Dropped Laptop No Longer Booting or Power

[gavm99]

Hi all,

We've had a laptop come in from a customer who has dropped it. It was dropped flat on it's lid, so no physical damage to the casing.

The problem is that it no longer boots at all. When you plug in the power you would normally get a light on the power light to indicate it is on the mains, but you get nothing at all.

It appears to be a power flow issue.

Any ideas what the fault is? Just a case of a new motherboard? Or could the processor be shot as well?

Thanks in advance.

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Check out my blog

http://www.thelucidview.co.uk

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[G0AOZ]

It would be useful to know if the laptop worked on it's battery immediately prior to being dropped.

My first thought would be a cracked motherboard, maybe a broken pcb track/damaged dc power input jack.

Have you checked that power is actually available at the dc input jack?

It's unlikely to help, but try removing the main battery, then hold the power-on button down for 10 seconds. Replace battery, plug in PSU and try switching on.

What next? Disconnect HDD, DVD/CD, and connection to the screen assembly. This will rule out electrical shorts in any of those components pulling down the power when it's applied.

Depeneding upon make/model, check that the power-on button and l.e.d. assembly has not been damaged, or that its connection to the motherboard has not become dislodged.

Other than that, it's possible a fuse might've blown on the motherboard, but they're tiny, soldered on components, that don't readily 'look' like fuses!

Good luck with it...


ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[gavm99]

Hi there,

Yes it worked fine on the battery before being dropped.

What I've done is try a different power supply to rule that out. The jack itself appears to be secure - not loose from the drop.

I've tried the battery trick already! Shame it wasn't that!

Also tried the hard drive drive and screen disconnection with no joy.

Power button is more tricky to get to, but I will try. I don't think it's that though as I would still expect the power light to come on.

Thanks.

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Check out my blog

http://www.thelucidview.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/lucidblog

 

[kjv1611]

Pretty sure sounds like the motherboard. Sounds like the dropped might have dislodged some of the soldered connections would be my guess. I suppose it might be possible to damage a CPU, but it's nowhere near as likely. If you're getting nothing from the battery nor the AC power.

Of course, I suppose it could be a combination of things, though. What if the DC jack got damaged (soldered connections) and the battery or battery connectors got damaged at the same time?

But my main guess is the motherboard.

 

[BadBigBen]

depending on the age of the system, I would not look any further into it, and would tell the customer that a new laptop would be the best and cheapest solution...

attach the drive to a PC, as a secondary drive, and check the condition of said drive with the manufacturers tools... the drive may have become damaged through the drop, I dropped a drive once from a table top to the floor (carpeted) and it was toast...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[tf1]

I agree with BBB. Diplomatically tell your customer that it is terminally dead. Replacing the motherboard (if that is what is broken) is not easy and you'll be shocked at the cost. If it isn't the motherboard, it may take far too many hours to diagnose the problem. And as BBB also said, the drop may have killed the HDD too. If both are done for, the repair will cost the price of two new laptops.

You may also find that if Windows needs reactivation (almost certain), it won't because it is an OEM install that lives and dies with the original hardware.

Scrapping is the only sensible solution.

Regards: Terry

 

[goombawaho]

I was under the impression that dropping a laptop periodically was good for its health and long life (or at lease your computer repair person).

 

[G0AOZ]

Remind me never to buy a secondhand laptop from you Goom!

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[ANFPS26]

It could have ruined the hard drive. I dropped an external 2.5" hard drive and killed it.

Jim