Really Weird Laptop Shutdown Issue

AlaDes

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Ok Technibblers, I have a really weird laptop shutdown issue I'd like to run by everyone, just to see if any of you all have ever ran across this one yourself.
A few months ago, a customer brings in a Gateway NV59C09u to me and explains that he spilled "spirits" into the keyboard area of it and would like to have it repaired. He also explained that he had used it for a little while afterwards but eventually it would not power on. After inspecting the battery, I noticed that it had some burn marks on it and explained that it would definitely need a motherboard and a new battery and gave him a price and he told me to go ahead. I also told him that it would probably also need a keyboard as well but he said the keyboard worked just fine, so I said we would hold off on the keyboard and battery until we made sure the unit worked with the new motherboard.
I get the replacement motherboard in and the nightmare began! After getting everything reassembled, I boot the system up and immediately the system powers off after about 5 minutes with no warning. Every time, 5 minutes, no warning. So I boot to the BIOS and the same thing: 5 minutes and poof! Immediately I began disconnecting EVERYTHING from the board except the LVDS cable. As soon as the system booted, I pulled the power button ribbon to rule it out and still a no go.
Next stop, call the company up and ask for an exchange due to a defective motherboard, which they gladly did. They even cross-shipped the board for me, which was really nice. I get the new board in and the same results! OK, I'm thinking maybe it's a faulty processor, so I try changing that as well. Yeah right, still a no go.
I called the company up one more time and they nicely sent me one more replacement board and I'm like, may the third time is the charm: NOT! Same thing: The only thing I hadn't tried was battery only power because I wasn't about to buy a battery for a laptop that I didn't feel was worth it. Well, luck had it that I had one come in as a donation that had been hit by lightening and the battery fit in it, so I made sure that the battery was charged 100% and disconnected everything from the board, including the charging port, LVDS cable, and the power button ribbon once I powered the unit on. Still a no go!
Honestly guys, I have never seen the likes of this laptop. I know I must be crazy for working on this one for this long (only in my spare time), but I just can't believe I could have gotten 3 bad motherboards or 3 bad processors. I have completely eliminated EVERYTHING, except the motherboard, processor, and a power source of some kind, be it battery or A/C. It powers off suddenly like clock work after 5 minutes every single time, as if it were on a timer, and will power right back on for another 5 minutes, and so on and so forth, so that eliminates any kind of overheating. This has been the same story for all 3 motherboards and all three processors. Of course, I only tried different processors in the last 2 boards.
 
There's not much left, is there? :D

What about the heat pipe? Can you restart after it switches itself off? Does it still run for 5 minutes, or is it less each time? (In other words, is it a thermal issue?)

Presuming that these are power-off shutdowns, it might be an idea to image the hard drive while it still works. Speaking of which, have you booted without the hard drive?
 
There's not much left, is there? :D

What about the heat pipe? Can you restart after it switches itself off? Does it still run for 5 minutes, or is it less each time? (In other words, is it a thermal issue?)
Yes, and it will run for another 5 minutes. That's why I know it's not an overheating issue. It's never less each time. I always time it and it'll stay on for approximately 5 minutes, give or take a few seconds each time, even right after a direct shut off and I power it right back up.

Presuming that these are power-off shutdowns, it might be an idea to image the hard drive while it still works. Speaking of which, have you booted without the hard drive?
Yes, I've booted it without the hard drive. When I say I've booted it without everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Nothing attached to the motherboard at all, except an external power source, such as A/C power or a battery and a switch to turn the laptop on. As far as the switch, I've even disconnected it once the laptop was up and running. In other words, I'm not even able to see the display because I don't even have the LVDS cable connected either. I only know the laptop is powered on by the LEDs and the processor fan running for 5 minutes and then the all shut off.
No, I don't normally spend this much time on something like this but I love a good brain teaser in my spare time sometimes and yes, this is stranger than fiction! lol
 
Did the replacement motherboards come with a CPU fan or are you using the original?
Does it do the same on battery power?
long shot, can you try the motherboard out of the chassis, on a antistatic mat?
 
Seems impossible you sure you didn't miss anything? You didn't mention anything about the ram. Have you tried a bios update?

Edit: you sure that ebayer isn't sending you the exact same motherboard each time?
 
I don't have my Acer ASP Access bookmarked for home use (yet) but it sounds as if you have a secondary component which is triggering a shutdown. Most system boards now rely on a few daughter cards which can and will prevent post, lock up and trigger shutdowns. These can range from a circuit board that handles DC IN, USB/Card Reader Boards, Audio Boards etc.

Is your WiFi card connected?
Webcam cable?
Audio cable?
USB/SD ZIF Connector?
HDD/DVD Cables removed from mainboard, not just devices?
AC Adapter verified for voltage & amperage?
Keyboard disconnected?
DC Harness inspected for damage?

When you did power everything up first time, did it make it into Windows? A long long time ago in a galaxy far away, Acer had quite a few laptops that would shut off unless they were running Windows. Weird but true. Boot to DOS to run SeaTools? System would shut off. Unlikely that bug has returned but worth a shot.

A case example of this, about a week ago a girl brought in an HP with liquid damage. Traced the no display and power off to corrosion on the trackpad circuit. Once that was cleaned with the ultrasonic, it was back to normal.
 
You mentioned pulling the power button ribbon cable out as soon as it powered up.
I once had an HP dv6-3000 series which has it's own power button daughter board, and it did the same thing as yours, after a few minutes, it would shut off completely. I changed mobos, cpu, RAM, screen, and the only thing in common was that little daughter board. Yep, it was faulty. I had another dv6 a year or so later presenting the same symptoms and just changed the power button board right away.
I didn't try removing the ribbon cable as soon as it booted, didn't know that trick.
 
99.99% of the time a shut down is either overheating or if not it's the main board, kinda easy to know.
Harder to make a decision sometimes :)
 
Seems impossible you sure you didn't miss anything? You didn't mention anything about the ram. Have you tried a bios update?

Edit: you sure that ebayer isn't sending you the exact same motherboard each time?
I'm sure the ebay buyer isn't sending me the same board because I didn't buy it through eBay lol. I only get motherboards through eBay as a last resort for this very reason. The company I purchase my boards through cross ships the boards to me so that eliminates them sending me the same board back to me, along with me taking photos of the model and S/N of the boards when I receive them.

I don't have my Acer ASP Access bookmarked for home use (yet) but it sounds as if you have a secondary component which is triggering a shutdown. Most system boards now rely on a few daughter cards which can and will prevent post, lock up and trigger shutdowns. These can range from a circuit board that handles DC IN, USB/Card Reader Boards, Audio Boards etc.

Is your WiFi card connected?
Webcam cable?
Audio cable?
USB/SD ZIF Connector?
HDD/DVD Cables removed from mainboard, not just devices?
AC Adapter verified for voltage & amperage?
Keyboard disconnected?
DC Harness inspected for damage?

When you did power everything up first time, did it make it into Windows? A long long time ago in a galaxy far away, Acer had quite a few laptops that would shut off unless they were running Windows. Weird but true. Boot to DOS to run SeaTools? System would shut off. Unlikely that bug has returned but worth a shot.

A case example of this, about a week ago a girl brought in an HP with liquid damage. Traced the no display and power off to corrosion on the trackpad circuit. Once that was cleaned with the ultrasonic, it was back to normal.

I have literally tried everything here, except one that PCS mentioned in a previous post: The processor fan. On the DC harness, I ruled it out by fully charging the battery and disconnecting the harness from the board and powering the board on with battering power alone. I guess I could gently take the power button and ribbon off the top cover to rule out any ground-outs too, as I have to lay it over top of the board to attach the ribbon long enough to get it powered on and then quickly disconnect it. As far as daughter boards, this particular board has none that it relies on, fortunately.

You mentioned pulling the power button ribbon cable out as soon as it powered up.
I once had an HP dv6-3000 series which has it's own power button daughter board, and it did the same thing as yours, after a few minutes, it would shut off completely. I changed mobos, cpu, RAM, screen, and the only thing in common was that little daughter board. Yep, it was faulty. I had another dv6 a year or so later presenting the same symptoms and just changed the power button board right away.
I didn't try removing the ribbon cable as soon as it booted, didn't know that trick.
I once had a client bring me a Dell desktop that another company had deemed it had a bad motherboard. She just wanted a second opinion and her data backed up if the unit couldn't be saved. Every time I powered the unit up it would immediately go through the power down process like someone had initiated a shutdown command. Come to find out, it was a bad power switch that was stuck. Cheap $5 part on eBay ;)
 
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