National Homebrew Club Ireland

General Discussions => Chit Chat => Topic started by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 12:03:06 AM

Title: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 12:03:06 AM
Long story short my two year old laptop has fried its motherboard  whichmeans that it will cost 200 plus to fix apparently. So what I would like opinions on is given the situation would you fix the original or buy something cheap? I have looked and cheapest laptop I can get is 400, cheapest tablet is 260 that has what I need,cheapest netbook is 300.

So repair or buy again ?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Ciderhead on January 25, 2013, 12:10:01 AM
Depending on financial circumstances
Buy again, a 2 year old lap isn't worth repairing
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: JimmyM on January 25, 2013, 12:14:16 AM
Quote1. Who diagnosed it?
2. Have you priced a replacement mobo on ebay?
+1
Is 200the price to have it fitted etc too?
Ifyes and If ur sure its the motherboard, might be better off getting one and replacing it urself. Its not rocket science
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 01:01:29 AM
It was Mc Kennas computers in Dungarvan that diagnosed it. I am trying to locate a chap for a second opinion. Guy in shop just said 200 plus to fix it so not sure but would say that does not include labour. I will ring them tomorrow and get an exact quote.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: newToBrew on January 25, 2013, 09:55:27 AM
get a price on the part - most of those repair shops charge for the labour and also throw a few quid on the part  - like it was said - its just a load a little screws - if you can't source the part specifically, start looking for a Cheap Second hand version of your Make - Model

If you do get stuck and need to buy a new machine - there are ways to get the data from the hard drive off teh old machine ( I've had to do it for a few people )

basically I would be of the frame of mind that if it costs X to repair in the Shop / Buy the Part - Or Y to buy a Cheap 2nd Hand Version - ( and Y is < = X ) buy the 2nd hand one - as you have that then for parts should something else go wrong
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Beerdoh on January 25, 2013, 12:01:38 PM
Are you sure it has definitely fried the motherboard?
Sometimes the RAM modules go but RAM is circa €50 - €100 for laptops, maybe even cheaper.
It'd be worth opening it up yourself and looking at it to see any visual signs of damage. Actually having a sniff for burn as well might help.
If you can get your hands on another laptop of roughly the same age try swapping out the RAM and/or the motherboard battery (it's a small NiMH coin cell usually) - these can be problematic too.
Out of interest - was it showing some signs that it was on its way out, or just one day it wouldn't turn on anymore? If the latter - had you left it to charge overnight or for a long period?
You might still be within the manufacturers warranty too - I think mine is about three years - so save yourself any bother at all by having them diagnose and fix it. Back up your data first though - you should be able to remove the hard drive and plug it into an external HDD holder which plugs into your USB or eSata port.

Let us know how you get on!
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: JimmyM on January 25, 2013, 12:53:21 PM
QuoteLong story short

Give us the long story...
What are the symtoms? (does it jsut not come on)
Are you able to run the diagnostics in the BIOS?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: newToBrew on January 25, 2013, 01:42:19 PM
QuoteAre you sure it has definitely fried the motherboard?

was gonna ask that earlier - but figured your goin by what the Shop told ya ?

"you should be able to remove the hard drive and plug it into an external HDD holder"

I have one of those - if your coming to any of the South East Meets I can bring it in to you

Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 02:57:02 PM
Ok guys here is the full story. Using laptop went to bed and put laptop to sleep and closed lid. Woke up next morning laptop screen would not power up not even a flicker. Fan comes on and lights across the top power up but nothing out of screen. Shop said it overheated and fried motherboard, I don't see how but kinda stuck as they ate the only game in town.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: newToBrew on January 25, 2013, 03:10:21 PM
.. might not be the motherboard.. could be a screen issue ??  any flickers on the screen - back light coming on ???


mate of mines Daughter used to do pretty much the same thing - it was the hard drive that got fried.


This prob wont do anything - but whip out the  battery completely and try to boot up using just the mains power supply
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 03:48:48 PM
Newtobrew thanks m8 tried all that, there is no life from the screen at all whether I use mains or battery or both nothing happens.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: johnrm on January 25, 2013, 04:15:18 PM
Is your power supply working?
Fuse in the plug?
Fuse on the Motherboard?
When did it last work?
What was it doing in between it last working and 'Jaysus, shes broke!'?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Eoin on January 25, 2013, 05:41:17 PM
QuoteOk guys here is the full story. Using laptop went to bed and put laptop to sleep and closed lid. Woke up next morning laptop screen would not power up not even a flicker. Fan comes on and lights across the top power up but nothing out of screen. Shop said it overheated and fried motherboard, I don't see how but kinda stuck as they ate the only game in town.


Were you using it on the bed on top of a quilt?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: johnrm on January 25, 2013, 08:52:25 PM
did you try an external monitor?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 08:53:19 PM
On a cooling pad with its own USB fan. In between working and Jaysus she broke it was asleep with lid shut plugged in. The laptop os always plugged into mains, maybe 15% of time just on battery. Mains charger defo working as when I remove battery it will power up off mains alone.

Don't know anything about a fuse on the motherboard. Tbh I have listened closer and when switch it on I cant hear the hard drive powering up which I could before.


Priced mono online and they ate around 200 Euro plus shipping.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: johnrm on January 25, 2013, 08:54:57 PM
Sorry, I missed the statement of circumstances.
Did you try an external monitor?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 08:54:58 PM
Shop said they tried external monitor but I have no access to one myself.,
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: ColinC on January 25, 2013, 09:15:52 PM
What about plugging a telly into it? Do you have an lcd telly with a vga (blue connection) or dvi (white one)?

Is the hard drive fan not whirring at all when you turn it on?

Have you tried popping out & reseating the RAM & processor? Any series of beeps when you turn it on?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 09:32:51 PM
Ok not sure what fan you are referring to as a HDD does mot have a fan motor. The laptop cooling fan if that's what you mean yes is powering up ok.

How can you pop out s processor as that's soldered surely? O have swapped and reseated the two RAM chips and no diff.

I have no tv suitable either and also no lead to connect it if I had.

Dont mean to sound cranky but I am pissed off is all.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: newToBrew on January 25, 2013, 09:50:14 PM
Yeah pain in the oul proverbial when these things happen alright

Best practice: don't have battery and mains ogether your always charging the battery ruins it over time - so they tell me in work anyways

Have you got a windoes disk ? If so stick it in - if machine boots from that - then my guess is the hard drives fecked - bout 50 quid would get u a new one
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: ColinC on January 25, 2013, 09:53:45 PM
No worries! You can usually hear a hard drive spinning and the needle moving at start up even if it has no fan.

Processors are usually held in by a clip with a heatsink fan over them. (Well the are in pc's anyway, that's what I usually have to pull apart!)
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 10:54:10 PM
No sound from HDD needle spinning up. Tried a windows 7 disc and no flicker from screen.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: rukkus on January 25, 2013, 11:32:07 PM
Sounds like the guy in the shop was correct. Best to buy new rather than pay to repair imo. You will most likely end up having to replace it eventually anyway and prices are very low at the moment.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 25, 2013, 11:57:03 PM
We'll tits to that because I don't have 400 Euro to spare. Lola like I will be without a pc for the next few months at least. :'(
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: rukkus on January 26, 2013, 12:13:17 AM
What were the specs of the dead one?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: johnrm on January 26, 2013, 12:40:32 AM
make/model?
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Eoin on January 26, 2013, 01:49:51 AM
QuoteWe'll tits to that because I don't have 400 Euro to spare. Lola like I will be without a pc for the next few months at least. :'(


I have a guy who's very cheap in Clonee, he did my tv for me, very happy with the work and very very cheap.
He has his workshop in Glasnevin,

http://www.ccelectron.ie/

He should quote you cheaper as he will actually work on a motherboard and replace chips and repair it rather than replace the whole thing if he can at all.
Title: Re: Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.
Post by: Greg2013 on January 26, 2013, 02:18:07 AM
Dead one is a Lenovo z565/4gb ddr3 ram/ 500gb hdd/webcam/DVD drive/AMD phenom 2 quad core/1.2ghz processor.