Dell Inspiron 1525 serious problem

Hey Grayfox,

Since this is occurring intermittently it's going to be hard to nail down. From my own time working with PCs, given the diagnostics, the removal of the hard drive, and trying a different OS - I can only guess that this is a problem with the logic board that the diagnostic test wouldn't pick up. Or this could be that there is an issue with the power cord. Since you didn't say that you'd tried a different cable I can't rule it out as a possibility.

Personally I'd lean towards the logic board having an issue, but if you've got another cable it won't hurt to try it.

Hope this helps.

someone please help me about this matter. :(

Hi Jim,

I really appreciate your help. Yeah, I haven't tried a different cable yet. I will try it as soon as I get one. But another question is, why does my laptop works fine after a successful start up? I mean, right now I'm using the said machine for about 3 hours continously. And I can even use it for 6 hours straight without any problems. And if the power cord is the problem, there should be a sudden shut off from time to time while I'm using it, am I right? Can the power cord cause the whistling noise on boot? Well, I'm just saying. I will try what you have told me. I think the whistling noise is coming from below the touchpad. 

Hello Grayfox,

Yea like I said probably not the power cord. I could see a very small possibility that when powering up, when the system is calling for power from the cord, that if the cord had an issue (most likely in the AC/DC transformer) it wouldn't supply the power needed.

That being said if the whistling noise is coming from around/below the touchpad then something is causing it to short beneath the touchpad. Hard to say what it could be sight-unseen. Maybe it's just a general component failure or something else may have happened to it that we can't see. Does the touchpad seem to be working fine?

~Jim

Hello again Jim,

Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. We may be thinking the same thing about the power cord, its like the power is not enough to power up the machine. I hope its only the power cord, but I am more worried about the whistling noise. Yeah, the touchpad works just fine. Everything is pretty normal when the laptop is running. In fact, its running for about 12 hours now without any problem, no noise, no overheating,etc.

And I dont have any idea why I need to replug the power cord everytime the machine wont turn on. When the machine dies, I need to replug the power cord to turn it on again. If I didn't do that, no matter how many times I press the power button, it wont just turn on.

BTW, sorry for my poor english. Not my native language. Thanks again Jim. Hope to hear from you again.  

Hey Grayfox,

Your English is really good! I would not have guessed you are not a native English speaker if you hadn't mentioned it.

Back to your concern: it sounds like the system is not properly releasing its stored electrical charge, or the demand for an electrical charge, when it's powered down. The power cord is either "leaking" electricity into your system or the system itself is not allowing its electrical build up to release. This could explain why, when the power cord is unplugged and no more electricity is coming into the system, it will reboot normally. When the cable is unplugged the electrical charge can't complete its circuit, therefore the electricity is discharged fully. When the cable is reconnected & you power it on again, a new circuit is created. Another user is having a similar issue to you & I suggested that it may be one or several of the capacitors on the logic board. The best way to know for sure is to try another cable or run the laptop solely off the battery (if you have one available).

If you can try another power cable & the issue persists then we wouldn't be able to properly identify the root failure of the logic board without an inspection of the board itself. A failed or failing capacitor can, in some cases, create a high pitched whistle or squealing sound.

Hope this helps!
~Jim

Hey Jim,

Oh really, thank you for that. :)

Anyways, sounds like this is going to be a serious problem if I try another power cable and the problem still persists. Maybe after Christmas or New Year, I will buy a new power cord and try it, a battery too since my battery is dead. And I forgot to mention earlier, sometimes while windows vista is booting and the whistling sound is still present, my screen is dimming as if going to die. Looks like power shortage, but I don't know, I can only guess. But when the whistling sound is gone, everything is pretty normal.

Well Jim, thank you so much for your time and effort. I will give you an update whatever the result. 

Advance Merry Christmas!

Hey again Grayfox,

Yea if the screen is dimming then it's pretty clear that there is not enough power running through the system. There is definitely an excessive power draw coming from the logic board. Before you go buy a new cable, see if a friend or family member has one you can borrow. I also meant to ask if the cable you were using was the original cable from Dell. I know the holiday season can be expensive so that's just a suggestion if you want to save a little money! To make sure there are no compatibility/wattage issues make sure it is a Dell-branded cable and matches the wattage of your current adapter. If I've got the right model it's a 90-watt adapter. This is the one I found here on Dell's US site.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=332-1833&mfgpid=195125 

Thank you Grayfox, I look forward to your response! Since it may be a while before you track down the problem, private message me to remind me to check on this thread in case I miss it in my activity feed.

And you, Grayfox, have a very very Merry Christmas as well!

~Jim 

Hey,

Hi there Jim. Thanks for the great suggestion. I'll definitely do that. I checked the link you posted Jim, that's not the AC adapter comes with the laptop when I bought it. I don't know if its allowed to post external links here, but, here's the AC adapter I am using and the one provided by dell:

[View:http://ww/:550:0] www.laptoptown.com/195v-334a-65w-laptop-ac-adapter-for-dell-inspiron-1525-p-182.html

I don't know why I can't properly post the link, lol. Btw, If you were able to see the adapter I am using, It's only 65w. Is it way too low? But I am using this adapter for years without a problem.

Thanks again Jim!