5 year old laptop dead, any ideas on how to fix?
Dec 4, 2007, 9:28 am
#1
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5 year old laptop dead, any ideas on how to fix?
5 year old eMachines laptop won't respond to the power on key, with or without AC power. Took out the battery, replaced it, nothing works.
Looks like a dead mother board, but how to test for sure??
Looks like a dead mother board, but how to test for sure??
Dec 4, 2007, 9:35 am
#2
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Not sure how to check, tho...good luck.
Dec 4, 2007, 10:30 am
#3
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I take it there isn't any diagnostics software available from the manufacturer? I can imagine not, with eMachines, but thought I'd ask. Pretty sure Dell diagnostics software would ID something like this.
Dec 4, 2007, 10:56 am
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If you hear fan turning, disk drive spinning, then the CCF backlight in the LCD may be out. Check the VGA port to make sure.
If the power light comes on but the computer does nothing, the DRAM module may have failed.
If there are no lights at all. Charge the battery outside of the computer and see if the computer boots with a fully charged battery. If it does boot, then check the fuse at the charger adapter port on the motherboard. If it doesn't boot with a fully charged battery, then something serious is wrong with the motherboard.
If the power light comes on but the computer does nothing, the DRAM module may have failed.
If there are no lights at all. Charge the battery outside of the computer and see if the computer boots with a fully charged battery. If it does boot, then check the fuse at the charger adapter port on the motherboard. If it doesn't boot with a fully charged battery, then something serious is wrong with the motherboard.
Dec 4, 2007, 11:04 am
#7
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Thanks. Exactly nothing happens when I press the power button, with a charged battery, with or without AC power, with or without battery.
This is an old laptop I was using to test out various apps and linux on, so no big loss. Just sucks.
This is an old laptop I was using to test out various apps and linux on, so no big loss. Just sucks.
Dec 4, 2007, 11:09 am
#8
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On Thinkpads, both the battery and power adapter port have fuses. It is unlikely both fuses will be blown. But it doesn't hurt to take a look. A modern laptop has close to 20 fuses and even older one has more than 10.
added:
Take a look at the USB port to see if it is damaged. A shorted power contacts in a broken USB port would make a dead laptop.
added:
Take a look at the USB port to see if it is damaged. A shorted power contacts in a broken USB port would make a dead laptop.
Dec 4, 2007, 11:24 am
#9
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No promises, but try this (this works with several brands): 1) Remove battery and disconnect power cable, 2) Push and hold power button for 1 minute (time it), then release, 3) Plug in power cable and attempt to power up normally, 4) If that worked, put battery back in to charge.
Dec 4, 2007, 11:36 am
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added:
Take a look at the USB port to see if it is damaged. A shorted power contacts in a broken USB port would make a dead laptop.
Take a look at the USB port to see if it is damaged. A shorted power contacts in a broken USB port would make a dead laptop.
Dec 4, 2007, 11:43 am
#12
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Dec 4, 2007, 11:56 am
#13
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5 year old emachines laptop? Remove the hard drive, buy a usb 2.5" enclosure for the hard drive if there's anything on it you haven't backed up somewhere else that you need, and get a new $500 - $600 notebook.
It's dead, Jim.
Some cheap notebooks won't power up at all without the battery.
-David
It's dead, Jim.
Some cheap notebooks won't power up at all without the battery.
-David
Dec 4, 2007, 12:25 pm
#14
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I second the proposal to buy a new laptop. I think it is time...it isn't going to be cost effective to fix this. I don't think you need to buy a hard drive enclosure, however. You can buy a 2.5>3.5" IDE converter for a few dollars and then hook up the laptop's hard drive to a regular computer. Then you can copy your data over and be done with it.
Dec 4, 2007, 3:00 pm
#15
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On Thinkpads, both the battery and power adapter port have fuses. It is unlikely both fuses will be blown. But it doesn't hurt to take a look. A modern laptop has close to 20 fuses and even older one has more than 10.
added:
Take a look at the USB port to see if it is damaged. A shorted power contacts in a broken USB port would make a dead laptop.
added:
Take a look at the USB port to see if it is damaged. A shorted power contacts in a broken USB port would make a dead laptop.
Fusible links and/or diodes? Yes. Fuses???? Haven't seen one in a laptop since the Compaq LTE/286 days. Fusible links aren't user replaceable, sadly.