Wierd power issue with Dell D600 Laptop

[brusse01]

Hi Guys,

I have installed the RC on a Dell Latittude D600 Laptop. Installation went smooth with the expection of driver hunts. The only upgrade I did was add a 1GB RAM (laptop has 2GB max).

I went to logon (out of hibernation mode) and laptop didnt boot. No BIOS, no HDD activity, just the green led power light was on. Thought I may have experienced a major hardware/motherboard malfunction. so i completetly shut the laptop down and put it aside for a day or 2. Out of curiousity I booted it up today and it boot up totally. Got the Bios screen, HDD activity all seemed ok. I did a complete shutdown and rebooted and BAM... didnt boot again!! Decided to take the battery out and rebooted. Amazingly, the laptop booted normally! Put the battery back in and wont boot normally.

This is my 2nd replacement battery bought directly from Dell in 1 yr. So, I am thinking I have a motherboard/power issue. BIOS sees the battery, but sometimes it charges and sometimes it doesnt.

So any ideas on how I can check any of the motherboard connections? laptop way past warranty lol..... BIOS is updated to newest (A15) and memtest was ok

thanks for help

 

[olg207]

try doing this,

hold down the power button for 30secs, with the battery out.
put the battery back in and see what happens, could be too much static electricity in the laptop

 

[Ian]

So you can't boot with the battery in, but it works ok if you insert the battery once it's booted? Sounds like a hardware fault somewhere, so if it's under warranty I'd get it looked at.

 

[brusse01]

hey thanks for the quick replies

I tried Olg207's idea... didnt work

Unfortunately, this laptop has gone way past the warranty lol..... but i do agree it is a hardware issue. Laptop boots up great w/out battery..... doesnt boot at all with battery. Makes me wonder how much life is left in this old D600 lol ..... I have already backed up any info but i alway like a good mystery lol

thanks again guys

note: laptop freezes up if i try to put laptop battery in after it has booted .

 

[brusse01]

hi all,

update: a very strange thing happened today. I put the battery in the laptop after it was fully booted and now battery is charging.... rebooted and laptop started just fine. Very wierd!!!!

I have been using it without the battery for 2 days. I put the battery in today and all is back to normal lol......

any theories??

 

[clifford_cooley]

One theory - Your laptop is possessed - Call a virtual priest :lol:

Seriously thou I had this happen too - Eventually It started working and I have no clue what the trouble was

 

[brusse01]

lmao!!! good one!!! I just knew it!! any idea where i can find a virtual priest?

wonder if i can get a 2 for 1 deal?.... I have another Dell C640 laptop with the RC on it and the keyboard acts funny lol.....

 

[Kougar]

Sounds almost like a sensor issue. I've heard of motherboard/battery sensors that went bad so a laptop wouldn't boot from or charge an installed battery.

How do the battery contacts look? Since this isn't a new laptop are all of the gold contacts clean? If not some people have used pencil erasers to clean them. It could be as simple as an intermittent contact.

 

[brusse01]

Hi Kougar,

I have looked at the contacts and i think taking a eraser to them wouldnt hurt abit. The contacts themselves don't look to bad . but it is a older laptop that has been around the block more then once lol

 

[olg207]

I could have been my button for 30secs, lol

 

[brusse01]

the laptop is still working fine.... the only thing i changed was instead of using hibernation mode, i have been completely shutting down the laptop. It has been booting just fine with the battery. I am now wondering if using hibernation mode with just a standard VGA adapter (cant find any drivers for ATI Mobility 9000) had a "power" issue .... just a thought.

I like Clifford's theory the best.... my Dell's are possessed!!!! lol
I have a Compaq desktop, a Toshiba laptop, and a custom build desktop that doesnt have any power issues at all !!!