Laptop wont post....sometimes.

[Tom128]

I have a laptop that is baffling me. It used to work fine but for the last few months it has become cranky. When I turn the thing on it will sometimes start right up, other times the fans are going but no beep and no post.

I have opened it up but I don't see anything particularly broken looking, but laptops are a bit foreign to me so troubleshooting one is new to me. I am thinking it may be a bad mobo?

There does not seem to be any patterns to the problem. It starts, or it does not. If I sit there and restart it over and over, it may eventually turn on, or I have have to walk away and come back a few hours later and it will magically start the first power up (or not). I usually just leave it running once it is on but I dual boot with WinXP/Linux so if I want to switch OS I take a risk every time of having to delay what I was going to do lol.

Any ideas for what is going on and what I could do, if anything, is appreciated.

 

[TechLarry]

What kind of Laptop?

If it is a ThinkPad T20 or higher, it may be a power manager issue. I don't give this much chance as you are getting fans, but it's still worth a try. Do this:

1. Remove the Battery.
2. Unplug the A/C Adapter.
3. Open the lid and press the Power Switch for 20 seconds.
4. Repeat Step 3 one more time.
5. Insert the Battery.
6. Plug in the A/C Adapter.

Power up.

For ThinkPads, this is a very common issue and _usually_ happens after you allow the machine to shut down due to a depleted battery, but it has happened at other times. Normally, when the Power Manager is hosed, you get _nothing_ when you press the power switch so I don't think this one will help you. Again, worth a try.

Another thought. That dreaded thing called "Stiction" does still exist in these days. If the issue is intermittent your hard drive may be suffering from stiction. That's why it finally comes up after several tries. The drive finally overcomes it.

Finally, and I hate to say this, on most ThinkPads where you have a fan-only, no-post problem you are looking at internal repairs, such as a system board, planar board or possibly cpu/cooler.

I have a laptop that is baffling me. It used to work fine but for the last few months it has become cranky. When I turn the thing on it will sometimes start right up, other times the fans are going but no beep and no post.

I have opened it up but I don't see anything particularly broken looking, but laptops are a bit foreign to me so troubleshooting one is new to me. I am thinking it may be a bad mobo?

There does not seem to be any patterns to the problem. It starts, or it does not. If I sit there and restart it over and over, it may eventually turn on, or I have have to walk away and come back a few hours later and it will magically start the first power up (or not). I usually just leave it running once it is on but I dual boot with WinXP/Linux so if I want to switch OS I take a risk every time of having to delay what I was going to do lol.

Any ideas for what is going on and what I could do, if anything, is appreciated.