Seriously need HELP! The wife's Dell laptop won't power up...

[cotswoldcs]

I'm in trouble everyone!

Were were watching a DVD on our Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop when all of a sudden *poofppp* and the screen went dead. I realised I hadn't connected the power cable and so the laptop ran out of juice and switched off. I reconnected the power cable but still no joy.

I've tried a second power adaptor but still nothing. Removing the battery makes no difference either. To make matters worse my wife has mentioned for some time that the battery needs replacing and I wonder if the problem is related to a failing battery.

Question:
Can an Inspiron 9400 be powered up without its battery connected? If the answer is yes then I fear the motherboard has gone. Which is a shame.

[staffsMike]

Yeah all laptops can be powered without it (apart from a couple of stupid apples I believe, and they still probably can be).

Your motherboard is dead most probably.

[watercooled]

Try holding the power button for a few seconds.

[cotswoldcs]

Tried that but thanks. Tried holding the fn key and then Power but still no joy. I have tried with and without the battery. Tried removing memory, hard drive, etc.

I'm certain the battery is dead and IF the laptop can power up WITHOUT the battery then it must be a dead mobo - which is a real shame. It's just over 2 yrs old and we paid extra for a 2Ghz Core2Duo CPU and 2Gb 667Mhz DDR2 memory, and a 160Gb hard drive. A new motherboard and battery would eat into £150 so it would be worth considering a new laptop.

[staffsMike]

Would be lucky to do a mobo and battery for £150.. they are normally uneconomical to repair at that age with a dead mobo. Pull it to pieces and sell them if you feel up to it, they will grab a bit of money im sure.

[watercooled]

I'm not exactly sure how a dead battery could damage a motherboard - I'm sure we've all turned on a laptop and heard a short noise as the laptop attempts to power up. But then again it does sound like something is wrong with it - do you know any repair shops who could have a look at it to see if anything can be done? Also see if you can locate the CMOS battery (not a coin battery like a desktop - usually a rechargeable battery with a lead connecting to a motherboard header), unplug it, hold the power button for a few seconds and if there's a CLR CMOS jumper use it - if not, short the battery header to discharge the capacitor. Then, reconnect everything and try again.
BTW are there any lights on when the AC adapter is connected?

[staffsMike]

My thinking is the battery is a coincidence and it would have blown either way. Who knows though, try the above.. it cant hurt.

[watercooled]

Yeah it's perfectly possible for corrupted CMOS settings to prevent booting. Does the laptop make any noise (or do anything for that matter) when you press the power button?