Laptop not turning on..

[Azalie]

Hi, i recently got a Dell Inspiron 1100 from someone..

and they couldnt get it to turn on..

so insted of using it for parts, i was thinkin about fixing it..


heres how it goes.

-I plug it in, battery light is green and stays green..

-Press power button once.. Power light comes on, HD starts spinning, then stops (within a second) power light starts flashing.. (In the manuel it says a flashing power buttons means standby mode)

-Press power again... Light turns on and stays on for a couple seconds.. then goes off.


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-Press power button and HOLD it..

-Power light comes on, HD starts spinning, it checks the CD drive, the HD light flashes once.. everything shuts down, then acts like it turns back on again for a second.. then turns right back off again.

-*lets go of the power button*

If i try to let go of the power button while its "starting up", it will immediety turn off as soon as i let go... even the battery light turns off for a second.. (but then comes right back on) followed by the flashing power light.



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I find this very mysterious... at no point is there ever anything on the display.. even if i do plug it into an external monitor..


would it possibly help if i might swap a stick of ram out and try a differnt stick of ram?

anyone have any ideas? :D

Thankies ^^

~Cait

[mjc]

Do you have the AC adapter for it?

Can you easily pull the hard drive? Memory?

Any add in cards?

[Azalie]

Do you have the AC adapter for it? - Yep... it charges fine as far as i can tell too.

Can you easily pull the hard drive? Memory? - Yep again.. I pulled the ram and tried to start it, same thing happened.

Any add in cards? - Nope, not that i can see.

I took it all apart to see if maybe there was some physical damage i might be able to see.. (and omg, it is soo much more complicated to take apart than my Inpiron B130)

There wasnt anything besides maybe some sort of white residue on the side of the card, where maybe, like.. possibly some milk got spilt or something..

Or i could be like that from the manufactor *shrug*

I cleaned some of what was there off, still nothing....

no scorch marks where it got smoked by lightning or anything...

I dont know *anything* about the laptops past life... so, not sure about anything...

Thanks!

~Cait

[classicsoftware]

This sounds heat related. Can you check the heat sink on the CPU. I just sent one for repairs that had the exact same issue and all that it needed was to have the heat sink re-seated.

[mjc]

Laptop heatsinks are also noted for being notorious dust catchers...the dust gets in between the fins and stops all airflow through it...this is especially tru if it is a shrouded unit. I've pulled the fan from some and ran them through the dishwasher to remove all the built up crud. (Without the fan attached a heasink is just a hunk of aluminum...)

[Rick]

Note also that the Dell 1100's also had a switch problem

Personal experience with one. Under warranty had to return it to Dell.

Pressing the switch only booted 1 in 3 to 5 times
Lights came on, fan twitched, when released it shut itself down

[Azalie]

..heatsink?

So id just need to find the heatsink and.. like.. put some compressed air to it?


If heat was the problem wouldnt it just like.. wait until it overheated until it shut off? I dont think it gets hot THAT fast..

but then again, what do i know? hahaha

and what about this switch problem?? It just needs a new switch? or just clean it? something i can do from home?

Thanks! ^^

EDIT: I just googled inspiron 1100 Switch problems.
I really think thats the problem!!

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/43259/

^ there..

it DOES act like its just going into hibernation mode all the time! before it can even start up!

It said this: Try tapping on the case of your computer between the blue buttons used for mouse clicks and the edge of the case near the three led lights. A very small reed switch sits just under this area. When it starts to fail your computer will not turn on. Tap with finger tips ten or so times and try the power button. Try this several times if necessary. This made my computer turn on finally. Verifying a bad switch. This is the switch that controls the stand by function when you close your lid. The lid has a magnet in it and when the lid closes it pulls the metal switch contacts closed. You can find replacement parts on eBay.


Ok so theres apparently some sort of reed that makes it go into hibernation mode..
Ive had the thing apart before.. Can i just take the reed completely out or something? I never use hibernation or sleep or anything..

any ideas on this!

we're getting somewhere, horray! ^-^

[Rick]

If it is in fact that switch
You need to see if it is by default open or closed

The lock it into the default
If it Must stay open
Then a small piece of electrical tape will/may solve it

However be careful.
Some have a two sided contract
when in the open state is may be making contact on the back side to another set.

I can't say what Dell replaced.
In Fact After I sent it in the second time for the same problem
I was given a new laptop and a week later My old unit was in their refurbished area ( I checked by way of the Numbers) :)

[Azalie]

ok, me and my dad will work on it possibly tomarrow..

Does anyone happen to have a picture of the reed/switch/glass tube thing?

Thanks ^^

~Cait

[Rick]

Check the dell site
The 1100 is older now and the maintenance doc's should be online by now
They will show the full .schematics

[Azalie]

Ooook we took it apart and put it back together 4 times today..

inside the little glass tube is 2 strips of metal..

When they are apart.. it does that.. Acting like its in hibernation mode or whatever..

When they are TOUCHING, it doesnt even turn on.. No lights, no nothing...

So maybe it's not that switch???

We checked the heatsink and its clean... no problems..

what else could it be? <=\