XPS M1530 - Died & Won't Revive

When the LED on the adapter goes out when you connect the system, it's the mainboard that's faulty.

Thanks, that's better than the $$$ for a new laptop...

The cost will run $400-500 depending on whether you buy the board and install it or have a shop do it --  you can have it done by Dell or a shop of your choice.

parts-people.com should have the board.

Great.... okay, so what are the steps in getting that fixed, costs associated, etc...?

Well my laptop just got stuck with a similar illness 18 months into ownership.

Battery wont recharge and adapter wont charge the laptop, so now the computer wont even turn on.

The battery stopped charging, so I used the laptop without the battery for about a week. Now nothing works.

Dell has now had my computer for 3 days and still nothing.

18month into usage, my XPS M1530 had the same problem. The M1530 wont turn on. It will turn off the power supply when plugged in,  however the power supply will comeback when you unplug the supply from the wall and laptop.

After researching the web, it seems that the Nvidia could contribute to this.

http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2008/07/25/nvidia-gpu-update-for-dell-laptop-owners.aspx

Unfortunately my warranty expired 3mo ago. Does anyone know if the GPU extended warranty would cover this. thanks.

I feel your pain.

Last week my 1530 decided it could no longer charge the battery. The charger is good and (so far) it runs fine plugged in.

Got the standard answer from Dell Support: 12 months on batteries. Well, excuse ME. My laptop is 16 months old and I paid extra for the 85w battery.

No way I'm paying $180 for new battery.

Dell, do what you gotta do, but you have to get a better battery. I don't care if you say all batteries are the same: I'll still be going back to HP next time...  :-(

Lance

My problem was corrected. It was a video problem with Nvidia (video issue); not sure of the specifics though, he didnt elaborate.

Dell replaced the the entire mainboard (I was still under warranty), so now now even my previous dead battery charges.

In-warranty support (US)

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/by_phone_DHS

Out of warranty, there is a $49 charge per call:

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/expired_warranty?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

My m1530 is also about 18 months old and now won't start. It does not do anything. My battery had stopped charging a couple months ago, but since I rarely use the computer without the AC adapter, I didn't worry about it. My question is, how to I get an RMA # to send my computer in to get repaired. There are no direct phone numbers or obvious people to contact without having to pay for troubleshooting support. From other posts here, it seems pretty clear that it's the main board. If anyone can guide me to who to contact to return this computer for repair, I'd really appreciate it. I have to say that up until now, I've been singing the praises of Dell and how pleased I have been with my purchase of this computer. However, now I'm starting to question this due to my difficulty in even trying to get the info I need in order to pay to have my computer repaired. Once again, if any one has information on how I can get this computer to Dell for repair, I'd appreciate it.

mine died as well, warranty expired 3.5 months ago.  i was using Windows 7 RC against my original bios A04 without a problem.  I am also using a 3rd party ac adapter since I lost my original.  When i installed Windows 7 RTM and the Windows 7/Vista drivers, I updated my bios to A12.  This is when I encountered this issue of the motherboard not detecting an AC Adapter.

I bought a spare battery (Again 3rd party, can't justify paying 2x as much for an OEM product) and plugged it in.  Again, AC Adapter refuses to charge the battery.

I found A09 which is what I am trying to flash it back to.  Unfortunately, I cannot flash because the flash utility does a check for an AC Adapter.  I even put it on a DOS boot disk, and the DOS BIOS flasher does the same AC Adapter check.

Is there *any* way to bypass this AC Adapter check?  Is there any way to force a flash of the older BIOS?  Or reset the BIOS using some type of hardware switch?

Same story for me....18 months old M1530 plugged into the adapter stopped working from one moment to another. Also the adapter light goes out when plugging it into the laptop. Reading this forum it is problebly the mainbord or the videocard...Is there anyway how can I be sure of what the issue is without sending it to Dell?

If the LED on the adaptor goes out on connection to the system, the mainboard is bad.

Unfortunately for me, the power light still was illuminated on my power supply. I decided rather than pay Dell to tell me where to ship it, and then charge me to fix it, I would take a chance and do it myself. In my case, it was the main board. I replaced it and now I'm back up and running; hopefully permanently. I suppose for the not-so-tech savvy, you might take your computer to a local computer shop. However, they will most likely charge you to diagnose the problem like Dell will, so either way you get taken. Anyway, Dell is pretty helpful in that they provide you with the Service Manual on their website, so all the instructions for dissasembly of your M1530 are there. The only other thing you need is the part # off your main board, which unfortunately you must physically get off the board in your machine. That is the only way to be sure to get the correct replacement board. Not sure about compatibility with newer boards. Mine ran about $250 and was a refurb. Anyway, good luck.