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252969
January 5th, 2016 10:00
Dell 1737 won't power on
I have a Dell Studio 1737 that I purchased new several years ago. It was working fine with no indicators of problems when last used. The battery is new. When I tried to turn it on today, the system would not boot up. When I plugged in the AC adapter, the white LED by the DC port turns on briefly and then goes out. When I push the on button, the lights above the keyboard flash, the fan starts, it starts to make the usual boot up noises and then everything stops. No light, no sounds. The LCD never shows signs of life.
I have tried:
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Checking the DC voltage at the tip of the AC adapter plug. I got a reading of 19.6V even though the led on the plug is not lite.
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Removing the battery and tried powering on using the AC adapter only. Same thing happens. Tried with battery power without the AC adapter plugged in. Same thing happens.
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Tried reseating the memory cards.
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In the past I have replaced the DC board. Since the LED lights are flashing and the fan starts, it appears the system is getting power.
Any ideas? Even though the laptop is well past its prime, I would love to have it running as a backup. I have repaired this laptop more times than I can remember so I am well familiar with repairing it. I am guessing it might be a motherboard issue which means it gets recycled due to cost issues.
noname87
21 Posts
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January 8th, 2016 15:00
Bump
ejn63
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January 8th, 2016 17:00
It could be the power jack that's shorting out (it's either on a cable or the DC board you mentioned). If it's not that, it is the mainboard that's faulty.
noname87
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January 8th, 2016 19:00
Any suggestions on how to isolate which is the cause. My first thought was since the computer was trying to boot that the input jack and board was okay. That and the fact that the same thing happens with the ac + adapter unplugged. At this point, I am lost. Could be the mb or memory or?
ejn63
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January 9th, 2016 04:00
Remove both memory modules and try powering up. You should hear a two-beep sequence. If you do not, the mainboard is bad.
If you do hear the two- beep sequence, try each memory module one at a time to see if the system will boot -- it will help isolate the bad module or the bad socket. A bad module can be replaced. A bad socket will require a replacement system board.
noname87
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January 9th, 2016 12:00
Before I tried your idea, I removed the battery, connected the AC adapter and push the power button. The led above the keyboard flashed, the keyboard lite up and stayed lite, the cd drive made its normal sounds, then I heard a Very faint series of beeps (4-5), then the cd drive started to spool up (that was what I mistook for the fan), then another faint beep, then everything stops dead. The LCD display never power up.
I tried your idea. With no memory modules everything was the same. With all the possible different memory combinations (0, 1 at time in different slots), I get the same sequence of events.
noname87
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January 13th, 2016 16:00
Any other ideas? Pressing the button on the battery yields 5 leds so I am thinking the battery is charged.
At this point I am thinking mb failure or somehow a cd drive failure causing the boot sequence to terminate. The latter seems unlikely. The former might be the cause but do I troubleshoot this better?
noname87
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January 19th, 2016 15:00
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ejn63
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January 19th, 2016 16:00
Remove the optical and hard drives, leaving just the RAM. If that lets the system boot, put one at a time back into the system until you find the bad part. If you can't boot the system with just the mainboard, RAM and power adapter connected, the mainboard is bad.
noname87
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January 26th, 2016 10:00
I removed the hard drive and the got the same result. I have not tried removing the optical drive yet since that requires almost complete disassembly and reassembly of the laptop. How likely is the optical drive to be the problem.
Am I right in my assumption that since the leds and keyboard lite up that the dc jack board is working? Also what are the very faint beeps I am hearing? Also when I remove the memory and try to power up, I get the same result. I do NOT hear any load beeps from the BIOS indicating a problem. Shouldn't I?