Inspiron 9300 challenge

[ibleet]

Here is a puzzler for everyone:

I diagnosed a Dell Inspiron 9300 as having a faulty video card, and I replaced it with a used ati x300 I picked up from Ebay. The card worked great. Then 12 days later, the owner said it blew up. He heard a pop sound followed by a fizz...like air escaping from something...and the laptop shut off. Now it wont start at all. The 3 lights come on, no beeps and seconds later they just shut off. The screen shows nothing.

I stripped it down and removed all the components and it still does the same thing....lights up a few seconds and shuts down. When I inspected the system board, I saw no signs of noticeable damage...I removed the video card and tried it in a spare 9300 and it still works fine.

I'm thinking the culprit is the system board...would a capacitor make a noise like that if it went bad? I doubt if the problem is the CPU because they don't make noise when they go bad.

By the way, he swears up and down he didn't drop it or spill anything on it.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Tech_Greek]

The pop and fizz usually means something has fried, and that can be the cpu.

HOWEVER, whenever a CPU reachs a certain temperature it's supposed to shutdown before having a meltdown.

Check the power button, 9300's were notorious for having the power button daughter board have the circuit traces break under a microscope from use just like the older Dells.

If that's ok, it's more than likely either CPU or MOBO - on a laptop they usually use solid caps to prevent anything like that from happening and when you open you'll clearly see if liquid has spilled ever.

[ibleet]

Thanks Eric.

You're absolutely right that many Dell laptops have issues with the power boards, but this one is fine.

As for the cpu overheating, I had recently installed i8kfangui and had the fans at full speed so the cpu temp never exceeded 35c. I've already pulled the cpu and will try it in my spare 9300 just to be certain.

I didn't see any visible evidence of spills, so I'm still thinking something fried on the system board.

I appreciate your input.

[Tech_Greek]

Generally for me it's always been the power button daughter board or CPU - very rarely will you see the motherboard go out (most techs misdiagnose a motherboard failure in a laptop) unless something has been spilled on it OR the D/C Jack has been broken and shorted out too much.

Are you getting a charge light on it at all with the A/C Adaptor plugged in?

[ibleet]

Are you getting a charge light on it at all with the A/C Adaptor plugged in?

Yes, the charge light is on. Then when I push the power button, all I get are the Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock, and power light for about a second or 2 then they turn off. Since the power jack is charging the battery, I figured it was ok and the system board was the issue.

To be certain, I'll swap out the top plastics, which contains the power board and see if the problem persists.

[Tech_Greek]

Well, it's either going to be the board or cpu so check both if possible...volt meter is your friend if you're wanting to waste time if not you can find them pretty cheap now-a-days online.

[ibleet]

Thanks again Eric. I'm swapping out the cpu today and will post my results.

I have a volt meter and multi meter, but I usually only resort to those when all else fails.

If switching out the power board and cpu gives the same results, then I know for sure its a bad system board.

[Tech_Greek]

Thanks again Eric. I'm swapping out the cpu today and will post my results.

I have a volt meter and multi meter, but I usually only resort to those when all else fails.

If switching out the power board and cpu gives the same results, then I know for sure its a bad system board.

Yep!

[ibleet]

Update: I swapped out both the top plastics (with power board) and cpu and they both work, so my initial diagnosis of a bad system board was right. Since the system board will cost more than the laptop is really worth, I guess it will just be used for spare parts, so now I have to find a replacement laptop for this guy.

Eric, thanks again for your valuable input.

[Tech_Greek]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Inspiron-9300- ... 0265579196

Enjoy ;) Make sure P/N's line up - they are cheap to replace with used parts.

[ibleet]

I appreciate the effort you put into finding this auction, but I'm not sure this guy will want to spend that kind of cash to revive a used 5 year old laptop when he can pick up a new dual core for $400.

He already spent $45 on a video card, and this system board is $130 with shipping...that's $175. I'll run it by him and see because the decision is out of my hands.

Besides, if he gets a new laptop, he can sell the 9300 components on ebay and recoup some of his loss. It has a good video card, cpu, LCD, DVD+_RW, Hard drive, 1Gb memory, etc.

Thanks again!