Laptop Problem -- Dell Inspiron 1520 -- Power Button and Keyboard not working

[akshatp]

Okay, this might be a lengthy post to get all the info out there, but here it goes:

Got a laptop that someone spilled white wine on, and then got thrown off the couch (?) -- thats the only part of the story I know. It was given to me to get the data off, and the person doesn't want the laptop back.

Upon receiving it, the first thing I did was plug it in and try to power it up, and of course it didnt turn on. I then disconnected the power, and reseated the battery, at which point the laptop fired right up and into Windows XP.

Excellent, I thought to myself, it is still in working condition. Found out the mouse (trackpad) works fine, but no response from the keyboard. Plugged in a USB keyboard and it works fine. So i shut it down and opened her up, removed the keyboard and cleaned it, put it back in and tried to power it up. Nothing. The power button is also completely unresponsive. Note: the lights for CL/NL/SL which is on the "power button board" all worked correctly when it was on.

Okay, so now I have it back together, but cannot get it to power up. Tried removing and inserting the battery/power cord but it would just briefly make noise like it was going to turn on, and then just go quiet again.

Strangely enough, after a few more times of removing the power cord and battery in random order, it turned on again upon an insertion of the battery (no power cord connected). Booted right back into Windows, and again is working fine with the external keyboard.

So, this is what I have found so far:

1) If the laptop is off, the only way to power it on is remove power/battery and insert the battery. ***If I plug the cord in without a battery inserted, it boots into "diagnostic mode" and starts running tests.

2) I tried booting it without the keyboard ribbon cable plugged in, and it just beeped constantly and did not boot up.

3) The power button is also unresponsive when Windows is turned on. Same goes for the "Home" button on the power bar with the button.

So, AT tech gurus. Any idea what the problem could be? I am thinking keyboard controller, but why would that affect the power button bar? They seem to be independent of each other.

Would pictures of the inside of the laptop help? I can upload some later if needed.

Any thoughts are welcomed.

Thanks.

 

[akshatp]

Update: I went ahead with the diagnostic boot, and then when prompted for a FULL system diagnostics test I hit Yes. It went through about 80% and then got stuck here:

It wouldnt let me use the USB keyboard to go any further, since it wanted to test the individual keys on the onboard keyboard. This is leading me to beleive that a "stuck key" is causing the problem with the power button. In other words, it isnt seeing the power button press because it thinks a key is being held down. Does this sound reasonable?

Im going to buy a replacement keyboard and see what happens.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If the laptop is damaged, and the previous owner just wants their data, why are you trying to repair the laptop first? Just pull the drive, and image it, and then copy the contents to a removable USB HD, and then take it to the previous owner's place, assuming that they bought another computer, and transfer the data over.

 

[Lanyap]

Sounds like you should get the data off and give it to the owner and then replace the keyboard and keep the laptop if the owner does not want it back.

 

[corkyg]

Echo what Larry and Lanyap said. You might find a keyboard worth cannibalizing on E-Bay.

 

[akshatp]

Sorry, I didnt mention in my OP that I already had removed the drive and used my handy dandy Vantec enclosure to pull his entire profile off.

Ordered a kb on eBay for $12.. If it works, great.. I told the owner he might get a working laptop back, but he has already bought one and said it would just sit around so if the keyboard works to keep it, sell it, whatever.

 

[akshatp]

Update... Got a new keyboard from ebay. Installed it, and still no go.

Funny thing is during POST when the Dell logo and white status bar comes up, it now hangs about 25% of the way through. Hitting C-A-D on the keyboard lets it continue, so there is definitely some sort of communication, but the keyboard and power button is still totally unresponsive.

External USB keyboard still works.