Inspiron 1100 - powers up, then nothing.

Question

I made a deal for this laptop, lady spilled OJ onto the wireless adapter and possibly onto the keyboard. When I received the (filthy) laptop, it powered on, then turned itself off after 10 seconds.   I totally disassembled the laptop and cleaned everything. They had supposedly taken off the keyboard and cleaned it; I didn't see any remains of a spillage. Removed the wireless adapter - which was covered on the underside with dried OJ, cleaned it and it's compartment. (Adapter still works when I tested it on another laptop - good ol' Linksys :smileyhappy: ). Took apart the fan and removed a huge wad of compacted dust. Reassembled everything and now it powers up and stays on, but no beeps from the BIOS and the screen is blank.   Right now I'm waiting for a device I ordered to plug the HD into another PC and pull the ladies documents off for her (if I can do that, then the laptop is mine to keep!), before I try inserting a WinXP disc or anything.   In the meantime, since there's no beeps from the BIOS starting up - does this mean the motherboard is bad? (If the motherboard is bad, does it allow it to power up?).   I'd really like to fix this laptop, I'm wanting to give it to my niece for a high school graduation gift this summer. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

lc767 · Answer

check ou tthe ram situation if it god the juice as well but bad ram or ram that is not seated properly could cause this.  also if you pop off the power button cover and the keyboard and maybe the metal plate there is a flat cable that plugs into the video daughter card make sure that it si clean orange juice if acidic and then make sure it is seated properly the first time I took mine apart I knocked it loose and had no vid either.  also even if you didn't remove the cpu take the fan back off unlock the cpu lock screw and pull it out and make sure the pins are straight and re insert it carefully and fully then relock the screw when I first pulled my fan out it pulled the cpu up out of the socket now the bad news if it did come partially out and you powered it on it could have fried right away.  so try to reseat ram and cpu if no good buy a cheap 400Mhz socket 478 processor to test it with the processor was probably overheating for quite sometime if it had that much dust in it.  also make sure you put some heat sink compuond back on it when you reintall everything but you probably have a toasted cpu.

mikequ · Answer

Where would one get some heat sink compound. My CPU pulled out of the socket when I removed the heat sink for cleaning. Had to pry it off with a screwdriver. I understand the heat sink fan assembly will not work properly without the compound. Thanks, Mike

mom2je · Answer

I finally figured out that it must be the video card - was able to get one via auction for $10, but when I went to install it the CPU came off of the fan.   Went to CompUSA for thermal grease ($3.99 for 3 packets), in the meantime my husband (very non-techie) insisted on looking at the CPU and dropped it on the kitchen counter :smileymad: needless to say the pins were bent. I was able to straighten all of them except for 1 that got 'folded over' and is slightly 's' shaped.   Now I can't get the fan to power on :smileysad: so either the pins (CPU) are messed up or I didn't apply the thermal grease properly :smileytongue:   What exactly does the 'lock' or 'unlock' do on the CPU bed??

mikequ · Answer

Well, I am no expert but as I mentioned my CPU came out when I removed my heat sink for cleaning.  After reading another post about how someone had done the same thing and just stuck the CPU back into the Zif-socket I did exactly that.  After putting everything back together it acted just like yours is acting.  I took it apart again and this time I made sure that the Zif-socket was OPENED (turn the locking screw counter clockwise to unlock) before I replaced the CPU.  Then after carefully pressing down on the CPU I re-locked the Zif-socket assembly (by turning it back in a clockwise direction).  This shifted the socket assembly and appears to bind the pins in the socket. I would look carefully at the pins and make sure that all are perfectly straight before you reinsert.  Also, make sure you are grounded (with a grounding strap, or some sort of grounding wire) before you handle the CPU.  If you have not done this already, it may be too late. Static electricity can fry a CPU without much effort. Hope this helps. Mike

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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