To put it simply, it won't turn on. It tries - when I hit the on button the lights flash for about a second then it shuts off. I suspect it might be the AC adapter / power supply. It has an LED on top. The LED is lit but when I hit the power button the LED dims. I dunno if this is typical or if it might be a symptom of the problem.

This isn't the original PS. It's the third one, one of the ubiquitous ones you see on Ebay. The connectors wear out, and I haven't had much luck with replacements. The connector is still in good shape on this one, but I'm thinking about replacing it anyway. Other than this problem the laptop has been very reliable. But it is getting kinda old - 10 years now. I hang onto it because it's still a solid performer. Faster than most new ones, plus it's got other stuff I like - 2 drive bays, a 17" screen, wifi, memory card slot, HDMI port and more. And yes, it has a CD/DVD drive. Yes, it's big, but I don't cart it around so I don't care about its size.

So am I barking up the right tree here or is there something else i should be thinking about?

Hi, this might sound counter intuitive but the first thing I’d try is to remove the battery then plug in the power and see how it goes. If the battery is 10 years old it is a fair chance it is no longer working as it should and maybe drawing down power. Also check if the power supply is getting hot. (Another indicator the battery is fritzed.)

Just a thought

Tony

Hey Tony, thanks for the feedback. My apologies. I should have mentioned that the battery isn't installed. It isn't the original but is completely dead. I didn't think it was important when I was describing the situation above, but I guess I should for the sake of completeness. This problem first asserted itself a couple weeks ago. The laptop would shut down after being on for several hours, but it would always start back up. When it shut down, I felt around the bottom, expecting to find it would be very hot, but it wasn't. Ťhen, a few days ago, it wouldn't restart, behaving like it does now. I removed the battery, thinking it might be draining the PS. That seemed fo take care of the problem. But it didn't last. Then I tried something that would work with another laptop I owned, when it would spontaneously shut down. I used compressed air to blow all the dust out of the inside. That seemed to help too and things seemed back to normal for a couple of days. Then yesterday, when I went to start it up, nada.

So, yeah, I tried a couple of different things, each which seemed to help until it didn't.

Hi Michael

The fact that the power supply LED dims on connecting the lap top is not a good sign.
It means the laptop is drawing a lot of current at least at start up ,or the power supply has lost it ability to supply enough current.
The only quick way to try is substitution of the psu.
Or to check the current drawn by the laptop with a multi meter in series with the supply. not easy, to see if it exceeds the power supplies current rating.
It may be easier to check for voltage drop across the connection (parallel) test.
If this is excessive that would also indicate high current.
If you feel it is the laptop drawing to much current. You could try removing some drives etc from their bays also any connected usb devices of course.
Good luck
Mike

I would replace both battery and power supply if I was interested in keeping it. You will need to balance the cost of that versus getting a newer model laptop and make your decision.

Given the times you’ve changed power supplies and eliminated the battery I would suggest an updated laptop. I don’t know about your part of the world but here in Australia there are really good deals going. An i7 with 16 gig ram 512 gig SSD for under $1000.

Tony

Thanks for the responses guys. This laptop still has some life left to it. It has a 2.8 GHz quad core processor and I have 8 GB RAM installed. 1.5 TB of drive space. I replaced the LCD screen a couple years ago. Everything still works, including the wireless adapter.

It handles Band in a Box very well, and just about everything else I've thrown at it. I think its cheap Chinese PS has given up the ghost. If a new one brings it around I'll get a new battery for it. If it doesn't, I won't be out much and I guess I'll be looking for a decent replacement.

Sounds a lot like the old reliable axe. Only had 5 new handles and 3 new heads but my word it’s a goodun.

You can try and take the hard drive, cd drive and ram out of it and see if it powers on if not try another ac adapter if that's ok have a look on ebay for a motherboard.

There's some truth in that. Thing about this old laptop is it has features that aren't so common anymore. Well, for a halfway reasonably priced unit, at any rate. It has a 17" screen and a full sized right side numeric keypad. These are two features I don't just like - I insist upon them.

Mine's like that too Michael, it's a tank.... but good for mobile recording.

A tank. That's a good way to put it. Sucker must weigh as much as a Les Paul.

I had the same problem with a nice Fuji swivel screen Core Duo. Took it to Best Buy where they tested the PS for free. In my case the PS was good, they told me it was most likely the connector where the PS plug goes in which meant a new mobo. I can't do that myself and it's way too expensive to have them do it so it's trash.

Bob

If you can find the right connector, it isn't a difficult replacement. The connector on the MB is a block and is attached by just a few solder points. The trick is being able to find the correct connector. It would be a shame to junk the laptop just because of the connector.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. My replacement power supply finally arrived today. So, I plugged my laptop into it and hit the on button and bingo! It powered up. Back to normal. I'm typing this note on it, in fact.
Nice to have it back.

Great news! Thanks for the update!