Laptop Shut off and won't turn back on?

[Jaylllo]

The other day I shifted my weight and my laptop turned off.

It is a Dell Inspiron 5100.
I swapped the processor, and ram for known good ones. With either processor, it would turn on (no video) then turns off by itself about 5-7 seconds later.

Without a processor it turns on (again no video) and I can hear the harddrive. It does not turn off by itself.

Does anyone know how to clear a Dell Bios/Run the diagnostic?
I am beginning to think it is some motherboard component I broke somehow?

Thank you all.

 

[wnied]

With laptops the thing that sucks is that everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is attached in some way to the main system board. That being said, the only real way to check it, is to have someone who works on laptops professionally, give it the once over. So many things can fry on that system board and cause the symptoms you are observing. I would seriously consider looking into a system board replacement.

~wnied~

 

[Jaylllo]

I would at least like to reset the BIOS since that laptop had a bad habit of overheating just to be certain.

Although I am hard pressed to reason out what "broke" given the fact that it was just a very small jolt to the laptop.

 

[Jaylllo]

Bump for answers please.

 

[AsusGuy]

I would try starting the laptop without the CD drive and battery. Just eject them both and see what happens.

 

[Jaylllo]

Just tried your suggestion.(removing the battery & cdrom)

No effect. Still turns off after 4 seconds or so.

 

[Laputa]

There is likely a short somewhere. Hopefully you don't have to check for missing screws, or at least that was not the issue before this happened. Or something may not be connected properly...

 

[Jaylllo]

Originally posted by: Laputa
There is likely a short somewhere. Hopefully you don't have to check for missing screws, or at least that was not the issue before this happened. Or something may not be connected properly...

Sounds very reasonable, I don't think there were any screws down there.

Sadly, the laptop seems to be fine W/O processor.
Does that suggest the socket is screwed?
Lastly, do you happen to know where the CMOS battery reset is for a Dell Inspiron 5100?
I can't seem to find anything that remotely looks like a battery.

Thanks.

 

[Jaylllo]

Before sleep bump for suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[Slikkster]

Ok, I have some news for you, but it's not necessarily GOOD news.

This laptop is part of a series that Dell put out, including the 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, that have historical problems with shutdowns as you describe.

The luckiest scenario for you would be that it is just a heat issue that's remedied by cleaning out the fan and exhaust ducting, and possibly reapplying thermal grease to the CPU/heatsink.

There are other causes of this problem, too.

I am going to direct you to a website that's slow to load, but it's worth reading. Take the time to read as many posts as you can, as there are issues noted and issues resolved in the posts. The site is about someone's Inspiron 1100, but the 5100 is part of the same platform, and has some of the same issues.

I urge you not to rush in and try to *fix* this after reading the first few posts. Try reading as many as you can get through, because there are issues that you don't want to have to repeat and waste time in the process. Remember, this site will take a couple of minutes to totally load up. All the posts follow the website author's original comments. Scroll down to read them.

http://www.danandsherree.com/2005/04/02/our_dell_inspiron_11.php

It may very well be the easy fix noted on the site above; the dust/heat buildup that trips the auto-shutoff. But read all the posts and then you'll be armed with the proper process.

 

[Jaylllo]

Thank you, but I swapped out the overgrown p4 for a p4m a long time ago, so the heat problem does not apply to me.

My problem as stated in the original post doesn't have anything to do with overheating directly.

At this point I just need to reset the CMOS before assuming something is shorted. I'll read through it just to see if anyone posted how to reset the CMOS.

Thanks again.

EDIT : Skimmed through that site again, no mention of Bios reset. They say the battery *MIGHT* be on the bottom.

 

[Slikkster]

The heat problem is NOT directly related to the cpu. It's the dust buildup in the fan and exhaust ducts. Again, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that. "A long time ago" suggests there could easily be dust buildup there.

Hey, it's your laptop. I'm trying to point you to answers.

Other things to try: Remove the battery and try running it on AC only. After that test, remove the AC and try running it on battery only.

I have an Inspiron 1100 that will shutdown if I try to run it on AC AND Battery, but it works on one or the other. On mine, the battery doesn't charge, either, and it's a good battery.

This series of laptops has a lot of problems with the AC power jack on the back of the unit.

 

[Jaylllo]

Sorry,

I got this and another thread mixed up. (have the same thread running on another forum)

I forgot to mention I totally took the machine apart, so there is no dust problem. Sorry for the confusion.

I found the CMOS battery on the machine, would you know how to rest it? I tried to remove it but it seems glued on shut. I also bridged two random parts of it together for 30seconds. However, nothing seems to have happened.

 

[Slikkster]

Ok, couple of things. First of all, the CMOS reset, unfortunately, is primarily done by key combinations when booting up. Obviously, that won't help you. I haven't heard of any way to either disconnect the battery or do a motherboard clr cmos.

Since you have no video, have you reseated the LCD video cable to the video card? You need to remove the plastic bezel that covers the power switch, then unscrew the keyboard. Look at the top left quadrant, and follow the cable from the LCD screen. Might have a piece of tape covering part of it where it runs along the silver cover plate and connects to the video card. I would reseat the thing.

Try powering up then without the keyboard connected to see if the video pops on.

 

[Laputa]

Slikkster is on the right track. Another thing could be that the on/off power switch is stuck or one of the switch may be jammed. Just check those.