Power issues

[stallional]

Working on a
gateway md2614u laptop thats having
power issues. When i plug in charger
i get a yellow blinking light.If i let
it charge overnight i can get it
to boot up for about two minutes
and then it shuts down. Also wont start without battery.
I have bought new battery
and charger for it. Have reset ram
and checked ram slots. drained battery
several times. Also reseated the cpu.
No fan or heating issues.
I checked the powerjack and it looks
fine. no bent pins. no burning signs on motherboard.
sotter on powerjack looks good. but i may install a new one anyway.
im guessing that its not the motherboard since
i can get it to start up sometimes but only for a few
minutes? not sure...
I wanted to update bios but cant get computer to stay on
long enough and dont want it to turn of in the middle of it.
Also wanted to update any drivers that have to do with battery
or power. Any ideas at all before i put a few bullets into it?
Would a docking station help? (not sure if is even capable)

 

[glennd]

Working on a
gateway md2614u laptop thats having
power issues. When i plug in charger
i get a yellow blinking light.If i let
it charge overnight i can get it
to boot up for about two minutes
and then it shuts down. Also wont start without battery.
I have bought new battery
and charger for it. Have reset ram
and checked ram slots. drained battery
several times. Also reseated the cpu.
No fan or heating issues.
I checked the powerjack and it looks
fine. no bent pins. no burning signs on motherboard.
sotter on powerjack looks good. but i may install a new one anyway.
im guessing that its not the motherboard since
i can get it to start up sometimes but only for a few
minutes? not sure...
I wanted to update bios but cant get computer to stay on
long enough and dont want it to turn of in the middle of it.
Also wanted to update any drivers that have to do with battery
or power. Any ideas at all before i put a few bullets into it?
Would a docking station help? (not sure if is even capable)

looks like you've explored it pretty thoroughly so i'd go with your second last idea...

oh, before you do that, boot it up to linux, see if that's stable. if it is, you know it's a windows issue, if it isn't, back to the second last idea. is it stable in the bios setup?

 

[stallional]

looks like you've explored it pretty thoroughly so i'd go with your second last idea...

oh, before you do that, boot it up to linux, see if that's stable. if it is, you know it's a windows issue, if it isn't, back to the second last idea. is it stable in the bios setup?

I cant boot it up to anything cause i cant keep it running long enough. lol. not stable in bios. barely have time to get to desktop before it dies. i would love to find out its a software issue, but i dont see how.

 

[nlinecomputers]

gateway md2614u

You've already spent more than the unit is worth. Why waste time on a 8 year old laptop?

 

[stallional]

its not mine. its my sisters. she has hundreds of pictures and videos of her kids when they were younger. plus i have some time on my hands figured id try to help out.

 

[glennd]

not stable in bios.

8 year old laptop.
that's your answer right there. remove hdd, plug into sata2usb to retrieve pictures etc, back to second last idea..

 

[stallional]

id have to study up on how they work. not familiar but thanks

 

[nlinecomputers]

Are you a tech or an end user?

 

[glennd]

end user

Tell us a little about yourself
i like computers, but i cant fix them

What country do you live in?
united states

What is your current experience? (Years working on computers, in the business, certifications etc..)
not much

Are you looking to start a computer business, already have one, working for someone else or something else?
maybe

Anything else you would like to share? hobbies etc...
no

 

[stallional]

not a tech but know way more than the average person. lol

 

[nlinecomputers]

This forum is NOT for end-user support. This is a private forum for IT professionals and IT service company business owners ONLY. Please visit an end user help forum like tomshardware.com or better yet take the PC to a local professional before you f it up and ruin your sister's photos and she never speaks to you again.

 

[stallional]

Lol. wow. nice people on here. wasnt aware it was for techs only. so sorry to offend you. btw she was ready to pitch the computer anyway. Good day sir.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

If i let
it charge overnight i can get it
to boot up for about two minutes
and then it shuts down. Also wont start without battery.

I'm actually curious about this since I don't get enough hardware experience. What would be the actual cause of this? Something wrong with the charging circuit?

 

[NviGate Systems]

More than likely VRM failure or caps.

 

[Krynn72]

I saw an issue similar to this recently where clearing and replacing the CMOS battery fixed it. Been seeing a lot of CMOS issues causing strange symptoms recently.