HELP! Killed my notebook while plugging it in

G

GushpinBob

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 11, 2007
Messages
2,721
Welp, today I've got a real problem with my Gateway CX210X. After listening to some internet radio I went upstairs to charge my laptop while it was still on. Well, when I plugged the power adapter into the laptop the screen went black, the sound cut out, the fans stopped moving, everything just OFF'd. No power or charge status lights were lit either. Pushing the power button doesn't give a response either with the battery in, the power adapter, or both in.

So far I have checked the power adapter with my multimeter and everything about it looks fine (getting ~19.2V, which is its rated voltage output, also no dirt or burn marks on the connector). I've also torn down the notebook to the bare motherboard to inspect the female adapter but nothing obvious like burn marks, dirt, or desoldered contacts. I'm nearly at my wit's end with this computer and the only solutions I can muster at the moment is to either look for a new motherboard on ebay or chuck the current one into the oven and cross my fingers.

This tablet convertible is nearly four years old, so any kind of warrenty on it has expired way long ago. I don't think Gateway would fix such a machine without charging a high premium (heck, I don't think Gateway would even touch it since I bought this computer before Acer took them over) so that is out of the question.

Thank you in advance for your responses.

EDIT: Pics of jack uploaded.






 
Last edited:
Dam, interesting reading this, the same problem occurred to my HP Multimedia Laptop.

except when i plug in the batter charger the connection makes weird sparking sounds followed by some smoke coming out

this computer is also 4 years old and HP has only offered to help with replacement of which i gotta pay regular pricing for...

I think these computers have been built with obsolescent time frame to die at a specific time..(just after warrenty ends)

my Other HP desktop died 2 months ago .. i had purchased a 4 year warranty and that was useless cause it expired a month an a half before computer totally died..

sorry i wasnt much help, hope someone can help
 
OP: This happened to my Insprion 1500 back in the day. I think it just got a small surge and blew a fuse or something. I unplugged it, removed the battery, and let it sit over night. It worked perfectly the next day. *shrug*
 
could it be a static thing?

A friend of mine told me once before that he had a similar situation with a laptop and he read to take the battery out, keep it unplugged, and press and hold the power button for 30 seconds or a minute or something like that. He said its supposed to basically remove static from the system and it should work again.


Its pretty simplel and free, give it a try and see if it works?
 
meinzorn said:
could it be a static thing?

A friend of mine told me once before that he had a similar situation with a laptop and he read to take the battery out, keep it unplugged, and press and hold the power button for 30 seconds or a minute or something like that. He said its supposed to basically remove static from the system and it should work again.


Its pretty simplel and free, give it a try and see if it works?
Click to expand...

I tried that and it didn't seem to work, even if I have the power and battery disconnected. :( I've also opened the bezel to inspect the power button circuitry but everything there seems normal.

Still open to suggestions guys.

EDIT: I guess it wouldn't hurt to put a small clamp or something on the power button since I won't be touching this laptop for the next 12 hours. Maybe 30 seconds or a minute isn't sufficient; we'll just have to wait and see.
 
Last edited:
Similar things happen to me OP. Though I guess I had better luck.

I quickly pull out the A/C adapter and the battery. Press the power button a number of times to drain any left over juice and let it sit alone for a few hours (maybe a good overnight) and it would be back up and running afterwards.
 
this happend to my netbook (asus 900HA)

thought i killed it and asus was no help


got pissed off and left it in a drawer for a month


rediscovered it and plugged it in and waalaa it works......idk probably a surg tripped
 
Well, the 12 hours didn't work. I guess this thing is completely fried. :(


Time to start saving up for a tm2t.
 
If you're willing to write it off as broken, you could try the oven trick on the motherboard. It might very well work.
 
ordovician said:
If you're willing to write it off as broken, you could try the oven trick on the motherboard. It might very well work.
Click to expand...

Already did that. Twice, actually. First trial at 375F and the second at 400F. All I'm left with is a zapped laptop with a now, "extra-crispy" motherboard. She's dead, Jack.

In retrospect, it wasn't really that great of a computer at all. To come to think of it, it was kind of a piece of crap. The pen functionality was next to useless after a few months when it was brand new, thanks to Gateway's shrewd decision to use a non-Wacom display with a pen that had no user-replaceable battery (the replacement pens were around 50 bucks a pop); the dedicated ATi GPU caused issues whenever the system resumed from sleep ranging from temporary, catatonic-like states to full blown system crashes; the screen was wobbly and the backlight seemed to dim over its lifetime; a noticable amount of dust had become trapped between the screen and the digitizer; the paint wore off the front panel quite rapidly and most of the rubber pads have fallen off. I know that the laptop was going on 4 years this summer but with quality like that it is no wonder that the original Gateway corporation is no longer and their recent products are just rebadged Acers. Hell, several months ago I gave my sister my 7 year old Inspiron 5100 (one of the infamous Dell "lap heaters" :D) and that thing is still chugging along fine, save for a 10 minute battery life and an occasion where I had to tighten up the video cable feeding the LCD (actually with a desktop Northwood for its processor, maybe the battery life has always been 10 minutes).



Right now, I think it's time for me to move on. School doesn't start for another two months and I really like what I am seeing in the tm2t (cue heatlesssun :p), especially since I hear it will be available with the Core i3 ULV and ATi HD5470 soon :D.
 
I had the same thing happened to my HP Mini 1000 weird, to bad you don't still have a warrenty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top