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Toshiba Laptop Won't Power On

ThumbtackJThumbtackJ Member UncommonPosts: 669

So my girlfriend brought me her laptop today because it won't power on any longer. A few days ago her screen stopped working, which turned out to just be a loose LCD cable (took off the screen bezel, pushed the cable back into place, and it worked fine). So I'm not sure if it could be related to that or not. 

 

So far I've tried taking out the battery and leaving it unplugged for a good while, tried battery in and unplugged, plugged in with battery out. Then I took out the RAM, one stick at a time, and tried swapping them around in the different slots. Still nothing. I've also tried using a different power supply (Cooler Master one, with multiple head options) and the battery out, that still doesn't work.

 

When the charger is plugged in, the battery light turns white, and orange when the battery is in as well, so I assume it's still drawing power/charging the battery. However, hitting the power button does nothing. When I hit the power button the battery light disappears for a second or two, then comes back on. If I hit it a few times in a row, the power light indicator flashes for not even a second, then the battery light comes back on.

 

My next step is too crack it open and have a look at the power board and the cable to it, to see if it's broken/loose or whatever.

 

Any thoughts or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks bunches,

TJ

 

EDIT: It's a Toshiba Satellite C855S5236

Comments

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

    It's either the motherboard, or a smaller daughterboard called the DC-DC Converter (I believe this is what you call the power board).

  • TablixTablix Member UncommonPosts: 51

    My next step would be check to see if the HD is intact and working by using a USB external enclosure to connect to a working machine and (if possible) remove any important data from the HD.  With this type of laptop you have to justiy repair cost, and most likely the items of value are data not hardware.  Unless you have a serious modern gaming laptop, I find most laptops are "almost" disposable items with a lifespan of 2-3years if you are lucky.  Budget laptops usually have cheep PSU's, overheating issues and badly designed cases in terms of airflow meaning component failure rates are high.  Cost cutting in production is in both design and component selection.  Laptops are flawed by design in the fact they will always have issues with air flow, because consumers demand low low cost, low weight and optimum performance.

     

    In almost every situation (outside screen/HD replacement) a new laptop is the best solution. Sad but true IMO

  • ThumbtackJThumbtackJ Member UncommonPosts: 669
    Originally posted by Tablix

    My next step would be check to see if the HD is intact and working by using a USB external enclosure to connect to a working machine and (if possible) remove any important data from the HD.  With this type of laptop you have to justiy repair cost, and most likely the items of value are data not hardware.  Unless you have a serious modern gaming laptop, I find most laptops are "almost" disposable items with a lifespan of 2-3years if you are lucky.  Budget laptops usually have cheep PSU's, overheating issues and badly designed cases in terms of airflow meaning component failure rates are high.  Cost cutting in production is in both design and component selection.  Laptops are flawed by design in the fact they will always have issues with air flow, because consumers demand low low cost, low weight and optimum performance.

     

    In almost every situation (outside screen/HD replacement) a new laptop is the best solution. Sad but true IMO

    Yeah it's just a cheap $250-$300 laptop she uses to takes notes and does work on for Uni. So the data is completely of more value. I just have to see if I can fix it or not by friday, as her classes require the use of a computer during them. 

  • ThumbtackJThumbtackJ Member UncommonPosts: 669

    In the event that this laptop is unable to be fixed, or fixed cheaply and in a timely manner, does anyone have any recommendations on a laptop that's under $400? I was looking at these two:

     

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314110

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231073
     

    But I am by no means a laptop expert (I don't even use them, and haven't used one in ~4 years. 

     

    She just needs to be able to run MS Office (mostly excel) and browse the web (youtube, facebook, etc).

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383


    Originally posted by ThumbtackJ
    In the event that this laptop is unable to be fixed, or fixed cheaply and in a timely manner, does anyone have any recommendations on a laptop that's under $400? I was looking at these two:

     

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314110http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231073 

    But I am by no means a laptop expert (I don't even use them, and haven't used one in ~4 years. 

     

    She just needs to be able to run MS Office (mostly excel) and browse the web (youtube, facebook, etc).


    If those are your only criteria, just get anything that looks pretty/usable to her. The performance isn't going to be an issue, as anything bigger than a cell phone can run MS Office and browse the web well enough.

    Pretty much everything in that price range is going to be commodity, and while there are some laptops definitely worse than others, none are going to really stand out that much.

  • ThumbtackJThumbtackJ Member UncommonPosts: 669
    Originally posted by Ridelynn

     


    Originally posted by ThumbtackJ
    In the event that this laptop is unable to be fixed, or fixed cheaply and in a timely manner, does anyone have any recommendations on a laptop that's under $400? I was looking at these two:

     

     

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314110http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231073 

    But I am by no means a laptop expert (I don't even use them, and haven't used one in ~4 years. 

     

    She just needs to be able to run MS Office (mostly excel) and browse the web (youtube, facebook, etc).


     

    If those are your only criteria, just get anything that looks pretty/usable to her. The performance isn't going to be an issue, as anything bigger than a cell phone can run MS Office and browse the web well enough.

    Pretty much everything in that price range is going to be commodity, and while there are some laptops definitely worse than others, none are going to really stand out that much.

    Alright, thank you very much. :)

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    If she doesn't need much in the way of performance, you could grab some old hardware that they're just trying to get rid of:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G11F7144

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231271

    If you're willing to use up that whole $400 budget and want current generation hardware, there's this:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312827

    Even some games will run pretty well on that.  But only some.

  • GruntyGrunty Member EpicPosts: 8,657

    Dis-assembly videos will probably be available on Youtube.  Check all cable connections. Be very careful with those connections, they are easily broken. While disassembling be careful that you do NOT just yank parts apart. You can break cable connections, cables, or even pop out/break pressed in nuts in the plastic bits. Take more screws out than you think you need to.

    Check the cable connectors that you pulled apart. The pins are very weak and can easily be bent to cause a short or no contact.

    But more than likely it's the motherboard that's gone south.

    "I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone.  It's not.  The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone."  Robin Williams
  • syntax42syntax42 Member UncommonPosts: 1,378

    When cheap laptops die, there isn't much you can do to repair them that would make financial sense.  It generally costs more for a professional to repair one than it costs to replace it with a newer model.  In your case, it seem like the motherboard had something go bad on it.  If you don't see anything obvious, you probably can't repair it.

    You can get the data you need easily.  Buy a 2.5" SATA drive enclosure for around $10-$20.  Certain retail stores charge more than that, so be wary of the price you pay.  Plug it in to a working computer's USB port and getting the data you need is easy.

    Keep the RAM too if it has 4GB sticks.  Sometimes newer laptops come with a 4GB and 2GB stick, or only 4GB.

  • ThumbtackJThumbtackJ Member UncommonPosts: 669
    Thank you everyone. :) I'm looking at the laptop now and she's exploring options for her budget.
  • krulerkruler Member UncommonPosts: 589

    Sorry just caught this and im getting on a bit and smartphone purchase im reading this on, is making me wish a bought a tablet instead (blah blah).

    So excuse me if this has been suggested, with laptops of which ive had over 10 with work etc etc, the biggest cause of laptop not powering up is failure of the overly priced chargers, Tagan, Belkin and the like, if they don't out right go dead (the charger) they get a bad earth, drain your laptops battery and fail to recharge.

     

    Short answer have you tried another laptop power supply ?

  • ThumbtackJThumbtackJ Member UncommonPosts: 669
    Originally posted by kruler

    Short answer have you tried another laptop power supply ?

    Yup. That was the first thing I tried. I have a Cooler Master laptop charger with several different "plugs" that I used. Still nothing.

     

    Anyways, I opened it up, and took a look around, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. No frayed or burnt wires, nothing loose or unplugged, no visible damage on the mobo etc. I took a look at some videos and pictures of similar models and everything seems to be right (in terms of whats connected to what and all that). So at this point I assume it is indeed something wrong with the mobo. 

     

    Thanks again everyone! You've been a huge help. :)

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