someone to get a refund, she did and was told that there would be a refund issued in 2 days! We have no idea how much or how it will be refunded, but it sounds like they are refunding the purchase price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 12 minutes ago, jnelsoninjax said: So this afternoon, I encouraged my daughter to try to turn the laptop back on, and it did... I even had her shutdown and restart it, and it does seem to work again, still have no idea what the exact issue is/was, and even more odd: my daughter called the tech support line and they called her back and an automated message stated "we can not help you, press 1 to talk to someone to get a refund, she did and was told that there would be a refund issued in 2 days! We have no idea how much or how it will be refunded, but it sounds like they are refunding the purchase price! What might fit those facts: 1. When she put the laop away in a drawer originally, the battery drained to zero. 2. When she first turned it on, the Power Brick was not actually powerful enough to run the computer, so she left it connected and it kept charging the battery. 3. Then today there was enough juice between the battery and the brick to boot it. The "under powered brick" is actually a technique that Apple uses to ship really small power adapters with their laptops. It works when a laptop is not being used with a full duty cycle so the battery can supply Peak Current in momentary demands while the Power brick just charges it up again in a continous cycle. This type of design really destroys the longevity of the battery when the laptop is actually being continuously used for something useful like Gaming. One of the reasons that Gaming Laptops have Huge Power Bricks is so it can power the system completely by itself without placing demands on the battery. A 200 watt or 300 watt power brick is really large so we are seeing this "trick" being used more frequently with the "thin laptop" popularity, since the buying public wants a thin brick to go with their thin laptop. Strangely enough on the top end Alienware laptops which ship with a 330 watt brick also do a "peak-drain" on the battery since in those units you need to order TWO 330 watt BRICKS to fully power the laptop! In your daughters case she may have a weak (degraded) battery or a weak power brick (defective or under-specced) or both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 13 minutes ago, DevTech said: What might fit those facts: 1. When she put the laop away in a drawer originally, the battery drained to zero. 2. When she first turned it on, the Power Brick was not actually powerful enough to run the computer, so she left it connected and it kept charging the battery. 3. Then today there was enough juice between the battery and the brick to boot it. The "under powered brick" is actually a technique that Apple uses to ship really small power adapters with their laptops. It works when a laptop is not being used with a full duty cycle so the battery can supply Peak Current in momentary demands while the Power brick just charges it up again in a continous cycle. This type of design really destroys the longevity of the battery when the laptop is actually being continuously used for something useful like Gaming. One of the reasons that Gaming Laptops have Huge Power Bricks is so it can power the system completely by itself without placing demands on the battery. A 200 watt or 300 watt power brick is really large so we are seeing this "trick" being used more frequently with the "thin laptop" popularity, since the buying public wants a thin brick to go with their thin laptop. Strangely enough on the top end Alienware laptops which ship with a 330 watt brick also do a "peak-drain" on the battery since in those units you need to order TWO 330 watt BRICKS to fully power the laptop! In your daughters case she may have a weak (degraded) battery or a weak power brick (defective or under-specced) or both. So in the scenario (which seems plausible) what would you recommend that I do next? Replace the battery and/or the brick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 17 minutes ago, jnelsoninjax said: So in the scenario (which seems plausible) what would you recommend that I do next? Replace the battery and/or the brick? You might have a problem with both but if the laptop mainly sits on the desk, then the brick is more important. Most older laptops that have seen some mileage have a degraded cell or two in the battery. There is software that can analyze for that and also the BIOS might have a self-test. Some Dell batteries come with a button on the battery that you press to get a charge level in 8 LEDs - if you have that and a fully charged battery does not fully light up, then battery is degraded. The older Dell bricks came in 65 watt and 95 watts typically, so if you have a 65, get a 95 - they were both so common they are dirt cheap. What is the model/part number of the current brick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted June 8, 2019 Author Share Posted June 8, 2019 15 minutes ago, DevTech said: You might have a problem with both but if the laptop mainly sits on the desk, then the brick is more important. Most older laptops that have seen some mileage have a degraded cell or two in the battery. There is software that can analyze for that and also the BIOS might have a self-test. Some Dell batteries come with a button on the battery that you press to get a charge level in 8 LEDs - if you have that and a fully charged battery does not fully light up, then battery is degraded. The older Dell bricks came in 65 watt and 95 watts typically, so if you have a 65, get a 95 - they were both so common they are dirt cheap. What is the model/part number of the current brick? I will have my daughter get the info from it and then I will reply, the biggest problem with diagnosing these issues, is that she is over 2000 miles away from me, so I am doing everything via text and phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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