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mtech · Contributor Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 8 Location: pa

When I press the power button it lights up blue for about one second and then goes out. Even when plugged into an outlet the same thing happens. No fans, no hard drive nor even the screen works. The power button light just goes out.
Can anyone help me with this issue as I cannot afford another laptop at this time.
Thank you,
Steve

Davy

Think I'd make a bee line for the ol' PSU, power supply unit.... could be wrong of course but seems about logical. It would be fine if you borrow one to try, the Wattage or power rating needs to be equal to or greater than the one that is in.

Check the mobo power connector as well, sometime's the pins or the wire crimps become loose.... ya can imagine loose connections passing a resistive connection, things start to get warm and discolour as well as a voltage drop.

The fans work from the 12 volt rail from the power unit, careful if you should go prodding about with test meter probe's... busy with my head in a telly and the guy on the next bench just built a brand new computer up, there was an almighty bang and blinding flash...

....not only did he short the 20 amp rail out he blew the whole lot and cpu, blew a screwdriver into bit's..... "and cured mi constipation... big grin

".

Doubt it could be the bios battery but you never know, think it should'nt stop the fans spinning though. These coin cells last at least three years so if it's around this age 'may' be tempted to change it myself, note: removing this for more than about two minutes will cause the bios to default and you'll have to go to bios screen and do a re set... so leave this as a last resort.

It may well be the fans are clogged with dust, they should spin easily when flicked by a finger otherwise no rotation means no 12 V or no 'power good' signal, which would indicate mobo or CPU.

Davy

mtech · Contributor Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 8 Location: pa

Davy,

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply and also for the chuckle while reading your reply. I just bought a new PSU off ebay which I should get by the end on this coming week. I'll cross my fingers and go from there once it arrives. The fan spins easily and looks to be very clean so I'm thinking also that it's not getting power.

Thanks again and I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Steve

Davy

Righto Steve, well ya gotta appreciate it can be almost anything, the ol' psu leads the hardest life in a computer has it has to run and deliver a good 'reasonable' ripple free DC to power all, the heat that the CPU has to get shut off the power unit gotta deliver.

When I mentioned the fans being free I thought of a sticky CPU fan causing the shut down to prevent thermal damage, not all CPU's are protected this way though.

The guy spent all afternoon building this thing.... the mobo was black, the copper tracks melted, the cpu knacked .... the screw driver looked as if it had lost battle with a mig welder... "and he was sick a parrot".

Davy

mtech · Contributor Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 8 Location: pa

Davy,

A friend of mine is searching for a laptop for her son for college. My daughter has a dell and I have this compaq here but I'm still finding
it hard to determine what manufacture makes a solid laptop that lasts.
I haven't owned an apple or a sony to compare to so that makes helping
her find one even harder. Would you recommend a name brand that you would buy if you had a son going to college?

Thanks again for all your insight,

Steve

Davy

Yikes... when it comes to laptops I'm the dumb blondes mate, no harm to drop a post in Laptops to ask there, here's the link http://www.howtofixcomputers.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=13

When my Epson 62 printer conked.... "ok, ok don't laugh" I wanted a printer, I refuse to believe the write ups and all the gloss so I Googled for user's comment's on various shopping site's CNET as an example...

...as I rather believe what people say about them than all the 'hype' you read in magazines... I ended up with a Canon ip5000 and it was what people were saying about them that made me decide, also take note which people are complaining about most.

Think I would consider customer support and after sales service is a must, more so any back up repair disc should the system crash.

Waiting a month and being certain is a darn sight better than dashing out tomorrow to buy and regret. Sorry the best I can do.

Davy

mtech · Contributor Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 8 Location: pa

Davy,

Thanks again for the help and the laughs,lol.

I'll post the question at the link you provided and see
where it goes from the. If more people are as helpful
as you then it shouldn't take to long to get some opinions.

Great idea about the reviews to as I might try that avenue also.

Thanks buddy,

Steve

mtech · Contributor Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 8 Location: pa

Davy,

I tried the new power pac to no avail. I didn't try the tiny battery inside yet though.

It has a good green light when it's plugged in and the battery is inserted but the power button light, when pushed in to start , goes out in a matter of 2 seconds. I see a few other lights that light up for a second only to go out also. Nothing comes on as far as the fan or hard drive or screen so maybe there is something else scr**ed up?

I haven't opened it up either so maybe thats something I may have to do.

Thanks buddy,

Steve

Davy

Might well be worth trying the back up battery, sometimes the bios chip can get corrupted... obviously something is preventing the 'power on' signal.

Obviously the bios would set to it's default setting, would do anyway if the battery 'is' dud.

I would have suggested, removing the graphic card then giviing it a try... and then same with the RAM, because without these you would get a series of bleeps if the mobo was ok but don't know the configuration of the 2100.

Wonder if the inverter for the backlights could be disconnected... just to see if you get the fans to spin, this is usually a tiny plug-in modual, the only other thing I can think of is the CPU or a faulty mobo.... do hope I am wrong.

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread15861.html (I did'nt post this here did I???? being evil

)

Davy

mtech · Contributor Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 8 Location: pa

Davy,

I just got home from work and found your reply. I will
have to dig into this thing and see what I find. I'll try the battery
and check for anything loose.

I can't thank you enough for all the guidance you have given me
along the way.

I'll keep you updated as I go along.

Thanks again Davy,

Steve