[SOLVED] Laptop showing no signs of life (almost) PLZ HELP

[Blayd Stephens]

Hi guys,

I received a laptop not too long ago (to pull apart, I am 13 years old and interested in computers so someone gave it to me). It is an ASI Claro TW7M (rebranded Gigabyte W566N, exactly the same laptop, same parts, just different branding).

It is from the Windows Vista era, and I was really excited to start it up, although when I tried to turn it on, nothing happened. Also, no lights came on when I tried to charge it. I have pulled it down several times, and examined all of the parts. They all seem to be fine, and there was no capacitor leaks or visible damage on the motherboard.

The owner commented that the hard drive might be broken, so I put it in another laptop and tested it. It DID boot into Windows Vista, however it had the click of death. So it worked. Sort of. Anyway, I tried to do a barebones run (can't remove the mobo because of design) with just the necessary components, and it still didn't work. No life.

EXCEPT, I recently came to a revelation. I tried to use it as a secondary display (didn't know that wouldn't work at the time), and IT ACTUALLY HAD POWER. Sort of. There was one light on the dash illuminated, not the main power one though. Also, the CPU fan span up and the light on the optical drive illuminated, however this didn't come on the second time I tried it.

Sorry for the long post, but can you please help me!?

 

[racecar56]

Hi! I just noticed your thread, and I'm hoping I might be able to provide some insight for you.

I would check to make sure that your charger is of correct specification for the laptop. Could you provide the specifications of the charger you are attempting to use with the laptop?

I should also add that unfortunately, motherboards can just die for what seems like no reason at all. No visible damage, although good, doesn't guarantee success. I've witnessed many a motherboard that's dead as a doornail, while looking good!

It doesn't seem that your laptop is very common either, so if the board's bad, I'd say it's done for. That, and it's a Core 2 Duo, so it's quite old! Even if you do eventually get it running, it may not prove very useful to you. There's nothing wrong with tinkering, though! Just tinker with care.

Again, I hope I was able to help you. Please do reply back!

P.S.: I started working on computers at right about your age, and I've come a long way since then. Keep it up!

 

[Blayd Stephens]

Hey, thanks for the reply! I have done what you asked and checked the specification of the charger. The charger that came with it was indeed matching the voltage specified on the laptop battery, at 19V and 3.42 amps. Could it possibly be the CPU that is causing my troubles? If not, then I am starting to believe that your assumption was correct, and that it is just a dead motherboard. I am only confused because it seemed to receive current from the VGA port, as the CPU fan spun up and select lights came up. Although the laptop motherboard seems fine upon inspection, could it possibly be a short circuit that prevents the flow of current to certain components, which is in turn causing the problems?

Thanks again!

 

[Blayd Stephens]

Hi! I just noticed your thread, and I'm hoping I might be able to provide some insight for you.

I would check to make sure that your charger is of correct specification for the laptop. Could you provide the specifications of the charger you are attempting to use with the laptop?

I should also add that unfortunately, motherboards can just die for what seems like no reason at all. No visible damage, although good, doesn't guarantee success. I've witnessed many a motherboard that's dead as a doornail, while looking good!

It doesn't seem that your laptop is very common either, so if the board's bad, I'd say it's done for. That, and it's a Core 2 Duo, so it's quite old! Even if you do eventually get it running, it may not prove very useful to you. There's nothing wrong with tinkering, though! Just tinker with care.

Again, I hope I was able to help you. Please do reply back!

P.S.: I started working on computers at right about your age, and I've come a long way since then. Keep it up!

Hey, thanks for the reply! I have done what you asked and checked the specification of the charger. The charger that came with it was indeed matching the voltage specified on the laptop battery, at 19V and 3.42 amps. Could it possibly be the CPU that is causing my troubles? If not, then I am starting to believe that your assumption was correct, and that it is just a dead motherboard. I am only confused because it seemed to receive current from the VGA port, as the CPU fan spun up and select lights came up. Although the laptop motherboard seems fine upon inspection, could it possibly be a short circuit that prevents the flow of current to certain components, which is in turn causing the problems?

Thanks again!

 

[Captain Undervolt]

Have you tried to reset the BIOS? This might be done differently depending on the model.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL97XhontSo


Also check that all this connectors are seated, I remember having a problem where the laptop would not even charge because one of the connectors was not seated.