Can anyone help me diagnose this issue with a computer not starting?

euser1984

I have a Sony vaio, initially I replaced the ram (and held the power button down for 1min) and it booted up and ran for a day or two with multiple reboots.

It's stopped now again - I removed and reinstalled the ram and used compressed air to clean it out first - no joy. I tried without memory - the power LED comes on (and stays on) but there are no beeps and nothing appears on the screen. I cleared the capacitors again and no joy.

Is the motherboard fooked? Is there anyway to get this going or can I assume the motherboard is dead?

Thanks.

shanec1928

euser1984 wrote: »

I have a Sony vaio, initially I replaced the ram (and held the power button down for 1min) and it booted up and ran for a day or two with multiple reboots.

It's stopped now again - I removed and reinstalled the ram and used compressed air to clean it out first - no joy. I tried without memory - the power LED comes on (and stays on) but there are no beeps and nothing appears on the screen. I cleared the capacitors again and no joy.

Is the motherboard fooked? Is there anyway to get this going or can I assume the motherboard is dead?

Thanks.

Did you boot it straight away after you used compressed air.

Joe Exotic

op your not really describing the issue your having that well.

Is it that the laptop won't boot or are you getting the blue screen of death

When you say multiple reboots what do you mean Did it Freeze and you had to reboot or is it rebooting on its own or is it getting so far during boot and restarting

if you can be clearer it would help with giving advice

Also you say initially you replaced the ram was this the start of the problem or was this your first attempt at a fix

euser1984

murphk wrote: »

op your not really describing the issue your having that well.

Is it that the laptop won't boot or are you getting the blue screen of death

When you say multiple reboots what do you mean Did it Freeze and you had to reboot or is it rebooting on its own or is it getting so far during boot and restarting

if you can be clearer it would help with giving advice

Also you say initially you replaced the ram was this the start of the problem or was this your first attempt at a fix

Hi,
I think I did specify that I'm getting no beeps or nothing on the screen even though the power LED comes on and stays on. I must not have been clear enough. Hope that clarifies things!

euser1984

shanec1928 wrote: »

Did you boot it straight away after you used compressed air.

Yes, I'll try it now again as it's been a while.

Gazzmonkey

It would help if you mentioned what happened when you first noticed there was a problem... or were you just upgrading the ram?

Gazzmonkey

It would help if you mentioned what happened when you first noticed there was a problem... or were you just upgrading the ram?

euser1984

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

It would help if you mentioned what happened when you first noticed there was a problem... or were you just upgrading the ram?

There was no upgrade done - he gave it to me to look at. I have no experience with this particular kind of problem though.

I do know the power connector is damaged (it's bent where it plugs in to the laptop)

When I turn it on all I can hear is the CPU fan, no hard disk activity etc.

Gazzmonkey

euser1984 wrote: »

There was no upgrade done - he gave it to me to look at. I have no experience with this particular kind of problem though.

I do know the power connector is damaged (it's bent where it plugs in to the laptop)

When I turn it on all I can hear is the CPU fan, no hard disk activity etc.

What about LED's then, charge light, power light, wifi light? I assume no HDD light though.

Gazzmonkey

euser1984 wrote: »

There was no upgrade done - he gave it to me to look at. I have no experience with this particular kind of problem though.

I do know the power connector is damaged (it's bent where it plugs in to the laptop)

When I turn it on all I can hear is the CPU fan, no hard disk activity etc.

What about LED's then, charge light, power light, wifi light? I assume no HDD light though.

euser1984

Gazzmonkey wrote: »

What about LED's then, charge light, power light, wifi light? I assume no HDD light though.

The lights flash when I turn it on for a second - after that it's just the power LED on the power button to indicate that it is on.

excollier

Can you hear the hdd spinning? Try a live linux cd/dvd or even a windows install disc to see if it will boot from that - will get you closer to the cause by eliminating the hdd from the equation.
To me it sounds like a motherboard problem maybe graphics have failed or perhaps the cpu has failed, it needs deeper examination. Try taking out one of the ram modules and alternating them in the slots to eliminate the possibility of dodgy ram or ram slots.

IrlMonk

Is the power adaptor damaged or the power jack on the laptop?
Take out the battery and see if there are any led's flashing with the power adaptor inserted snuggly.
It's possible the battery is almost drained and there is no power to recharge!

euser1984

IrlMonk wrote: »

Is the power adaptor damaged or the power socket on the laptop?
Take out the battery and see if there are any led's flashing with the power adaptor inserted snuggly.
It's possible the battery is almost drained and there is no power to recharge!

It is the power socket and I tried it with the battery alright

IrlMonk

So there is no dc power to the laptop??
Only the power that is left in the battery??
If that is so, then the first thing I would suggest is to replace the power jack on the laptop if it is damaged.

euser1984

IrlMonk wrote: »

So there is no dc power to the laptop??
Only the power that is left in the battery??
If that is so, then the first thing I would suggest is to replace the power socket on the laptop if it is damaged.

There is currently no battery installed and the dc power does work if held a certain way (I can route the wire around the back to get it to hold without my hand).

I am going to order a new power adaptor when my friend gives the ok...just incase the voltage is dodgy or something...

IrlMonk

So the power Jack on the laptop is damaged?
Should not cost too much to replace.

Gazzmonkey

IrlMonk wrote: »

So there is no dc power to the laptop??
Only the power that is left in the battery??
If that is so, then the first thing I would suggest is to replace the power socket on the laptop if it is damaged.

x2

If there is no juice left in the battery and the laptop is unable to recharge due to damaged PSU then it would exhibit behaviour similar to what you described.