Laptop Power

[tomtom]

Hey guys

my first post here, long time lurker.

My friends laptop went wrong yesterday - he was using it and it turned itself off.

I've been having a look at it and have undone some of it however I'm run out of ideas.

So far I have removed hard drive, ram , battery. I have also tried to do a reset by holding power button down.

All the leds are on, and the fan spins.

Heres what happens;
Power laptop up
LEDS on, fan spins
fan stops (2 seconds)
fan starts slightly faster speed
then
it seems to be 'rebooting' itself, as the fan goes off then goes faster.

The air from the fan is warm, so I'm guessing theres something on (cpu, northbridge?)

Could anyone here help me out? My mate got it for his birthday and can't really afford to replace it - I've reassured him so far that the hard drive is working so his data is fine.

The laptop is a toshiba p_200

Thank you so much, I look forward to your replies.

[tomtom]

52 views and no reply? PLease someone give some input!

Thanks

[de.das.dude]

check you battery dude.

whats the time gap after you turned it on that it goes off?

read my sig. \/

[tomtom]

It doesn't go off, it reboots. What battery, bios or actual battery?

[n-ster]

Have you tried just taking the actuall battery out and on AC power? everything else in?

[de.das.dude]

actual battery.

[DRDNA]

first hit the key that would bring you to the BIOS when you boot...If you can get to the BIOS then test the harddrive to see if its faulty.GL

[Mussels]

somethings probably overheating or failed due to overheating.

if its outside of warranty, try opening it up and disassembling it, then regreasing the CPU, GPU and NB.

beyond that, its probably screwed.

[CJCerny]

Sounds like a problem with the power regulation circuitry. In some laptops, that's on the motherboard. In others, it's a seperate PCB. That kind of thing is about $200 to fix at a factory authorized service facility. If it is a common laptop, ebay has lots of spare parts for it and you could potentially fix it yourself.

[AltecV1]

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by AltecV1

http://chce.to/content/suda/big.1017...C9036F678A.jpg

forget the thanks button, we need a slap button... oh wait.

[95Viper]

I agree on the battery.

Try a new CMOS button battery, first, then a new power cell unit (actual).
As, my HP did the same thing when the CMOS battery went. Had to hold done the power button and cut it off and do over a couple of times 'til she caught. Replaced the button cell and fixed the problem.

Another thing to check is the output from the power brick.

Hope yours is that easy to fix.

EDIT: Run a memory test, too!

[tomtom]

Originally Posted by 95Viper

I agree on the battery.

Try a new CMOS button battery, first, then a new power cell unit (actual).
As, my HP did the same thing when the CMOS battery went. Had to hold done the power button and cut it off and do over a couple of times 'til she caught. Replaced the button cell and fixed the problem.

Another thing to check is the output from the power brick.

Hope yours is that easy to fix.

EDIT: Run a memory test, too!

So replace the cmos battery? I think its soldered in, or has some type of clip ontop - is it a matter of bending the clip replacing and bending it back?

When you say you held down the power and cut it off - how do you mean? Constantly held the button, or held it, waited for it to go on shut it down and repeated??

Use a multimeter for the output of the power brick you mean and ensure its giving out the same volts and amps as it states on the brick itself?

Thanks

EDIT
is this the cmos battery? if so is this soldered or can that be 'unclipped'?

[95Viper]

Originally Posted by tomtom

So replace the cmos battery? I think its soldered in, or has some type of clip ontop - is it a matter of bending the clip replacing and bending it back?

When you say you held down the power and cut it off - how do you mean? Constantly held the button, or held it, waited for it to go on shut it down and repeated??

Use a multimeter for the output of the power brick you mean and ensure its giving out the same volts and amps as it states on the brick itself?

Thanks

EDIT
is this the cmos battery? if so is this soldered or can that be 'unclipped'?

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/3636/bats.jpg

Well, it looks like you got the keyboard off. That battery should slide out from under the clip holding it. Some models had just a button battery and some models used a battery with a lead and push on connector... either way it is not supposed to be soldered.

Yes, held down power button until it cut-off. Correct, I had to do this about three times, before she acted right.

Yes, use a multi-meter and check the output voltage on your DC out on the power brick.
Should be close to the rated voltage output. Same with the battery(when fully charged).
The ratings should be on the battery and power brick.


Edit:

I, also, would run a memory test if you haven't done that...
And, while you are in there and, if you are adventurous; change the thermal paste on the heatsink.

[Namslas90]

Be sure to blow all the dust out of the heat sinks, heat tubes, etc. and if its older than 2-3 years you may as well redo the thermal pad/paste on the cpu they tend to dry out and get crumbly and fail.

My first guess would have been overheating, then other failures like allready mentioned including; bad HDD, and be sure to check the power recharge connector they tend to get loose/break away from the mobo. Also the batterys don't last forever, and reporting software is not all that great either, so they could be bad.

Link for batts/chargers
http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx...20ac%20adapter