Solve : No life from a gateway laptop?

1.	Solve : No life from a gateway laptop?
Answer» Hey guys, A friend of mine gave me her computer (a gateway nv5214u) to fix. Her original problem was that it began to SPONTANEOUSLY shut down and recently would power on at all. After 3 hours of carefully figuring out how to take the case apart, I gained access to the motherboard. I found that the power switch was defective. I also found that I could jump the power connector on the board and it would turn on. I ordered a new switch, went to install it and found that the switch works, but there is barely any signs of life. The only sign of life is the power LED is on. No hard drive click, dvd spin-up or fans can be heard. Also, when I jumped it, I could get on to the desktop, but it wouldn't stay on for very long. Probably missing something obvious, but any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!Quote from: doubleriospy09 on January 14, 2011, 05:11:39 PM ... 1. I also found that I could jump the power connector on the board and it would turn on. 2. I ordered a new switch, went to install it and found that the switch works, but there is barely any signs of life. The only sign of life is the power LED is on. No hard drive click, dvd spin-up or fans can be heard. 3. Also, when I jumped it, I could get on to the desktop, but it wouldn't stay on for very long... 1. Does this mean you temporarily connect the 2 solder pads on the motherboard & it turns on? How long does it stay on after removing the "jumper". 2. Don't know what you mean "switch works...". OLD switch probably does the same. 3. Seems like there is some connection between the 2 solder pads, like holding the power button for more than 5 sec. Quote from: Computer_Commando on January 14, 2011, 05:53:33 PM 1. Does this mean you temporarily connect the 2 solder pads on the motherboard & it turns on? How long does it stay on after removing the "jumper". 2. Don't know what you mean "switch works...". Old switch probably does the same. 3. Seems like there is some connection between the 2 solder pads, like holding the power button for more than 5 sec. yes, I connected the two solder points together and it powers on. Before, it stayed up till 1 minute or so past the desktop loading. Old switch had loose, hard to solder 24 AWG wire connections so it did not work. I attached a pic of the mobo, mapped as best i could. [recovering disk space - old attachment deleted by admin]Quote from: doubleriospy09 on January 14, 2011, 05:11:39 PM ...Her original problem was that it began to spontaneously shut down and recently would power on at all... Based on what you fixed & what you stated originally, there were 2 separate problems. You've fixed the latter (no power on), now concentrate on the former (spontaneous shut down).Quote from: Computer_Commando on January 15, 2011, 01:04:14 PM Based on what you fixed & what you stated originally, there were 2 separate problems. You've fixed the latter (no power on), now concentrate on the former (spontaneous shut down). Any ideas on what could be causing that? I CLEARED all the dust from the vents and out of the fan and the fan works, so overheating is out. My main problem right now is the whole no video thing. Upon turning the laptop on, I only see the power LED on and hear the slight whirr of the fan-nothing else. If I had video, I could get to the desktop and diagnose from there. Try an external monitor.I tried hooking it up to a KVM switch that I use for other computers then to the monitor directly. Monitor just sits in standby mode. I even hit the video toggle switch on the laptop and nothing happened. Which is leading me to believe its the integrated video card. I am offiicially out of ideasQuote from: doubleriospy09 on January 16, 2011, 10:59:35 PM ...Which is leading me to believe its the integrated video card... I agree. I have read that some HP laptops with nVidia graphics chips are prone to overheating & desoldering themselves. There's a CLASS action lawsuit. There is a YouTube video showing how he heated the chip to reflow the solder. I don't have the link.

Answer»

Hey guys,
A friend of mine gave me her computer (a gateway nv5214u) to fix. Her original problem was that it began to SPONTANEOUSLY shut down and recently would power on at all. After 3 hours of carefully figuring out how to take the case apart, I gained access to the motherboard. I found that the power switch was defective. I also found that I could jump the power connector on the board and it would turn on. I ordered a new switch, went to install it and found that the switch works, but there is barely any signs of life. The only sign of life is the power LED is on. No hard drive click, dvd spin-up or fans can be heard. Also, when I jumped it, I could get on to the desktop, but it wouldn't stay on for very long. Probably missing something obvious, but any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!Quote from: doubleriospy09 on January 14, 2011, 05:11:39 PM

...
1. I also found that I could jump the power connector on the board and it would turn on.
2. I ordered a new switch, went to install it and found that the switch works, but there is barely any signs of life.
The only sign of life is the power LED is on. No hard drive click, dvd spin-up or fans can be heard.
3. Also, when I jumped it, I could get on to the desktop, but it wouldn't stay on for very long...

1. Does this mean you temporarily connect the 2 solder pads on the motherboard & it turns on? How long does it stay on after removing the "jumper".
2. Don't know what you mean "switch works...". OLD switch probably does the same.
3. Seems like there is some connection between the 2 solder pads, like holding the power button for more than 5 sec.
Quote from: Computer_Commando on January 14, 2011, 05:53:33 PM

1. Does this mean you temporarily connect the 2 solder pads on the motherboard & it turns on? How long does it stay on after removing the "jumper".
2. Don't know what you mean "switch works...". Old switch probably does the same.
3. Seems like there is some connection between the 2 solder pads, like holding the power button for more than 5 sec.

yes, I connected the two solder points together and it powers on. Before, it stayed up till 1 minute or so past the desktop loading. Old switch had loose, hard to solder 24 AWG wire connections so it did not work. I attached a pic of the mobo, mapped as best i could.

[recovering disk space - old attachment deleted by admin]Quote from: doubleriospy09 on January 14, 2011, 05:11:39 PM

...Her original problem was that it began to spontaneously shut down and recently would power on at all...

Based on what you fixed & what you stated originally, there were 2 separate problems. You've fixed the latter (no power on), now concentrate on the former (spontaneous shut down).Quote from: Computer_Commando on January 15, 2011, 01:04:14 PM

Based on what you fixed & what you stated originally, there were 2 separate problems. You've fixed the latter (no power on), now concentrate on the former (spontaneous shut down).

Any ideas on what could be causing that? I CLEARED all the dust from the vents and out of the fan and the fan works, so overheating is out. My main problem right now is the whole no video thing. Upon turning the laptop on, I only see the power LED on and hear the slight whirr of the fan-nothing else. If I had video, I could get to the desktop and diagnose from there. Try an external monitor.I tried hooking it up to a KVM switch that I use for other computers then to the monitor directly. Monitor just sits in standby mode. I even hit the video toggle switch on the laptop and nothing happened. Which is leading me to believe its the integrated video card. I am offiicially out of ideasQuote from: doubleriospy09 on January 16, 2011, 10:59:35 PM

...Which is leading me to believe its the integrated video card...

I agree. I have read that some HP laptops with nVidia graphics chips are prone to overheating & desoldering themselves. There's a CLASS action lawsuit. There is a YouTube video showing how he heated the chip to reflow the solder. I don't have the link.

Solve : No life from a gateway laptop?

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